ERROR: System Fan Has Failed.

[jimigibbs]

I put this under Cases & Cooling so I hope it is the right place. I recently transferred an HP into a mMediaPC HPTC 5000B case. When I strated it back up I got a CPU fan error and it was loud so I replaced the CPU fan and heat sink. Now when I start up I get the following:

ERROR: System Fan Has Failed
Service PC to prevent damage to the system.
Press <F2> to continue

ALL fans (including the system fan plugged into the motherboard) are working. I press F2 and everything seems fine. This case has two rear fans that plug into the old 4 pin Molex power connectors and I read somewhere that may cause this error but I have unplugged them and the same thing. Any suggestions??????
Thanks,
Jimi Gibbs

 

[Vectronic]

Did you change from a 4 pin to 3 pin, or from 3 pin to 2 pin fan? Maybe the BIOS is "remembering" the fan, and suddenly it's not recognizing it.

You could try disabling whatever "Fast Boot" options that might be enabled, or... reset the BIOS to defaults.

"System Fan" doesn't necessarily mean the Sys_Fan1 or whatever, it could have suddenly realized there's no Pwr_Fan... or if your CPU fan is plugged into that molex, plug it into CPU_Fan instead.

Suggestions.

 

[jimigibbs]

Thanks for the input...... The CPU fan did go from a 3 pin to a 4 pin..... The CPU fan is plugged into cpu_fan and the system fan is plugged into sys_fan1. The two molex fans are on the back of the case and that is the only connector they have. Can you explain:

"disabling whatever "Fast Boot" options that might be enabled, or... reset the BIOS to defaults."

This is the first time I have done this......
Thanks,
Jimi

 

[Vectronic]

it may not be necessary, just a possibility since I've had older PC's do that.

Typically in the BIOS there will be at least two POST methods, short and long, or normal and fast, full or quick, etc... the long/normal/full ones do a the full POST checks (checking for hardware, applying settings, setting IRQs)... short/fast/quick will depend, but normally it's just checking minimal things, keyboard, boot device... tries to "assume" the configuration based on what the BIOS is set to.

That option can be found in the BIOS itself (if it has the option), usually under "Boot".

Resetting the BIOS can be done in quite a few ways depending on the board:

1. From within the BIOS, usually in the Save/Load section... and also usually tied to a hotkey, F4, F9, F10... it sill usually say that on the bottom, or right hand side "Press F# to load BIOS defaults"

2. The jumper on the motherboard, 3 pins, with a little plastic coated tab thing on two of the pins, usually there will be instructions near the pins.

Clear/Clr CMOS
1-2 = Normal
2-3 = Clear/Reset
(might be reversed, might call it 0-1, and 1-2)

3. Taking out the CMOS battery for at least 5 seconds, sometimes longer.

4. A button on the motherboard, or the front or back of the case that is a "quick" Clr CMOS, does the same as the jumper.


If you reset/clear... you will loose any customizations/settings you have made to the BIOS and it goes back to factory default, or BIOS default.

But, before you do that, maybe try swapping CPU fan with the Sys fan (swap the connections) see if it still says it, it could be the fan itself...

Fans are interchangable, 4, 3, 2 pins... they'll all run on 4, 3, or 2 pin connections.

Considering you said they were loud when you started up originally... it's possible that your fan controller chip *might* be dying, or has in fact died... so the fans are just running at 100% all the time... if you replaced those fans... the fans it has now might have their own controller (typically only 2 wire fans do) that's why they aren't as loud.

In that case, basically all you can do is ignore the message.

 

[Kenmitch]

I put this under Cases & Cooling so I hope it is the right place. I recently transferred an HP into a mMediaPC HPTC 5000B case. When I strated it back up I got a CPU fan error and it was loud so I replaced the CPU fan and heat sink. Now when I start up I get the following:

ERROR: System Fan Has Failed
Service PC to prevent damage to the system.
Press <F2> to continue

ALL fans (including the system fan plugged into the motherboard) are working. I press F2 and everything seems fine. This case has two rear fans that plug into the old 4 pin Molex power connectors and I read somewhere that may cause this error but I have unplugged them and the same thing. Any suggestions??????
Thanks,
Jimi Gibbs

You fixed your cpu fan error with a new cooler?

Now you get a system fan error only?

The system fan is a new fan that came with the case? If so it's possible that the rpm sensor is bad or just a loose connection at the motherboard header. Maybe try and wiggle the wires at the connector and see if it helps out. If not swap the fan with another one and try again.

Does your motherboard bios have a health section that shows temps and fan speeds?

 

[coffeejunkee]

There usually is an option in the the bios to disable these kind of fan failing/low rpm messages. Although an oem bios might be locked down in this aspect.

The 2 molex fans have absolutely nothing to do with this, your mobo has no idea they are there.

 

[jimigibbs]

Thanks for all the ideas..... got frustrated last night and gave up. This morning with coffee and a fresh start I thought why not try the old case fan. Plugged it in and no error so I swapped out fans. Works Great!!!!
Thanks,
Jimi