[Oddysee]

My computer, the tower won’t turn on at all. No fans, lights, nothing. About a month ago the computer turned off and I couldn't turn it back on. Then after 5 minutes it worked again.

I tested the leads. The power supply and the switch (switched them both over with a working computer I have)

I would call myself an advanced user. However I am not a pro like quite a lot of people on here. I'm guessing it's the motherboard. Anyone have any ideas?

The computer is 6 years old.

The specs of my computer:

120 GB hard drive
1.25GB DDR Ram
CDRW
DVD ROM
Intel Pentium 4
Motherboard is unknown

This computer is perfect for what I use it for. Mainly E-mails, On-line shopping, Sports forums etc. If it is the motherboard. I would like to replace it myself. I don't want to send it to a computer shop because I know they will charge over £100 to replace a motherboard. As the computer is at least 6 years old. Could someone suggest a cheap but decent motherboard for my spec? Thanks in advance!

Edited by Oddysee, 14 March 2009 - 02:48 PM.

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<snip>... and the switch

What switch is this? Are you saying you took the Power-on switch from the computer case and tested it in another computer?

[makai]

<snip>... and the switch

What switch is this? Are you saying you took the Power-on switch from the computer case and tested it in another computer?

[Oddysee]

What switch is this? Are you saying you took the Power-on switch from the computer case and tested it in another computer?

Yeah. My little dog peed on the front of the case where the on switch is about 2 years ago. So I changed the switch over with a working computer. It still didn't work. I tried the switch from the broken computer on my working computer and it turned it on with no problems. The switch from the working computer couldn't turn the broken computer on either. So I know the switch is working fine.

I'm talking about the switch on the front of the PC. Not the switch on the power supply. I've tested the power supply and that works fine too.

[makai]

Yeah. My little dog peed on the front of the case where the on switch is about 2 years ago

Well, I hope you cleaned the switch!

You might be right about it being the motherboard. ATX power supplies require that the motherboard provide a short between 2 pins of the 20(or 24pin) connector. This allows the PSU to sense that it's connected and thus allow it to turn on. Since you swapped PSUs, then you must have removed/replaced the 20(24pin) connector at least twice which rules out it being just a bad connection at the connector. Of course if the connector on the motherboard side is bad, then again, we're left with a bad motherboard.

What you might try is to remove the bios battery and leave it out at least 5 minutes, then reinsert it and power up again. This will reset the bios and it wouldn't be the first time a bios needed restting.

This kind of problem only points to a few things. The PSU, motherboard, case power switch, or AC plug/power stip. From the symptoms you describe, I would think it was PSU, but from what you did to troubleshoot, it sure looks like the MB.

[PcTestCard]

I would suggest check the capacitors on the mainboard.
Check to see if any of the capacitors are leaked or expanded.

Hope this helps!
Bill
tech manager
www.PcTestCard.com

[Oddysee]

What you might try is to remove the bios battery and leave it out at least 5 minutes, then reinsert it and power up again.

I actually changed the battery for a new one. I'll take it out and leave it for 10 mins and see what happens.

I would suggest check the capacitors on the mainboard.
Check to see if any of the capacitors are leaked or expanded.

I will do this also.

Thanks for the replies. I'll post back once I've done them.

[Oddysee]

Nope. still don't work. Any other ideas guys?

PS: Checked the capacitors they all look fine. Can't see any burns or marks on the motherboard either.

Edited by Oddysee, 15 March 2009 - 04:21 AM.

[makai]

It's not looking good at all. I guess the last ditch effort is to strip the motherboard... including the processor and reseat everything. Also remove power connections to all HDD, DVD and floppy drives, and remove the IDE cables from the motherboard.

Reinstall only the processor, ram (one stick at a time if you have two modules), vid card, keyboard, mouse, monitor... then try to power up again. You may as well change the AC cord and power strip to eliminate all possibilities. I would say to pull the motherboard out of the case when you do all this, but I can't imagine something working all this time if the motherboard was shorting to the case somewhere.

If you still can't get anything to power up, the pull vid card, and ram and try again. They could also be a source of problems, so removing them would eliminate that possiblility.

If it still doesn't work, it looks like a dead motherboard.

Is there nothing to identify the motherboard? Manufactures normally stencil a number on the board somewhere or place a small sticker somewhere. Look in the corners near the PCI slots, or near the Southbridge. In fact, can you post a photo of the motherboard?

Edited by makai, 15 March 2009 - 11:13 AM.

[Oddysee]

I will try what you said and post up the results. If this doesn't work I'll post a picture of the motherboard.

[Oddysee]

I did what you said and still no luck.

Heres two pictures of my motherboard. The computer is a Medion. The Medion ID number is. 11109050010152. If you go to http://www.medion.co.uk/. You can enter that number in there "service and support" and get all the drivers for this computer. Hope that helps?

Motherboard picture

Motherboard picture 2]

Edited by Oddysee, 15 March 2009 - 01:15 PM.

[makai]

Right by the 20 connector (and other places) you look to have bad capacitors. Look at the top and you can see how they're buldging. Compare the caps around the board and you'll notice some tops are flat, some are buldging. You will definitely need to replace the motherboard unless you have someone who can replace the caps for you. No garuantee that new caps will be stable as the voltage regulators may already be flaky. Thanks for posting the photos!

Edited by makai, 15 March 2009 - 02:34 PM.

[Oddysee]

No, thank you for helping me.

Could you recommend me a motherboard? I don't want to spend much money on it as it's an old computer but perfect for my computer needs.

What specs would I need for the motherboard? I don't know much about them tbh. I know it's a cheek but could you pick out a couple that would be compatible with the parts I have on Ebay or otherwise?

[makai]

Where are you located? Medion seems to be a UK company. I'm asking because I don't know where to look for a suitable replacement. You can still get new motherboards for P4 CPUs, although the choices will be very limited and you might pay a premium price. Ebay will probably be your best option. You do have to understand that with the age of P4, and the fact that Abit, Asus, and obviously Medion, among other manufactures, all had some model motherboards that used cheap Chinese capacitors... so, you may end up in the same place in 6 months. Of course, you could get lucky and the board may last several years.

Once I find out your location, I'll look around. Also, what are you thinking about as far as price goes?

[Oddysee]

Yeah as you gathered, I'm in the UK. England to be precise. I was hoping to spend no more than £30 (the less the better). That's about $42. Mainly because it's such an old PC, but it's perfect for my computer needs.

I forgot to mention in the specs for my computer. It has a 128 MB graphics card. So I don't need a motherboard with onboard graphics. I have an old soundcard somewhere too. Although I prefer on board sound.

Thanks a lot for your help.

[Oddysee]

I typed in "Medion" on ebay and looks through the parts. This motherboard looks excatly like mine.

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...bayphotohosting

The model number of the one he's selling is: MS-6719 Mine is MS-6701

Heres a list of Medion motherboards. http://www.elhvb.com...dion/index.html