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Motherboard failure?
Well, I woke up this morning and my machine (that I use as my webserver and general second brain) was in coma. The power light was on, but nobody was home.
To cut a long story short, the reset button doesn't work, even the power button has no effect (I thought only Macs went that low) and the only way I can restart the machine is to remove the power lead then plug it back in. however plugging back in just turns the power light back on, but the motherboard fan doesn't do anything, none of the cards show any lights and none of the chips get warm.
I removed all cards and attachments to see if the motherboard would give me a beep code even then, but still no signs of life.
So, my question is, what could be the cause of this type of motherboard failure? Is it as simple as replacing a fuse (the power supply works, the HDD etc spins up) or as expensive as CPU failure.
If my motherboard is dead, what the best Dell one I can upgrade to given that it's an XPS R400 desktop? And lastly, where can I buy a standalone Dell motherboard from?
Many thanks in advance
Kevin Parkin
To cut a long story short, the reset button doesn't work, even the power button has no effect (I thought only Macs went that low) and the only way I can restart the machine is to remove the power lead then plug it back in. however plugging back in just turns the power light back on, but the motherboard fan doesn't do anything, none of the cards show any lights and none of the chips get warm.
I removed all cards and attachments to see if the motherboard would give me a beep code even then, but still no signs of life.
So, my question is, what could be the cause of this type of motherboard failure? Is it as simple as replacing a fuse (the power supply works, the HDD etc spins up) or as expensive as CPU failure.
If my motherboard is dead, what the best Dell one I can upgrade to given that it's an XPS R400 desktop? And lastly, where can I buy a standalone Dell motherboard from?
Many thanks in advance
Kevin Parkin
Ron55
185 Posts
0
October 23rd, 2000 02:00
Have a Good One...
Ron
dbramlet
2.2K Posts
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October 23rd, 2000 02:00
Dave
hal9000
4 Posts
0
October 23rd, 2000 07:00
Cheers
Kevin
hal9000
4 Posts
0
October 23rd, 2000 07:00
As for the motherboard, I have now reseated the CPU, memory and video card. Still no life :(
When the CPU is out, the power light stays off, but when the CPU is in, the light is on. Is this a sign that CPU is OK or just that it completes the circuit to the power LED?
Many thanks
Kevin
dbramlet
2.2K Posts
0
October 23rd, 2000 13:00
Yes, do check the outputs on the power supply. I believe they will be listed on top of it and if they fall short by even a little bit that could be the problem.
Dave
hal9000
4 Posts
0
October 23rd, 2000 16:00
Ditto that!
It looks like the POST beep codes include ones for absent video card and misseated DIMM. Since I don't get any beep codes at all, perhaps we can narrow it down to a problem with the motherboard, CPU or power supply. I assure you, the system doesn't even get as far as displaying any lights on the keyboard. The monitor definitely works because it is now attached to the laptop from which I am posting this. I stripped the motherboard down totally and added the bare essentials one by one, still nothing :(
I guess the next step is to check those PSU voltages.
Many thanks
Kevin
dbramlet
2.2K Posts
0
October 23rd, 2000 20:00
You are on the correct path. I would go like you said, power supply voltage and then if good you will have to sort out the others. If you have more than one dimm installed, remove one for testing purposes.
Good luck.
Dave