Non-responsive Intel motherboard

[wpshooter]

I am trying to get an OLD e-machine of a friend of mine going.

It has an Intel D845EPI / D845GVSR motherboard in it.

I have tried to power it up using a known good power supply.

The only thing I get is the green indicator light on the surface of the motherboard but I get ZERO response from any other components. No Fans, no processor, no drives, zip nada.

I was told by my friend that this computer has been in this state (non-functional) for a good while, probably months if not years.

If the CMOS battery has completely died on the motherboard would this possibly cause the system to not boot/run and display the non-repsonsiveness described above ? Or would the system still boot (assuming nothing else was wrong) just to the default CMOS/Bios settings ?

Do you think I should try getting a new CMOS battery and give that a try or do you think this problem is further along than that ?

Do you think if I could find the CMOS reset routine for this motherboard that I might have any success ?

Also, if the CPU was completely shot, would this cause the system to be completely non-responsive ? The reason I ask this is because especially the heatsink on the processor was just chooked full of dust and the rest of the system not not much better. I am wondering if my friend burned up the processor by overheating because of the excessive dust.

Any other thoughts on how you might proceed on troubleshooting this would be appreciated.

 

[egale]

Don't think a dead cmos battery would cause this. Even a dead CPU I wouldn't think would cause the fans not to spin. I wonder if there is a short somewhere or the mobo itself is dead.

 

[VirtualLarry]

it could be the cmos battery. Or perhaps not. But it's cheap enough to replace to try.

 

[squirrel dog]

trace out the on off switch line from the front of the pc . If its fallen off,some pc setups wont run.Thats the wires from the front side of the pc to the motherboard . Usually say power or pwrswitch or the like.Should be near the front of the motherboard near the reset/hd/pwr connections.

 

[wpshooter]

Originally posted by: squirrel dog
trace out the on off switch line from the front of the pc . If its fallen off,some pc setups wont run.Thats the wires from the front side of the pc to the motherboard . Usually say power or pwrswitch or the like.Should be near the front of the motherboard near the reset/hd/pwr connections.

Are you saying fallen off of the front of the case or off of the motherboard connector.

I have looked up the specs. for the motherboard connectors on the Intel website and the power switch and other 2 plugs are on the correct motherboard connectors and also in the correct orientation.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to get the front of this el cheapo case off because the thing has those little plastic pinch tabs holding the front on the case and I do not have enough strength to get them loose.

Thanks.

 

[Quiksilver]

Sounds like a dead cmos battery or motherboard.

 

[nyker96]

won't the mb still power up except the cmos is in default state if it has no power? I think it should still boot if the cmos is drained.

 

[JimiP]

To test the PWRSW (Power Switch) theory, unplug the two pin plug fron the front panel header, and use a screwdriver to connect the two pins to make the contact. If the PC powers on, then you more than likely have an issue with your Power Button. Either the connection is bad there's a problem with the actual switch.

 

[Cybercraig]

The battery simply holds the BIOS settings in memory. A dead battery will cause automatic default settings at boot-up, but it will boot up. Goota go with short or dead MB. :brokenheart:

 

[MTDEW]

I recently made an attempt to fix a friends emachine with the EXACT same mobo.

Nothing i tried could get it going. ie: battery, known good psu, mobo out of case on cardboard, reseating cpu / memory... all while shorting the startup pins to be sure it wasnt the switch....NOTHING worked.
He said he just went to turn it on one day and it just never did.
I still have it sitting here, in case i ever get any bright ideas or need the parts for someone else.

As you stated, it was so odd with the green indicator light lighting up on the board yet it wouldn't even try to start.

Anyway, i finally gave up and gave him a choice, either i'd build him a new pc or replace the mobo.
He chose to replace since it was cheaper.

I grabbed him THIS COMBO http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813135082 from Newegg and he's happy with it.
Which i dont see how, since its so slow, but people who buy emachines seem to only care about a cheap pc to surf the web with , not how fast it is i guess.

 

[wpshooter]

Originally posted by: MTDEW
I recently made an attempt to fix a friends emachine with the EXACT same mobo.

Nothing i tried could get it going. ie: battery, known good psu, mobo out of case on cardboard, reseating cpu / memory... all while shorting the startup pins to be sure it wasnt the switch....NOTHING worked.
He said he just went to turn it on one day and it just never did.
I still have it sitting here, in case i ever get any bright ideas or need the parts for someone else.

As you stated, it was so odd with the green indicator light lighting up on the board yet it wouldn't even try to start.

Anyway, i finally gave up and gave him a choice, either i'd build him a new pc or replace the mobo.
He chose to replace since it was cheaper.

I grabbed him THIS COMBO http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813135082 from Newegg and he's happy with it.
Which i dont see how, since its so slow, but people who buy emachines seem to only care about a cheap pc to surf the web with , not how fast it is i guess.

Mtdew:

I have now also obtained an Intel replacement M/B combo and put it in & tried with the old e-machine case and power supply and it STILL will not start/run !!!

I previously had tried the trick that someone had mentioned above about using screw driver to complete the power switch connection on the OLD/original motherboard that was in the machine and that did not work. I have not tried this with the new motherboard yet. Do you think I should try that on the new motherboard ?

How reliable is this method of using screw driver to complete the case connection if a problem in the case switch is suspected ?

In light of all of this, I would say the odds are on either the power supply being bad (but as I had stated earlier, I had tested the old M/B with a known good power supply and that did not work) or a bad case switch.

Other than the fact that I may have run into the remote possibility of having both the original M/B and also the replacement being bad, is there anything else I might be missing in diagnosing this problem ?

Thanks.

 

[Gillbot]

I use a screwdriver to start mine all the time.

 

[wpshooter]

Originally posted by: Gillbot
I use a screwdriver to start mine all the time.

You do just touch the screw driver to the 2 pins correct ?

You don't have to touch the 2 pins + some other grounding point do you ?

Will this still work if say the power supply is partially bad.

Thanks.

 

[wpshooter]

Originally posted by: JimiP
To test the PWRSW (Power Switch) theory, unplug the two pin plug fron the front panel header, and use a screwdriver to connect the two pins to make the contact. If the PC powers on, then you more than likely have an issue with your Power Button. Either the connection is bad there's a problem with the actual switch.

Are you sure about the reliability of this test ?

I tried this with both the old power supply that came with the system and also a KNOWN GOOD power supply and the system did not show any signs of power to any components at all.

And I have also, tried it with a KNOWN GOOD M/B and still no power to any components.

Thanks.

 

[MTDEW]

Originally posted by: wpshooter

Originally posted by: JimiP
To test the PWRSW (Power Switch) theory, unplug the two pin plug fron the front panel header, and use a screwdriver to connect the two pins to make the contact. If the PC powers on, then you more than likely have an issue with your Power Button. Either the connection is bad there's a problem with the actual switch.

Are you sure about the reliability of this test ?

I tried this with both the old power supply that came with the system and also a KNOWN GOOD power supply and the system did not show any signs of power to any components at all.

And I have also, tried it with a KNOWN GOOD M/B and still no power to any components.

Thanks.

Yes that test is 100%
All the power switch on the case does is join those two pins for a sec also to start the pc.
I use this method all the time when testing also.

You just short the two pins together with a screwdriver for a second or two and the pc should start.(dont keep them connected or it will shut right back off)