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  • May 7, 2003 at 11:19 pm #2305541

    Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

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    by curiousinfo · about 19 years, 11 months ago

    We had a thunderstorm that knocked the power out for about 1 minute. Now when we turn PC back on the green light comes on for about a minute then goes out. Fan does not come on, no POST, no sound at all from hard drive. It appears dead. I think motherboard was hit. It did have surge protector but I don’t know how good it is. I don’t have a PCI diagnostic card to test it. I don’t think its in Sleep mode, hitting key or mouse does not do anything either. How else can I determine if its the motherboard?

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    • May 8, 2003 at 12:35 am #3359069

      Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      by sgt_shultz · about 19 years, 11 months ago

      In reply to Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      well, i bet you are right and mbd is fried but can you try another power supply before you give up on it? also try unplugging all cards, drives…

    • May 8, 2003 at 12:35 am #3359068

      Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      by paw_blue · about 19 years, 11 months ago

      In reply to Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      ok firstly what motherboard are we talking about here? what type of cpu and what ram do you have?

      A few things are possible.. If you motherboard is damaged you may be in for a nasty surprise :/ you cpu and other parts may also have been fried. it could also just be your power supply unit. it is possible that a fuse has blown inside this. however the green light coming on almost rules this out. Your ram may be fried too :/.

      I would personally remove all uneccesary parts from the motherboard, strip it back to the motherboard power supply unit video card ram and cpu of course.. remove sound card andy network cards or the likes also unplug your harddrive and floppy disk drive. if the same occurs try finding another psu to test it with or you can uplug the psu you have now and (BE VERY CAREFUL IN THIS PART)unplug the power supply unit from all drive (optical floppy, and harddisk) now grab a small piece of wire and place it in two holes of the atx form adaptor.. the little piece of wire needs to go from the one and only green wirre to any one of the black wires. this will test the psu.. you should be able to get it to work without having it plugged into the mothebroard. if this doesnt work.. I would try a new (known working) PSU If this does work then we can rule that out as being the cause.

      Next step is to reset the CMOS of the motherboard. Check your manual to see where the reset cmose jumper is and follow the instructions on how to reset it. then once this is complete try to power up the computer. if it works then you are home and happy. if you get the same issue then I would substitute the ram and cpu with known working parts if this still fails then contact the vendow about gettign the motherboard tested. I hope this help.. and I m sorry its such a long read 😀

    • May 8, 2003 at 4:32 am #3359611

      Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      by superman79 · about 19 years, 11 months ago

      In reply to Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      First of all when ou get hit by a power surge your power supply is hit first. In some cases only he cards get fried, try to remove all your cards one at a time and see if it turns on. start with your modem and see if it works wiht out it, Also snooparound your motherboard, if it did get fried most of the time you can smell burnt odors or see spots black.

    • May 8, 2003 at 4:44 am #3359595

      Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      by johngreer · about 19 years, 11 months ago

      In reply to Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      Which green light come on at power-on?

      The power-supply could have been fried.

      Tech support will ask you to unplug (and remove all batteries if it’s a laptop). Leave it unpowered for a while (10-15 min), then replug and try again.

      Have youtried booting from a floppy? Does the floppy have power?

    • May 8, 2003 at 9:31 am #3359519

      Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      by thechas · about 19 years, 11 months ago

      In reply to Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      I would start with an inspection of the boards and power supply.

      First, check your modem for any signs of burnt parts.

      Next, look at the large capacitors and transistors near the CPU.
      If any look burnt or bulged, then the motherboard is toast.

      With power un-plugged, open up the power supply.
      Check for a fuse and burnt or bulged parts.

      If you do not find anything, start by swapping in a different power supply WITH ALL plug-in cards except video removed.

      Chas

    • May 8, 2003 at 9:58 pm #3359384

      Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      by neos · about 19 years, 11 months ago

      In reply to Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      I seriously doubt the motherboard was hit by lightning, unless there are char marks on th outlet and around the computer this did not happen… However that does not mean that the computer is not damaged due to the power surge… it is very simple to test the motherboard… unplug the computer from the current setup… walk to a different outlet… plug only the power cable in… no mouse, no keyboard, no monitor nothing else… if you don’t gets beeps from the motherboard… then you have justsolved your problem

    • May 9, 2003 at 3:18 pm #3357622

      Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      by csmith · about 19 years, 11 months ago

      In reply to Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      The green light is +5 Volts.
      The fan and the hard drive are +12 Volts.
      The motherboard will not begin the POST until it receives the “Power Good” signal from the power supply.
      The power supply will not provide the “Power Good” signal until all the voltages are correct.
      You can verify that the +12 Volt section of the power supply is blown, by checking any open plug inside the PC.
      The yellow is +12 Volts, the black is ground, (There are two grounds in each plug) , and the red is +5 Volts.
      It sounds like the first step is going to be changing the power supply.
      Regards, Chris

    • May 11, 2003 at 5:07 am #3358480
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      Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      by hal 9000 · about 19 years, 11 months ago

      In reply to Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      The last answer is right start with the power supply before anything else. I’m asuming that you have not rated that answer because you lack the tools/knowledge to measure the voltages of the ps. If this is the problem then just go out and buy a power supply tester these just plug into the main power leads onto the M’Board and are very cheep. Unless there was other electrical applicences damaged in the same storm I seriously doubt that this computer has suffered any real damage as a result of the storm.

      Of course if you insist you can go out and buy a new M’Board, CPU and memory just to put your mind at rest but I believe this would only be a waste of your money and time in fitting these parts. But if you want to go down this route thenfirst buy a new power supply and a good one like and Antec with a at the very least 350 Watts capacity.

      The surge protector that you mentioned is little more than usless for anything resembling a thunder storm as the voltage rise time with a lighting strike is measured in 1-2 nanoseconds and most of the better plug in surge protectors have a 5-6 nanosecond responce time so by the time that they start to work the damage has already been done. But if you are unsatified you could always contactyour insurance company and place a claim for repairs with them.

    • May 13, 2003 at 7:19 pm #3358659

      Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      by paul · about 19 years, 10 months ago

      In reply to Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      Try removing the internal cards. Have had this problem before and as soon as one of the cards is removed from the machine it boots up. (usuall it’s the modem). Other than that you will need to try a new power supply before you decide wether the motherboard is dead or not.

    • May 18, 2003 at 11:44 pm #3532763

      Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      by curiousinfo · about 19 years, 10 months ago

      In reply to Computer won’t boot – bad motherboard?

      This question was closed by the author

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