New Mobo will not post!! Need some help... 1

[CptnJon]

I have an old (2001) IBM NetVista which was having all sorts of problems which I eventually traced back to leaking capacitors!! After a number of calls to IBM they agreed to send me a new motherboard (their action/reaction helped restore some of my faith in the goodness of people!).

So when I got the new mobo I took the CPU and heatsink off the old one and transferred it to the new one (with some thermal paste). I then connected the PSU; the bare essentials (monitor, 1 stick of RAM); and then plugged it in... The heatsink fan and the PSU fan both turn on right away and keep running... but nothing else happens. Pressing the power button on the front does nothing and I notice that no lights on the front panel light up!

I also have another almost identical computer... so I tried the same thing... disconnected everything except the items above and plugged it in... this computer initially starts both fans then turns them both off. Then when I press the power button it starts up and I see the IBM logo on the screen... of course I also get some beeps because it can't find certain things like mouse & keyboard..etc.

Does anyone have any ideas on what could be causing this?? How do I debug this issue??

I read that if I unplug the CPU heatsink fan and turn on the computer that the heatsink should get hot fairly quickly and that if it doesn't get hot it is an indication that the CPU is the problem... I tried this and there was absolutely no heat... however I am not sure that this means a lot because since the power button doesn't seem to be turning the computer on, I don't think any power is being sent to the CPU... does this make sense??

I also wondered whether or not the mobo was being shorted with the case... so I pulled it out, set it up on some cardboard and tried it again... same result!!

Then, still on the cardboard, I tried it with the PSU from the other computer... again same result!!

Could the CMOS battery be causing a problem like this??

What else should I be looking for??

 

[garebo]

It sure seems to me that the mobo you got is a goner.
I believe we have gone thru everything.

But im not the best here by any stretch of the imagination!
Cdogg, Linney, Paparazi, ben, micker, rvnguy, the list goes on and on, all have forgotten more than i know.

If someone wants to get in here, please do so.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[garebo]

Just to be sure, you are using the same power supply, ram, etc that you were using on the old mobo, right?
Im stretching it here, just trying to figure out what i have missed.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[CptnJon]

Yes... I am using the same psu, ram...etc from my old mobo.

Thanks for all your ideas... if anything, I have learned a lot more about the hardware than I knew before.

On the good news front... IBM just called me back and have now agreed to send me another mobo... I certainly hope that this one works!!

The other positive is that I now have a useless mobo to use to learn how to solder capacitors on to a circuit board. After realizing that my old mobo had a capacitor problem and not believing, at that time, that IBM would replace the board I bought some replacement capacitors and was about to try to fix the old board... but I needed a test circuit board to practice how to solder properly...

If anyone else has any other ideas on why the current board doesn't work I would appreciate it.

As an aside... this NetVista computer was originally bought for my daughter when she went to university... but because of the constant crashing, due to the bad caps, I had to replace it. Now I am trying to get it working so I can give it to my 87 year old mother for Christmas.

 

[garebo]

Please let us know how the new mobo install goes!


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[electronicsfreak]

Some advice before you get your new board, pick up an anti static wristband and be sure to use that before installing the new board.

 

[garebo]

Actually you are pretty lucky getting a replacement board that old for free.
I bought an MSI NEO2 from a guy i knew at a forum. Was so happy with this cool mobo that had lots of new stuff on it, red color with cool lights on the cpu fan. Got it all going and installed into a case. All was well til i installed my new dvd burner and i knocked a chip off my new mobo.The chip is smaller and thinner than a match head but of course my mobo was fried. I contacted MSI and told them. They said they were replacing it even though it was out of warranty and also on to a new owner, and they were doing this ONLY because i told the truth! A point to remember when dealing with these people. I have been running this NEO for a couple years now, love it. Almost didnt have it!
Anyway, let us know what happens with new mobo!!


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[CptnJon]

You are right I am lucky to get a replacement for a board that old!!

The good news is that I received the board already (I am very impressed with IBM... they stood behind their product and even after that, they took my word that the first board they sent me was bad and sent me a second one... to my house within 24 hours!!)

electronicsfreak... I agree with your comment on the anti-static wristband... I normally always wear one... however there is laways the debate about whether or not the machine should be plugged in or not... so this time I opened up another pc and plugged it in but turned off and then connected the wristband to that one... in that way I was as grounded as I could be but not worried about being shocked... I also worked on a wooden floor not a carpet and wore rubber soled shoes!

Now I have installed everything and most things work... however I do have a problem which I hope is easily remedied... I put in the hard drive from the other Netvista I have (almost identical computer) and it booted up into Windows XP... great... but I noticed that there is no IBM screen when I first boot up (like there is on the other NetVista and like there was on this computer originally) and I cannot get into the BIOS configuration when I press F1!! I want to get in so that I can see what the setup looks like and to chnage the boot sequence. Any ideas on how to fix this??

 

[CptnJon]

Update...

I finally got into the BIOS config... I read somewhere that if you hold down the insert key when booting that it sometimes works... not sure if that is what did it but eventually I got in and was able to change the start up sequence so that it now boots from the CD... now I am able to format the new hard drive and install Windows... "Happy trails..."

 

[garebo]

So the mobo was bad!
AS for the IBM logo, you dont need it, better off without it as you can see more boot up info as the pc is booting up. But if you do want it you will find a setting in bios, i believe its on the same page as the bootup sequence and just above that. But its been a while so it may not be exactly where my poor memory tells me it is, but there definitely IS a setting there where you can turn logo on or off.
Also, again, if i recall correct, you may find a setting inside the bios to change the keyboard settings to access the bios. I may be wrong on that, if you dont find one, dont be concerned. I do believe, though, that there is another keyboard combo that also gets you into the bios.
Way to go!!
Kudos to IBM.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips