Faulty motherboard? No POST

[leapingfrog0]

Hey Guys,

I'm having a bit of a problem with a friend's computer. Her computer is Gateway "K7 Select" manufactured in 2000.

Specs:
- AMD Athlon Tbird 950Mhz
- 256MB RAM (upgraded)
- MSI 6330 Mobo

I cannot seem to get her motherboard to POST. When I turn it on, the fans whirr up and everything, but nothing else happens. Nothing comes on the screen... nothing.

It seems that the *only* way I can get her computer to boot is to unplug the computer, take out the CMOS battery for a few minutes, plug the computer back in, and place the battery back in the motherboard. After that, I'll turn the system on, and everything is fine... except for the incorrect CMOS settings of course. I go into CMOS setup, save the correct settings, and reboot. Everything works great.. Window boots up fine, no stability issues or other errors.

When I shut the system down, the problem starts all over again. It does not POST until I clear the CMOS again!

So far I have:
- Put new RAM in the system
- Put in another AMD Athlon Tbird processor
- Flashed BIOS w/ updated version
- Disconnected all unncessary components... so I boot with just power supply, vid card, memory, mobo, processor
- [edit] Also tried another video card

Does it sound like the motherboard needs to get replaced? What's the deal? A Gateway CMOS setup has limited options, so I don't think the CMOS is configured incorrectly.

Thanks for any help.

Andrew

 

[pyrojunkie]

I would recommend trying to replace the cmos battery. If that doesn't help I would assume the motherboard is faulty.

 

[acemcmac]

Don't forget to look around the mobo with a magnifying glass at the bases of all of the caps... older motherboards (over 2.5 years) have high rates of blowing capacitors (electrolyte) like popcorn...

 

[leapingfrog0]

Actually, there are 4-5 bulging capacitors on the motherboard that I noticed ;/ Some of them with a brown dried up fluid at the top....

 

[pyrojunkie]

Originally posted by: leapingfrog0
Actually, there are 4-5 bulging capacitors on the motherboard that I noticed ;/ Some of them with a brown dried up fluid at the top....

That would have been helpful to mention earlier.

It is possible to save the board if you are somewhat handy with a soldering iron. Just replace all the bad capacitors along with other capacitors on the same circuit. Use similiar rated or higer capacitors.

 

[LiLithTecH]

Originally posted by: leapingfrog0
Actually, there are 4-5 bulging capacitors on the motherboard that I noticed ;/ Some of them with a brown dried up fluid at the top....

The dried brown fluid is the protective lacquer coating, not a indication of a bad capacitor.

If the capacitor is bulged, that is one way to identify a bad cap.
The other is a WHITE Powdery build-up around the top or bottom of the cap.

Did you try the OLD RAM ?