My studing setup. Help!

[XenonBlu]

Hi everyone!
I don't know exactly where to open this thread, but i think this can be the right place. (Sorry if i made a mistake)
So, i have old components for building a pc i want to use for studing and working on some software projects. The OS I want to use is GNU/Linux (I prefer Ubuntu because it's easy to use). But i have some problems because PC doesn't start. Now I better explain my situation:
I have two motherboard (socket LGA775): ASUS P5Q and Intel DQ35JO;
two CPU: Intel Core2Quad Q6600 @2,4GHz and Core2Duo E4500 @2,2GHz;
two HDD: WD Blue 160GB and Hitachi 40GB;
4GB Kingston DDR2 (2+2);
GIGABYTE Nvidia GeForce 9500GT.
So I started with P5Q and Q6600 but the monitor didn't give any signals. I tried everything, removing GPU, removing RAM, removing HDD but nothing happened. Even the speaker didn't give any signals.
Then I changed the motherboard with the Intel one, kept the CPU (Q6600) and when i started the pc, appears GPU BIOS message and then black screen, but monitor is still on. I tried changing CPU with E4500 but again monitor doesn't give any signals, so i changed again with Q6000. I tried with BIOS jumper, i changed position for BIOS setup, so finally I managed to enter BIOS and look like CPU, HDD and RAM still work. When i save BIOS configuration, it told me to shutdown and set BIOS jumper in normal way, then I did it but now when i start, after GPU BIOS message, appears a "_" and instead of blinking, it's freezing.
Can you help me? I'm going crazy!

 

[Kilbane]

The solid _ is usually due to no OS being there to run. So after Post it will just sit there with nothing to do. Does the HDD installed have a MBR on it, and is it set in the BIOS as a boot device? Are the HDD's SATA or IDE, if they are IDE, make sure the jumpers on the back of the drives are set correctly (Wow, been a long time since thinking about cable position jumpers).

 

[XenonBlu]

The solid _ is usually due to no OS being there to run. So after Post it will just sit there with nothing to do. Does the HDD installed have a MBR on it, and is it set in the BIOS as a boot device? Are the HDD's SATA or IDE, if they are IDE, make sure the jumpers on the back of the drives are set correctly (Wow, been a long time since thinking about cable position jumpers).

Excuse my ignorance, what is MBR? Do you mean the boot loader? Honestly, I don't know!
HDDs are SATA, I installed in SATA0 and SATA1 port. Do i have to change in BIOS the sata mode to AHCI instead of IDE, right?

 

[Kilbane]

MBR is Master Boot Record, BIOS before UEFI used the MBR to know what drive contained what OS. Your drives are SATA so should fully support AHCI mode. Does the BIOS see both drives?

 

[Feronix]

Moved to mainboard & CPU as that seems to be the problem here. Project Logs in for in-progress builds with pictures and such.

 

[XenonBlu]

Moved to mainboard & CPU as that seems to be the problem here. Project Logs in for in-progress builds with pictures and such.

Ok, sorry for posting on the wrong section!

MBR is Master Boot Record, BIOS before UEFI used the MBR to know what drive contained what OS. Your drives are SATA so should fully support AHCI mode. Does the BIOS see both drives?

Yes, it does. How can i install a MBR? I tried with the ubuntu live usb stick but it is still freezing there.

 

[Feronix]

Ok, sorry for posting on the wrong section!


Yes, it does. How can i install a MBR? I tried with the ubuntu live usb stick but it is still freezing there.

No worries!

Short answer, you can't really but afaik it's something that comes with a Windows install anyway. I once had an issue where my MBR was wiped from a drive and I tried hours restoring it to no avail, in that end I just had to format the drive completely and start over.

I guess you still have old/incomplete Windows installs on your harddrive(s). Have you made sure that they are completely formatted?

 

[XenonBlu]

No worries!

Short answer, you can't really but afaik it's something that comes with a Windows install anyway. I once had an issue where my MBR was wiped from a drive and I tried hours restoring it to no avail, in that end I just had to format the drive completely and start over.

I guess you still have old/incomplete Windows installs on your harddrive(s). Have you made sure that they are completely formatted?

No, i have a copy of Ubuntu, completely installed. But i installed it by my normal pc, i just connected the hdd to it and then installed. The hdd was formatted also before trying this way. But i know i made a mistake, because now my pc has Grub installed on the SSD, and this pc do not have. Is this the problem, right?

EDIT I: OH YES! I have done it! I formatted the HDDs with my pc (i detached SSD and HDD and attached temporarely the two hdd). Then installed again on the old pc, I entered the bios and i put the ubuntu live stick as first boot drive and it's working! Now i'm installing the OS! I feel good now but at the same time i'm sad for my P5Q, i was fond with it Goodbye dear motherboard, you were a good board.

EDIT II: I've spoken too soon. PC shutdown for overheating, during updates. This time is the PSU, right? I think Ubuntu is too weighty for it, maybe Debian is a better choice. I don't have anymore fans to put on this pc, the heat sink is the old Core2Quad original heat sink, maybe should i use the original i5 heat sink ? (i have never used because for my pc i have the Arctic Freezer 13) The thermal paste i use is Arctic MX-4, if you want to know.

EDIT III: I tried the i5 heat sink but it does not fit in this motherboard. I added moar thermal paste, moar, to cpu and heat sink (to my pajama too D: ). And i detached the fan from another heat sink and i put it in this way http://s3.postimg.org/uvc3dc64j/SAM_1551.jpg Could it work?

 

[XenonBlu]

I installed the other fan and Ubuntu and the pc was working (I didn't added much thermal paste, i was joking in the last post, i just cleaned cpu and heat sink and then added a bit of thermal paste to cover the cpu surface). When i start the pc, sometimes it requires more start to boot. Now, for example, it's not giving anymore monitor signals and i'm restarting it a bunch of times but it's not giving signals yet! What's the problem now?