Video Card and New PC

Sorry if this is double-posted. I originally posted it to THG and then to
another newsgroup:

I posted a message about a computer I was building as a Christmas/Birthday
present back in Nov in the motherboard area, IIRC. The system I ultimately
got (and most purchase decisions were driven by price and rebates) was a
K7S5A with Athlon XP 2000+, 256 MB SDRAM, Kaser AGP 2x, Best Data v.92
modem, Inland Firewire, Pacific Digital 48x12x48 CD-RW, Maxtor 80GB (7200
rpm, 8MB cache), Soyo BayOne AVI 6 in 1, Sony Floppy Drive, Windows XP and
MS Works.

I didn't get around to building the computer until a couple of weeks ago and
it took several days. Had to go out to Fry's to get a grounding strap, was
unsure about how to put the fan in, etc. When I finally got it all hooked
up, it gave one long beep followed by 8 short beeps and then a couple of
long beeps. Ultimately, I disconnected the drives and got the same results
with just the modem and Firewire and k/b. Adjusting the video card, I
finally got it to work and then reconnecting the drive cables, lost it for a
while but finally got it working.

I installed Windows and Works. Then, moving it to my house (because I built
it at my mom's), it didn't work when I connected it again. Same problem.
One time I got it to apparently work when I tried it w/o a monitor
connected, but reconnecting it wouldn't work and subsequent attempts without
the monitor didn't work either. I have opened it up twice and have tried
disconnecting the drives. I have tried adjusting the video card, but to no
avail. I don't want to keep removing/inserting the video card so as to
damage the contacts. Also, once, this morning, the aligator clip on my
wrist strap came loose and crashed into some resistors near the video card
on the mobo. The mobo's guide mentions that the clip for the fan can
scratch the resistors, damaging the mobo. I hope this didn't happen with
the wrist strap.

The video card does not appear to fit in as well as I would like it. The
end with the face plate won't go all of the way down as it runs into the
case.

Any ideas?

Thanks.
-John

Pull the video card out all the way, and bend the end of the metal brace
that attachs to the case with a screw, then reinsert to get it to line up
correctly. This maybe hit or miss, but essentially you are trying to adjust
that back plate to fit properly in the slot. If your video card does not
make enough contact your system will not work.

I would venture to say that your alligator clip on the wristband did not do
any damage to the motherboard. I have had screwdrivers that have come out
the heat sink slot while applying them and they hit the motherboard with
force, and there was nothing wrong with board afterwards.


"John Seeliger" <> wrote in message
news:bei1dv$5doiq$...
> Sorry if this is double-posted. I originally posted it to THG and then to
> another newsgroup:
>
> I posted a message about a computer I was building as a Christmas/Birthday
> present back in Nov in the motherboard area, IIRC. The system I
ultimately
> got (and most purchase decisions were driven by price and rebates) was a
> K7S5A with Athlon XP 2000+, 256 MB SDRAM, Kaser AGP 2x, Best Data v.92
> modem, Inland Firewire, Pacific Digital 48x12x48 CD-RW, Maxtor 80GB (7200
> rpm, 8MB cache), Soyo BayOne AVI 6 in 1, Sony Floppy Drive, Windows XP and
> MS Works.
>
> I didn't get around to building the computer until a couple of weeks ago
and
> it took several days. Had to go out to Fry's to get a grounding strap,
was
> unsure about how to put the fan in, etc. When I finally got it all hooked
> up, it gave one long beep followed by 8 short beeps and then a couple of
> long beeps. Ultimately, I disconnected the drives and got the same
results
> with just the modem and Firewire and k/b. Adjusting the video card, I
> finally got it to work and then reconnecting the drive cables, lost it for
a
> while but finally got it working.
>
> I installed Windows and Works. Then, moving it to my house (because I
built
> it at my mom's), it didn't work when I connected it again. Same problem.
> One time I got it to apparently work when I tried it w/o a monitor
> connected, but reconnecting it wouldn't work and subsequent attempts
without
> the monitor didn't work either. I have opened it up twice and have tried
> disconnecting the drives. I have tried adjusting the video card, but to
no
> avail. I don't want to keep removing/inserting the video card so as to
> damage the contacts. Also, once, this morning, the aligator clip on my
> wrist strap came loose and crashed into some resistors near the video card
> on the mobo. The mobo's guide mentions that the clip for the fan can
> scratch the resistors, damaging the mobo. I hope this didn't happen with
> the wrist strap.
>
> The video card does not appear to fit in as well as I would like it. The
> end with the face plate won't go all of the way down as it runs into the
> case.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks.
> -John
>
>
>
>