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Thread ID: 40688 2003-12-15 01:09:00 Machine Toast?! Darcy (1040) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
200605 2003-12-15 01:09:00 Gidday All,

I have been given a machine of a friends to look at.
It is an Ex PC Company, AMD Athlon 1.4 running 512Mb RAM.
It also has a ASUS A7A266 Motherboard.

The user complained of the machine overheating and internal alarms sometimes going off when the machine got hot.

They smoke heavily while at the computer which also dosen't help, and when i took it apart to give it a blow out it was filthy!

They also said that the fault occured when a couple of nights ago while working at the computer it all of a sudden shut down and from then on wouldn't restart!

I have taken it apart, blown it out, and tried to start it, but nothing!
I replaced the power supply with a slightly grunty-er one from 200 to 250 and now the motherboard, screen and other internal devices power up but that's it.

I can't even get a BIOS screen, I did notice a ticking noise coming from the modem so pulled that out!

I have re-seated the RAM, no joy...

I have disconnected all the internal peropherals, no joy...

I have changed the Video Adapter, no joy.....

I suspect either the CPU or something on the Motherboard has been fried from overheating....nothing visually stands out on the motherboard or anywhere else by looking over the internals of the machine....

Could anyone suggest my next step that dosen't include a 5lb hammer???

Thanks lot's
Darcy.
Darcy (1040)
200606 2003-12-15 01:25:00 Do you have any spare RAM that you could replace the current modules with? Faulty RAM can prevent the computer from booting and it could have been fried from a power surge which would also explain the power supply not working. Are there any "fry" marks on the power supply at all? Did you test the old power supply in a different machine to see if it was still going or not?
I guess you checked that all the fans are spinning as well? If not, that could have been what caused the overheat in the first place.
If you do have some spare RAM unplug everything i.e hard drive, floppy, any expansion cards and try and boot again. If there's still no joy I would put my money on a crispy fried motherboard. Hmmmm, tasty ;-)

B.
Barnabas (4562)
200607 2003-12-15 01:25:00 Does the fan on the CPU turn? If it doesn't, the history of alarms leads to dire suspicions. ;-)

Tobacco smoke does not work to replace lost silicon smoke.
Graham L (2)
200608 2003-12-15 01:45:00 Cheers Dude,

Will go and try exchanging the RAM and using the suspect power supply on another machine....

Will get back to ya!
Darcy (1040)
200609 2003-12-15 01:46:00 Yip, fans still turn.......will try as above...Thanks Darcy (1040)
200610 2003-12-15 04:24:00 Another thing to try might be to clear the CMOS using the jumper then put the jumper back on again. If the CPU overheated then maybe the BIOS thought it was a failed overclock. I don't hold out much hope but this worked for me on a Soltek board and has run happily ever since.

Off to web site in order to check the manual.
Elephant (599)
200611 2003-12-15 20:04:00 Thanks Dude,

Will give a try.....
Darcy (1040)
200612 2003-12-15 20:33:00 maybe it's the graphics card? if the gfx card is screwed, the machine may not boot. Wilky (776)
200613 2003-12-15 20:35:00 ack, ignore above post, I didnt see the thing about video adapter Wilky (776)
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