Greetings all, I could use some suggestions on how I can further troubleshoot my motherboard issue as I am at my wits end.
I'm trying to fix a rather old computer, AMD athlon 64 3200+ Socket 754, MSI K8N Neo nforce 3 250Gb motherboard. Basically this old system died and I'm trying to revive it.
I have tried powering the motherboard up with just the CPU and 1 stick of Memory and power supply. When I flip the power switch from the power supply on i notice a slight movement to the cpu fan then when I press the power switch I get no response at all.
I added to this with a graphics card where i forgot to plug the power to the video card and it did manage one short beep at me where after plugging the power to the video card the beep ceased. This is the only time I would get any type of beeps from the system.
I have plugged just the power supply to the motherboard and nothing else and the cpu fans will move. I have two of the same motherboards as I ordered one from ebay and my old board will not power this fan up at all so I figure that one is completely dead.
The only issue I do notice on the ebay mobo are two caps looks ever so slightly irregular, http://imgur.com/DxiI9 I can't say for sure if there is an issue with them. If the caps are blown on that then I'm just going to give up on trying to troubleshoot this. I've only spent maybe 50 bucks trying to fix this old system and just isn't worth anymore time on it.
Are there any suggestions as how I can further test if the motherboard is truly dead? I know my power supply is good as I've tried it with another system. I ordered a new cpu as I thought my old one was dead as there seemed to be some short that blew everything before. But even with a new cpu and power supply, the motherboard I got from ebay still seems dead.
yourlink does not work. going by your description, it sounds like those 2 caps are causing the problem. are there any more caps that look slightly domed or leaking brown stuff? board most likely can be fixed by replacing those domed caps as have done it before but no guarrantee it will work.
Originally posted by ddp: yourlink does not work. going by your description, it sounds like those 2 caps are causing the problem. are there any more caps that look slightly domed or leaking brown stuff? board most likely can be fixed by replacing those domed caps as have done it before but no guarrantee it will work.
Sorry there, the link should work now. The other caps all look flat with no leakage, only these two have a very slight irregular look to them and I can't even really be sure if they are defective.
I'm a novice with capacitors but it's the only thing I can think of that's left.
going back to your original mainboard ,have you tried moving the memory stick between slots and also swapping the memory and doing the same procedure, the reason why i say this is because i have repaired many of my customers machines by doing the same procedure.
the damage happens when the monitor is unplugged while the pc is still on, this results in the memory slot being damaged and giving the symptoms of a dead board. one machine i repaired had 8gb memory 4x2gb sticks of which three slots were dead just because the customer had unplugged the monitor while the pc was on.
Originally posted by barborian: going back to your original mainboard ,have you tried moving the memory stick between slots and also swapping the memory and doing the same procedure, the reason why i say this is because i have repaired many of my customers machines by doing the same procedure.
the damage happens when the monitor is unplugged while the pc is still on, this results in the memory slot being damaged and giving the symptoms of a dead board. one machine i repaired had 8gb memory 4x2gb sticks of which three slots were dead just because the customer had unplugged the monitor while the pc was on.
Yes, I have tried swapping the memory sticks around. I have 3 DDR1 sticks (2x512 and 1x1gb) and have tried all combinations and I get no response.
From my understanding, if I have just have a cpu, mobo and power supply plugged in I should get a mobo beep or error sound that I am missing my memory modules and the fans should be operational? If I'm getting neither and I know the power supply is working and I bought a new oem cpu which I assume is working then the only culprit is the motherboard?
I'll be able to check on the memory and video card next week to make sure they work and maybe try replacing the caps also although I just noticed my cheap radio shack one is busted.
Btw, would anyone happen to know a safe temperature to unsolder the caps from a motherboard?
Thanks again on the replies as they are much appreciated.
Originally posted by barborian: going back to your original mainboard ,have you tried moving the memory stick between slots and also swapping the memory and doing the same procedure, the reason why i say this is because i have repaired many of my customers machines by doing the same procedure.
the damage happens when the monitor is unplugged while the pc is still on, this results in the memory slot being damaged and giving the symptoms of a dead board. one machine i repaired had 8gb memory 4x2gb sticks of which three slots were dead just because the customer had unplugged the monitor while the pc was on.
Yes, I have tried swapping the memory sticks around. I have 3 DDR1 sticks (2x512 and 1x1gb) and have tried all combinations and I get no response.
From my understanding, if I have just have a cpu, mobo and power supply plugged in I should get a mobo beep or error sound that I am missing my memory modules and the fans should be operational? If I'm getting neither and I know the power supply is working and I bought a new oem cpu which I assume is working then the only culprit is the motherboard?
I'll be able to check on the memory and video card next week to make sure they work and maybe try replacing the caps also although I just noticed my cheap radio shack one is busted.
Btw, would anyone happen to know a safe temperature to unsolder the caps from a motherboard?
Thanks again on the replies as they are much appreciated.
ok well if you don`t have any luck after soldering the caps on the other board you can still buy new socket 754 motherboards for 35-40 quid and i will be happy to supply links to the websites if you have trouble finding one.
Originally posted by ddp: bludd, do you have or can borrow a soldering iron or gun?
I had one that just died while trying to unsolder the caps, a cheap radio shack one. I was thinking of spending maybe 30-50 on a new one although I would hardly use it and even replacing the caps I don't know if the board will work again. I'm debating whether to just get a new mobo, attempt to fix or just scrap this system.
