Acer Aspire AX1200 new motherboard, still won't run

[paulinchgo]

In a previous post I described problems with my son's Acer Aspire AX1200 desktop which would start to power up, then power down, start to power up, then power down in an endless cycle. The computer would not even start to boot. We thought it was a PSU issue and replace the power supply. No change.

We figured it was the motherboard and carefully replaced it with a new unit. We took our time and removed all the cables and connectors from the old motherboard with great care. We installed the new motherboard and reconnected everything as before.

We connected the monitor, mouse, keyboard, and power cable and hit the power button. It started and booted up. Yay! Windows started up and the Windows desktop came up. High fives were exchanged!

Without warning the screen went blank. No response from mouse or keyboard ctrl-alt-delete. We powered it down and attempted to restart it. This time the blue power indicator light flashed once and the fan started to run at full speed. The computer didn't start to boot... just sat there with the fan running wild. Powered down and tried again... same thing.

Tried a cmos reset by removing the battery and holding down the power button, then replacing battery and power cord. As soon as the power cord is attached, the fan starts up running at full speed before even touching the power button. It stops and powers down when the power button is held down.

This morning, I removed dvd/cd player, hard drive, and checked the memory card seating. Then I plugged in the power cord. This time the fan didn't run wild. It tried to boot, but couldn't continue because no drive to boot from. I shut it down, connected the hard drive and tried it again. This time the fan was normal, blue light was on, boot sequence completed normally and Windows started. Great!

But this lasted only a few minutes, then screen went blank. Powered down tried to restart it.... and we're back to the fan running at full speed and no boot.

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to give all the details. I suspect a short of some kind, but I've been over it again and again and can't find anything loose or misaligned, and no screws loose.

Any ideas or suggestions much appreciated. Could we have damaged the motherboard?

Paul

 

[Mark56]

All these symptons would suggest a faulty power button, any intermitant fault could be causing it to trigger a shutdown. Try giving the button a good blast from a can of compressed air, it could just be dirt trapped around the button causing it to stick.

 

[paulinchgo]

Thanks for the reply. We already tried blowing out the power switch with compressed air. No change.

The power comes on and the blue light flashes once then the fan starts up and runs at full speed... no further progress with boot. It just sits there with the fan running at full blast.

 

[Mark56]

Has the memory been tested? if you have more than one stick of memory try running it on just one stick, then swapping so you test both of them.

Another idea would be to remove and disconnect the keypad.

 

[Trillionsin]

Has the memory been tested? if you have more than one stick of memory try running it on just one stick, then swapping so you test both of them.

Another idea would be to remove and disconnect the keypad.

Try this method first... I dont think this may be the case... but try testing the hard drive and running scandisk to see if its going bad.

memtest and spinright

Old, old programs... lol but they still work

Edit: (at least to me, anyways. )

 

[Mark56]

Thanks Trillionsin, I was going to suggest that in the next step. For your advise and Paulinchgo the old programs for testing memory and hard drives may find some major faults but can also miss minor errors. These guides below are the best methods for testing hard drive and memory.

Identify the make of your hard drive and then use one of the links below to get the manufacturers diagnostic for ISO CD. Burn the image file to a CD, boot the PC with the disc in the drive and run the diagnostics. You first need to set the CD drive to 1st in the boot order in the Bios setup.

If you do not have an image burner use this free software to make the CD.

http://www.isoimageburner.com/


ExcelStor: http://www.excelstor.com/eng/support.php?sub_id=3

Hitachi/IBM: http://www.hitachigst.com/support/downloads/

Samsung: http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/support/utilities/Support_HUTIL.html

Toshiba Fujitsu: http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=SoftwareUtilities#diagnostic

Path=ServicesSupport/FujitsuDrivesUSandCanada/SoftwareUtilities[/url]

Seagate, Maxtor & Quantum:http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads

Western Digital:http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?lang=en

Power off the PC and remove the mains connection, always touch the metal of the case with your hands to avoid any static electricity from causing component damage. (On laptops ALWAYS remove the battery before removing or replacing memory modules). Remove all your memory modules. Clean the contacts with a soft rubber (up and down not from end to end) then insert just one module and reboot to test for any change in performance. Repeat this for every module one at a time and run for at least 24 hours. Obviously if you only have one module this cannot be done, but you should still remove and clean the module and reseat it and test.

If you only have one stick download this to test it. http://www.memtest.org/

You need to scroll down the page until you see the three blue screenshots. Just below is the list of downloads for Memtest86+ V4.10. Click on Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)and save to your desktop, When the download is complete right click the file and select Extract Here and burn the image to a CD. In windows 7 right click the extracted file, select Open With, then select Windows Disc Image Burning Tool then follow the prompts. For all other versions of windows (if you do not have an ISO burner) download this free software. http://www.isoimageburner.com/

Boot the PC into the Bios setup and set the CD/DVD drive to 1st in the boot sequence. Insert the disk in the drive then reboot and the disc will load into dos. Leave the test to run through at least 5 cycles.

The memtest will not be 100% accurate but should easily detect any major faults.