eMachine Issue...

[jamesbond007]

I've got a client who has had recent troubles with their computer. They're an older couple and they said since they use their computers at work more than the one at home, there's probably less than 20 hours on this machine and it's approximately 2 years old.

The machine's power light comes on green when you plug in the PSU to the wall. I figured the PSU suffered some electrical issues during a storm or something and perhaps ceased to work. I put in a spare Antec 400W and no dice! Nothing happens when you press the power button, hold it down for 5+ seconds, and I've even tried manually tripping the ATX powerswitch points on the motherboard.

A quick search on Google tells me there's a very high failure rate of the motherboard inside this particular model. I've looked at the caps and chips on the board, but nothing seems to look out of place or order. There's not even a spec of duts in this thing!

Any advice before I tell her that her motherboard is probably dead? I've read other forums where the board has died and they end up replacing it, since it's not under an eMachine warranty any longer. I just can't believe it'd be dead after ~20 hours of use! WTF! Apprently the board is some TriGem 'Intel knock-off'...

 

[conlan]

If you've swapped out the PSU and jumpered the Power On switch, it sounds like a dead mobo to me. 🙁

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: conlan
If you've swapped out the PSU and jumpered the Power On switch, it sounds like a dead mobo to me. 🙁

Damn, yeah that's just a shame. I mean, this computer SMELLS new even! Ugh...

 

[RallyMaster]

Ugh...I hate eMachines. Fixed one myself before for a friend and the thing is atrocious. After about a week of use, his CPU fan was already getting unbearably loud due to bad bearings.

In that situation, it definitely sounds like a dead mobo. Have you looked into mem and such?

 

[jamesbond007]

I just tried swapping out the DIMMs and no dice. Tried different RAM slots, have swapped motherboard batteries...

The thing I find odd is that when I plug in the old PSU, the light does not power on and the computer does not come on obviously. The light only comes on when I hook up my PSU. A friend of mine and myself agree that the PSU burned out or suffered electrical problems and took the motherboard and possibly other components with it. I am thinking about calling eMachines to see what they'd say or how much they'd bend the client over to charge...

 

[dman]

Seen a few oem boards (gateway, compaq and emachines) that won't post or beep if the CPU fan isn't spinning right up. Otherwise they appear dead, even on a new Power Supply, etc. I'm sure you already tried resetting cmos (pull battery and leave it off for a while or do the jumper to clear if you are in a rush).

Anyway, just make sure you unplug EVERYTHING (non essential to POST) from the MB and then try again, and check the CPU fan is spinning. If it's not, give it a little help to get started, power off (unplug), and then back on again.

You can add things back one by one, monitor, PS2 Keyboard, etc.

Good luck.

 

[pkme2]

My recommendation is that you get another cheap special. No use spending any more time on that "like new" rig.
In my neighborhood, since many owners don't have UPS, the incidence of computer burnouts are frequent after power outages, especially electrical spikes, need I say more?

Last month, Walmart and Costco sold out of their eMachines, HPs and Compaq's because of brownouts and burnt machines thereafter. (From $299/$499)

Your choice.

 

[jamesbond007]

Yeah, the lady said that she got the computer for a very cheap price a while back. (sub $300 or so) I just don't see where everyone thinks they have the right to b1tch about a computer that's that cheap. You get what you pay for, right?

dman, I did reset the CMOS and pulled the battery for a while, but no dice. I hooked up a new fan on the heatsink plug to see if that was the issue and, of course, it wasn't.

I am trying to talk her into buying a cheaper mATX Intel mobo for ~$50 or $60 and a nice 400W Antec PSU for another $40. She is thinking about buying a whole new computer for $300 or so, but for someone who uses it as little as she does...well...just doesn't make sense! She is retiring this year and plans to use it a lot more heavily, but a quality Intel board with a nice PSU on a battery backup/UPS should do her quite nicely.

 

[bluemax]

The "e" in eMachines stands for "ewwwww...."

Cheap due to very low quality.

They've made improvements in recent years, but the warranty service is still terrible. I would buy an eMachine only if: it were MUCH cheaper than anything else; and with extended store warranty so I don't have to count on eMachines for support come the inevitable failure.