JimT.

A coworker gave me an HP Pavilion 513n computer to fix (TriGen Glendale MB with Celeron 1.8, 256MB PC2100 memory). Supposedly she was unable to open her files, but when I received the computer, it had no video. I performed a power supply test, which it failed. I installed another power supply, at which point the video worked, but after getting as far as a startup choice, the machine simply looped. Both CPU and case fans were working properly.

I slaved the hard drive to another computer and ran a diagnostic. The drive had about forty bad sectors and was, according to the diagnostic, failing. I asked my coworker if the computer had experienced power failures and she said that happened all the time. No battery backup, of course.

I installed another formatted hard drive, after which the machine decided to display only a blinking cursor. I took the computer apart and started with just the motherboard and memory, installing parts and checking things until I finally got it to boot from the WinXP Pro CD.

Problem is, after a minute or two into the install (not always at the same spot), the motherboard shuts down. The power supply continues to run. The CPU heatsink is cool. I did notice, when examining the motherboard earlier, that some of the electrolytic capacitors immediately to the rear of the CPU had mounds of dust caked on--I had blown the computer out with compressed air--while others were perfectly clean. I had to chip the stuff off, so I suspect there was some moisture coming from the capacitors. Does it sound like leaking capacitors could be causing the problem? Any other ideas would be welcome.

Also, has anyone replaced the motherboard (micro-ATX, TriGen Glendale I believe.) in this or similar HP models without a great deal of grief? The case/motherboard connectors seem to be made specifically for this motherboard.

If it were mine I'd haul it to the dump, but it isn't.

sobeit

if you had to chip some stuff off and am getting moisture from the capacitors they are bad which means the motherboard needs to be replaced.

I would strongly suggest to tell your friend to forget about getting a new motherboard and just get a new computer. IMO, its really too old to mess with.

JimT.

sobeit...

I would agree, and I see it's getting very hard to find a board for yesterday's processors, let alone for a bargain price. I'm just not sure she's ready to spring for a bunch of new stuff on top of the HDD (case, board & CPU/fan, memory, floppy and CD-R (the HP has a "special" case front).

sobeit

just get one prebuilt. Not sure of your location but based on the computer your friend is using, you can get a good cheap one for general usage at your local walmart.

JimT.

Quote:

"just get one prebuilt. Not sure of your location but based on the computer your friend is using, you can get a good cheap one for general usage at your local walmart."

I can put together a computer, no problem. It's just that we're talking small dollars here. I'll see how it works out when I talk to her. Thanks for your comments.

craigwatanabe

Whatever you do save the PC2100 RAM. That stuff is getting rarer and more expensive.

JimT.

I save all RAM. I have a fair amount of old memory stuff. Can't identify a lot of it, but...