This is what happened. My sister decided to build herself a computer. When she had finished she couldn't even get it to start so she brought it to me. The first thing I noticed was that she had screwed the board in without any supports under it at all and the screws that she did put in were falling out. She also told me that she could see the fan move when she switched the psu to 230v. I pulled the board out and installed it correctly, hooked everything else up that she wanted in it and it did start. But the floppy drive stays lit (tried the cable both ways) and the display is terrible. I can't get the sound card to work (already disabled onboard sound) The only thing I haven't done is reset the JP1. Does it sound the board is ruined?? (ECS K7VTA3)

I did forget to mention that she did get Windows installed. But the display isn't right. So I guess the board isn't ruined but could the pci and agp have been damaged?

(tried the cable both ways) Unlike a hard disk cable, there are four ways of connecting a floppy cable. It's that twist in the cable and the fact that is uses cable select that does it. The fact that you can see anything on the screen s a good indication that the video is working. Did you install the drivers for the video card? You will also need drivers for the sound card before that will work. Stuart

Installing a motherboard without stand-offs can sometimes cause weird problems, I suggest you strip the system to barebone and install the components one at a time powering up after each component to eliminate the usual suspects. BTW, the PSU ought to be on 115v and you try to clear the CMOS too. B4 you criticize a bigger man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, you're a mile away, and you have his shoes.

"Installing" a motherboard that way is more likely to damage the PSU than the motherboard. I agree with the others that it is likely to be a driver issue. What I don't agree with the other/s about is the assumption that mains power is 110-120V. In the majority of the world it is not. Setting a power supply to 230V when the supply is 110V usually causes the unit not to boot correctly with no real damage. Setting the PSU to 115V with 240V mains can occasionally be spectacular! That said, most PSU can autoconfigure and deal with the voltage itself. I still think the recommendation should be; 'Set the voltage selector to the apropriate voltage for your supply.'

I will try what you have suggested and let you know how things work. She did have the drivers for the video card installed but it still wasn't working correctly. The floppy cable that goes to the board had a notch cut out of the slot that matched the cable, that is why I said both ways and not 4 ways. Thanks for the replies. I will get back with you soon.

Well, I wanted to let you know that I got it figured out. It turened out that the graphics card is defective. I put my kids in it and it worked fine. Thanks for the suggestions.