Can and should I swap out the motherboard on my SO's computer?
April 13, 2004 7:14 AM
My SO's computer has seen better days; It won't turn on anymore. I think it's the motherboard/BIOS that's fried.
The full story:
For a long time now she's been having this problem where sometimes the computer just won't turn on, usually though, after a bunch of tries, then leaving it alone for an hour, she'll try one more time and it'll turn on and work fine. So, we've gotten in the habit of just leaving it on.
We had a power surge the other day and now it won't turn on at all. Now, when I say it won't turn on, what I mean is that power gets to it - I see the keyboard lights blink, the cd rom spins up for a second, the HD spins up, the power supply makes (good) noise, and the processor fan turns on. The BIOS never loads though. Also, there's a series of 4 LEDs by the processor - when the computer's running fine they're all green, when the computer's bad they're all red.
The power surge was 2 days ago and the computer's still not booting, so I'm thinking it's time to do something other than wait. I've taken everything out and put it all back in and it still acts the same way, there's no way I can even get it to the BIOS setup screen. I think I need to replace the motherboard. My question (sorry it took so long to get to): Can I swap out the motherboard? She's got data on the HD that she want's to keep.
The full story:
For a long time now she's been having this problem where sometimes the computer just won't turn on, usually though, after a bunch of tries, then leaving it alone for an hour, she'll try one more time and it'll turn on and work fine. So, we've gotten in the habit of just leaving it on.
We had a power surge the other day and now it won't turn on at all. Now, when I say it won't turn on, what I mean is that power gets to it - I see the keyboard lights blink, the cd rom spins up for a second, the HD spins up, the power supply makes (good) noise, and the processor fan turns on. The BIOS never loads though. Also, there's a series of 4 LEDs by the processor - when the computer's running fine they're all green, when the computer's bad they're all red.
The power surge was 2 days ago and the computer's still not booting, so I'm thinking it's time to do something other than wait. I've taken everything out and put it all back in and it still acts the same way, there's no way I can even get it to the BIOS setup screen. I think I need to replace the motherboard. My question (sorry it took so long to get to): Can I swap out the motherboard? She's got data on the HD that she want's to keep.
Yeah, I thought about the clean power issue, but this has happened at 2 different apartments and I'm running other computers in the same apartment that aren't having any trouble.
It's an AMD Socket A board by MSI with a 1.2GHZ chip in it I belive. Do I need to stick with the same motherboard manufacturer, or can I just get a similar board by Abit or something as long as it'll take the same chip (we don't plan on buying a new chip with the motherboard)?
posted by soplerfo at 7:44 AM on April 13, 2004
It's an AMD Socket A board by MSI with a 1.2GHZ chip in it I belive. Do I need to stick with the same motherboard manufacturer, or can I just get a similar board by Abit or something as long as it'll take the same chip (we don't plan on buying a new chip with the motherboard)?
posted by soplerfo at 7:44 AM on April 13, 2004
Yes you can buy an equivalent board by abit, asus, or whoever.
I think you misundersood zsazsa's power supply comment. He meant that you should replace the actual power supply for that machine, not the power supply for your house.
I too would try buying a new power supply first, just to make sure.
And not to be all gloomy, but if the power surge got all the way to the motherboard, there's a good chance it nuked your harddrive in the process.
posted by falconred at 8:33 AM on April 13, 2004
I think you misundersood zsazsa's power supply comment. He meant that you should replace the actual power supply for that machine, not the power supply for your house.
I too would try buying a new power supply first, just to make sure.
And not to be all gloomy, but if the power surge got all the way to the motherboard, there's a good chance it nuked your harddrive in the process.
posted by falconred at 8:33 AM on April 13, 2004
ditto the power supply comments. i has a similar problem and it was indeed the motherboard (i first tried swapping power supplies, video cards, and reseating all then removing all non-critical cards on the board). the good news is that even if it was an excellent computer a few years ago, and equivalent spec mobo is really cheap now.
(ps this was a computer that always ran connected to a ups (ie regulated power), so it might just be old age/physical wear and tear (mine broke while moving house...) rather than the power surge (i'm just grasping at straws to save your drive ;o))
posted by andrew cooke at 8:43 AM on April 13, 2004
(ps this was a computer that always ran connected to a ups (ie regulated power), so it might just be old age/physical wear and tear (mine broke while moving house...) rather than the power surge (i'm just grasping at straws to save your drive ;o))
posted by andrew cooke at 8:43 AM on April 13, 2004
Indeed, I hadn't thought to replace the power supply, perhaps we'll start with that - definitely the less intrusive way to go - I did misunderstand.
And I hope you're wrong about the power surge, though I understand it may be the case. I have hope though, as really, the computer's exhibiting the same behavior it always has, just this time it's being more stubborn.
thanks very much for the help.
posted by soplerfo at 8:43 AM on April 13, 2004
And I hope you're wrong about the power surge, though I understand it may be the case. I have hope though, as really, the computer's exhibiting the same behavior it always has, just this time it's being more stubborn.
thanks very much for the help.
posted by soplerfo at 8:43 AM on April 13, 2004
If you're going to buy a new motherboard I'd recommend adding the hard drive to one of those other computers you have and backing up all the data to CD first.
posted by yangwar at 9:35 AM on April 13, 2004
posted by yangwar at 9:35 AM on April 13, 2004
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You may want to try a different power supply; the motherboard may just not be getting clean power.
posted by zsazsa at 7:27 AM on April 13, 2004