I think I have a bad motherboard, questions

So, after disconnecting everything from my computer, putting it on the floor of a van, letting it ride for two hours and then trying to hook it back up after carrying it inside, it won't turn on. (Moving it from my dorm back home.) The LED on the back of the power supply just blinks.

After following these steps, The LED only blinks when the motherboard is plugged in, otherwise it stays lit when the motherboard is unplugged and everything else in my computer is plugged in. So, there's probably something wrong with the motherboard.

Now, don't give me crap about having an off the shelf computer. My dad bought this and I really didn't have much of a say in it. I've added 1GB of RAM, a hard drive, a video capture device and a different video card. And everything's been working fine for several months now.

Anyway, here are my questions:

• What is causing this to happen?
• What caused this to happen?
• Regardless, I'm assuming that I'm going to have to replace the motherboard, right?
• And I'll have to get one that's compatible with my processor type and RAM pin number, right?
• If I get a motherboard that's different, but still compatible with everything I already have, and install it, will Windows XP give me a load of crap? (Thanks to anti-piracy measurements.)

Thanks in advance!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

This could be a messed up power supply as well.
Also, have you checked to see if there are no internal cables which are unplugged which wouldn't have been otherwise? I think there is the possibility that one of the connectors to the power-on pins might have become detached.

If you get a motherboard that is different, you will most likely have to reinstall windows, as the hardware will be different (although I have neve tried this, so I cannot say for certain). But if you can just swap out a different motherboard, Windows will give you crap about re-registering your windos.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Well, according to both the LED on the back of the power supply and that page I linked to, the power supply isn't the problem. >_> Not to say it isn't, though. How can I test the power supply specifically?

Yes, I've disconnected and reconnected all of the power cords. As far as I know, I've reconnected everything. Any power cord that wasn't in use didn't have anything to plug into and was too short to reach anything anyway. I've done this a couple of times with the same result.

Will reinstalling Windows make me loose everything I've downloaded/installed? Or will I have to install my hard drive as a slave drive in another computer and backup my data first? During bootup, the system looks to the master drive to load the operating system, right? (So I won't run into a sticky situation trying to boot Windows XP off of my hard drive for the computer it wasn't installed for.)

*imagines his gigs of unarchived downloads going down the drain*

Also, reregistering Windows isn't that big of a deal, as I have the serial number on a sticker on the side of my computer.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Now, I am not talking about power cords, but connectors from the power button on the case to the motherboard itself, like to the area that I circled here(although that may not be the spot that it is on your computer):


Now, you said that the thing would not turn on. Do you mean that nothing will initiate at all, or that the computer will not boot up?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

If he followed the instructions on this site as he said he did, then he should've already checked the connection to the power button.

Have you tested the computer on other wall outlets? It never hurts to do the "Well it can't be that" stuff just in case. When was the last time it worked, and did you open it up at all since then? I don't know that riding in a van would cause your motherboard to short out, considering I stick my PC in the trunk of my car for 7-hour drives between Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

I was speaking idiomatically.

The power button has almost never been on the front of my PC. After I got it, the plastic piece that holds it on broke off, so I've always left it laying on the bottom of my case:



Anyway, I unplugged it and plugged it back in where it connects to the motherboard. Then, with everything plugged in, it still didn't work. And what I mean by that is that nothing happens. The only sign of life my computer has is the LED on the back of the power supply on the back of the computer. It's either on permanently or it blinks when I plug the computer in. Pressing the power button does nothing.

Now, here's what it looks like when everything's plugged in:



With everything plugged in, I get a blinking LED when I plug the computer in.

But when the large power plug (the one that contains the majority of the wires from the power supply) that goes to the motherboard is unplugged,:



I get a solid, staying-lit LED when I plug the computer in.

EDIT: Magic replied while I was replying.

Yes, I've tried it on other wall outlets. I still have the same result.

The last time it worked was when I had it in my dorm room, Thursday night. When I tried to turn it on Friday after moving back to my dad's house, it wouldn't work. And yeah, I've moved my PC from my dad's to my mom's to my dorm to my dad's to my dorm and then when I moved it back to my dad's two days ago, it stopped working. :/

Here's the thing with me opening my PC. I always keep the side cover off of it since I occasionally have to press the power button if I need to shut it down. So I had it open the whole time it was working. But I put the cover back on just immediately after turning it off and before moving it. The cover stayed on until I took it off to turn my computer on, which at that point, it didn't work.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Well if you keep it open all the time then there's always a good chance that something can fuck up the components. It's possible that when you got home and opened up your PC you maybe had some static electricity or just something in the wrong spot. And hey, sometimes shit just happens. I dunno if your PC has a warranty or whatever, but you could see about trying to get it fixed. Otherwise, if you're gonna try and replace parts I would go through and make absolutely sure which stuff doesn't work. Take out the various cards and memory, try them in another PC if possible, and see if it still doesn't turn on with stuff removed (should just need the CPU and memory for it to at least turn on).

If you need to replace the motherboard, then yes you'll have to reinstall Windows XP. You can try installing without reformatting, though I would do that only if you have no other method for getting at the files. If you know how to use Linux you could always use something like Knoppix to copy files. If you've got questions just tell us what you plan to do and I'm sure someone on here can help.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Joe Wiewel

Well, according to both the LED on the back of the power supply and that page I linked to, the power supply isn't the problem. >_> Not to say it isn't, though. How can I test the power supply specifically?

You will need to plug the power supply in question into another functional computer to see whether that will boot up. If this is not possible, there are PSU diagnostic hardware, but those are expensive and only viable if someone you know owns one. Alternatively, you could purchase/borrow another PSU to see whether that will boot up your system; if it does then the PSU in question is faulty.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Sorry I haven't posted right away. I went over to my mom's house and really haven't had a chance to come back here.

My PC's out of warranty, so this looks like something I'm going to have to solve myself.

On testing the power supply, I don't have a computer similar enough to test it out on and I don't know anybody that has PSU diagonostic hardware. :/ Thanks for the info though.

Anyway, I've removed every component one at a time:

The original 512MB memory stick
The 1GB memory stick I added
The PCI video card I installed
The PCI video capture device I installed
The original PCI 56K modem

and plugged the power in and nothing seemed to be the problem.

So it looks like I'll be needing another motherboard.

After Googling the motherboard's product number, I found three vendors that sell it from $185-190.

Spending this much or less, would it be better just to buy and replace the bad one with the exact model or can I upgrade? Right now my current bad motherboard has all onboard audio and video (except I disabled the video and installed a PCI video card and I will do the same if I get the same model motherboard), three PCI slots, two RAM slots for 184 pin memory sticks and supports a Celeron (....) processor. (My current processor speed is 2.8Ghz.)

[Yeah, I know, absolute crap, but there's only so much I can do with limited funding. I honestly can't spend that much on fixing this problem. Really, $190+Shipping is almost too much, but I'm about ready to go insane with my own computer not working.]

I know that if I install a different motherboard it will have to support a Celeron processor (buying a different processor faster than 2.8Ghz in addition to the motherboard will probably be quite a bit) and have to have 184 pin memory stick slots.

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this question (No, get the same model.) but I'd like to see what you guys think. I have more questions that stem from either decision so I'll just hold those off until then.

However, I'd like to back up what I've downloaded either way. (I can't be too cautious...) Sorry, I don't know anything about Linux and I don't know anybody that runs Linux on their system.

What I'd like to do is to take my hard drive (The one with the OS on it and my downloaded files I want to back up) and install it in my dad's computer as a slave drive. Doing this should make his computer ignore the OS on my hard drive during bootup and avoid any conflicts, right?

If that works, I can just use the DVD burner in his system to backup my files.

This will work, won't it?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Before committing to buying any new hardware, I would test out the PSU so that you are absolutely certain it is the motherboard that is faulty.

As for a new motherboard, I would buy a different model that supports your CPU because $185 is very expensive for a rather old motherboard which ever way you look at it. You will need to find the exact model of your CPU, by using CPU-Z; if it is a socket 478 then I'm presuming it is a Celeron D. Here is an Asus motherboard that supports Celeron D processors, but there are many more. Usually any socket 478 motherboard will do, but please read the detailed specifications then supported processors to see whether Celerons are supported. Before you purchase the motherboard, post the link here so we can check that it is compatiable.

For backing up your data, yes, if you plug in your old HDD and turn it into a slave drive then you will be able to access its contents in your dad's computer. You can then backup the data in whichever way you wish.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Yep, I installed my hard drive as a slave drive and I've been backing stuff up all day.

Well, I might be able to test out the power supply. A friend of a friend of mine works with computers quite a bit, but I don't think he repairs computers, per se...so I'm not sure if he has one or not.

Yeah, $185 is quite expensive, but now I can get something better for less than half of the price thanks to you.

Thanks for clearing me up on processor/motherboard compatibility. Now I know what "socket xxx" means - it's just the pin arrangement when putting a processor in a motherboard, correct?

I'm familair with CPU-Z; I've used it to check out my memory specifications before buying a gig stick, but, uh, I can't turn my computer on, so I can't use that program.

HOWEVER, I can get a lot of information from the company web site.

I believe my memory ran at 266Hz. Would my memory work in a motherboard that supports something higher, such 333Hz or 400Hz, but the vendor doesn't say anything about lower frequencies?

Another thing I need to worry about is size. My motherboard only has three PCI slots and is more square shaped than the Asus since the two more PCI and one AGP slots it has adds some height to it. I'll have to find one that will fit, it's ports and everything will line up and fit in the same hole my current motherboard's are in and it's PCI slots will line up to where those slots are on the case. Or I'll just get a pair of tin snips and get creative....

Anyway, I'll see if I can't find somebody to test out that power supply. In the meantime, I'll start to narrow down my choices for my new motherboard. (I'll still post the link(s) even if I haven't had my power supply tested by then.)

Thanks a bunch! I appreciate it!

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by spikeh

Before committing to buying any new hardware, I would test out the PSU so that you are absolutely certain it is the motherboard that is faulty.

...

For backing up your data, yes, if you plug in your old HDD and turn it into a slave drive then you will be able to access its contents in your dad's computer. You can then backup the data in whichever way you wish.

Well, I took it to my friend's friend's computer shop and...IT WAS THE POWER SUPPLY. After replacing it with a new one, my computer turns on just fine. Thanks for that! I could have made a BAD mistake.

Also, I installed my hard drive as a slave in my dad's computer and backed up my files. Thanks for that as well!

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Joe Wiewel

Well, I took it to my friend's friend's computer shop and...IT WAS THE POWER SUPPLY. After replacing it with a new one, my computer turns on just fine. Thanks for that! I could have made a BAD mistake.

Glad to hear it. I'll answer the following questions anyways; it's good to know.

Originally Posted by Joe Wiewel

Thanks for clearing me up on processor/motherboard compatibility. Now I know what "socket xxx" means - it's just the pin arrangement when putting a processor in a motherboard, correct?

Yes!

Originally Posted by Joe Wiewel

I believe my memory ran at 266Hz. Would my memory work in a motherboard that supports something higher, such 333Hz or 400Hz, but the vendor doesn't say anything about lower frequencies?

Yes, when motherboards say "400MHz", they mean up to 400MHz so slower RAM, i.e. 333MHz and 266MHz will be fine.

I was speaking idiomatically.