Computer Hardware Servicing NC II Tutorial

Is it really a logical thing to fix your computer's motherboard? How come I am asking such question where most people would plainly say yes. Having been fixing computers for more than six years now gave me adequate time to hone my skills including "fixing" pc motherboards. But technically, you can't fix your computer's motherboard as its components are integrated and the only way to resolve chip level problems is to replace those soldered components - which is impractical. However in some cases, you may be able to do simple motherboard fixes like burnt capacitor replacement through soldering or perhaps straightening the bent pins and defective ports.

Basically, most computer motherboard problems are caused by leaking or burnt capacitors. Checking your motherboard visually or perhaps carefully listen for abnormal sounds while your computer is operating. You may see some brownish-yellow fluid on top of your leaky capacitor, a bulging top or raised capacitor which is shaky on its base, or an oddly sharp whizzing sound when your motherboard operates. These are some easy indications that your motherboard is problematic.

Another indication that your motherboard needs a fix or replacement is when you get no display or intermittent problems even if the processor, RAM, video card, or hdd had already been isolated and checked. Problems like constant restarts and POST errors are well associated with motherboard problems. Another good indication that your motherboard is likely defective is that your processor won't heat up when trying to power up the system unit.

If in any case there are visually clear indication of defective capacitors, you can replace it through soldering. But if you can't possibly find problems visually, then it could be chip level - which is possible but very hard to fix. Fixing a motherboard requires great skills in soldering and troubleshooting. Some advanced computer technicians feel each major and minor chips on the motherboard if it heats a lot when in operation. If you want to check for chip temperatures, it is best to use a digital thermometer. When the temperature reading well exceeds 35 degrees, it could be your problematic motherboard's culprit.

If overheating chips or other uncommon problems are observed other than the obvious defective capacitors on your motherboard, replacement is the best solutions. There are many good motherboards to choose from in the market and you can even order them easily online. And if you want to get the best motherboards in the market today, check the top motherboard reviews before considering to buy one.

Fixing pc motherboards are easy - if you are only to replace the defective capacitors. And if the problem is chip level, perhaps you consider buying a new motherboard.

Finding appropriate system device drivers for your computer and peripherals is a tedious task. You have to install system device drivers every time you need to reformat your drive and reinstall Windows XP or your favorite operating system and other peripherals. Some of the most common driver missing or device drivers upon finishing to install Windows XP are pointing device drivers and it will just show you a warning like unknown device drivers.

Looking for device drivers for Windows might be might be so hard for most newbies. Some just plainly go to Google and search something like unknown device drivers download or device drivers windows or even download device drivers. You just can't download device drivers or commonly windows device drivers if you do not know the motherboard manufacturer and the series name. This is important so that you can have the appropriate system device driver for your computer's peripheral or devices.

Now if are able to find your motherboard manufacturer's name and the motherboard series name, you are now ready to download unknown device drivers. But what if you don't know how to identify if you have unknown device drivers in your computer? It is easy to find whether you have the right device driver or appropriate device drivers by doing the following steps below.

1. Go to "Start"

2. Click right on "My Computer"

3. Go to "Properties"\"Hardware"\"Device Manager" and when the Device Manager Dialog box appears and you see yellow exclamation marks, it indicates that you have missing drivers for your computer's peripherals or devices.

It should be handy if you have your installation or motherboard support or driver cd - but what if you can't find or lost it? You can update your device drivers or manually download peripheral device drivers or even use driver packs. It's easy, go to your motherboard manufacturer's site and go for support and download the appropriate drivers or look for the best driver packs for you.


Device Driver Support Sites of the Major Motherboard Manufacturers

Asus Support
Emaxx Support
HP Support
Intel Support
Aopen Support
ECS Support
ACER Support
Dell Support
Compaq Support
IBM Support


Download And Use Driver Pack to Solve Unknown Device Drivers

Another option is to secure a copy through purchase or torrent download of driver packs. This is really a handy tool, it contains a driver database for many peripherals like for video, sound, lan, printer and so much more. But the downside is, most drivers are obsolete and you need to update it. Drivers packs need to be updated once in a while - also prone to downloading computer virus.


Trust Driver Fixing Softwares To Solve Driver Problems

Also you might want to consider downloading from virus free and known driver database sites - some downloads are free and yet others ask for a little fee. Downloading Windows unknown device drivers from these sites might be discomforting and finding the right device driver for your computer or its peripheral is hard and difficult. To cope up with the difficulty in downloading, there are softwares or programs that will automatically search for the most appropriate and updated device driver for your computer. There is no need to manually search for the unknown device drivers, the program will do it for you - with ease. The software costs a little but automation will save you time and money in the long run. I would suggest you try driver fixing softwares from a trusted company like ParetoLogic which is also Microsoft's partner.

A P5PE-VM motherboard was declared dead by the City Computer Technician and when the system unit was handed over to us, it resurrected. As many computer technicians say "If you can't replace the motherboard, replace your technician". This may sound mean but why not consider this thought. As we checked the system unit by powering it up, we noticed that the computer was "dead". There was no video but the fans are all spinning. After some few moments of trying to point out the problem. We got it solved and here's how we done it.



Date Fixed : July 20, 2010


Problem : Computer is dead, No Video but Fans Spin.


Owner : The Dumaguete Public Employment Office (PESO)
Motherboard : P5PE-VM, P4 2.6 Ghz
Operating System : WIN XP PS 2


Technician : Drokz
URL : http://clhidohsr.blogspot.com


INTERVENING FACTORS :

No motherboard support cd
PC Must be fixed in a day.


OBSERVATIONS :

Upon turning on the computer, we noticed that there was no video but all fans are spinning. so we need to check the RAM's, video card, reseat the processor, and power supply.

Also, the video card fan spins quite abnormally slow.


TROUBLESHOOTING PROCEDURE :

- With this type of trouble are almost always expected to be a video card fault. As observed, all fans are spinning and no video display. So we pulled out the video card and visually checked for blown or leaky capacitors but found nothing different or faulty. So we cleaned the connector edge of the video card with a contact cleaner and inserted it after to its slot. Still upon powering the system unit back, no video, no beep and all fans are still spinning.

- So we switched our suspicion to the RAMs. So we cleaned all the RAMs' connector edges and checked it individually by inserting one RAM after the other on each of the DIMM slots. After doing so, we found no clue to what really caused the problem. We can actually check for the power supply right away but it is best to check the components that are accessible and easier to test. So we decided to finally check the PSU for fault.

- As we open and see the insides of the PSU, we weren't surprised to that some capacitors are leaking. Even if there are capacitors leaking, the PSU may still give enough power to spin up the fans and light the LED's. But the power it produces is not enough to make the system to normally run. So we replaced the PSU and the problem was resolved.

- After replacing the PSU the system runs fine for a few minutes but then restarts. As timed, it was about three minutes before the computer restarts. As observed earlier, the fans of the video card spins slow. So we attached a 12 volt fan to the video card. And upon powering up the system unit, there was no restarting of the computer after three minutes. The over-heating of the video card caused the computer to repeatedly restart.

- Problem Solved!


SUMMARY :

- PSU's can still produce enough electricity to spin up the fans and power the LED but not sufficient enough to power the system unit normally when its capacitors are leaking. So consider checking PSU's if you computer gives you no video yet the fans are spinning.

- An over-heating video card can cause a computer to restart after some few minutes when its components can no longer take the heat.

Reported Defect: No video no beep codes sounds dead system unit

Computer Name / Owner : Bobo Pague
Date fixed: August 23, 2009
Place: Barangay Taclobo, Dumaguete City
Unit: ATX

Computer Description:

Motherboard: ASUS
Processor: Intel ® Celeron ® 1.80 Ghz
RAM: 1 Gb
Operating System: Win XP SP2



Checked By: Andrew Dahilan - 09058538259



Interview Report:

The owner said just one day it turned off and then really gone dead. The system was sent to two respected Computer Servicing Shops in Dumaguete and both shops said the motherboard is defective or dead.


Observations:

>No Display
>No Beep code
>PSU and CPU Fans Spinning
>Numlock don’t lit on startup


Troubleshooting Proper:

>Since the system was already passed down to me, I assumed its peripherals had been checked thoroughly. So I removed all the peripherals and tested each to verify “their” findings.

>First, I removed ALL removable components and turned on the system then observed the total functioning.

>Then, after which, the CMOS Battery was inserted and turned the system on. Still observing, the result was the same as the first approach.

>The CPU was then placed back in its socket and retested by turning it on. No beep codes, and display.

>The RAM was then tested next, yet still ..no life.

> Power supply was then suspected to cause the problem. PSU was then removed and opened to see if there are blown components (look for blown capacitors) but we found the PSU in good condition.

>Going back to see if it’s a RAM related problem, we inserted a known good RAM. But then again, still no display and beep codes. Changing the slot placement of the RAM and tested each attempt, still there was no sign of “life”.

>It could be the processor that is dead or perhaps really the BIOS or RAM. Confusion begins to pile up. So I rechecked each major component back again and to which I should be starting with the Motherboard.

>Reviving the Motherboard back to life (if is it dead or it could be) is an impossible task. A cell phone techie told me that you really can’t fix its board, but instead it is just to be “heated-up” using some hot air equipment. So I guess it should work the same as the motherboard (technically they are both computers). Instead of using the hot-air equipment used by the cell phone technicians, we borrowed and used Carla’s hair blower (the beautician downstairs of our center). We then removed the components from the motherboard and the motherboard itself from the system casing and checked the motherboard for cracks or other visible and possible defects. Then the heating and blowing process continued using Carla’s equipment. After heating the motherboard and its components, we re-installed the board and its components back to the system case for testing.

>Inserting back the CPU, CMOS battery, and RAM to the board, ALAS! There was a display on POST! But it just lasted for about 4 seconds and the system shuts down. At least there was a sign of life. ?

>Still confused, re-checking the major the components back for the third time and the attempt seemed to be doomed for failure. The motherboard is the last to blame for this stubbornness of the problem. But in the contrary, why were it able to show us the POST? Think. ?

>BIOS loads its information to the memory during POST right? Let’s check the memory.

>I have reseated the RAM to the other slots but it seems the only functioning slot was the first slot we tested where the POST was temporary seen. So I cleaned the slot by running a thin flat screw driver unto its slot and brushed it up (use a contact cleaner, the method used here is barbaric!). After which, the system was up and running and was able to enter the BIOS setup!

>I tested the HDD if it is running but unfortunately the BIOS cannot detect it. We used another good HDD and that’s it!

>Win XP Sp2 was then installed on that hard disk and some utilities and applications.

>The system was brought to its good state after being observed for 1 week (it is still kicking to this day as I write this report). Well I told the system unit’s owner for what problems were found and what peripherals to buy…and guess what, the system was given to me. I now own the system. ?


Trouble(s) found / Defective components

>RAM is found defective
>DIMM slots were flaky and tarnished
>HDD is found defective
>Motherboard was possibly defective



Remedy:

>Heated-up the motherboard (Motherboard is suspected to cause the problem)