Bought one of the quad-core Acer desktops in the best buy deal. Immediately replaced the PSU w/ a 500W (planning to put my 8800GTS video card in there) and started it up. Ran fine, wiped it and installed XP, installed software, etc.

Tonight it was finally time to move the remaining hardware over and make the full switch to the new machine.

Shut down old and new. Pulled hardware from old machine (dvd burner, 8800gts video, firewire PCI card) and installed into new Acer (acer is VERY tight inside, especially once I put that 8800 in there, but it all fit). Plugged everything back in and turned the acer on.

Won't post.

The PSU and other fans come on, hear some noise from the HD and dvd drives, but nothing else. No beeps, nothing on monitor, and if I just tap the power button it shuts off instantly (doesn't require the hold-for-4-seconds like usual.

Tried putting the Acer's original video card back in, nothing. Tried no video card, nothing. Pulled the FW card, nothing.

Right now I'm very tired and cranky, so I'm going to bed. Suggestions on where I should start tomorrow?

Try re-seating the RAM and all cables? Maybe while installing stuff in there you accidentally knocked something important loose (you mentioned it was a tight fit).

Is it possible that it's overheating?

Does the Acer not have pre-POST diagnostic lights like Dells?

Is it possible on this motherboard to use a jumper to reset the CMOS?

I've checked all the cables, no luck. Restored everything to pre-tonight condition (removed extra DVD drive, put old video back in, etc), no luck.

I'm trying to get a manual from Acer's site (it didn't come with one, only on the HD that I can't access!) but it's not going through

But no, there's no pre-post lights like dells that I can see.

Not overheating, since it's not even posting.

I haven't FOUND a cmos reset jumper yet, but still looking (man it'd be nice to have an actual printed manual right about now... )

And of course, BB all around are sold out of these, so I can't go exchange

Found a clear cmos jumper (hiding behind the giant label on the SATA cable), but that didn't help.

Argh.

Off to bed, I'll deal with it tomorrow.

Check the BIOS and make sure the SATA ports are enabled and check the boot order. This drove me nuts on a new Dell system - SATA 2 and 3 were disabled by default and the system didn't see a second hard drive & DVD drive I installed.

I can't even get TO the bios - I get absolutely NOTHING on the screen. No beeps, no fans reving up like they normally do for a second on most computers. I'm wondering if the mobo didn't die...

It's got onboard video plus a pci express card, so I've got monitors on both right now in case there's something weird there, but nothing appears on either.

Plus I've disconnected the extra drive I put in, so the drives are back to "normal".

Just noticed that the power and HDD LEDs never come on either. I'm starting to really suspect blown mobo - the only activity when I hit the power button are purely "power" things, not "computer" things. By that I mean I hear some brief disk noises, but probably the same as if they were hooked to a PSU w/o the rest of the computer, the fans spin up, but nothing else.

I've pulled the ram, doesn't appear to be that. Unfortunately, I don't have another computer here that's quad-core capable to swap CPUs with to test that. Plus I really don't wanna get the HSF off of this thing, it's pretty big

ok, tried mroe stuff. Disconnected EVERYTHING, reset cmos, and rehooked up nothing. Still won't post. There's not even power to the usb ports.

Tried a new (actually the original from this machine) psu, still won't post.

So it's currently sitting here with absolutely nothing (no HD, no dvd, no ram, no video card) and won't do a thing other than spin fans. Anything else I should try, or is it dead?

ok, also tried removing the proc and reinstalling it. Still no dice. Guess it's time to dig up the receipt and return.

Oh crap, I think I threw it away... but BB can pull the info up, right?

ummm. your motherboard won't post unless it has ram, video card and cpu...

Seems like you tried everything I would have suggested......and more.

One thing that concerns me about returning is that the drive was wiped and a different OS installed. You certainly don't want to return it like that.

Have you tried calling Acer? I don't know what the warranty is like, but maybe they can send an advance replacement system, advance replacement mobo or even send a technician to replace the mobo.

yeah, I'll call acer first.

If I have to return, I'll pull the HD and truly wipe it, then explain at the return that I'd installed personal files/software that I had to get rid of before returning. I have recovery dvds, but they're useless since it won't post.

Only thing I can add is to unplug it and remove cmos battery for 15mins. I've had it where the jumper didn't work, but that did. However, there is a small chance that will actually help.

I've contacted Acer support hoping to get a mobo swap under warranty. Otherwise I'll have to return to BB and wait for the next deal. Just waiting to hear from Acer... hopefully they're competent and realize all the stuff I've already done

So I got a reply from Acer - said to go to their website and it'd look up my local auth repair center to take it to. Guess where - Best Buy

So time to take it there and see if they can get it working...

Well, that's convenient. You might as well bring it in, especially since it's under warranty.

I wish I could help, but I was stumped by the terminology of "posting" -- is that the first screen at startup to be able to enter the bios setup? In post 7, there's reference to not getting to bios so is "posting" a little further? Sorry about the problems, dboy, but thought I'd try to get a little educated.

POSTing refers to power-on self-test:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-on_self-test

If it successfully posts, you usually get the screen to see your cpu/ram, your list of drives and the option to go into BIOS.

Well good news - took to BB today and they actually still had one, so he just swapped it. Otherwise he could ahve gotten a replacement mobo, but woulda taken a few days.

Very cool. I can't believe BB actually satisfied a customer with a replacement. Glad it was you!