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Compaq Presario 4400US still dead

B

blackrain

Golden Member
A little bit of history about the problem:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1532356&enterthread=y
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1539603&enterthread=y

Summary: pc powered up but wouldn't boot. After trying again, there was no power at all.

Since there is no power at all (no green light), I assumed that I needed to start diagnosis with a new power supply.

Got a 300W Antec off ebay, but hit a snag. The yellow wire going to one of the floppy connectors was cut in half. I used electric tape to cover the ends and didn't use that connector. Fired up the pc, and got a green light but again no boot. When I tried to restart the pc, again the power is dead.

Is it possible for this to be happening because the mobo or cpu are dead? Or is more likely that the psu was bad? The ebay seller pretended not to know anything about the split wire...very shady

There aren't too many peripherals to play around with here. The video is onboard. I removed the modem which was the only peripheral.

I might try a brand new psu from staples (which I can return within 14 days).

My problem is that I can't get past the power not coming on. I have another cpu to make sure that the cpu is not bad. But would that even prevent the pc from powering up completely? Could a bad mobo be preventing power up? Maybe it was just a bad psu that i got off ebay. Can someone tell me if a pc is supposed to always power up, even if the mobo or cpu are bad?

Can anyone recommend a strategy and what might be going on here? I am particuarly flustered about there being no power.

 
Come on guys? Isn't there anyone here that can help?

At very least, can you tell me whether the power problem can be associated with something other than the power supply? In other words, can bad components prevent the pc from powering up in the first place? Or isa lack of power always related to the the power source?
 
I'll give it a shot.........

when you say that the "new" ps started because of some green light but no boot, does that mean that when you tried to turn on the comp. you actually got power to the fans, HD, etc.? did it die again in the middle of post? please clarify.

Your idea of buying a ps of te shelf is a good one, I would try that first....and soon, so that the ps from ebay is still with in a reasonable time to return to sender (if possible).

 
First, I am very grateful for you reply.

Second, Yes, I had power. But it wouldn't POST. When I shut off the pc to try again, didn't even get power. This happened both with my original power supply when I first became aware of the problem, and after I installed the psu that I bought from ebay.

Don't worry about the power supply from ebay. I already got my money back on that.
 
Have you tried another ps since the ebay? Also, check your wires fron the switch (front panel) to the MB. Also inspect the MB for any signs of blown or leaky capacitors. Make sure the CPU, RAM are well seated. Make sure the fan to the cpu is plugged in and disconnect all drives except for the for the boot drive (lighten the load on a weak ps).

Are getting any POST codes?
 
I have not tried another psu yet. I found another report of a non-working compaq 4400 online.

http://www.computing.net/hardware/wwwboard/forum/32729.html

Interestingly, he says that he talked to Compaq and they said that a switching power supply could blow the motherboard. I'm kind of surprised since this is a newer celeron (1.3 ghz) system. This may be the motherboard chipset according to someone else on the internet:

Manufacturer: Compaq
Model: 07A8h
Chipset: Intel i815/E/EP
Southbridge: Intel 82801BA (ICH2)
Sensor: 404

When I talked to Compaq, they said that the Compaq power supply is optimized for that pc configuration only (whatever the hell that means) but that hypothetically other ATX power supplies would work.

I can always get a compaq psu later. Right now, I just want to get a test power supply that i can return if I need to.

Anyway, based on your comments, you seem to suggest that a bad cpu or mobo could cause the pc to not boot.

What i'de like to do is the following:

1) Clear the CMOS and check to see if it boots.
2) If no boot, then change the power supply (Antec 300W at staples).
3) If no boot or POST, then swap the cpu and ram (I have a 0.18 1 ghz cpu and some extra dimms)

If it's a no go, i'm out of ideas. I dont have another mobo and the replacement for this mobo costs more than buying the same pc model on ebay (used of course)

But again, I am trying to understand whether the failure to power up in the first place could be caused by a bad mobo (the dreaded leaking capacitors) or a bad cpu??

Or is the failure to power up only related to the power supply?

Would short term use of a 300W atx antec psu from staples blow my board? Or is that something that would only happen over long term use.


 
Originally posted by: blackrain

When I talked to Compaq, they said that the Compaq power supply is optimized for that pc configuration only (whatever the hell that means) but that hypothetically other ATX power supplies would work.
Click to expand...

When Compaq says the PSU is "optomized" for that system most likely means that they value-engineered it be the smallest unit that system would require. Unless it requires a special connections to the MB, any off the shelf ATX PSU (>250w) should work. THe Antec you mentioned should work and will not "blow up" your system (I hope) 🙂


I can always get a compaq psu later.
Click to expand...

Dont bother, a 250W compaq psu would only have about 8A on the 12v rail anyways.

What i'de like to do is the following:

1) Clear the CMOS and check to see if it boots.
Click to expand...

DO NOT CLEAR THE CMOS unless you know what the current settings are and are willing to reset the bios to that config. Besides I dont think the bios is the problem here (yet) 🙂

2) If no boot, then change the power supply (Antec 300W at staples).
Click to expand...

DO THIS FIRST

3) If no boot or POST, then swap the cpu and ram (I have a 0.18 1 ghz cpu and some extra dimms)
Click to expand...

DO NOT REPLACE THE 1.3Ghz WITH THE 1.0Ghz, you'll be inadvertenly overclocking your 1.0....unless of course you knew that and knows how to adjust the settings in the bios or set the jumper(s) on your board.




 
So you got a new PSU and you still get no post. Since you got that PSU off of b-bay and it had some split wires, I wouldn't really rule out that your replacement PSU was bad, I mean wires don't just cut themselves, and it would have to be really really poorly packed for that to happen during shipping. It's very very unlikely to be the CPU itself, so that would probably be one of my last guesses. When you talk about the green light, are you refering to the power light on your case, and it comes on after you press the power button, or are you refering to a light on the motherboard, which just means the motherboard is revieving power from the PSU, that light will be on weather the power is turning on or not.

Also I would look at your motherboard, look at the capacitors near the CPU and see if any of them appear to be bulging or leaking, I have seen quite a few compaq motherboards with bad caps. Actualy the last one I saw blew the PSU and several caps at the same time, the heatsink was covered with brown oozing sticky goo. If the CPU is bad, the computer will normaly still power up, but won't post. With the motherboard, it really depends one what is wrong with it, but with no power at all, it's usualy the PSU or motherboard.
 
Of course I was going to change the jumpers for the cpu change. I realize this is not an abit/asus board 🙂

However, I just downloaded the service and reference manuals for the pc and they suck. There are no pictures of the motherboard layout and no jumper setting descriptions. There is a "System Board Reference Designators" section which lists all of the jumpers but it says "These reference designators are used on most but not all Compaq systems." So I am not even sure if I will be able to test the cpu.

As far as clearing the cmos, I don't care so much that I could lose my settings so long as it will help the darn thing to boot.

So for now, I guess i'll try to install the antec 300W psu and if that doesn't get it to boot, i'll swap out the memory.

Let's just say I get it to boot, but it won't post. Should i try the cmos then as a last resort?
 
Originally posted by: stevty2889
When you talk about the green light, are you refering to the power light on your case, and it comes on after you press the power button, or are you refering to a light on the motherboard, which just means the motherboard is revieving power from the PSU, that light will be on weather the power is turning on or not.
Click to expand...


The light on the case. I hear it power up to....then nothing (no POST). After reboot...just plain dead.


Originally posted by: stevty2889
Also I would look at your motherboard, look at the capacitors near the CPU and see if any of them appear to be bulging or leaking, I have seen quite a few compaq motherboards with bad caps. Actualy the last one I saw blew the PSU and several caps at the same time, the heatsink was covered with brown oozing sticky goo. If the CPU is bad, the computer will normaly still power up, but won't post. With the motherboard, it really depends one what is wrong with it, but with no power at all, it's usualy the PSU or motherboard.
Click to expand...


I will check for bulging or leaking capacitors.
 
Got a new Antec 300W psu and installed it. The power didn't come on at first. After a few minutes, it powered up (weird). The spu fan was spinning okay. The hard drive kicked in. However, no beeps, POST, or video. Basically, the power was just working. Dead mobo?
 
sounds like a dead motherboard..... i would have bought a cheap power supply tester first(i did already) and that would have given you a 99% accurate idea about the power supply(nothing is ever 100% when dealing with computers) and you would have also spent less money and had a new diagnostic tool in your arsenal! it does sound as if the mb is dead, the system will power up without ram and also without cpu, meaning the system fans and power supply run, hard drive spins up......etc i would try out the cpu and ram in a different set up if possible......good luck...
 
Originally posted by: allanon1965
sounds like a dead motherboard..... i would have bought a cheap power supply tester first(i did already) and that would have given you a 99% accurate idea about the power supply(nothing is ever 100% when dealing with computers) and you would have also spent less money and had a new diagnostic tool in your arsenal! it does sound as if the mb is dead, the system will power up without ram and also without cpu, meaning the system fans and power supply run, hard drive spins up......etc i would try out the cpu and ram in a different set up if possible......good luck...
Click to expand...


Actually, I bought it at staples so I can take advantage of the 14-day open box refund policy. No problem there.

By the way, I also replaced the ram with a working memory module. That didn't make a difference.

I don't see any signs of damage to either the board or the cpu. No bad caps etc.

Anyone else think it's just a dead board?
 
sorry to hear that you still have the prob. Unfortunately, it does sound like your mb maybe fried though.

on the bright side, you are one case and a mb away from a full transplant 🙂
 
It turned out to be a bad mobo and psu. Since the mobo died at the same time as the psu, what is the likelihood that compaq's crappy psu fried the mobo? I have seen a lot of posts on this forum with people swearing by fortron, sparkle, antec, etc for the reason that these type of psu's will never kill your mobo. Did compaq sell me a subpar pc? Is it arguable that this would never have happened with a good power supply? If so, why (in the most technical terms)?
 
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