Blinking Green Power Light - Motherboard Failed?

[DodgyTech]

Hey guys

Got a HP PC that's been working fine for over 4 years. The other day I had disconnected it to do some DIY in the room and then when I reconnected, the power light at the back of the PSU was just blining green and light inside the power button on the front was blinking too.

Opened it up and done some self diagnosis. When I disconnected the power cable to the motherboard, the blinking stopped. So I disconnected everything from the motherboard: all cables, memory sticks, jumper cables and drive cables. The problem was still there leading me to believe that the motherboard was faulty.

I know that there are some capacitors that seem a bit dodgy, but they don't look too bad. They have opened slightly, but they have been like that for some time and the PC never had any probs. still, I believe that the caps are causing the problem as I cannot see anything else wrong.

the CPU needs some thermal paste I think, but even with that removed, the blinking problem was still there.

Should i attempt fixing this myself using this guide? Capacitor Lab - Replacing Motherboard Capacitors Howto

Or should I just get a new motherboard? Mine is a MS-6577 for P4: HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Motherboard Specifications, MS-6577 (Gamila) - c00058048 - HP Business Support Center I need another motherboard for the same CPU and memory sticks. found the following: Asrock Skt-478 P4I65G S/V/L M-Atx 800Fsb: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories . is that the same? or can I get anything cheaper but reliable?

Attached are some pics of the motherboard and capacitors.

Thanks in advance guys.

 

[darcy]

First things first:
Before you go out and buy anything, Check the voltages on your Power Supply Unit
Bad caps can be caused by wrong voltages from your PSU and likewise PSUS can be damaged by the additional strain of bad caps… the last thing you want to do is damage a new motherboard by plugging it into a bad psu.
Replacing bad caps can be tricky, but if you can get them cheaply enough (try eBay) it can be done and usually will solve your problem. (Unfortunately bad caps cause strain on other parts of the circuit which can result in other parts being damaged).
Replacing the motherboard would appear to be the solution to your problems but unfortunately unless you purchase exactly the same model of motherboard then you will have to re-install the operating system and any drive images or system backups you have or were provided by the manufacturer won’t work anymore… this is because the supplied os and images is tied to the bios… (there are ways around this but I won’t discuss them here.) the other problem assuming you found a motherboard from the same oem would be driver issues…. In short if you get a different board then you will probably have to re-install windows from a windows installation disk.
If you are going to go to the bother of re-installing everything on a new motherboard then I suggest you take the opportunity to do a spot of upgrading e.g.: you could keep your existing ddr400 memory get a board with an 800 fsb and which will run a p4 3.2 ghz which you can buy on ebay for much cheapness, alternatively you could go to town and splash out on something faster altogether .
One other thing to remember when buying second hand boards from eBay is that quite often they are being sold people who have just upgraded their own system because they were having problems. Try to get some sort of guarantee otherwise you might end up buying another one with failing caps or overheated chipset etc.

Best of luck

Darcy

 

[DodgyTech]

First things first:
Before you go out and buy anything, Check the voltages on your Power Supply Unit
Bad caps can be caused by wrong voltages from your PSU and likewise PSUS can be damaged by the additional strain of bad caps… the last thing you want to do is damage a new motherboard by plugging it into a bad psu.
Replacing bad caps can be tricky, but if you can get them cheaply enough (try eBay) it can be done and usually will solve your problem. (Unfortunately bad caps cause strain on other parts of the circuit which can result in other parts being damaged).
Replacing the motherboard would appear to be the solution to your problems but unfortunately unless you purchase exactly the same model of motherboard then you will have to re-install the operating system and any drive images or system backups you have or were provided by the manufacturer won’t work anymore… this is because the supplied os and images is tied to the bios… (there are ways around this but I won’t discuss them here.) the other problem assuming you found a motherboard from the same oem would be driver issues…. In short if you get a different board then you will probably have to re-install windows from a windows installation disk.
If you are going to go to the bother of re-installing everything on a new motherboard then I suggest you take the opportunity to do a spot of upgrading e.g.: you could keep your existing ddr400 memory get a board with an 800 fsb and which will run a p4 3.2 ghz which you can buy on ebay for much cheapness, alternatively you could go to town and splash out on something faster altogether .
One other thing to remember when buying second hand boards from eBay is that quite often they are being sold people who have just upgraded their own system because they were having problems. Try to get some sort of guarantee otherwise you might end up buying another one with failing caps or overheated chipset etc.

Best of luck

Darcy

Thanks darcy. Some food for thought. My Windows XP was preinstalled, so if I get a different motherboard, I'll deffo have to reinstall?

Will have to check the PSU just to be on the safe side

 

[DodgyTech]

First things first:
Before you go out and buy anything, Check the voltages on your Power Supply Unit
Bad caps can be caused by wrong voltages from your PSU and likewise PSUS can be damaged by the additional strain of bad caps… the last thing you want to do is damage a new motherboard by plugging it into a bad psu.
Replacing bad caps can be tricky, but if you can get them cheaply enough (try eBay) it can be done and usually will solve your problem. (Unfortunately bad caps cause strain on other parts of the circuit which can result in other parts being damaged).
Replacing the motherboard would appear to be the solution to your problems but unfortunately unless you purchase exactly the same model of motherboard then you will have to re-install the operating system and any drive images or system backups you have or were provided by the manufacturer won’t work anymore… this is because the supplied os and images is tied to the bios… (there are ways around this but I won’t discuss them here.) the other problem assuming you found a motherboard from the same oem would be driver issues…. In short if you get a different board then you will probably have to re-install windows from a windows installation disk.
If you are going to go to the bother of re-installing everything on a new motherboard then I suggest you take the opportunity to do a spot of upgrading e.g.: you could keep your existing ddr400 memory get a board with an 800 fsb and which will run a p4 3.2 ghz which you can buy on ebay for much cheapness, alternatively you could go to town and splash out on something faster altogether .
One other thing to remember when buying second hand boards from eBay is that quite often they are being sold people who have just upgraded their own system because they were having problems. Try to get some sort of guarantee otherwise you might end up buying another one with failing caps or overheated chipset etc.

Best of luck

Darcy

The caps in the PSU look fine. I tried the Motherboard in another base, only connected the motherboard up to the PSU in there and connected the Heatsink fan so that I'd know if it powered up and nothing happened when I pressed the power button. The PSU has no green light at the back so no tell tale blinking and there was no light on at the front.

Guess I gotta replace the motherboard, but what can I do to get around reinstalling XP?

 

[DodgyTech]

I think I'm okay to change the motherboard because I can just go through the activation from what I've been reading.

I have Windows XP OEM.

Just spoke to someone from Microsoft and she said it's okay to change the motherboard but I don't think she understood that it was an OEM version.

 

[darcy]

so if I get a different motherboard, I'll deffo have to reinstall?

I am afraid so.
The alternative involves modifying bios files (dangerous) or pirating your operating system (usually results in it failing genuine advantage) and then uninstalling/ reinstalling all of the drivers and possibly some of your programs… and if you do all that you will still probably have problems.
The best thing to do right now, (assuming you are going to be changing the motherboard) is to remove your hard drive and connect it as a slave drive to another pc (or use an external caddy if you have one) that way you can copy/ backup all of your documents, music ,pictures, email etc. before you format the drive.
(you don’t have to format the drive, you could just reinstall windows over the top of the old version and keep your files but you will get better results if you format the drive)
Once you have installed windows, install the drivers from the manufacturer’s website (even if windows drivers are already installed) in this order chipset, video, sound, net, other. If the board requires a separate agp driver install it after the chipset driver. Run windows update, restart and repeat until windows is up to date then install an antivirus solution and update it .
At this point you can connect the computer with the new motherboard to the one you backed up your files on to and transfer them back via lan.


Darcy

 

[darcy]

you are quick at typingroud:

to go through the activation again... means reinstalling windows from windows disk and entering the number from your label. which is correct but most manufacturers dont supply a windows disk they supply an image which will load windows without going through activation.

 

[DodgyTech]

you are quick at typingroud:

to go through the activation again... means reinstalling windows from windows disk and entering the number from your label. which is correct but most manufacturers dont supply a windows disk they supply an image which will load windows without going through activation.

lol yeah well when I'm in trouble, I become obsessive lol

Anyway, what I'll have to do is just connect it into another computer and transfer what I need to my laptop.

The Computer has recovery DVD's so do you reckon I could use them if I get another motherboard?

 

[darcy]

if one of your recovery cds says " windows operating system" on it then possibly. put them in your laptop and see what’s on them.
As far as your Psu is concerned …I should have said… “PLEASE DON’T TAKE THE LID OFF OF IT”,
Please put the lid back on now carefully and make Sure not to short anything out…THE PARTS INSIDE ARE VERY DAINGEROUS AND CAN HOLD A CHARGE EVEN WHEN THE POWER HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED. DO NOT PLUG IT IN WITH THE LID OFF!!!That being said… when I said “check the voltages on the psu”, I meant with a multi-metre at the molex connectors as you can’t always tell if something is working or not by looking.
Sorry for shouting but I just realised that I don’t know what ability’s you have.. you may be an electrical engineer for all I know but then again this might be the first time you have opened a power supply … if it’s the latter then please be very, very careful the voltages inside power supplies can kill .

look here for the correct voltages
http://pinouts.ru/Power/atx_v2_pinout.shtml

Darcy

 

[DodgyTech]

if one of your recovery cds says " windows operating system" on it then possibly. put them in your laptop and see what’s on them.
As far as your Psu is concerned …I should have said… “PLEASE DON’T TAKE THE LID OFF OF IT”,
Please put the lid back on now carefully and make Sure not to short anything out…THE PARTS INSIDE ARE VERY DAINGEROUS AND CAN HOLD A CHARGE EVEN WHEN THE POWER HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED. DO NOT PLUG IT IN WITH THE LID OFF!!!That being said… when I said “check the voltages on the psu”, I meant with a multi-metre at the molex connectors as you can’t always tell if something is working or not by looking.
Sorry for shouting but I just realised that I don’t know what ability’s you have.. you may be an electrical engineer for all I know but then again this might be the first time you have opened a power supply … if it’s the latter then please be very, very careful the voltages inside power supplies can kill .

look here for the correct voltages
ATX (ATX12V) 24 pin power supply connector pinout and wiring @ pinouts.ru

Darcy

I can't understand you because I'm now dead! roud:

Yeah I thought that the PSU could still be dangerous inside so I didn't poke about, but thanks for the warning, as it wasn't my main concern

The recovery DVD is just a normal one that is created when I first set up the computer. I had to create it myself.

What I'm doing now is using the other HP pc in my house which I forgot was the same model as mine. So what I'm going to do is transfer over everything I need to my laptop then try get a motherboard.

Let's hope that the donor PC works :Fish:

 

[DodgyTech]

Good news. It works and has loaded up without any problems. Time to start backing up what I need and look to getting a replacement motherboard

 

[DodgyTech]

if one of your recovery cds says " windows operating system" on it then possibly. put them in your laptop and see what’s on them.
As far as your Psu is concerned …I should have said… “PLEASE DON’T TAKE THE LID OFF OF IT”,
Please put the lid back on now carefully and make Sure not to short anything out…THE PARTS INSIDE ARE VERY DAINGEROUS AND CAN HOLD A CHARGE EVEN WHEN THE POWER HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED. DO NOT PLUG IT IN WITH THE LID OFF!!!That being said… when I said “check the voltages on the psu”, I meant with a multi-metre at the molex connectors as you can’t always tell if something is working or not by looking.
Sorry for shouting but I just realised that I don’t know what ability’s you have.. you may be an electrical engineer for all I know but then again this might be the first time you have opened a power supply … if it’s the latter then please be very, very careful the voltages inside power supplies can kill .

look here for the correct voltages
ATX (ATX12V) 24 pin power supply connector pinout and wiring @ pinouts.ru

Darcy

Thanks for the pin connectors link btw

 

[darcy]

Glad to hear that you are still alive Pimped.:thumbsup:

I just suddenly remembered reading this horrible story and could picture myself as the guy who told the boy to, “Find a way to cool the power supply”.

“A 14 year old boy from Brevard, North Carolina was nearly killed Sunday while trying to stop his Xbox 360 from overheating.
The boy’s mother told local news that his Xbox 360 kept turning itself off after about 5 minutes. Her son had read online that he could stop it from cutting off by cooling the power supply. “I saw him put the cord on top of a box in the living room”, said the boy’s mother. “When I left to go next door he was playing a game but when I got back he was laying on his back on the floor and unconscious”.
While his mother was away the boy had taken the power supply and wrapped it in plastic and tape. In an attempt to cool it off, he submerged it into a pan of water with the cord still plugged in. “

Anyway back to the topic at hand.
If you didn’t get a windows disk with your pc then you might have got one with your laptop or another pc… if not then ask around one of your friends or neighbours will have a copy. Make sure to get one that matches the operating system as printed on the Microsoft serial label on your pc eg: home edition or professional edition etc.
Alternatively you could download the disk from the internet but if you do then make sure that you get an untouched original retail copy otherwise you might end up with pre-installed nasty things (better to borrow the disk if you can)
Another thing you might want to do while you are waiting for your motherboard to arrive is download the service pack updates for your operating system from Microsoft and save them on to a cd ready to install… this will save you hours of update time after you have installed windows. (actually this depends on what windows disk you manage to get some have sp3 slipstreamed into them and others could be sp2 sp1 or original xp)

Hopefully that is enough info for you to be getting on with.

Darcy

 

[DodgyTech]

Glad to hear that you are still alive Pimped.:thumbsup:

I just suddenly remembered reading this horrible story and could picture myself as the guy who told the boy to, “Find a way to cool the power supply”.

“A 14 year old boy from Brevard, North Carolina was nearly killed Sunday while trying to stop his Xbox 360 from overheating.
The boy’s mother told local news that his Xbox 360 kept turning itself off after about 5 minutes. Her son had read online that he could stop it from cutting off by cooling the power supply. “I saw him put the cord on top of a box in the living room”, said the boy’s mother. “When I left to go next door he was playing a game but when I got back he was laying on his back on the floor and unconscious”.
While his mother was away the boy had taken the power supply and wrapped it in plastic and tape. In an attempt to cool it off, he submerged it into a pan of water with the cord still plugged in. “

Anyway back to the topic at hand.
If you didn’t get a windows disk with your pc then you might have got one with your laptop or another pc… if not then ask around one of your friends or neighbours will have a copy. Make sure to get one that matches the operating system as printed on the Microsoft serial label on your pc eg: home edition or professional edition etc.
Alternatively you could download the disk from the internet but if you do then make sure that you get an untouched original retail copy otherwise you might end up with pre-installed nasty things (better to borrow the disk if you can)
Another thing you might want to do while you are waiting for your motherboard to arrive is download the service pack updates for your operating system from Microsoft and save them on to a cd ready to install… this will save you hours of update time after you have installed windows. (actually this depends on what windows disk you manage to get some have sp3 slipstreamed into them and others could be sp2 sp1 or original xp)

Hopefully that is enough info for you to be getting on with.

Darcy

Cheers Darcy. Just glad I didn't poke around inside as there was nothing stopping me!!

So what could I use the windows cd for? Windows repair installation? If that's the case, I think my recovery DVD allows a windows reinstall without touching my data. I think I lose my programs though which isn't a big loss. But don't think that will be useful when there's a new mo'bo in play.

damn, back to square one lol

 

[oneman]

If your new motherboard has the same chipset the chances are you won't need a reinstallation. Win7 seems more tolerant to hardware changes as well so it will be worth plugging it in and seeing what happens.

Regardless, always good to have a backup of your data, next time it could be your hard disk going pop.

 

[darcy]

Ok, i think i am going around in circles here but…
Your recovery cds won’t work; they will only work if you use them on the original motherboard or an identical one
Unless you are planning to get an identical motherboard (same make same model same bios) then you must reinstall windows from a windows cd

Darcy

 

[DodgyTech]

Ok, i think i am going around in circles here but…
Your recovery cds won’t work; they will only work if you use them on the original motherboard or an identical one
Unless you are planning to get an identical motherboard (same make same model same bios) then you must reinstall windows from a windows cd

Darcy

No you're not going around in circles mate, it's just late and I'm a daft tw*t lol.

lol I get you now; hence why you said I should look for a copy which is similar to my version!!

My stuff is backed up regularly so no probs there. I'll have a go at MS if they try telling me that I have to pay if there are any probs activating

 

[ManofScience]

Day off today let me know if u want me to dig something out on thurs



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DodgyTech]

Day off today let me know if u want me to dig something out on thurs



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If it's not too much trouble that would be appreciated mate.

I need it as similarly shaped as mine. I think 24cm x 24cm.

Socket 478
3 x pci slots
2 x DDR

The headers on left are aux, usb, audio and power
Built in SATA is a bonus

Let me know what you want for it. Don't worry if you can't get it or if it's too much trouble mate

 

[ManofScience]

pretty bang on , check it

24cmx24cm, 4 DDR slots, 3 PCI, 2 SATA and u can even have the old processor

 

[DodgyTech]

OOOOOH, that's brill mate!! PM Sent.

Is it better that it's got 4 DDR slots?