Motherboard failure?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Travis King
  • Start date Start date
T

Travis King

First of all, I didn't see a Bios Star NG. If there is one, I'm a
knucklehead and can't find it...

My great-aunt has a Bios Star motherboard. The PS/2 devices are no longer
working. No mouse or keyboard. Tried different devices tried powering on
the computer multiple times and still nothing. Even tried a USB mouse and
that was not functioning. Everything boots up fine, but no PS/2 devices or
USB devices are working now. Has the motherboard failed? (Or is it
failing?)
 
"Travis King" said:
First of all, I didn't see a Bios Star NG. If there is one, I'm a
knucklehead and can't find it...

My great-aunt has a Bios Star motherboard. The PS/2 devices are no longer
working. No mouse or keyboard. Tried different devices tried powering on
the computer multiple times and still nothing. Even tried a USB mouse and
that was not functioning. Everything boots up fine, but no PS/2 devices or
USB devices are working now. Has the motherboard failed? (Or is it
failing?)
Click to expand...

Does it have a model number ?

Paul
 
The PS/2 devices are no longer
working. No mouse or keyboard. Tried different devices tried powering on
the computer multiple times and still nothing. Even tried a USB mouse and
that was not functioning. Everything boots up fine, but no PS/2 devices or
USB devices are working now. Has the motherboard failed? (Or is it
failing?)
Click to expand...

if your mouse and keyboard work in another computer it's highly likely the
motherboard has partially failed.
 
First of all, I didn't see a Bios Star NG. If there is one, I'm a
knucklehead and can't find it...
Click to expand...

Biostar / Microtech
No groups that I can find either.

http://www.biostar-usa.com/
My great-aunt has a Bios Star motherboard. The PS/2 devices are no longer
working. No mouse or keyboard. Tried different devices tried powering on
the computer multiple times and still nothing. Even tried a USB mouse and
that was not functioning. Everything boots up fine, but no PS/2 devices or
USB devices are working now. Has the motherboard failed? (Or is it
failing?)
Click to expand...

Might have blown the fuse (if it has one) on the MB near the keyboard port.
Have either of the cables been pulled and reinserted with the power on? Bad!


Geez... you and your relatives...

Have they been playing with their Tasers around the computer?
 
MasterBlaster said:
Biostar / Microtech
No groups that I can find either.

http://www.biostar-usa.com/


Might have blown the fuse (if it has one) on the MB near the keyboard
port.
Have either of the cables been pulled and reinserted with the power on?
Bad!


Geez... you and your relatives...


Have they been playing with their Tasers around the computer?
Click to expand...
Yeah, but it's one thing... My relatives. My Asus is still running strong
as it is approaching 3 years. Should have quite a few to go. That ECS
board you mentioned did turn out to be bad as replacing the mobo fixed it.
I'm sure there's a model number for the motherboard, but I don't know
without looking at it.
 
MasterBlaster said:
Biostar / Microtech
No groups that I can find either.

http://www.biostar-usa.com/


Might have blown the fuse (if it has one) on the MB near the keyboard
port.
Have either of the cables been pulled and reinserted with the power on?
Bad!


Geez... you and your relatives...


Have they been playing with their Tasers around the computer?
Click to expand...
I know for sure that the motherboard is getting older and is probably AT
LEAST 3 or 4 years old. It wouldn't surprise me if it's older because the
person who built her computer usually uses components he pulls from other
computers. Her computer is 3 or 4 years old, but I bet the motherboard is
older.
 
Travis King said:
I know for sure that the motherboard is getting older and is probably AT
LEAST 3 or 4 years old. It wouldn't surprise me if it's older because the
person who built her computer usually uses components he pulls from other
computers. Her computer is 3 or 4 years old, but I bet the motherboard is
older.
Click to expand...
Guess what? I just got the computer to troubleshoot it and it wouldn't even
turn on. What a convenience that the power supply was bad also. Got it
swapped and powered up, but still no keyboard or mouse. I did get USB to
work, just not PS/2. Also, the fan on the north bridge was not moving at
all. Once in a while it would move just a little bit, but overall, it is
froze. I'll try to see if we can oil it. How would I tell if the mobo has
a fuse for the PS/2? Thanks for the help so far.
 
Travis King said:
Guess what? I just got the computer to troubleshoot it and it wouldn't
even turn on. What a convenience that the power supply was bad also. Got
it swapped and powered up, but still no keyboard or mouse. I did get USB
to work, just not PS/2. Also, the fan on the north bridge was not moving
at all. Once in a while it would move just a little bit, but overall, it
is froze. I'll try to see if we can oil it. How would I tell if the mobo
has a fuse for the PS/2? Thanks for the help so far.
Click to expand...
We're going to go ahead and replace the motherboard. I also noticed that 10
capacitors are beginning to or are bulging with some of them having yellow
crud on the top.
 
"Travis King" said:
Guess what? I just got the computer to troubleshoot it and it wouldn't even
turn on. What a convenience that the power supply was bad also. Got it
swapped and powered up, but still no keyboard or mouse. I did get USB to
work, just not PS/2. Also, the fan on the north bridge was not moving at
all. Once in a while it would move just a little bit, but overall, it is
froze. I'll try to see if we can oil it. How would I tell if the mobo has
a fuse for the PS/2? Thanks for the help so far.
Click to expand...

Look near the PS/2 stack. If there is a fuse, it should be within a
couple of inches of the stack, and will likely ne a bigger component
than anything else in the area. On Asus boards, they use Polyfuses,
which open when they get hot, and close when they cool off. A
permanent fuse, that doesn't normally need replacing. It could be
the ECS uses a one-shot fuse, in which case, checking with an ohmmeter
will tell you if it is open or not. Also, on an Asus, there might be
a three pin header with a jumper plug to select +5V or +5VSB, and
if the jumper is missing or making bad contact, that might be the
problem.

PS/2 is not intended for hot plugging. If the computer owner regularly
unplugs and replugs keyboard and mouse, eventually the interface
will fail and that'll be it. The Super I/O chip is one device that
can terminate PS/2 devices, and I do remember at least one chipset
where the Super I/O functions were actually inside the Southbridge.
To remove and replace those chips is best done at the factory.

Paul
 
Travis King said:
We're going to go ahead and replace the motherboard. I also noticed that
10 capacitors are beginning to or are bulging with some of them having
yellow crud on the top.
Click to expand...

That would be your problem right there. You might save the old PSU
though...bad capacitors can give the illusion that the PSU is bad, or the
RAM is bad, or a virus has infected the machine, etc.

Instaed of replacing the motherboard, you might sent it to Gary at:

http://www.motherboardrepair.com/

He does excellent work when it comes to resurrecting motherboards.
 
Paul said:
Look near the PS/2 stack. If there is a fuse, it should be within a
couple of inches of the stack, and will likely ne a bigger component
than anything else in the area. On Asus boards, they use Polyfuses,
which open when they get hot, and close when they cool off. A
permanent fuse, that doesn't normally need replacing. It could be
the ECS uses a one-shot fuse, in which case, checking with an ohmmeter
will tell you if it is open or not. Also, on an Asus, there might be
a three pin header with a jumper plug to select +5V or +5VSB, and
if the jumper is missing or making bad contact, that might be the
problem.

PS/2 is not intended for hot plugging. If the computer owner regularly
unplugs and replugs keyboard and mouse, eventually the interface
will fail and that'll be it. The Super I/O chip is one device that
can terminate PS/2 devices, and I do remember at least one chipset
where the Super I/O functions were actually inside the Southbridge.
To remove and replace those chips is best done at the factory.

Paul
Click to expand...
I made the mistake of doing a repair install of XP instead of doing a
format. Now the computer takes 30 minutes to startup and five minutes just
to get into the start menu. Safe mode performs much better, but it still
crashes with certain things. This backup procedure is taking forever.
Couldn't backup the files before hand because the motherboard was so bad
that I couldn't control the computer well enough to get anywhere. I will
reformat as soon as I can get everything backed up if I ever do as long as
it is taking. It's 95 with humidity and my room only has fans - no A/C.
That really fries my patience... The good news is even in the heat the
Sempron 2800+ (Socket A) is running at 57 C. We went with the Sempron
because she wanted a cheap fix. She said a year from now she wants a whole
new computer anyway. She also wants to keep this one as a spare.
 
Travis King said:
I made the mistake of doing a repair install of XP instead of doing a
format. Now the computer takes 30 minutes to startup and five minutes
just to get into the start menu. Safe mode performs much better, but it
still crashes with certain things. This backup procedure is taking
forever. Couldn't backup the files before hand because the motherboard was
so bad that I couldn't control the computer well enough to get anywhere.
I will reformat as soon as I can get everything backed up if I ever do as
long as it is taking. It's 95 with humidity and my room only has fans -
no A/C. That really fries my patience... The good news is even in the
heat the Sempron 2800+ (Socket A) is running at 57 C. We went with the
Sempron because she wanted a cheap fix. She said a year from now she
wants a whole new computer anyway. She also wants to keep this one as a
spare.
Click to expand...
I should add even though I'm not a big fan of the Semprons. I prefer the
Athlon XP over the Sempron. The Athlon XP to me seems more powerful and
handles multitasking better. I've noticed that a Sempron 2400+ barely
outperforms my Athlon XP 2400+ in a stand alone application, but anything
after that, my Athlon XP 2400+ wins.
 
Travis King said:
I should add even though I'm not a big fan of the Semprons. I prefer the
Athlon XP over the Sempron. The Athlon XP to me seems more powerful and
handles multitasking better. I've noticed that a Sempron 2400+ barely
outperforms my Athlon XP 2400+ in a stand alone application, but anything
after that, my Athlon XP 2400+ wins.
Click to expand...
This thing acts weird. The computer takes 4 minutes to shut down. If you
start the computer after it's been off for a while, it starts up fast and
Windows boots fast, but if you restart the computer or turn on the computer
right after you shut it off, it takes a very long time for Windows to boot.
The CPU temperatures are okay. What's the deal?
 
Travis King said:
This thing acts weird. The computer takes 4 minutes to shut down. If you
start the computer after it's been off for a while, it starts up fast and
Windows boots fast, but if you restart the computer or turn on the
computer right after you shut it off, it takes a very long time for
Windows to boot. The CPU temperatures are okay. What's the deal?
Click to expand...
In order to get that computer running faster, I had to drop the memory's FSB
and bring up the memory speed from normal to turbo. It ran just fine after
that and it ran like it should, but guess what? Just what I was afraid of.
The computer restarted itself. I shut off turbo and now it doesn't restart,
but it's running slow again and stalls a lot again. Weird, huh?
 
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