[katied]

Hi All,

I have an E-machine T5026 that all of a sudden would not power on at all. We replaced the 300W PSU with a 480W from Logisys. Still nothing, no fans, no signs of life. Ironically, AFTER the PSU was replaced, I read how to test the old PSU with a paper clip and the green and black pins, and the old PSU powered up like that. I'm wondering if it's the motherboard and how to tell for sure. Nothing looks obviously blown, but I don't know much about motherboards. The mobo LED light is on, but I don't know if that means much.

Here's what I've tried, all to no avail:
1) replace PSU;
2) unseat & re-seat all memory one by one and try powering on with each change
3) disconnecting optical drives, hard drive one by one and try powering on with each change
4) manually bridging the power-on pins with a screwdriver (in case it was just the power button)

Oh - this probably means something - a couple of nights before the PC wouldn't turn on, we heard strange beeps that we couldn't identify - in hindsight those were probably coming from the PC. That PC was always left on, and no one was actually using it when we heard the beeps; it was a day or 2 before someone wanted to use it, but it wouldn't 'wake' and hasn't started since. I'm not sure how many beeps there were, but I think we heard just a couple of long-ish tones, but hours apart. I wish I could remember better.

I know it's an old machine & probably just needs to go. Burner doesn't work anymore; card reader is iffy, etc. I just want to save the HD data. Is it likely still there even if the mobo is shot? Should I just get an SATA/USB Adapter and try to save the data that way?

Thanks in advance and sorry this is so long....I'm just hoping for help!

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Ok. Hopefully this might help. I will give some troubleshooting tips for this. I will start with the most basic and work my way down. I don't know what your level of computer use is anything I post below your level of computer knowledge please excuse, I am not trying to insult your intelligence.



1. The first thing I would do is go over every single switch on the computer again. Ensure that no switch got turned off accidentaly. Make sure the front switch is getting turned on properly, ensure the back power switch is turned on, and if you plug into a power strip ensure that it's also turned on.

2. If you use a powerstrip and it was one, ensure that the power strip is not blown out and ensure that your main wall outlet that you plug the computer into has power going through it. You can probably plug a lamp or what not in and see or you can take a volt meter to ensure it has proper voltage. I would also take the computer to another outlet and plut it in.

3. On the power supply unit ensure that it is set to the correct input voltage. It could be set for foriegn voltage.

4. Look at your power cable. Ensure that it is seated correctly. If it's a old computer then there is always the possiblity of it not seating correctly. It should be the normal three prong power cord and you can buy those almost anywhere for cheap even probably walmart. If you happen to have another computer then you can use that one or maybe borrow one from a friend for a few minutes just to test it.

5. Next I would check to ensure the power supply is working correctly. But you said it was working so skip this step.

6. Check the power button on the front of the computer. This might actually be the issue even though it's not the most common issue. But if the power button up front is fried then you will not get any light or anything so it's worth a try. You should be able to take it out, turn the button to the one position, and if it's working then you should get current.

7. If all else fails then it might be your motherboard even though I don't think that's it because you should be at least getting lights.

8. If none of this works then you can get a hard drive enclosure, put your hard drive in there, and retrieve your date.

[bigdogc23]

Ok. Hopefully this might help. I will give some troubleshooting tips for this. I will start with the most basic and work my way down. I don't know what your level of computer use is anything I post below your level of computer knowledge please excuse, I am not trying to insult your intelligence.



1. The first thing I would do is go over every single switch on the computer again. Ensure that no switch got turned off accidentaly. Make sure the front switch is getting turned on properly, ensure the back power switch is turned on, and if you plug into a power strip ensure that it's also turned on.

2. If you use a powerstrip and it was one, ensure that the power strip is not blown out and ensure that your main wall outlet that you plug the computer into has power going through it. You can probably plug a lamp or what not in and see or you can take a volt meter to ensure it has proper voltage. I would also take the computer to another outlet and plut it in.

3. On the power supply unit ensure that it is set to the correct input voltage. It could be set for foriegn voltage.

4. Look at your power cable. Ensure that it is seated correctly. If it's a old computer then there is always the possiblity of it not seating correctly. It should be the normal three prong power cord and you can buy those almost anywhere for cheap even probably walmart. If you happen to have another computer then you can use that one or maybe borrow one from a friend for a few minutes just to test it.

5. Next I would check to ensure the power supply is working correctly. But you said it was working so skip this step.

6. Check the power button on the front of the computer. This might actually be the issue even though it's not the most common issue. But if the power button up front is fried then you will not get any light or anything so it's worth a try. You should be able to take it out, turn the button to the one position, and if it's working then you should get current.

7. If all else fails then it might be your motherboard even though I don't think that's it because you should be at least getting lights.

8. If none of this works then you can get a hard drive enclosure, put your hard drive in there, and retrieve your date.

[D-Berd]

Try this, pull the power and ribbon cables from the cd/dvd player, The hard drive and (if one is present ) the floppy drive. Leave one stick of ram and the video card in the board. If there are any additional cards plugged into the mother board such as sound card or modem then remove them as well. Now try to power on the pc.

If that doesn't work then pull the video card, the stick of ram and the cmos battery out and try again.

If you have no luck then put everything back together and try one last time.

You can probably find a replacement mother board on line if you feel the need to fix the pc.

[katied]

Thanks, I appreciate the advice & am not insulted at all. I am no tech wiz with the inner workings, but do have some basic knowledge. I did change outlets, the actual power cord, double checked PSU is set to 115, etc., so I think that stuff is fine. Re: # 6) if it's the power button, wouldn't removing that from the board and jumping the connections with a screwdriver have worked to power up?

I did pull most everything from the board, but removed things one by one, not everything at once, so I'll try it the way D-Berd suggests. I also removed the CMOS battery and left it out a couple of hours, but everything else was connected when I did that.

Thanks again!

[phillpower2]

Should you need to find a replacement MB here are the details http://www.emachines...ies&model=T5026
Did you do the basic test with the paper clip on the replacement PSU, it is not unheard of for new ones to be bad.

The mobo LED light is on, but I don't know if that means much.

This only means that the MB is getting power from the +5V rail on the PSU.
I suspect the MB is bad and because there is no life in the case fan or HDD etc it may possibly be the 20 pin main board connection that has failed.
While researching the specs for your computer I noticed that there are many threads concerning MB failure in your particular model emachine;

The T-5026 was actually built by eMachines Tri-Gem... and were plentiful for a while. You are "luckier" than most to have it last so long. The motherboards are not actually built by Intel. They are Intel designs which worked well, but these in eMachines were built under license by then Tri-Gem of Korea. There are 27 boards Tri-Gem built or modified, and nearly all of them have incredibly high failure rates...

If you take those 27 boards and compare them with the industry as a whole, they have the highest failure rate in the entire industry... There are 7 of these boards that have/had failure rates above 65 percent in the first 27 months.

The above quote is from a thread dated back in 2005.
Try removing the Ram and powering up and see if there is any change and have a look for anything that could be shorting the MB out such as a bared wire or a stray screw etc.

[katied]

I actually didn't test the replacement PSU, but I'll try that as well.

Thaks for the info re: the motherboard; I did think it was an actual Intel product. I guess I have been very lucky then that is has lasted this long! I doubt I will replace it if I can't get it to work - I would just get a new PC at this point. My burner hasn't worked in months, the digital card reader is iffy at best, etc.

Any advice on the SATA to USB adapters? I have never pulled a hard drive and am a tad nervous I'll do something wrong and lose the data. I'm kind of ok with the PC being dead if I can save my data (of course I had been meaning to back up the hard drive for sometime, but never got around to it).

Thanks.

[phillpower2]

I am not sure in which country you are resident so I have just used newegg as an example of an external HDD enclosure http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817182196 you will notice that it does 2.5 and 3.5 inch drives, only consider this dual type if you intend to purchase and keep it otherwise a standard 3.5 inch type will do.
Here is a guide on how to install a SATA HDD http://www.easeus.co...-hard-drive.htm removal is a reversal of the procedure, I hope this helps and let us know how it goes or if you require any assistance.

[katied]

Thank you. Would something like this work:
http://www.bhphotovi...A_PATA_IDE.html

[phillpower2]

Yes, but why spend more than you have to? the one at newegg is cheaper and has free shipping

[katied]

I actually could have a friend who works close to their brick and mortar store pick this up and get it faster than if I ordered online. I'm okay with paying a little bit more to have it more quickly.

Thanks for your help - it is much appreciated!!

[phillpower2]

You are welcome and I hope things work out ok for you, as I said let us know if we can help you further.