Restarting restarting restarting restarting... frig

[James198]

Ok, I've got a ECS k8m890m-m... AMD 4800+.... 2gig ram.. radeon 9400 pci-e..

Ok, here it goes... i shut my computer down unplugged it then took out the heatsink/fan cuz i bought a new fan to put in, I changed the fan then put it back in.. Turned it on, and it got to the xp loading window then restarted...The next time it brought me to "Safemode - start windows normally etc... i select "start normally" and again it restarts...this time i select "safe mode" and again it loads a bit then restarts..
So this time i try and go into the bios and "load defaults" for shits and giggles and before i can even exit and save the bios it restarts again on me..

So it's gotta be hardware i'm thinking?

I remove vid card and use onboard video and the same thing happens, just restarts..so i remove a stick of ram and swap out both and the same thing happens...

It's really weird, i can turn it on now and it won't load anything and just keep restarting..but 5 restarts later it will load to the xp screen... wtf?!?

Now that i'm looking at the mobo i do notice 2 capacitors are kinda bulging out, there not completely flat like the rest but there not cracked or anything...Could that be an issue?

I'm frustrated right now, all i did was change a fan and put it back in... Didn't touch the cpu or any wires, it was working fine...

 

[raybay]

Could be...
But is is much more likely that you erred on the reinstall of the heatsink and/or fan or other component.
Did it require you use thermal paste?
Remove and retry... being very conscious of even the little points...
It is likely detecting or not detecting something important.
You probably got a check list with the cpu cooler/heatsink/cpu fan package, follow it exactly next time.

 

[James198]

I went back to the original fan and it's still not workin..
It's not the power supply cuz i took it out and pieced together a computer with it and it was running fine..

I took the whole thing apart dusted it, cleaned everything with some air and still no luck.. I'm guessing my mobo is shot.

 

[seanc]

If you have bulging capacitors, they are at least part of the cause of your problem - if not the complete cause.

Also, remove the top casing from the PSU, do NOT TOUCH ANYTHING inside, look at all of the capacitors, if any are bulging, replace it, along with the motherboard unless you are able to replace the capacitors yourself.

 

[James198]

Thank you. I was told bulging compacitors can cause problems and thats the only thing i can see thats wrong.. I've built a lot of computers and installed fans, cpus, vid cards etc.. without any problems but this one has issues... Actually i was told now that the computer was acting up before i did anything.. Apparently the computer would just go into sleep mode and it had to be restarted to get out of it (sleep mode was disabled)..
Any thoughts on that?

 

[seanc]

'Sleep mode' sounds more like it was just dying while still powered on and the only way to get it back was a reboot.
Change or repair the motherboard, check the power supply.

 

[James198]

I changed the 2 bulging capacitors on the mobo and that went well. Then i opened the PSU and it was shot.. A capacitor was busted and it looked as though 5 or 6 more were about to pop. It good to go now...

Thanks for your guys help.
Appreciate it!

 

[elmahdy11]

'Sleep mode' sounds more like it was just dying while still powered on and the only way to get it back was a reboot.
Change or repair the motherboard, check the power supply.

it realy may be pwr supply proplem just change it and post result

 

[James198]

I bought a new PSU and changed the 2 capacitors on the mobo and everything works fine now... It was the PSU i'm sure, it kinda smelt like burnt candy, there was brown crap all over inside...

It's runnin good now..

 

[Kcircyrd]

Thank you for the update.
Did you replace the capacitors yourself ? What was the level of difficulty... and where did you find the correct capacitors...
Do you think the capacitor failure caused the death of the power supply? Or verse visa

 

[seanc]

Kcircyrd,

Bad capacitors in the power supply can almost certainly attribute to failure of the capacitors on the motherboard - however it wasn't necessarily the cause in this case. Bad capacitors can occur on a motherboard anywhere, more likely to happen next to a source of heat.

Since you're in Inverness (Scotland) I'd recommend buying from RS Components or Farnell. Digikey is another contender, but shipping from the US is very expensive in comparison.
When buying capacitors, make sure you purchase 105˚C Low ESR capacitors from a reputable brand such as Panasonic, Nichion, United Chemicon, Rubycon, Samxon, Sanyo (Suncon) etc.

Capacitors from Maplin are not sufficient as they are general purpose. Capacitors which have 'Low ESR' printed on their sleeves are almost always crap.