Emachine won't boot

[meanster99]

I have searched the forum for similar posts and there was a thread with the exact same problem as mine but it wasn't resolved.

My dad's Emachine won't switch on. I opened the machine up and found that the power supply appeared to be recieving power as the small green LED on the motherboard was lit. But nothing else happened at all. No fan, HDD or anything else.

From what I have read on this forum this may mean the power supply is dead (or maybe running at a low voltage?). Or the mobo is dead (apparently very common for the dreaded emachines!)

I really don't want to have to buy a new Power Supply before finding out it is the mobo (and why would the green LED on the mobo light up if the power supply was dead?) I heard there are some other things I can try before this but what are they?

Also, in the process of trying to eliminate the on/off switch from the cause, I unplugged the 3 leads at the front of the case (the HDD LED, power LED and S/W Power) from the mobo. Unfortunately, I thought they were one plug and i didnt really pay attention to how they were aligned. As some of you will know - these were actually 3 separate plugs and now I have no idea which way they plug back onto the 5x2 pins!! (The three cables are black/white, green/white and red/white). Can anyone tell me which way to put them back (I reckon it may not even matter which pins the plugs go onto as long as I have the polarity correct - i.e should the white wire of each plug go into the top or bottom pin?)

All help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Rik]

Firstly, the psu puts out all kinds of voltages. +12v, -12, +5v, -5v, 5v standby, and 3.3v. All the green led on the mobo does is tell you that the 5v standby works, nothing more!!!!

Secondly, those wires you removed MUST be put back exactly how they came off. I don't have an emachine (got more sense than that) and information is very difficult to find on emachines so you will have to look in the manual or have a look at another identical pc!!!!

 

[meanster99]

OK. First, a little more info - I have an emachine 2210 (Micro ATX form factor, Intel D845GVSR mobo, 2.6Ghz Celeron CPU). I left the PC overnight and came back the next day to have another look at it. Now when I plug the PSU in nothing happens at all. Not even the green LED on the mobo. Nothing.

For anyone that has disconnected the front panel connectors from their Intel D845GVSR mobo, the info for reconnecting can be found here:

http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/sr/sr_con.htm

I have come to the conclusion that my mobo and PSU are both in need of replacement. I have checked the many threads on emachine replacement mobos and PSU's but I am in the UK and Im looking for recommendations for these replacements.

Can anyone recommend me a replacement board and PSU that they know has worked OK with an emachine? (not looking to spend too much - around £150 all in, max) I also have 2 modules of 512Mb DDR SDRAM that I would like to use in the new mobo if possible. I know I will have to buy a new copy of windows but will my current HDD still work with the new mobo? What else should I consider?

I don't expect not to have to research this for myself (I have been all morning already!) but I would appreciate any guidance or recommendations.

Many thanks in advance....

 

[Rik]

You will be lucky to find a replacement mobo brand new because celerons are so old, the only place you will be reasonably sure to get one is ebay!!!!

As for a psu, i think your case will take a standard atx, so any decent one of 3000watts or more should do it!!! Also, you can test if the psu is completely dead or not by disconnecting it from the mobo and shorting the green wire to any black, if nothing happens the psu is definitely gone!!!!

 

[vegasgmc]

I just finished repairing a 6th eMachine with the same problem. The power supply failed and damaged the motherboard. The power supplies they used dont have overvoltage protection so when the PS goes, it fries the board. You might want to look into buying a new cheap system. eMachines is charging $150-170 for motherboards plus $40-50 for a decent PS.

 

[capinoy]

I have the same problem with a T2885. This one would not power up. So I went out an bought a new p/s 350 watt. When I plugged it in, the only thing that would come up is a green light on the board. When I put the old p/s back in the green lite was still up. I should of read this post before going out and buying a new board. My question now is if I get a new mbo should I install the original p/s or put in the one I just bought. I'll be waiting for a response.

Thanks

 

[Rik]

Capinoy, if you use the original psu you will most likely blow the replacement mobo so you haven't wasted money buy buying a new psu, you have instead saved money and anguish in the long run!!!!

 

[smore9648]

If its under warranty have it replaced. If not buy another system other then emachine.

 

[Betageek48]

Just a word to the wise - save yourself some pain; never, ever buy an emachines, ESPECIALLY when it has a Celeron processor! I watched 2 of my friends buy them things and they have had nothing BUT MOBO problems with them. Most of the time, it will hang on the "e" splash screen if you have ANYTHING USB plugged in. There are no BIOS nor chipset updates for this and I have contacted emachines/Gateway on this, for the past 7 months. After they have replaced the mobo, it is still the same thing. Now it's getting to the point where it will fail to boot, period.

 

[Rik]

So the moral of the story is, don't buy an emachine, they are almost as bad as sony vaio's!!!!