Troubleshooting this Jetway PM2MP computer seems easy to do. We know that is has no power and no display and what directs us to check is the PSU. So my c0-computer technician checked the PSU (Power Supply) by removing it from the system unit and opened it. As computer technicians, it will not be surprising for us to see burnt components on the board of the PSU but in this case we were. The burnt components were completely fried and really surprised us how it did happen. See how we did our computer troubleshooting in this example.
Date Fixed : September 12, 2010
Problem : An PM2MP computer has no power and display
Owner : Ms. Scarlet Manoit
Motherboard : JetWay PM2MP - Pentium 4 2.4 Ghz 1 Gb
Operating System : Win XP / Ubuntu (Dual OS)
Technicians : Drokz & Dboi
INTERVENING FACTOR :
- No Driver CD
OBSERVATIONS :
- No Power
- No Video Display
TROUBLESHOOTING PROCEDURE :
*****Please turn off the AVR and unplug the power cord if you'll replace or test any peripheral in your computer system unit*****
- Based upon our observations earlier, the system has no power and display. Knowing this, we can directly zero in our approach to the following :
a. Power Supply Unit (PSU)
b. Video Card (there is none so we should check c.)
c. Look for burnt or leaking capacitors in the motherboard
- Starting to troubleshoot the PSU, drain ESD first then open the system case's side cover and flip opened side up.
- Remove the PSU and open it. With the PSU opened, it is evident that the components are totally fried out and a new PSU must be replaced. It is not recommended to replace the burnt capacitor or capacitors even if you are able to. Replacing capacitors in the PSU will lead further damage in the motherboard.
This led us to suspect that the motherboard capacitors may have burnt as well so we proceeded to checking the motherboard.
- Upon checking the motherboard, it shows 10 capacitors that leaked. The capacitors really have to be replaced. So we replaced all capacitors with its appropriate voltages and capacitance.
- There was no video card of the system unit, so we cannot troubleshoot for the video card. We can use the integrated video systems and hope for it to be ok after the the motherboard capacitors are replaced.
- With the new PSU and capacitors replaced, the system now powers up, shows POST screen and seems ready to boot an operating system. But the installed operating system doesn't work so we tried fixing it using ERD Commander 2010 but failed. Realizing that the data needs to be backed up, we fixed the operating system using the XP SP2 installer and after that we were able to backup the files and installed a fresh copy of the operating system.
- Problem Solved!
SUMMARY :
- Power related troubleshooting is not limited to the power supply unit only. Sometimes, the motherboard capacitor will get burnt or leaked if the power supply itself is defective. Consider to sharpen your soldering skills - you are to replace the leaky motherboard capacitors remember? :-) .
- One important point... do not just replace the leaky capacitors of the power supply but instead replace the whole unit with a new one.
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