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Complete Failure

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by daniellee

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Hi,

I was using my Pentium III 500 Mz 128 MB Ram Windows 98se computer just typing letters into a word document when the screen went black, I could not tell if the keyboard or mouse were still working but it seemed like nothing was working.

At the time of the failure there were no sounds like the hard drive cycling or anything like that.
The CD light came on and I could not restart the computer nor shut the computer down except by unplugging it.

When I try to resart it I can hear the hard drive start up and make noises like it is going to go through its regular cycle but then it just stops. I have my Norton Anti Virus updated and running continuiously.

I took it to the local computer shop (which isn't much here in Mexico where I live) and we did a remove and replace test of the power supply and the memory board with no changes.

The guy then removed what I believe is the main chip. It has its own little fan and plugs into the mother board in a vertical position. Ithas the Pentium III logo on it and the following numbers on the side of the case

550/512/100/20v S1
99211126-0277 Malry
98-SL3 FJ

When he removed this rather large plug in thing (what I am calling the main chip) and re-started the computer it started up the same way it did when the thing was installed.

He called around for a replacement but no one had one even as far away as Guadaljara. They are very expensive, I can probably get one sent to me from the states but I would like to bemore positive this is the problem before I take such expensive acion.

Any assisance appreciated

Daniel

6 replies

by thechas

First off, it sounds like you have a "Slot 1" motherboard.

Have the PC tech check the fan on the CPU heatsink. If the fan is dead, or spins very slow, then yes, the CPU is likely dead.

I would give the motherboard a close inspection before replacing the CPU. You are looking for discolored or burnt components. You also want to look for bulges or cracks in parts.
I would concentrate on the "voltage regulator" section near the CPU.
If you find a problem here, your motherboard is fried.
I have seen several slot 1 boards where the CPU and the voltage regulator were both fried. Either could have gone first.

I don't know if they ship to Mexico, but a good source for Slot 1 CPU's is www.compgeeks.com
A 500 MHz PIII should be around $60 US.
I would get a new heatsink and fan along with the CPU. Don't reuse the old one.

by thechas

For Slot 1, the CPU looks like a pack of cards, and plugs into what looks like a card socket.

Socket 370 is a 2" rectangular part with 370 pins on the bottom that plugs into a white rectangular socket.

by joe_abdo

before changing the CPU try to check:
1- VGA card
2- network card (if any)
3- modem ( if the modem's damaged it might stop the system)
4-remove all card and keep the vga+cpu+ram and try to boot .
5-unplug the hard disk the floppy and the CD-rom

my advice is to use option (5) first then try the others.
best regards
joe

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