HP Pavilion p6210f keeps restarting, does not boot

[dkruciak]

We have a Pavilion p6210f that we recently replaced the power supply. It was working fine but now when we click the power button, the power light flashes, the monitor logo flashes on the screen, then the computer powers off, and the monitor goes into sleep mode. Sometimes the computer goes off and on several times (in a matter of a few seconds) before it turns off, sometimes it does it on the first try.  We never see the HP or bios screen, and the hard drive light only flashes for  a second or two. Is that an indication that the new power supply is bad? I did replace the CMOS battery, but that did not resolve the issue.

[Grzwacz]

Greetings,

Welcome back to the forum.

I am not a HP employee.

It could be a faulty new power supply. The PSU may be supplying voltage but not the correct amps to power on the system.

You could also now have a motherboard problem or the front panel power switch or power switch assembly/wiring  is failing. This could be causing a short.

Check the front panel connections on the motherboard.

A different component connected to the motherboard may be failing. Or a peripheral device is causing a problem.

Reduce the PC to a minimum configuration to see it will Power On Self Test.

Regards

[wb2001]

@dkruciak,

Why did you replace the PSU?

Quick reference to the magnitude of issues with that M2N78-LA Violet motherboard.  

From my personal archives:

FAILED series computer with M2N78 boards

(name removed)

That series motherboard was installed in many different models of HP computers. It is fraught with problems.

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware/m853​0f-desktop-PC-with-a-m2n78-la-mother-board-doesn-..

 If the system becomes 'stable", I would suggest the following info and help:

FAILED series computer with M2N78 boards

That series motherboard was installed in many different models of HP computers. It is fraught with problems.  http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware/m8530f-desktop-PC-with-a-m2n78-la-mother-board-doesn-...

Reported models with M2N78LA boards that have failed. This is not the complete list.

a4316f e9140f p5210y p6130y p6142p p6157c p6210f (Violet) p6210y p6214c p6214y p6310y Violet6

p6320y a6720y m8530f m9120y m9350fm9517cVIOLET m9530f m9840sc Slimline s5360f Violet 6.

This list is not complete.

05/26/2012 from the file:

Well, there is a work-around, but it comes with a few caveats.

The "solution" is to use a HighPoint Rocket 620 PCI-e to SATA  adapter and plug the HD and DVD into that. It has bootable support. I just did this on an HP Pavilion p6210y system.The card should cost between $25-$30. http://www.amazon.ca/HighPoint-Rocket620-SATA-PCI-Express-Controller/dp/B002VEWBGO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF...

Now, here are the caveats I've found so far:

1) The Rocket 620 only has 2 SATA ports. If all you want is to get the PC up and running again, your machine will boot up and be "normal" again. Windows 7 should have no issue with the Rocket 620.

2) You will not be able to boot from CD/DVD. This is not a big deal, if your OS is intact, or your recovery partition is intact. If not, then you're in for problems.

3) Data transfer rate will probably be slower than the onboard ports.

----------------------------------------------------------------

M2N78LA problem solutions (This is not my comment).

Here Is A Definitive Answer For Most Of Your Questions

01-26-2011 05:06 PM - last edited on 01-26-2011 05:11 PM  

My name is (name removed) and I am a certified computer bench technician. I have been trouble shooting some of the problems occurring within the stock model Violet 5.10 bios on the M2N78-LA (Violet).

1.) Are you getting no video or everything just freezes or black screen?

This is most likely because the Northbridge chipset is overheating. Hp decided to have ASUS attach an inaccurate heatsink to chipset. Had this have been an intel chip set then it would be ok. However, this chipset is the Nvidia 9100 and that means ALOT OF HEAT! Heat causes instability especially in relation to memory/chipset/CPU since they are connected by the system bus. When the chipset (BUS CONTROLLER) falls out of sync you as the user see this instability as these symptoms; No Video; Freezes under pressure "such as bootup or video games".

*SOLUTION

I have tested this and it works perfectly. Buy a 1.5" or so 12V fan and power adapter to connect to the 4 pin (White End) or make a connector yourself. then ziptie it to the clips of the heatsink on the chipset so the airflow is blowing directly onto the chipset. I would strongly reccommend you clear some working room in the chassis by removing the videocard, accessory header cables, and harddrive manifold.

*Does the computer power up but nothing happens? Black screen (no-signal)? The computer no longer makes that beep sound when you press power?

For this problem would have to occur every single time you power up for it to describe your problem. This means your computer is not Posting as indicated by the beep sound you hear when under normal circumstances would announce to say everything is ok. This is most likely to occur if your unit came with 8GB of memory and you updated your BIOS to 5.22

[Grzwacz]

Hi wb2001,

This PC is circa 2009.

Time to upgrade.

Regards

[wb2001]

@Grzwacz,

Although I knew it was circa 2009, the OP is still using it. 

Really surprised that chip has survived thermal stress for these years.

[dkruciak]

My thanks to those of you who have taken time to view my message, and thanks especially to those who have responded to my message. i want to give additional background to what happened, and the current state. The original power supply was replaced several years ago, and it was fine until the fan on the new power supply died. We were getting the "system fan has failed" message and I did not realize that it was both the case fan and the power supply fan that were inoperable. We replaced it with a Thermaltake 500W PS and again everything seemed to work for a while.  Then one day the power light was on the computer, but nothing on the screen. The power light on the Dell monitor was flashing like it was in sleep mode. Nothing would bring the computer back, mouse movement, keyboard press, a quick push of the power button. We had turned off sleep and hibernate mode, but nothing could not get the computer back.  I held down the power button till the computer shut off. In the past that problem sometimes happened and pressing the power button again would reboot the system, but not this time. I pressed the power button, the power light would come on, then the hard drive light would briefly flash, the Dell monitor logo would appear, and then the power light would go off, and the screen would go black. After a few seconds the same sequence would occur, but the computer would not boot. At some point we would leave the computer, come back later and the power light would be on, but nothing on the screen. I decided to remove all cables from the box and look at the inside of the computer for any obvious issues, but there was none. I replaced the CMOS battery but still no fix.  I also replaced the power supply with the old one, just to test, but still the same issue.  That is when i posted my inquiry to this forum, and again I am very appreciative of the posts given. I then returned the box to it's home, connected the power and monitor cables back to the computer, and pressed the power button; It took at long time to post, but finally I got to the bios screen to correct the date and time, and then the computer booted to Windows 10. It has rebooted twice since Friday, both times due to a Windows update. I am running HWinfo64 to watch the temperature of the motherboard in case that is the issue. I am not sure how to go from here on the forum, should I consider this case closed, and should I give credit to someone for their help?

[Grzwacz]

Hi,

You solved the problem.

Give yourself a solution.

Regards

[enmanueljef]

I am still having the same problem and can not get the machine to boot too.