CPU fan runs as soon as PC plugged in.

[fran.peruzzi]

Hello,

My girlfriend's eMachines T2825 is experiencing the following problem.
As soon as the PC is plugged into an outlet, the CPU fan spins up and
the HDD light goes on and remains on, without me even touching the
on/off switch. The power light does not go on, the computer does not
POST, and the only way to get it to stop is to kill the power at the
outlet.

Several events led up to the current situation.

Two days ago, in the morning, she let me know that the computer would
not power up when she tried to turn it on. Before going to work, I only
had time to check to make sure that the computer was plugged into a
working outlet.

That night, when I got home from work, I unplugged the PC, double
checked that the outlet was live, and plugged the pc in again. When I
pressed the power button, the computer started, but there was no output
to the monitor, and no POST beeps. I had to hold in the power button
for 5s to get it to shut down. After waiting, I tried the power button
again. This time the computer booted normally (single beep on POST),
but the mouse and kb were unresponsive. I replaced the PS/2 mouse with
a usb one, which worked, but a few seconds later, windows shut down
without warning. The power did not go off though (which I guess is due
to power management settings in windows), and I had to again manually
power down the computer.

The next time I tried, the computer again successfully booted, this
time the mouse and kb worked, but a couple minutes later the computer
again shut down without warning.

After again manually powering down, I gave it a rest for 20min or so,
after switching off the surge protector. Ever since then, whenever the
computer is connected to a live outlet, the HDD light comes on, CPU fan
spins up, and computer otherwise acts dead.

No hardware changes have been made since the computer was purchased a
few years ago, and I can't think of any other events that might be
relevant.

Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated,
Fran

 

[Rod Speed]

Hello,

My girlfriend's eMachines T2825 is experiencing the following problem.
As soon as the PC is plugged into an outlet, the CPU fan spins up and
the HDD light goes on and remains on, without me even touching the
on/off switch. The power light does not go on, the computer does not
POST, and the only way to get it to stop is to kill the power at the
outlet.

Several events led up to the current situation.

Two days ago, in the morning, she let me know that the computer would
not power up when she tried to turn it on. Before going to work, I
only had time to check to make sure that the computer was plugged
into a working outlet.

That night, when I got home from work, I unplugged the PC, double
checked that the outlet was live, and plugged the pc in again. When I
pressed the power button, the computer started, but there was no
output to the monitor, and no POST beeps. I had to hold in the power
button for 5s to get it to shut down. After waiting, I tried the
power button again. This time the computer booted normally (single
beep on POST), but the mouse and kb were unresponsive. I replaced the
PS/2 mouse with a usb one, which worked, but a few seconds later,
windows shut down without warning. The power did not go off though
(which I guess is due to power management settings in windows), and I
had to again manually power down the computer.

The next time I tried, the computer again successfully booted, this
time the mouse and kb worked, but a couple minutes later the computer
again shut down without warning.

After again manually powering down, I gave it a rest for 20min or so,
after switching off the surge protector. Ever since then, whenever the
computer is connected to a live outlet, the HDD light comes on, CPU
fan spins up, and computer otherwise acts dead.

No hardware changes have been made since the computer was purchased a
few years ago, and I can't think of any other events that might be
relevant.

Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated,

Looks like a bad power supply or bad motherboard or both given its an eMachines.

 

[VanShania]

try cleaning and blowing out all dust, reseat all your parts(pull them out
clean and reinstall.)

--
Love and Teach, Not Yell and Beat
Stop Violence and Child Abuse.
No such thing as Bad Kids. Only Bad Parents.
The most horrible feeling in the world is knowing that No One is There to
Protect You.

A64 3500+, Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939,AIW 9800 Pro 128mb
MSI 550 Pro, X-Fi, Pioneer 110D, 111D
Antec 550 watt,Thermaltake Lanfire,2 Gb OCZ Platinum 2-3-2-5
2XSATA 320gb Raid Edition, PATA 120Gb
XP MCE2005, 19in Viewsonic,BenchMark 2001 SE- 19074
Games I'm Playing- Falcon 4, winSPWW2, winSPMBT, Call of Duty War Chest

 

[paulmd]

Looks like a bad power supply or bad motherboard or both given its an eMachines.

The other thing Emachines kill is their processors. Hardly any
computers kill chips, but emachines do, with a vengeance. In fact, just
count on replacing at least 2 of the following 4:

Motherboard
Power supply
Processor
RAM. (probably not)

 

[fran.peruzzi]

The other thing Emachines kill is their processors. Hardly any

computers kill chips, but emachines do, with a vengeance. In fact, just
count on replacing at least 2 of the following 4:

Motherboard
Power supply
Processor
RAM. (probably not)

Hmm, doesn't sound good for this PC so far. I'm getting a new Power
Supply tomorrow, hopefully that will work. If it doesn't, I guess the
next thing I'll try is a new motherboard, although with this being my
first foray into the inside of a computer case, it's not something I
look forward to (besides the learning experience, which I'm actually
quite enjoying).

A couple more questions (sorry, I'm new to this):
Besides checking the caps (none of which appear to be bulging or
leaking), is there any other way to tell if my MB is shot without
shelling out for a new one?

Is it possible to gain any insight into the condition of the processor
from inspection? I haven't removed the fan and heat sink yet, but
haven't noticed any obvious signs like smoke or odor.

Thanks for the replies,
Fran

 

[fran.peruzzi]

try cleaning and blowing out all dust, reseat all your parts(pull them out
clean and reinstall.)

Thanks, I'll definitely try that before obtaining any more new
components.

fp

 

[w_tom]

Reasons that could create the various and inconsistent anomalies are
long and numerous. Start by confirming what is good. A power supply
'system' (which is more than just a power supply) could have been
defective even when computer booted. Furthermore, fan spinning or
light illuminating tells us nothing other then the AC power cord is
connected.

A 3.5 digit multimeter in less than 2 minutes will confirm power
supply 'system' integrity or indicate a probably suspect. Just like in
CSI, follow the evidence - do it quickly - and get a definitive answer.
Start by measuring the purple wire (from power supply to motherboard)
with AC power connected, computer powered off, and not disconnecting
anything. That voltage must measure more than 4.87 volts when
connected to motherboard. Then measure green wire voltage that should
exceed 2 volts. When power switch is pressed, that voltage should
immediately drop to less than 0.8 volts and stay there.

Meanwhile, gray wire should be near zero volts before switch is
pressed and rise to well above 2.4 volts within seconds after switch is
pressed.

Finally when switch is pressed, one of red, purple, orange, and
yellow wires should rise or maintain more than 3.23, 4.87, and 11.7
volts.

Each number confirms integrity or will provide others with an answer
to what may be defective.

Either you are ready to move on to other usual suspects or ready to
identify the area of defect - in but two minutes.

Meanwhile, if computer boots, then immediately consult the system
(event) logs where computer history is stored (as computer bypasses
failures to keep working). If you don't know how to find these logs in
Control Panel, then use Windows Help. Also locate and verify no
hardware problems in Device Manager. Again, confirm what is working by
collecting facts.

 

[Rod Speed]

The other thing Emachines kill is their processors. Hardly any
computers kill chips, but emachines do, with a vengeance.

Presumably they must stuff up the cpu Vcore.

 

[Rod Speed]

Hmm, doesn't sound good for this PC so far.

Yeah, eMachines do tend to go down in flames rather spectacularly.

I'm getting a new Power Supply tomorrow, hopefully that will work.
If it doesn't, I guess the next thing I'll try is a new motherboard,

I'd give up before doing that if it was mine.

although with this being my first foray into the inside of
a computer case, it's not something I look forward to
(besides the learning experience, which I'm actually
quite enjoying).

Yeah, its really the only way to learn the basics and if you
dont get too irritated by the limitations, it can be very useful.

A couple more questions (sorry, I'm new to this):
Besides checking the caps (none of which appear to be bulging or
leaking), is there any other way to tell if my MB is shot without
shelling out for a new one?

It is worth running the motherboard loose on the desktop just before
shelling out for a new one or giving up on the system. You can get a
short to case and thats the best way to eliminate that possibility.

Is it possible to gain any insight into the
condition of the processor from inspection?

Fraid not, you have to try it in a known good system that can take it.

I haven't removed the fan and heat sink yet, but
haven't noticed any obvious signs like smoke or odor.

You usually dont with power supply and motherboard failure.

 

[Rod Speed]

(e-mail address removed) wrote

VanShania wrote

Thanks, I'll definitely try that before obtaining any more new components.

Dust wont produce the symptoms you are seeing.

Neither will badly seated cards or ram.

 

[paulmd]

Hmm, doesn't sound good for this PC so far. I'm getting a new Power
Supply tomorrow, hopefully that will work. If it doesn't, I guess the
next thing I'll try is a new motherboard, although with this being my
first foray into the inside of a computer case, it's not something I
look forward to (besides the learning experience, which I'm actually
quite enjoying).

A couple more questions (sorry, I'm new to this):
Besides checking the caps (none of which appear to be bulging or
leaking), is there any other way to tell if my MB is shot without
shelling out for a new one?

Is it possible to gain any insight into the condition of the processor
from inspection?

Not usually. I test by transplantation into a compatible (and working)
motherboard.

I haven't removed the fan and heat sink yet, but
haven't noticed any obvious signs like smoke or odor.

Thanks for the replies,
Fran

The pattern in emachines death is it works great one day, and is
totally non functional the next. Usually no obvious smells or bulging
capacitors, or FETs with little craters in them. Just dead. I don't
have an oscilloscope at present, so I can't really autopsy the MB, to
ID the component that gets killed.

Power supply usually test bad (i use a atx power supply tester for
this). But when a good power supply fails to power up the unit, i
conclude it's either the Processor, or the motherboard. And i have more
spare processors, so... in goes the spare. Sometimes that works. And
if not, by elimination, it's the motherboard. Almost always the DRIVES
and RAM are fine.

Emachines power supplies Just ARE bad, so they get replaced anyway.
It's responsible for killing the computer anyhow.

You can make emachines live again, but only after multiple organ
transplants.

 

[Joel]

Hmm, doesn't sound good for this PC so far. I'm getting a new Power
Supply tomorrow, hopefully that will work. If it doesn't, I guess the
next thing I'll try is a new motherboard, although with this being my
first foray into the inside of a computer case, it's not something I
look forward to (besides the learning experience, which I'm actually
quite enjoying).

A couple more questions (sorry, I'm new to this):
Besides checking the caps (none of which appear to be bulging or
leaking), is there any other way to tell if my MB is shot without
shelling out for a new one?

Is it possible to gain any insight into the condition of the processor
from inspection? I haven't removed the fan and heat sink yet, but
haven't noticed any obvious signs like smoke or odor.

Thanks for the replies,
Fran

1. Take some break and trying to figure out in your mind what you may want
to try next. And start from the very basic step like making sure the
connection is correct

2. And if you have to, then unplug everything to make sure the power
connection is ok (correct) then put everything back one-by-one (or unplug
one by one to find out which cause the problem).

 

[VanShania]

And whats your solution Rod? You gotta gnaw on some tape first?

--
Love and Teach, Not Yell and Beat
Stop Violence and Child Abuse.
No such thing as Bad Kids. Only Bad Parents.
The most horrible feeling in the world is knowing that No One is There to
Protect You.

A64 3500+, Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939,AIW 9800 Pro 128mb
MSI 550 Pro, X-Fi, Pioneer 110D, 111D
Antec 550 watt,Thermaltake Lanfire,2 Gb OCZ Platinum 2-3-2-5
2XSATA 320gb Raid Edition, PATA 120Gb
XP MCE2005, 19in Viewsonic,BenchMark 2001 SE- 19074
Games I'm Playing- Falcon 4, winSPWW2, winSPMBT, Call of Duty War Chest

 

[Rod Speed]

And whats your solution Rod?

Even someone as stupid as you should be able to read
what I wrote in other posts in this particular thread.

You gotta gnaw on some tape first?

Never ever could bullshit its way out of a wet paper bag.