m8530f desktop PC with a m2n78-la mother board doesn't see my drives

[chewybtc]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I was unable to fix anything with my GPU temps or the CPU stock fan reving up and down after 4 MOBO swaps under warranty.  Hp has decided to replace my PC with a new model.

Took a bunch of work and research but atleast HP came thru in the end.  Good luck to everyone out of warranty.

[Esteem_CH]

I joined this thread to report the same problem I encountered with my p6210y that I bought 14 months ago. The problem started last week. It froze at splash screen when powered on. Neither the optical drive nor hard drive recognized by BIOS. BIOS reset to default, still neither drive was picked up. I took it to a PC repair shop and technician told me immediately without even doing any diagnostic that it is motherboard problem. He said he has got five HP machines in last week with same problem and he is very much familiar with what is going on with my machine. He suggested me to call HP and ask if they are doing recall. I called HP, they acknowledged that there are high number of calls for this problem but not yet to a point where they will initiate a recall.

[bomberbob]

People can't sit and patiently wait for enough failures to rack up for HP to do something. They are dropping like flies, but if everyone doesn't call and complain, then HP doesn't get the true number of casualties, and nothing will ever get done.

Those involved can do what they feel prudent, my motherboard went in the trash, I replaced it with another brand. If HP comes back later and wants to do a recall or something, I crossed that bridge a long time ago. Look how long this thread has been spinning.

I guess for the ones that still hold out for HP to help, keep those cards and letters coming.

[Leijona79]

This is my contribution to the topic... I bought HP Pavilion Elite m9844sc desktop in November 2009, and this week (five months after warranty expired) it just stopped working -> Biohd-2 error. SATA connection is lost, I have tried with three different HDD (including a brand new that I bought yesterday) in all SATA ports. BIOS doesn't find even my DVD drive... In the evening of "meltdown" some of the fans started to keep very strong noise inside the case, for about one minute or so. After that, computer rebooted itself and got stuck in BIOS. After that, I was able to start windows only once next morning, but it ran only half an hour before freezing. Now, nothing... I'm not sure should I call them (HP) or order a new mother board right away... I think this was the last time I bought HP.

[tmukari]

Same problem here. Computer is HP m9840sc but motherboard same m2n78-la, bios does not find any disks and does not boot. New motherboard ordered. 4 monts after warranty exipired.

[bomberbob]

This is probably my last post, I anticipate getting labeled a troublemaker and banned from the forum.

In HP's defense, if they do not know there is a problem (or do not know the full extent of the problem), then they will not do anything about it. Posting here allows you to share information and unload frustration, but to get the problem fixed you have to pick up the phone and call HP. Tell them you are the registered owner, the unit failed right after the warranty expired, and ethically you think they owe you something in compensation for a design defect. Waranty covers defects in workmanship, that is not what this problem is. Their engineering staff miscalculated the heat dissipation required for that chip.  

Consider the numbers: if they built 10,000 of these PCs, and only a dozen people complain, thats pretty good fallout.

If you replace the motherboard with a direct replacement (from HP), put a cooling fan on the NVIDIA chip, or the new one will last about the same as the first one. Put your fingers on that heatsink, it gets so hot you can't keep your fingers on it. That chip cannot sustain that heat indefinitely.

[anhca]

I got the same problem this week!

My HP Pavilion P6214y (PD# NY62AA#ABA) with m2n78-la board

http://whp-java.extweb.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01905330&tmp_track_link=ot_recdoc/c01635734...

BIOS does not detect SATA, there is no IDE  slot,  so it's unless, you can not do anything!!

I plan to replace with

ASUS M4A785-M AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

[HBarajas]

I’m having the same problem with a Pavilion p6310y.  I talked to HP for over an hour on the phone- a supervisor as well and I also informed them of this thread.  The PC itself is not mine; it belongs to one of my father’s co-workers.  It’s out of warranty (ended 2010-08-26).  The problem is the same as others on here no SATA devices detected (m2n78-la paragon motherboard DDR3 version). 

I tried different cables; drives, BIOS reset, and confirmed the existing drives work on a different computer. 

If you all HP apparently some CSRs are aware of an issue with a previous Paragon motherboard (a recall existed) but it was not this particular model-  so far HP has not acknowledged. 

Now I have to tell him that HP Customer Service has no real solutions for him-  I will present him with an option of a different motherboard to replace his existing... Does anyone have information on which power adapter is needed for the GA-MA785GM-US2H?  We will of course have a problem with Windows7... another issue in itself.

I build/repair PCs and I recommend them to others... I am actually very disappointed in their service now.  We should start writing certified letters to their HQ... hopefully someone will take notice.  I'm not sure if BBB complaints will work in this case (seems like a large scale problem).... I'm going to reach out to friends on Facebook/social media sites too, they might have a dead HP PC sitting in their bedrooms with the same problem from the same MOBO.  Do we have any lists that show which models carried this motherboard? 

Good luck to everyone... I can no longer recommend HP to my clients and friends.

[HBarajas]

Just realized the board in this HP is a DDR3 M2N78-LA not DDR2.  So the alternative listed would not work.  GA-880GM-UD2H seems to be a DDR3 version with 4 slots and AM3 support.  Has anyone tried this board?

[tmukari]

I replaced my MoBo with original M2N78-LA (AM3/DDR3 version) available in eBay (China/HongKong). Windows booted directly from the original hard disk without reinstallation but required new activation. MoBo came with a small fan suitable on top of the problematic NVidia chip. Hope it will last longer now.