PC that won't start?

[Gothch1ck]

well no luck yet. Cleaned it out, booted into Cmos and set to default and stuff, but it still doesn't fully boot on Hart Start.

It starts- fans going full blast- but no monitor changes, black screen (with default onboard and video card) CMOS does NOT have AGP setting.

It seems sometimes if I let it "boot up" with th efans revving full blast, then hit power off/on again quickly, the fans die down quickly and it actually boots- sometimes... why do you think that is?

I can't seem to get it to even get to CMOS with just the onboard video....

CMOS video options are:
EGA/VGA (selected)
CGA40
CGA80
MONO

when going through options, (NOT changing anything!) it froze up..... I had to restart the computer, when it was just in the CMOS options... what does this tell you??

----
I managed to get a full boot finally, not that I think it'll stay that way, but I am searching for updates (windows and bios mostly) in hopes it is "that" simple of a fix...

Temp is running 39ish.. that's tolerable right? (CPU)

Emachines have been known (this type in particular) to overheat is all.

--
While Typing this, The computer Froze yet again....

---

Tried to format/reload, thinking maybe something is conflicting, but it froze at "setup is starting windows" before I even got to format/reload...

 

[thinkink]

Certainly qualifies as "intermittent" failure.

I repeat my offer: Anyone feel free to correct me where necessary.

Your video options in BIOS suggest this is likely a pretty old board?


Anyway you can post the Motherboard model so I can locate and review specs online?

I'd also like to see what BIOS and version is on board.
Is it possible there was a failed attempt to update the BIOS?

Failed BIOS update can kill PC or cause PC to not function properly.
Failing Power supply can cause intermittent failures.
Bad Memory card can cause misc. boot - but usually beep codes will i.d. that prob.

I have the luxury of extra parts accumulated over the years - if I suspect Power supply I can easily swap out with a "known good" one to confirm. Alternative is to test Output for each lead - lot's of resources on Internet to guide you.

Further trouble shooting may require substantial time and additional frustration that, in the end, might justify an inexpensive upgrade to basic base that can be improved on as additional cash becomes available.

I understand money is a serious concern "BUT" depending on the age of the board, a very inexpensive M/B + CPU combo upgrade may be possible.

Example:
$85 = Motherboard + CPU combo
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

Again, assuming it is pretty old M/B an inexpensive upgrade should allow the use of most existing, "known good" parts - Memory may(or may not) need to be upgraded to match minimum requirements of the newer board. That said, even cost to meet "minimum" memory requirements can be very easy on wallet.

Additional upgrades can be done later, as income permits.

Perhaps the next step would be to defer to more qualified opinions in an appropriate forum - regarding "Inexpensive M/B + CPU" here on the "Tech Forums" site. I'm very confident you will get great feedback, some with better cost than my example above and perhaps even better quality for the price.

well no luck yet. Cleaned it out, booted into Cmos and set to default and stuff, but it still doesn't fully boot on Hart Start.

It starts- fans going full blast- but no monitor changes, black screen (with default onboard and video card) CMOS does NOT have AGP setting.

It seems sometimes if I let it "boot up" with th efans revving full blast, then hit power off/on again quickly, the fans die down quickly and it actually boots- sometimes... why do you think that is?

I can't seem to get it to even get to CMOS with just the onboard video....

CMOS video options are:
EGA/VGA (selected)
CGA40
CGA80
MONO

when going through options, (NOT changing anything!) it froze up..... I had to restart the computer, when it was just in the CMOS options... what does this tell you??

----
I managed to get a full boot finally, not that I think it'll stay that way, but I am searching for updates (windows and bios mostly) in hopes it is "that" simple of a fix...

Temp is running 39ish.. that's tolerable right? (CPU)

Emachines have been known (this type in particular) to overheat is all.

--
While Typing this, The computer Froze yet again....

---

Tried to format/reload, thinking maybe something is conflicting, but it froze at "setup is starting windows" before I even got to format/reload...

 

[Gothch1ck]

I'll post the data here for ya all to look at, the owner said it hasn't been online in "like 3 years", so I take it, everything is way out of date. His mother had it for a while, put some screwy stuff on it, but hes not sure what she did to it.

It worked for a while recently, a few months ago, then it started to have issues and now it's in my hands....

on the front it is:

Emachines W3400 Windows XP Home with SP2 Pre-installed
AMD Athlon 64, 3000+
80GB Harddrive
DVD+/-RW (Which has failed and been replaced)
512MB DDR SDRAM

Motherboard information:
General info:
Red motherboard with ATI IXP 400 in the bottom right corner
N1996 (possibly the year) RS480M Stamped between the CPU and RAM

Sticker with barcode reads "MS-7145B0505129848" to the right of RAM, next to the IDE connectors.

It has what appears to be a 24 pin power socket, however, the last 4 are NOT in use, for some odd reason. The PSU has a 4 pin that is seperate, plugged into a spot opposite of the 20 pin connector, to the left of the CPU.

Under the .. PCI slot it has a sticker that reads "7145 v2.1 RS480-A21+SB400-A23"

The bios chip has a shiney sticker on it with "PhoenixBios D686 BIOS" "Phoenix 1998" "237534998" on it.


I cannot get it to boot/post/ or anything right now, so that's all the information I can give sadly.

Assume that it has NEVER been able to upgrade its BIOS (or his mother failed to upgrade it and it has ker-sploded since)

 

[thinkink]

WOW!!
Is this board a challenge to find or what?
eMachine site is about worthless for learning anything other than what we already know.

Searching the Internet I find references to 2 different sockets, 754 and 939 for "MS-7145" boards. None of the additional numbers you provided came up in any searches to help narrow this down. After perusing geek support sites etc. - My hunch is that it is socket 754.

The only thing I can get at the MSI site is for M/B RS480M-IL Part# MS-7145-020
at following link...
MSI Computer Corp. - Product

You may want to check into the link to see if there's anything useful to you.

I'm assuming the 4 pin connector from power supply is the Auxiliary 12V power supply connector, this connects to the motherboard, separate from the main power supply socket.

I can't say I've ever seen a mis-match between the power supply connector and the socket. I have a 20 pin power supply socket on my board and 20 pin connector from Power supply. I'm out of my realm in suggesting the 4 unused positions in Power supply socket shouldn't be a factor, assuming of course, that is the setup that came from OEM and has worked without issues in the past.

Without having the luxury of having the system to swap out parts and testing Power supply, I'm inclined to suggest it's time to consider Inexpensive replacements on M/B and CPU. The DDR Ram should still be useful in the proper M/B choice.

I'll post the data here for ya all to look at, the owner said it hasn't been online in "like 3 years", so I take it, everything is way out of date. His mother had it for a while, put some screwy stuff on it, but hes not sure what she did to it.

It worked for a while recently, a few months ago, then it started to have issues and now it's in my hands....

on the front it is:

Emachines W3400 Windows XP Home with SP2 Pre-installed
AMD Athlon 64, 3000+
80GB Harddrive
DVD+/-RW (Which has failed and been replaced)
512MB DDR SDRAM

Motherboard information:
General info:
Red motherboard with ATI IXP 400 in the bottom right corner
N1996 (possibly the year) RS480M Stamped between the CPU and RAM

Sticker with barcode reads "MS-7145B0505129848" to the right of RAM, next to the IDE connectors.

It has what appears to be a 24 pin power socket, however, the last 4 are NOT in use, for some odd reason. The PSU has a 4 pin that is seperate, plugged into a spot opposite of the 20 pin connector, to the left of the CPU.

Under the .. PCI slot it has a sticker that reads "7145 v2.1 RS480-A21+SB400-A23"

The bios chip has a shiney sticker on it with "PhoenixBios D686 BIOS" "Phoenix 1998" "237534998" on it.


I cannot get it to boot/post/ or anything right now, so that's all the information I can give sadly.

Assume that it has NEVER been able to upgrade its BIOS (or his mother failed to upgrade it and it has ker-sploded since)

 

[Gothch1ck]

Yea I was thinking about finding a cheap-O board too, CPU/Mobo, just he wants his video card he worked hard to buy (although old and cheap now...) to work, so I'd have to factor in all those...

 

[Gothch1ck]

Hate double posting but wanted to make sure those helping saw it was updated.

Removing the CPU fan again (since I forgot to get the socket) does reveal a 754.

Nothing has changed much, can't seem to even get it to boot now... looking into replacement boards to fit his CPU and GPU.


And the picture seems to be as close as it gets- the IDE ports don't match in colour, nor do the RAM slots, and some other things, but it seems close enough.