Comp will not boot w/new or old CPU. HELP!

[queebsalaron]

This is why you don't give your computer to Computer Engineering students to upgrade:

So I wanted to upgrade my CPU from a Pentium 4 1.8 ghz to a P4 3.0 ghz. I ordered the 3.0 online, and it arrived in fine condition. I gave it to a friend of mine who said it would be a breeze to install. I believed him, and as I kind of want to get into building rigs myself, I asked him to show me how it was done. This is what he did.

The P4 heatsink and fan is attached by a couple of clamps that operate on thumb-activated levers. These were a bit of a pain to remove, but after a bit of pushing, my buddy got them off. We removed the heatsink and fan, and all was good and right with the world. Then we installed the 3.0, and dry-fitted the heatsink that I ordered to make sure it would fit correctly before we buttered it up and locked it in. Turns out that the new heatsink/fan combos that Intel makes for their higher-end P4 chips (such as the 3.0) won't fit on the brackets for the older, lower-end P4 chips (like the 1.8 that came with my Gateway in 2002 or so). So we took out the 3.0 and went to reinstall the 1.8.

This is where we ran into a problem. The 1.8 was permanantly attached to the heatsink, and we couldn't operate the lever on the ZIF with the heatsink attached. So we had to separate the CPU from the heatsink, and did so with a screwdriver, trying our best to be careful. We then reinstalled the 1.8 and affixed the heatsink and fan in their proper places.

We went to reboot the machine, and the lights on the CD drives lit up, and we could hear the fan running, but the light on the power button stayed orange (it usually turns green) and the screen remained blank. We both knew that this was bad news. Just for fun, we swapped out the 1.8 with the 3.0 and slapped on the 1.8's newly-detached heatsink and tried firing it up again. Nothing.

My main concern is that in trying to take off the clamps that kept the heatsink attached, we cracked the motherboard. It's also possible that we somehow managed to fry something or other in the swapping of the CPUs, but that doesn't really make sense considering I never tried to power up the comp with the 3.0 before reinstalling the 1.8. Is there some major step that my friend overlooked in removing/reinstalling this CPU? What might be the problem.

Help me, TechSpot forum browsers. You're my only hope.

</cheeze>

 

[queebsalaron]

Update:

Okay, so in talking to my buddy, it seems as though there might be a relatively apparent problem. While operating on my machine, my amigo failed to properly ground himself. We obviously didn't notice any static charges, but then again, neither of us knows if we necessarily would. Is this a possible culprit? If so, what's the fix?

 

[kimbo.ati]

I would say that your motherboard is now broken. Your buddy should know what a good replacement would be is.

 

[kirock]

No Fix

Update:

Okay, so in talking to my buddy, it seems as though there might be a relatively apparent problem. While operating on my machine, my amigo failed to properly ground himself. We obviously didn't notice any static charges, but then again, neither of us knows if we necessarily would. Is this a possible culprit? If so, what's the fix?

If the above did happen (i.e an ESD (Electro Static Discharge) event) then most likely the CPU in question is toast. Your new 3G CPU might not have had that happen to it though if you were still in reasonable contact with the case and did NOT drag your feet across a carpet before installing the new CPU!!!.

Mostly likey though the 1.8G took some damage (mechanically) from all the prying and pulling. Not good, damage at this level is like hitting an embryo with a hammer.

I know this is not alot of help, but can you very very carefully put the 3G CPU into another computer and check to see if it works?

If you cracked the mobo, it's toast too. These are multi-layer, high density traces and impossible to repair by virtue of construction. Sorry bro.

 

[queebsalaron]

More update:

Seems my buddy-ol'-pal had no clue what he was doing, or else was suffering from an extraordinary lapse of brain activity. Seems he didn't check to see if the motherboard LED was lit before he started swapping parts. Assuming that it was, and that there was still residual power left in the board when the chips were switched, what are the odds that the 3.0 is any good anymore? I don't have another comp with which to swap chips.

 

[Merc14]

OK, so you wrenched the CPU and HSF out of the socket and then pried the HSF from the CPU with a screwdriver. Meanwhile, you still had the power on and running through the system, but, thankfully, neither of you were grounded anyways thereby avoiding a nasty shock, ESD be damned.

Sorry but this is reading like a satirical "How not to work on your PC." post. I'm not buying it. :haha:

 

[Tedster]

so you're saying the computer was plugged in ? !!! and you used a screwdriver to remove a CPU? and nobody was grounded?

um,,, DUHHHHHHHH ! "Gee, what does this button/feature/switch/command, (fill in the blank) do?" ...... OOPs!"


NEVER WORK ON COMPUTERS WITH POWER ON.
NEVER PRY CPU's WITH SCREWDRIVERS. There's a tool to remove non-ZIF CPUs.
ALWAYS GROUND YOURSELF, when working with electronics.