No boot

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Trotter

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OK, the BanHammer is stumped.

I'm working on my mother-in-law's computer. It's an eMachine T2885. It had a 2.6 Celly, 512MB RAM, an 80 gig drive, 250W PSU, onboard graphics, and is running XP Home. The rig is about 3 years old.

She and my wife were online with it the other day. My wife said the screen just went black, and a funny flopping/scrubbing noise started coming from the computer. It wouldn't power down, so she had to kill the power. When I reconnected the power all I got was the same sound, no boot, and the front switch had no effect.

I pull the hard drive and checked it out in my wife's computer... works fine. I went ahead and ordered a new mobo, installed it, nothing. I pulled the PSU and had it tested, and it is fine.

Turns out the funky sound is the floppy drive. it starts spinng when the power is reconnected with the old motherboard, not sure about the new one.

I know that it is possible that her mobo died and I got a DOA one, but the odds are against it.

It was suggested that the modem could have went out, and that it could cause it. I have pulled the modem, still nothing.

I have tried to boot without the RAM, and still get nothing, not even beeps (but I'm unsure if the mobo has a speaker... I think the old one does. Here's the new one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813185078

I need some ideas here.
 
that really stinks... If you get no monitor output, and no beeps (doesn't look like that new one has a speaker, but I am no 100%), then I would have to assume that one of integral parts like the RAM or CPU is dead, preventing the machine from POSTING.... have an extra socket 478 CPU or DDR ram laying around?
 
have you tried to reassemble without the floppy? (not connected to the board?) I'm also assuming you reloaded windows when you installed the new board? or you couldn't get that far? I'm also assuming you pulled the battery to reset the CMOS on the new board?

you might want to swap ram out to see if that is causing it. (if you have any laying around)
 
No spare CPU's. I might pull one of my sticks of RAM from my rig to test... sorta hesitant about that, though.

I cleared CMOS and removed the battery on the new board, left the floppy unplugged. Still didn't get a boot, so the Windows issue doesn't apply yet.

I plan on installing her Windows on a 40 gig I have laying around, as well as Office and such. I'll transfer her files from her 80 to the 40, then Ghost the 40 back over to the 80. IF I can get it to working, that is.

Question... what could have caused the sudden crash? I can see CPU and RAM, but what else?
 
Tried my RAM in it... no dice.

Any other ideas? I figure it is something simple, something I'm missing. but I just don't know what...
 
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