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**Dis** · June 29, 2003, 20:28

I'm thinking it is the motherboard.

Is it that new? Is there any damage to it?

**Bereta_Eder** · June 29, 2003, 20:31

It is a year old or so.

I don't know wether there is damage to it, that's what I'd like to find out.

The power supply box got burned, so my uncle just bought a new PC and gave me his old one.

Could that power supply burn have damaged the motherboard?

I described what is happening, the light of the motherboard does turn on for 10 secs and then it turns off.

**Dis** · June 29, 2003, 20:35

has to be

exactly how did the power supply get burned?

Either way- it probably fried the motherboard with too high a voltage or current. (you could look for burn marks or damage on the motherboard)

**Cruddy** · June 29, 2003, 20:37

Re: Tech help.

Originally posted by paiktis22
Got a PC from an uncle who upgraded.
The power supply box was burned.

I replaced the power supply box with the one from my own PC (they are both 230V but one has two sockets the ohter only one).

Shouldn't make a difference - what matters is the rating (in W, for Watts) which should be clearly displayed on the outside. Also, these days most PSUs have individual ratings for each rail - for instance, 3.3V at 20A, 5V at 25A.

Originally posted by paiktis22
Now what is happening is this.

The motherboard turns on, the fans start working but not the drives, and then after 10 seconds or so it turns off. Note that there is no signal given to the monitor.

OK, the drives for some reason are not getting power. WHY they are not getting power is for one of 2 reasons...

Originally posted by paiktis22
Any ideas on what I should do if anything to fix it?

I don't know if getting a new power supply box would help?
But since it's the same votlage 230V shouldn't it be working?

The voltage is important because otherwise it won't work at all - but just as important is the rating in Watts, W for short. If the PSU cannot give out the Watts, the board cannot power up.

Originally posted by paiktis22
BTW the "new" motherboard and chip is twice the speed of what I got so it would be nice to have a new better computer for no price or just 5 euros (the power supply).

5 Euros is a VERY cheap power supply. I would be suspicious of this.

Originally posted by paiktis22
Or could the whole motherboard or some elements be burned???

It might be that, but I doubt it. If onboard power regulators were the problem it probably wouldn't do ANYTHING.

When boards power up, they check to see they have RAM, processor, and a video card. Without these 3 things, no board will bother going further.

Also, they check to see if power is proper supply - again, if not, they will stop like yours does.

What makes me VERY suspicious is your drives are not powering up. 2 reasons...

1) The board has a problem, and is taking so much power that there isn't any for the drives.

2) The board is OK but the new power supply unit is too small - it cannot give the Watts to power both computer and the motherboard.

If you have 2 computers, try swapping over the drives into the "good" system - the one you know works. If they start spinning, you know they are OK.

Second, check the label on the PSU. If it says 300W or less I would buy more capable - 400W or more is seen as OK for XP Athlons and older P4s. Even more for later P4s...

Hope this helps. I suspect your PSU... but you are right, when old PSU burned, it could have damaged motherboard as well.

**Bereta_Eder** · June 29, 2003, 20:37

I'm afraid I don't know how th power supply box got burned. It just stoppped working I guess. I don't know the exact reason though.

The motherboard looks in excellent condition. No burn marks whatsoever.

**Bereta_Eder** · June 29, 2003, 20:42

Thank you very much Cruddy.

I also suspect the PSU. That's why I'll get it with me when I will go to buy a new one. And not for 5 euros. My mistake. They cost something like 10,000 drachmas but I'm bored to translate to euroes. Around 25 euros?

Also, the light of the hard drive DID turn on, I saw it on the outsideof the box, where it has the light and it was on for as long as the motherboard was on. Aproximately 10 seconds.

But there was no responce to either the monitor nor the floppy disk.

So it might be the PSU? I hope it is.

I though the PSU of my old PC might not be exactly what the "new" one needed. But I wanted some advice before I went to buy a new one. Wouldn't want to just throw money away if there wasn't a chance it was the PSU.

**Bereta_Eder** · June 29, 2003, 20:54

BTW, another strange thing.

When I put the PSU back to my old PC, it wouldn't turn on at all!

I had to re-insert the voltrage jacks in another order in the HDD, the CD-drivers etc for it to work...

Strange...

**Bereta_Eder** · June 29, 2003, 20:56

Oh and my old PC has a celeron 433 MHz. The new one has a 733 Mhz intel celeron. Maybe the old PSU would not give the required Watts for the 733.
Let's hope so, so it works with only a new PSU

**Dis** · June 29, 2003, 20:57

yeah I don't know how old your power supply is from your original computer.

Newer computers have beefed up power supplies.

The voltage has to be the same, or you could fry you computer.

But watts refers to the amount of power it is putting out.

a 733 doesn't soudn that new. You wouldn't think it would require that much power. But that all depends on the motherboard really.

I know I will have to get a new power supply when I get around to upgrading my computer.

**Bereta_Eder** · June 29, 2003, 20:59

I see.

Let's hope it's the PSU
*crosses fingers*

**Bereta_Eder** · June 29, 2003, 21:00

The mother board is a Legend QPI Award 10B/F.

My old motherboard is a Chaintech something that can host up to 433 Mhz processors.

If that tells someone something.

**Cruddy** · June 29, 2003, 21:05

Originally posted by paiktis22
BTW, another strange thing.

When I put the PSU back to my old PC, it wouldn't turn on at all!

I had to re-insert the voltrage jacks in another order in the HDD, the CD-drivers etc for it to work...

Strange...

Make sure you have the power on switch connected to the motherboard, and the reset button... otherwise it won't turn on.

Also, the reason your hard drive light flashed is because that is connected in the same area...usually HDs have their own lights on the drive, so when you are testing the drives, see if these flash (if it spins up anyway, you know it's fine).

Just thought I'd explain WHY you got that flash... it wasn't from the HD as such, it was the motherboard trying to talk to the HD.

Like I said, check out the PSU - should have "235W" or "300W" on it somewhere. On the OUTSIDE of course - don't try looking inside unless you want an electric shock.

**Bereta_Eder** · June 29, 2003, 21:10

Ok, on the outside the "new" (and burned) PSU has a whole list of specifications. Like a detail for every socket (or are they called jacks?) it has.

The old PSU doesn't have anything of that sort...

Also I'm quite confident that the hard drive did NOT spin. Just the light went on.

Make sure you have the power on switch connceted to the motherboard, and the reset button... otherwise it won't turn on.

If you're talking about tne new PC I think they are connected. It does turn on for about 10 secs. Would it do that if they were not?
The old PC hs them connected for sure.

**Cruddy** · June 29, 2003, 21:11

Oh yes - one other piece of advice.

When testing motherboards, don't bother connecting drives at first. Just processor, memory and graphics cards should let it boot and do a RAM test.

Maybe this "dodgy" PSU can do that much...

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