Well, just received our big packages from NewEgg.com. The item in suspection right now is the motherboard, a Chaintech VNF3-250. Reason? Well, I built it last night, and everything was running just fine. Installed windows, all the hardware was running, and I use a Saitek Gamer Board (keyboard) which runs on USB. Everything worked with flying colors. Then, the next day, I try using a USB headset to use Ventrilo with, and it's usually plug and play (I've used it before on many systems). Suddenly, it just didn't work. I try the fron USB ports, I try the back USB ports. Nothing. Suddenly, my keyboard goes out. Bwah? Then WinXP says your USB device has malfunctioned. Okay... so I whip out the P/S2 keyboard so I can function, and try again. Nothing. Reboot. Nothing. Hmm. I go to Chaintechs website thinking I might just need to update the USB drivers. I do so. Installed OK, need to reboot. Okay. I do so. Everything installs. When I double click on my sound options to fix the volume, the computer suddenly hangs... ohhkay? I reset... nothing. I turn off, turn back on, nothing. It boot, HDD light is on, power light is on. CD and DVD drive light blinks, all the LED's are on. Just no system on screen. No postcode beeps, nothing. Just a blank screen "looking for signal". My first suspect is the motherboard. Maybe the USB shorted out and took the rest of the motherboard. And it just... stopped. My second suspect is the video card, seeing as I'm not seeing anything. BUT, wouldn't I still hear a postcode beep telling me there is no video? (And wouldn't the CD and DVD drives not keep tryin to "read", ie; lights keep blinking on and off). I'm somewhat miffed. Never had something like this happen to me. Help ASAP so I can RMA what I need to Newegg.

You could try taking out the graphics card, disconnecting all drives etc and seeing whether you get a beep code and also reseat the ram just in case it was loose. Matt matt@bbcomputing.co.uk www.bbcomputing.co.uk

Hi, Did you connect the front USB wires properly to the header? If the wires weren't keyed, you could have connected them improperly and possibly damaged the motherboard. The pinout on the header is power, data -, data +, ground with the wires being red, white, green, black. tony AMD Athlonxp 3200+ OC Asus A7N8x-deluxe-E ATI AIW 9600pro 2x WD SATA raptors/raid0 Corsair XMS3200 16x Lite-on DVD 12x DVD-R 48x Lite-on CDRW Aspire Super Alien Case

Properly connected, at least from what the connectors said. (Connector head usually tells you which one is the + and the - and the ground. Followed exactly what the mobo instruction manual said.) I'll have to check on the colors exactly though. I'll have to do that when I get back from work today. Other than that, everything was hooked up properly. I've put together a good amount of PC's already. Nothing like this has ever happened to me, so it's just boggling me.

And also, out of curiousity, if the front USB were connected incorrectly, wouldn't that not have worked from the get-go? I actually did have some things connected to that that worked properly at first. Again, I'm not sure if it's the motherboard altogether. I just have a box that powers up my hard drive, fans, and CD and DVD drives right now. That's it.

Well, just got home. And everything was connected correctly. Again, to clarify: it powers up, (all fans go, CD and DVD's do their boot up, Vid Card fan goes, lights go. Just no boot up, and nothing on screen). I tried reseating the ram, booting with no vidcard, drives, etc; not a single beep. Does this signify a dead motherboard? Or powersupply? Help. X_X