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- Re: computer won't post

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08-24-2009 05:55 PM
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08-24-2009 06:30 PM
I'm also a PC repair tech and have been battling with the same problem for almost a month, expect it's happening for me on a much older HP Pavillion 760n (Intel Pentium 4). But the fact the fact it's HP says a lot, even before they acquired Compaq, HP has been cutting corners and making computers with mediocre parts. As a result, their machines don't last as long when compared to other brands, and I don't think that's just a coincedence.
HP recently got hit with some hard news: Lower-than-expected sales for the 3rd quarter of 2009. Allowing Dell Inc. to surpass them in the US by a small margin of 0.3%. (And Acer surpassed them in Europe). It's not that big a deal, but I hope HP looks long and hard at what they're doing wrong and improves their overall quality. And until they do, I wouldn't recommend their products to you or anyone
But enough about that. Let's look at your problem.
When you hook up a pair of speakers, do you get beeps? How many beeps? Long or short?
My first impression is the motherboard is partly dead, especially if dust was in the CPU socket or clogging the heatsink, that all serves to suspect the motherboard. Or perhaps the CPU is fried.
Worst case scenario, both the CPU and the board are fried, but don't panic yet! 🙂 Let's hope that's not what happened here!
Have you tried swapping or reseating the RAM, for example?
08-24-2009 06:30 PM
I'm also a PC repair tech and have been battling with the same problem for almost a month, expect it's happening for me on a much older HP Pavillion 760n (Intel Pentium 4). But the fact the fact it's HP says a lot, even before they acquired Compaq, HP has been cutting corners and making computers with mediocre parts. As a result, their machines don't last as long when compared to other brands, and I don't think that's just a coincedence.
HP recently got hit with some hard news: Lower-than-expected sales for the 3rd quarter of 2009. Allowing Dell Inc. to surpass them in the US by a small margin of 0.3%. (And Acer surpassed them in Europe). It's not that big a deal, but I hope HP looks long and hard at what they're doing wrong and improves their overall quality. And until they do, I wouldn't recommend their products to you or anyone
But enough about that. Let's look at your problem.
When you hook up a pair of speakers, do you get beeps? How many beeps? Long or short?
My first impression is the motherboard is partly dead, especially if dust was in the CPU socket or clogging the heatsink, that all serves to suspect the motherboard. Or perhaps the CPU is fried.
Worst case scenario, both the CPU and the board are fried, but don't panic yet! 🙂 Let's hope that's not what happened here!
Have you tried swapping or reseating the RAM, for example?
08-24-2009 07:38 PM
08-24-2009 08:28 PM
Sounds like a dead CPU after all, you should give yourself more credit, it seems like you figured this out by yourself. 🙂
That motherboard uses AM2 processors, they go on eBay for at least $60 - $70 (don't be fooled by the price gougers asking $300+). Once you add labor, your customer's looking at a hefty bill. Do you know if it's under warranty? If it is HP should fix it for free, but I wouldn't count too much on that.
It's hard to find AM2 cpus locally (Craigslist for example) and you risk buying a damaged cpu, unless you test it first, or get a receipt / warranty on it.
08-25-2009 12:57 AM - edited 08-25-2009 05:08 PM
Yes, you did list Power supply as one of the components you've ruled out, but did you make sure to use at least a 350W power supply? An AM2 board will draw a lot of power, plus the video card is another 75W. (you might want to take that out for some of your tests)
It's unlikely that it's the PSU, but it still has to be ruled out, because it would be embarrassing to say the least, if the customer orders the CPU, only to find out it wasn't the source of the problem.
Be honest with the owner, tell him it can only be 2 things: the PSU or the CPU. If necessary, ask him to go with you to buy the PSU first, since that's the cheaper of the two. (and he can always return the PSU, if he saves the receipt).
If there's a Fry's Electronics in your city, I recommend buying the PSU there, because they have great prices on both new and refurbished hardware, and they have a 30-day return policy, no questions asked. They also carry Socket AM2 CPUs, so you can get one there if the Power supply doesn't solve the problem.
Please post back here what you find out, it will help other desktop owners with the same issue.
08-25-2009 04:11 AM
Have you tried
1) reseating the memory modules.
2) use a bootable Linux Live CD. If the PC boots up into LINUX, then the hard drive has an issue.
3) disconnect the hard disk connector (IDE or SATA) and letting it attempt to boot. Hard disks can fail. That is where your recovery partition 😧 is located. Try another hard drive.
As a PC repair technician, you will need to have 1) a Bootable Linux Live distribution CD 2) an Emergency Boot disk with utilities to troubleshoot issues
regards,
erico
I am a volunteer forum member. If my suggestion solved your issue, help others by marking that post as the accepted solution. Say thanks by clicking on the Yes button next to the "was this reply helpful?"
08-25-2009 04:53 PM
08-25-2009 05:06 PM
08-25-2009 05:24 PM - edited 08-25-2009 05:28 PM
Collieman5,
Sorry for the confusion, what I was really curious about is what wattage was the PSU you used in your tests, as long as it was 350W, it probably would've booted okay, had that been the problem.
In this business, you can never be to careful. (i.e. My HP 760n turned out to have a bad PSU)
Here's an AMD X2 4450e (2.3Ghz) for $53 with a 3yr warranty, from Fry's website. There's also several other CPUs on that page, most are Socket AM2, some are faster, but more expensive. You get the idea though
Hope that helps!
Edit: Once you've fixed it, don't forget to click "resolved", in your post options
