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PC troubleshooting help
#321716 - 02/09/14 08:27 AM
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EDIT:
I found bad caps on the motherboard. Not worth fixing. Replacement ordered.
Thanks for the input everyone.
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I hope it's OK to post non-mame related PC issues here. If not, feel free to move to loony bin.
My called me this morning and said that my step-father's PC had shit the bed. I picked it up and brought it home tonight for troubleshooting.
It's an HP desktop PC with an AMD processor from at least 5 years ago, probably longer.
Basically, when you press the power button, the fans all spin up, but it never POSTs. I tried disconnecting the drives, and even removing all the memory, hoping to hear some beep codes or something. I even changed the jumpers on the motherboard to clear the CMOS and pulled the onboard battery. No change.
I even suspected that maybe it was a failing power supply, but swapping in a different ATX power supply makes no difference.
It has onboard video and it never puts out a signal and the monitor goes to sleep.
My next move is to probably disassemble it and blow out all the dust. Maybe even try to boot up the motherboard on the table in case there's a short with the case or something.
I'm kind of stumped. Any ideas?
Edited by krick (02/10/14 06:01 AM)
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Re: PC troubleshooting help
[Re: krick]
#321717 - 02/09/14 08:59 AM
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> Basically, when you press the power button, the fans all spin up, but it never POSTs.
> I tried disconnecting the drives, and even removing all the memory, hoping to hear
> some beep codes or something. I even changed the jumpers on the motherboard to clear
> the CMOS and pulled the onboard battery. No change.
The same thing happened to me with my old motherboard the other day, fans spinning but no POST, no beeps, monitor = "no signal". I did the same things that you did, but after removing the memory I got some angry sounding beeps. I could then boot with one module in, reset BIOS settings, switch it off and pop the second module back in and I was back in business. I have no idea why it did that but it works now.
So I'm thinking yours should at least have complain-beeped when you switched it on with no memory?
Maybe that means the CPU has died?
S
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| Naoki |
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Re: PC troubleshooting help
[Re: Sune]
#321724 - 02/09/14 04:02 PM
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> > Basically, when you press the power button, the fans all spin up, but it never
> POSTs.
> > I tried disconnecting the drives, and even removing all the memory, hoping to hear
> > some beep codes or something. I even changed the jumpers on the motherboard to
> clear
> > the CMOS and pulled the onboard battery. No change.
>
> The same thing happened to me with my old motherboard the other day, fans spinning
> but no POST, no beeps, monitor = "no signal". I did the same things that you did, but
> after removing the memory I got some angry sounding beeps. I could then boot with one
> module in, reset BIOS settings, switch it off and pop the second module back in and I
> was back in business. I have no idea why it did that but it works now.
>
> So I'm thinking yours should at least have complain-beeped when you switched it on
> with no memory?
>
> Maybe that means the CPU has died?
>
> S
If you remove the RAM and no beeps then the BIOS code isn't running. AMDs do run hot and they can fail with heat so a duff CPU isn't unlikely. I'd try removing everything and clearing the dust and trying again, else either the CPU or board is bad. If you had a logic probe you could tap onto the BIOS chip and probe Address 0, Data 0 or Serial Data, no activity when you power up means again, no code is running, else if it is being read, the mobo may be fine but the CPU might not be
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Re: PC troubleshooting help
[Re: krick]
#321727 - 02/09/14 05:48 PM
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Look at the caps on the motherboard. Any bulging?
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Re: PC troubleshooting help
[Re: redk9258]
#321734 - 02/09/14 07:51 PM
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> Look at the caps on the motherboard. Any bulging?
Surprisingly, no.
EDIT:
I spoke too soon. I took it completely apart tonight and pulled out the motherboard for closer inspection under better lighting and there's definitely a bulging cap near the memory slots.
Personally, I don't think it's worth my time trying to replace the cap. It was a cheap mass-market AMD based HP desktop PC from around 2006 or 2007, I think. It came with Windows Vista back when Vista was a brand-new thing and people didn't know they hated it yet.
I know that as soon as I replace this cap, the power supply will fail, or the hard drive will commit suicide. That's how things go.
I just ordered one of these to replace it. My step-father should be happy. He likes Dell stuff...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883156015
Edited by krick (02/10/14 06:00 AM)
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Re: PC troubleshooting help
[Re: krick]
#321736 - 02/09/14 08:54 PM
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When you say "pulled the battery" did you replace it with a new one?
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Re: PC troubleshooting help
[Re: Hadou Ken]
#321737 - 02/09/14 09:25 PM
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| B2K24 |
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Re: PC troubleshooting help
[Re: krick]
#321738 - 02/09/14 09:57 PM
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If you've had no luck playing musical RAM or using different sticks, I would remove the CPU/heatsink and clean the old TIM off of both with isopropyl alcohol then reseat both and see if that makes any difference.
If that fails the next option is to replace the MOBO and get the best CPU with what your replacing it with Or continue using your old one if it's a budget build.
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Re: PC troubleshooting help
[Re: krick]
#321751 - 02/10/14 05:24 AM
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Hard to say without seeing it, but can you tell if the video (card or onboard) might be bad?
You might try another video card and see if does anything or if there is another connector you can try (VGA instead of DVI/HDMI maybe?) to see if that does anything?
Good luck!
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| Naoki |
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Re: PC troubleshooting help
[Re: lamprey]
#321764 - 02/10/14 12:16 PM
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> Hard to say without seeing it, but can you tell if the video (card or onboard) might
> be bad?
>
> You might try another video card and see if does anything or if there is another
> connector you can try (VGA instead of DVI/HDMI maybe?) to see if that does anything?
>
> Good luck!
Unless the graphics card was really messing with the system, removing the RAM and powering up should always give you a failure beep regardless of the card
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chip creep
[Re: Sune]
#325329 - 04/28/14 09:07 AM
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after years of not touching a computer, the act of heating and cooling can cause bad connections. You basically just had to reseat the RAM.
If the MB posts and there is a hardware fault, there will almost always be a beep code. No beeps (after reseating all of your cards)points to power supply or MB CAPs almost all of the time.
to the OP: As far as replacing CAPs... it's worth the time and money, if they're available locally. I replaced the caps in a router a few weeks back because I found a shop that had suitable replacements at like $0.50ea. I finally shitcanned my old printer for a new one, but spending $2 on CAPs for it gave it another 4 years of use. I went so long without printing photos that the ink dried up and ruined the print head on one of the colors... that's the only reason I replaced it.
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