no video displayed on foxconn motherboard

So I just purchased a Foxconn 945P7AA motherboard. I have the correct processor and ram. So I plugged it all into my case and powered it on. I can hear the hard drive spinning and the processor going....but no video shows up.

It has a PCI slot, and PCI x16 slot for video cards. I tried both and nothing has worked.

One of the problems could be that the power supply connector isn't right. There are more pins on the ATX connector on the board, than there are coming out of my power supply. HOwever, in the manual it shows how to connect my kind of power connector.

I've contacted foxconn and they gave me some generic things to try, and none worked.


Any suggestions?

 

It sounds like you may need to connect the 4 pronged 12V lead into the ATX connector.
Some MLBs have it at a seperate location, and some have it built into the main ATX connector.

If you extract the ATX connector from the MLB and then locate the 4 pronged square connector (there should be only one) and then look at the two of them, you'll likely find that there is a way to actually attach them to each other for this circumstance.

If your power supply does not have the 4 pronged square molex connector, then you'll need to get a different PS.

 

Good point about the 4 pin connector.

Just as a little history, when Pentium 4 CPUs were released, they required an extra 4 pin connector for extra power for the CPU. AMD CPUs did not require them at the time. Now both use the extra 4 pins and this makes a total of 24 pins that are required to run the motherboard. The connector you mention is a 20 pin connector. That will plug into the 24 pin socket on the motherboard, but there will be another 4 pin socket that will be somewhere else, usually near the CPU. In the motherboard manual it should talk about connecting the other 4 pin connector separately. You will find that the manual will also state a minimum requirement for the Wattage of the power supply, if the power supply does not have the extra 4 pin connector, it is probably at or below minimum requirements anyway (usually 350 Watts).

If you need to get a new power supply, don't get the cheapest. I have found a low end, quality brand will outlast several generic brands, making it cheaper in the long run. A generic is probably fine for use with an old motherboard you want to keep going through it final phase.
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The Foxconn motherboards I have worked on and read about are fussy about the model of the CPU. Double check that CPU model is compatible AND if it is, is there a specified level of BIOS that is required? If the CPU is too modern for the BIOS, the CPU will need to be changed to an older model, the BIOS upgraded, then the new CPU can be installed. (I have one Foxconn m/b that seems to be "jammed" by using a 64 bit processor when the BIOS only recognised a 32 bit.)

Disconnect any drives. Remove any PCI cards. Just start up with the basics.

The only other tests are to remove the m/b from the case and try starting it with it sitting on a sheet of cardboard. Reset the CMOS, this may be by using a Clear CMOS jumper (read the manual, you need to disconnect all power) or by removing the CMOS battery for, say, 30 minutes.

Matt

 

that was the problem. Thanks very much for the answering.


I now have another problem. There are 3 IDE plugs on the motherboard. 2 133/100/66/33 plugs, and 1 100/66/33 plug. Whenever I plug anything into the 133 plugs..it is read as a SCSI drive, and I can't access it. I have my cd rw and dvd RW drives hooked up on one cable, to one of the IDE channels. In Windows it reads them as there, but anytime I put a disc into it, it won't read it.

 

I think the IDE port you're trying to use is the IDE RAID port.
Unless I'm greatly mistaken, that port will only support a RAID Drive array.
If it is dual purpose (I've never heard of one) the setting to change it would have to be in BIOS.

How are you getting to windows???

I've done a little bit of looking, and apparently, this board has a IDE RAID port that can support up to 4 IDE drives, 1 standard IDE port that can support two ATAPI drives.
I am sure therw would havet to be some settings for this functionality in BIOS.

But still I'm wondering, how are you getting to windows?

 

the way I got it to work, was the one IDE channel works. So I hooked up one rom and one hard drive to that one chain..and installed windows on it.

but as i'm typing this....I have 2 hard drives hooked up to one of the RAID IDE channels, and it booted no problem and is working correctly. I can access both and have no problem at all.

But I have my CD Rom drive hooked up to the individual IDE slot, and it won't work.

 

I haven't familiarized myself with this board but ......

Most often the only restriction is that these headers be used for HDD's - they will not support opticals. JBOD (just a bunch of discs) is an option on most RAID headers which permits one to run individual stand alone drives.

 

I went to Foxconn. From their FAQs:

It sounds similar to what is being described, although it is talking about booting from an optical drive on the secondary IDE controller.

I cannot copy from the manual
http://www.foxconnchannel.com/support/downloads_detail.aspx?ID=en-us0000269
The settings that may be relevant are
Hard Disk Boot Priority
First/Second/Third Boot Device
Boot Other Device (I would disable this unless you need it).
There are several settings under Integrated Peripherals. You may want to try disabling SATA or at least the "enhanced" SATA mode. The information does not tell me enough to guide you.

There is a section "PATA IDE mode" (Primary/Secondary) that is involved with SATA settings.

You can change the settings for SATA and PATA one at a time, if it does not work, change it back. Sorry, I can't see which of those settings will fix the problem. "Review the documentation" does not help. Try changing the "Enhanced Mode" to "Combined Mode" setting.

Matt