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pc hardware problem

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 6:55 pm
by s.dot
I have a spare pc I'm fixing up but it doesn't boot.

No POST beep. No bios. Monitor says no signal.

I originally thought it was the hard drive because the hdd led wasn't lighting up, but after hooking up my hard drive to it, and hooking that hard drive up into my pc, the hard drive is fine.

I tried removing the ram and re-seating it piece by piece.. still no beep. Tried hooking up my PSU to that motherboard.. but it didn't even power on (why?). I tried taking out the mobo battery but that didn't work (with it out, or when i placed it back in).

The only things I can think of that are left are the cpu, graphics card, and motherboard. Can I successfully test that it's the graphics card by hooking up a spare one? Will it bypass the built in graphics card that may be bad?

How can i test the mobo and cpu?

EDIT| Before it crapped out, the monitor would randomly go off and the pc would have to be rebooted before it would come back on so I'm thinking the GPU.. however, it did have a fair amount of shutting down improperly because when people rebooted it they would just unplug it or hold the power button down.

Re: pc hardware problem

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 11:43 pm
by s.dot
I switched out the power supply. Got it to work this time. Power supply is fine.
Switched out the battery.. that's not the problem.
Switched out the CPU.. that's not the problem.
Added a dedicated GPU.. that's not the problem.

So I have concluded that the problem has to be the motherboard or the RAM. I don't have any compatible ram to test. But the the hard drive working fine in my pc, and getting no activity on that pc, im thinking it has to be the motherboard where the SATA connections are. Does that sound about right?

Re: pc hardware problem

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 2:24 am
by s.dot
Alright, I've concluded the problem is the sata controller being burnt out from the onboard graphics heat (google search identifies the problem numerously for pegatron m2n78-la (violet6) motherboard).

However, those boards are far more expensive.

I don't know much about motherboards. Is there one I can buy to match the same specs as that one so I wouldn't have to replace any other parts?

Motherboard specifications:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docu ... 313w&tool=

All I would need is to make sure that the cpu and ram will fit, right?

Re: pc hardware problem

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 3:20 am
by social_experiment
This url might help with some alternatives; the poster lists 2 alternatives + pros \ cons
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/295 ... olet6-gl8e
s.dot wrote:All I would need is to make sure that the cpu and ram will fit, right?
And if the board supports them; if it does you're good to go imo

Re: pc hardware problem

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 2:46 pm
by s.dot
Thanks. From looking on newegg, it looks like this would work:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813186205

Compared to original mobo specs here:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docu ... 20567#N158

both are AM3 socket, supports phenom II cpu
both are 1333/1066 DDR3 DIMM RAM
both are sata 3 Gb/s

Anything else I should look at? I really want it to be compatible with all of the parts in this PC.

Re: pc hardware problem

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 5:53 pm
by social_experiment
http://conten.do/motherboard/specificat ... ml?id=1076
A bit more detailed specifications about the FoxConn A88GMV; you don't mention which CPU you are using but if it's the Phenom II the foxconn supports it; i'm not familiar with AMD cpu's or their socket system so it's best to consult the vendor if you have any doubts. RAM should also be ok as the new board supports 3 different speeds, two of those are the same speeds supported by the existing board;

Re: pc hardware problem

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 9:13 pm
by s.dot
Thanks. I think I'm going to take a chance on it.