I have a compaq presario 7470 in my possession. It used to work, but not for some reason it refuses to. I just bought a power supply for it and it still doesnt work. I figured out that if u remove the J3 pin from pins 2 and 3 after pressing the power button it will turn on. The compaq screen comes up and it says '102-System Board Failure.' This seems bad...what should i do? is it a fried motherboard? if the board was fried would it even turn on?? Thanks!

I don't think the motherboard is fried in which case it wouldn't boot, as you say. But it definitly is having some problems...

Has Compaq support service gotten back with you yet ?

This might sound silly, but Compaq BIOSes are pretty funky. First, Make sure you move the clear CMOS jumper back into its original position (Pins 1 and 2)...

Okay, when you clear the CMOS, I believe you'll usually see the "System Board Failure" error message on boot. Just let it restart and let it do its thing. When it restarts, it should be fine. If you didn't give it the chance to restart, this may be why you think it is broken for good.

Also, when you clear the CMOS, you'll probably need to go into the BIOS and set the cofiguration again for the processor (If you are using some form of Soft FSB)

Other than that, check for backwards IDE cables (I suggest removing all drives until you can get it past the error message), make sure your ATX/AT power cables are snug and give it a swift kick for the Rickster.

/me kicks the Compaq

Oh you meant Fatteh over there ...

Sorry

lol, the only problem with the restart is that it wont. The power button wont turn on the computer unless i remove the jumper from the pins like i said. The second i remove the jumper it turns on, i don't press anything...

Almost sounds like the Power switch wires should be where the jumper is now. Do you have a pin-out diagram of the MB? Make sure all switches and led's are in the right place.

There are two ways to fix this, one is to buy a Compaq certified PSU, the second I'll have to post back with when I find it. I remember seeing an article in an old magazine about fitting a new PSU to a Compaq, I should still have the article. I just have to sift through all my old mags to find it.

i had the same problem one day all was fine then nothing. i changed the board, the cpu and the power supply still nothing. guess what the cheapest part the front case switch had a p/t short i replaced it now all is fine.

PHATMAN5050, weirdest thing, I have the same problem with a Presario 5wv257. Did you solve it?

Might be a little late in my reply to these posts, but just came across them as I was perusing the web for info about this computer. I'm doing an upgrade on one of these babies myself, and I ran into the same problem. For me, the solution was painfully simple: for some reason, when I popped open the shell of this comp, I saw something strange with the Clear CMOS jumpers. Now, granted, I have no idea who did what--if anything at all, since it looks pretty "factory" inside--to this machine since it was purchased, but when I opened the shell, the computer had been running with this jumper set to 2-3, which according to the silk screening on the mobo is the "Clear CMOS" value. A quick change-o to 1-2 position, and everything seemed fine. How this all came to be, I have no idea, but it sounds like that might be the problem you're experiencing as well. I hope so, because it involves all of $0 in parts .

Good luck!

LOL are you serious?

did you just refer to the computer as a BABY?

a Change-o huh, I dont know what in the blue hell and Change-O is.

change-over