Averatec 3120 boots then shuts off ?????

cowboysportster · 05-18-2008, 05:44 AM

I have an old Averatec 3120 that while I realize it is far from top of the line, I would like to have it working. My problem is that it will boot up, run super slow, then shut down like it loses all power. The same thing occurs whether usung AC power or the battery. The fan runs until it shuts down so it does not appear to be a problem with overheating. Sometimes it will run for 30 minutes other times 30 seconds. As slow as it is currently running never long enough to accomplish anything. I had removed the memory thinking of upgrading and then reseated it numerous times. The problem started after I started looking around. The fan did not work prior to my attempt to resolve the issue. After I opened up the heatsink/fan area, never removing the CPU or heat sink the fan started to work. Could I moved the CPU enough to cause a connectivity issue? Hope I have given enough info that someone can provide some help.

kb9 · 11-09-2008, 01:44 PM

I was given on of these as a gift (that keeps on giving) and I was running into fan error messages when during boot up. From someone else's post about using Heat Sink compound, I removed the heat sink and sure enough I needed some badly. As it turned out the only thing I had was an old Pentium II lying around and figured I could scrape the compound from that fan assembly. No luck. What I did find however was a piece of silicon film between the heat sink and the CPU. I carefully removed the film with tweezers and put in place in the Averatec. I also did NOT over torc the screws when re-installing the HS.

Also, since XP uses some really odd power settings I dumped it and installed Ubuntu Linux which isn't so demanding and older laptops and notebooks. Everything seems to work just fine.

**TriggerFinger** · 11-10-2008, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cowboysportster

I have an old Averatec 3120 that while I realize it is far from top of the line, I would like to have it working. My problem is that it will boot up, run super slow, then shut down like it loses all power. The same thing occurs whether usung AC power or the battery. The fan runs until it shuts down so it does not appear to be a problem with overheating. Sometimes it will run for 30 minutes other times 30 seconds. As slow as it is currently running never long enough to accomplish anything. I had removed the memory thinking of upgrading and then reseated it numerous times. The problem started after I started looking around. The fan did not work prior to my attempt to resolve the issue. After I opened up the heatsink/fan area, never removing the CPU or heat sink the fan started to work. Could I moved the CPU enough to cause a connectivity issue? Hope I have given enough info that someone can provide some help.

I would definitely start with a known good/working RAM. Also I would open it up and reseat everything inside (i.e. connectors, CPU, heatsink, etc.). Obviously, you need to reapply thermal compound.

05-18-2008, 05:44 AM	#1 (permalink)
cowboysportster Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 1 OS: xp	Averatec 3120 boots then shuts off ????? I have an old Averatec 3120 that while I realize it is far from top of the line, I would like to have it working. My problem is that it will boot up, run super slow, then shut down like it loses all power. The same thing occurs whether usung AC power or the battery. The fan runs until it shuts down so it does not appear to be a problem with overheating. Sometimes it will run for 30 minutes other times 30 seconds. As slow as it is currently running never long enough to accomplish anything. I had removed the memory thinking of upgrading and then reseated it numerous times. The problem started after I started looking around. The fan did not work prior to my attempt to resolve the issue. After I opened up the heatsink/fan area, never removing the CPU or heat sink the fan started to work. Could I moved the CPU enough to cause a connectivity issue? Hope I have given enough info that someone can provide some help. Last edited by cowboysportster; 05-18-2008 at 05:48 AM.

11-09-2008, 01:44 PM	#2 (permalink)
kb9 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 1 OS: xp	Re: Averatec 3120 boots then shuts off ????? I was given on of these as a gift (that keeps on giving) and I was running into fan error messages when during boot up. From someone else's post about using Heat Sink compound, I removed the heat sink and sure enough I needed some badly. As it turned out the only thing I had was an old Pentium II lying around and figured I could scrape the compound from that fan assembly. No luck. What I did find however was a piece of silicon film between the heat sink and the CPU. I carefully removed the film with tweezers and put in place in the Averatec. I also did NOT over torc the screws when re-installing the HS. Also, since XP uses some really odd power settings I dumped it and installed Ubuntu Linux which isn't so demanding and older laptops and notebooks. Everything seems to work just fine.