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My computer is not working (can’t even get the BIOS)

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The Details.
Motherboard – Intel 865 series
OS – Windows 7 (installed it a week ago)
Processor – P4
RAM – 1.2 GB
HDD – 160 GB
Graphics – NVDIA FX 5500.

Okay can’t think of anything else that you guys might require. So I installed windows 7, everything was running smoothly, I was happy 🙂
Then out of the blue it just froze with the HDD LED continuously on. I let it stay like that for 5-10 mts thinking maybe it would revive but alas!!! 🙂
I restarted it and my woes began.
It starts but it doesn’t do anything. I don’t get anything on the screen, Moreover the HDD LED is continuously stays on. Even if I remove the HDD it stays on.
Things I have tried:

All the other things I guess are working. the Lan Card, the optical drives. they all at least startup but I don’t get anything on the monitor.
The RAM’s working, I guess not sure. (I removed it from the slot and the MB makes beeps)
The monitor’s working, again not sure (Removed cable from the MB, it show a self diagnostic message saying check the cable so I believe its working fine)
The HDD working. (Took it to a friends computer and it booted up fine)
So I am stuck with a desktop where I can’t figure out what’s wrong. I believe its the motherboard but I don’t know what to do about it without getting anything on the monitor. Never faced this kind of a problem before.
P.s. I know its an old computer but its the only one I have right now 🙂 Anything that avoids buying a new MB would be wonderful.
Thanks to all people who help 🙂
Also I don’t mind tinkering around with the system.

Topic

Clarifications

In reply to My computer is not working (can’t even get the BIOS)

Clarifications

does sound like the motherboard, or graphics

In reply to My computer is not working (can’t even get the BIOS)

from what you have said, it sounds like something has gone on the motherboard, could also be the graphics card.

have a quick look at the motherboard.
check none of the of the capacitors are bulging
check the CPU fan is on correctly, is secure.

also check all the fans are running in the computer. I say this, as when the motor in the fan on my 9800GT blew, I had the same sort of result. so check the CPU fan GPU (Graphics) fan, and any other fan in the computer is still running at full speed.

get back to us with any results

.Martin.

You could try replacing the Power Supply here

In reply to My computer is not working (can’t even get the BIOS)

It just might make a difference.

Things like the HDD Warning LED staying on continuously indicate either a failed M’Board or a failing Power Supply. If you have not unplugged the Computer from the mains you may also like to do that and press the On Button with no power lead in the computer to discharge the capacitors.

It may make a difference but if it does that really indicates a failing Power Supply. Also you should be able to easily and cheaply replace the M’Board with another second hand one though I do not know of many P4 M’Boards that can carry 12 GIG of RAM. That really doesn’t sound at all right. 😉

Col

12???

In reply to You could try replacing the Power Supply here

I saw that as 1.2 😀

Its the Motherboard.

In reply to 12???

Okay.. I have figured out at least this much.. Its the motherboard.. Well I think that most probably it is the motherboard.
Took so much time to reply as was trying a number of things.
The monitor is working fine. (connected it to another friend’s computer)
Tried a different HDD but got the same result. HDD LED would stay on continuously with nothing on the monitor.
Martin, the GPU’s fan is working fine and so are the other fans.
As for the capacitors, well they all seem fine to me, same as ever. Never had a eye for these lil fellas.
OH Smeg, I tried what you said but it was of no avail.. I am not sure if I did what you wanted.. Should I be holding down the power button.. And I bought the PSU recently.. sometime last year..
and Smeg 🙂 the cost of the MB won’t hurt, it would the be the cost of the new processor, new GPU, new RAMs ( I currently have DDR) that would hurt 🙂 so I want to avoid that right now.
And yes Martin was correct there and I double checked, I had written 1.2 🙂
So now that I believe its the MB, what options do I have??

P.S.

In reply to Its the Motherboard.

Why it took me much time was because was I had to clean the MB. I clean it regularly, okay not regularly but I do.. But I never looked under the heatsink.. Frankly speaking I was kind of scared to fiddle with it.. Today I guess I was desperate so took desperate measures.. Took out the heat sink and OMG it had so much dust under it.. Cleaning it took a lot of time, it was very fine dust.. Never expected that much dust. I have cleaned it now, checked the processor chip too but it was clean as a whistle.
Don’t know if this is important but wanted to let you know.
So far the only good thing out of all this is that I am not afraid of tinkering with the CPU anymore 🙂

that ‘cleaning’ might be a problem

In reply to P.S.

I’m presuming this ‘dust’ that you cleaned is actually thermal compound. the thermal compound helps move the heat from the CPU to the Heatsink of the fan. so removing it, was bad. replacing this is easy (as long as you haven’t damaged anything during this cleaning). Thermal compound can be found at any electronics or computer store (ranging in price, the more expensive, the better the quality of the paste)

as for the capacitors, they should be (nearly) perfect cylinders picture of normal and bulging capacitors here: http://tinyurl.com/yboreav

as for replacing parts, as this seems the only option (repair could be an option, but for an old board, would be too expensive) you shouldn’t need to replace everything. they still make P4 boards (they use the same board as the core2duo and core2quad), RAM would need to be replaced (as everything is DDR2 and DDR3 these days), and you don’t know, you might be lucky and find an motherboard that takes your graphics card (from what I can tell, it was AGP?)

A New One/Replacement is the only option

In reply to that ‘cleaning’ might be a problem

No the dust was dust only.. The thermal Paste I presume was the sticky stuff that was on the base of the heatsink.. Am I correct??
Well if it was that then I did not remove that.. I let it stay there.
Okay will check for capacitors again.. Thankx for the pic.. it would help 🙂
Yes, you are right.. its an AGP card.. another extra purchase if I go for a new MB.. would go for a PCI express one since that is the norm now isn’t it.
Yes you are right about the RAM, an off topic question, are the slots for DDR2 and DDR3 RAMS same or diff??
Again would like to make sure that there is no other option left.

Thermal Paste also known as Silicon Grease

In reply to A New One/Replacement is the only option

Is finicky stuff. Any contamination will destroy it. So you should spread it with a clean flat metal surfacer and never under any circumstances allow dust or your fingers to come into contact with it.

Also I think that people are missing the insides of the Power Supply here. They have a fan in those which may have failed particularly if this relatively new PS isn’t one of the better ones or if it has taken a severe Spike recently.

When they take a hit like that the Capacitors inside the PS fail or at least start to not filter as well as they should and then slowly degrade from there. The ideal job of a good PS is to sacrifice itself to protect the internals of the computer from the crap and junk on the mains.

Also because these units are sealed they do tend to become more of a Dust Bunny Magnet than the actual insides of the case.

Col

Mother board warranty

In reply to Its the Motherboard.

Standard motherboard warranty is 3 years.
If main board less than 3 years old and has no burnt pins on cpu socket RMA board (get approval before returning) to factory. SEND
MAIN BOARD ONLY BACK TO FACTORY! They will send you another without charge. If board outside warranty they will still service it but approximate cost of repair $60. Service 4 – 6 weeks Slow but much much cheaper than replacing everything. In hurry for similar board try Ebay or Kijiji – both free to buyer.Sometimes get very lucky and find someone close to you or ebay store that ships from a wharehouse close. Very fast service from Nxsource.com here in Canada.

Not Possible

In reply to Mother board warranty

My poor baby is 6 years old 🙂

How Do I figure if the PSU is at fault

In reply to My computer is not working (can’t even get the BIOS)

Smeg, how do I decide conclusively that it is the PSU that is causing all the fault.. I tried what you asked earlier.. Pressing the power button while it is disconnected from the mains.. It did not seem to do anything.. I mean I was back to square 1.
Is there any way to again conclusively decide that it is the motherboard at fault.
Martin, I checked the capacitors.. All of them seem to be normal.. None are bulging.
I am going to wait for a week before doing anything.. Maybe even take to it a technician rather than DIY 🙂 but before doing that I want to make sure what is causing all this trouble.
P.s. since when did techrepublic start keeping a limit on the number of messages you can post?? Could not reply yest because of that.

the only way to test a PSU

In reply to How Do I figure if the PSU is at fault

is to attach another power supply to the computer, a power supply that is known to be working.

as for the question about posts, at least as long as I have been here, it just means the thread won’t end up all the way to the left, resulting in a lot of scrolling (and possibly server overload)
if you want to continue posting after a question (like OH Smeg’s last post) just go to the post before it, and reply to that one,, the new post will show up underneath the previous post.

And any test for the motherboard??

In reply to the only way to test a PSU

I would be able to get a new PSU in the evening only.
In the meanwhile I would like to see what is wrong with the MB. So is it possible to check it without getting the BIOS.
Yes I believe you are right about the post thing and the smart guy in me thought techrepuplic has put a limit to the messages one can post in a day 🙂

Testing for motherboard failure.

In reply to And any test for the motherboard??

Correctly installing a new power supply should show you if the motherboard is good or not. Without having a schematic that shows waveforms on an oscilloscope at different locations on components I know of no other way to test a motherboard.
If there is another way I’d like to know of it too.

I would like to know too. {NT}

In reply to Testing for motherboard failure.

😉

Maybe a POST Card may be useful here

In reply to Testing for motherboard failure.

These plug into a Socket and display a Code when the system is turned on telling you what is going on here.

Not sure if it would help or not but I couldn’t live without my POST Card. 😉

As for other M’Board testing it’s not really an Economic Option as the Board Makers sit their Boards in a specially designed pad which takes the readings directly off the solder points on the back of the board.

Real people can not afford to have things like that. So if there are no visual signs of damage not much more you can check here. But if you have a Multi Meter you could chase Voltages all over the M’Board from the Plugs if you like. Will not tell you much but it will consume a lot of time. :0

Col

Oh yeeeaaaahhh! A POST card.

In reply to Maybe a POST Card may be useful here

I forgot all about those and I’ve looked at them off and on for years. That makes me wonder what else I’ve forgotten. :0

to count?

In reply to Oh yeeeaaaahhh! A POST card.

I sometimes forget that, along with what day of the week it is 😀

wasting time

In reply to Maybe a POST Card may be useful here

that’s a good use, but I will probably end up killing my MB…

Was wondering

In reply to wasting time

If it could be the CMOS battery.. Its been 6years since I got this MB.. A friend here asked me to change the Jumpers next to CMOS battery.. think it would help??
As for the POST card, well never heard of it and the way you guys described it I think it would be difficult to get hold of it 🙂
A multimeter seems a viable option but how would I know the correct voltage 🙂

POST Cards are reasonably freely available look here for some

In reply to wasting time

http://www.millennium-solutions.co.uk/diagnostic-tool-pc-computer/post-probe-code-reader-card.html

or

http://www.pc-diagnostics.com/pc_diagnostics_tools/flippost_isa_pci_bus.shtml

or

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A172282%2Ck%3Acomputer%20post%20card&page=1

or

http://www.micro2000.com/postprobe/index.php

You only need one of these and you may even find some on E-Bay and places like that, they also have the advantage of being used on many computers provided that you look after them. Those above are all PCI Cards and they will be usable till there are no more PCI Slots on M’Boards. After that you would have to get another one with a suitable Socket type for whatever replaces the PCI Sockets. 😉

Col

Just Checking

In reply to Maybe a POST Card may be useful here

Well not sure if you guys know about it or not.
Read about POST and I am not getting any display so no POST as well. My bet is on that you guys know about it 🙂

Guess you all are tired :)

In reply to Just Checking

and frankly speaking so am I 🙂 Will take it tomorrow to a technician.. Given everyone a thumbs up.. Thanks to all.. Cheers

[Author]

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