repairng an old XP Vaio computer

[greetcup]

Hi guys,

I was trying to take a look at my old XP Vaio desktop, and while I was removing the components I accidentally ripped one of the wires out. It's a wire that connects to the USB port on the front panel, and then it connects with the motherboard on the other end. Does anyone know where I can get spare parts for an XP computer?

And on top of that, I can not power the computer back on, and I don't think it has to do with the wire I ripped. I took out all the internal components to examine them, and then I put them back and the computer won't power on. Can it be ESD? I used a ESD wrist band though.

 

[rclarke250]

Possible it's ESD, but doubtful, unless you were sitting on the living room floor, and moving a lot on carpet, and even then, I would still expect to see some life. Are you sure that all of the cables are hooked back up correctly? Motherboard,Power supply,Switch,Memory,CPU,and video are that are needed to turn it on and see something, Or remove the memory and see if you get beep code from the motherboard. Unless the front USB and switch are part of the same assy. it wouldn't keep it from turning on. If they are, look on ebay for a replacement. If not, depends on what you want the computer for, could just leave it off, and have no front USB.

 

[goombawaho]

Sounds like you didn't put something back correctly. Is their a power switch on the power supply that is turned off?

Did you try shorting the pins on the motherboard that act as the power switch? That would rule out the power switch.

Any light/LED ON on the motherboard to confirm that you are getting power to it?

It could be any of the items listed by rclarke250 and if you aren't an experienced troubleshooter, it may prove baffling.

 

[kjv1611]

Leave the USB wire totally disconnected from the motherboard - what's left anyway. That's assuming that you ripped out one wire, not the wire grouping for the USB.

If you did indeed rip out the entire USB ribbon/cable/wire grouping - varies from one to the next... I'd suggest looking to be sure you didn't bend any pins to where they are contacting. If you bent any pins on any connectors, then they could be shorting something out.

Also, try unplugging EVERYTHING, and see if it'll at least turn the CPU fan on. If it won't, try removing the RAM and reconnecting.

Another thing to check is the PSU. If you're in a carpeted room, it's possible for the PSU itself to get murked up by static electricity unrelated to you working on the internals. Try totally killing the power to it if it has a switch, unplugging it, then hold in the power button on the front for 5 to 10 seconds to make sure 100% drained. Then plug it back up, flip the back power switch if applicable, then try turning it on with the front power button.

Then if that still doesn't make a difference, make sure it's powered off, and pull the RAM. Plug in only one stick of RAM, attempt reboot. If still no boot, try the other - or 1 of however many you have until tried all individually.

Also, you say you pulled it all apart? Did you remove the CPU? If so, there's specific dos and don'ts with that part. For one, hope you didn't bend a pin on the CPU. For another, you should have cleaned the CPU and heatsink with Alcohol or something similar, to be sure good and clean, then reapply thermal paste, and reattach heatsink.. abide by the manufacturer specifications (CPU or heatsink manufacturer). Or go by the directions for Arctic Silver -

http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm

If it boots with no wires attached, then one by add begin adding wires until it won't start up. That will help you narrow down what part or connection is causing the issue.

--sorry if I duplicated anything--

 

[goombawaho]

This is like remote control surgery. "Now make an incision......