Gateway zx4300 all-in-one-computer

I have a zx4300 gateway all-in-one machine. When I tap the power button on the front, the power button turns green, but the screen remains black. I hear a momentary click-click sound like the computer wants to turn on, but that is it. I can't go any further. If I tap the power button again, it will NOT power off. I have to turn off my power strip to have the computer be completely off.
I have done some online research and there seems to be a rumor that all-in-one computers are notorious for overheating and this may be the case here. This computer is hooked up to one peripheral device which is a printer. The machine is just over a year old and out of manufacture warranty. Not sure the best way to proceed that is cost effective.
Many thanks,
-jedicloak

 

Perhaps the video chip overheated and you have no display. No POST beep isn't a good sign.
Here's another thread with a Gateway all-in-one.
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=244441&highlight=Gateway+zx4300

If the video chip is the problem and the hard drive is emitting the click-click sound, rather than throw money at a system that over heats and might have two hardware problems, the most cost effective thing to do is save money for a netbook or a notebook if you want a space saving computer. If space isn't a concern then a desktop with a separate tower and monitor.

 

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I think I will have to try taking it to a shop for repair - an estimate anyway, since it's only 1.5 years old. Don't know what the result will be. Thanks again for helping.

 

Unfortunately, this computer probably does not have a slot to install a video card because of the small size, just like a laptop. If the video chip is dead, that means a new motherboard. That is not an easy fix.

 

So I took another look at the computer today. The computer HD DOES spin up and everything...the only thing that is not working correctly is that the screen is always black...no blips, no flashes, no icons...black...constant black. Does this help at all with the diagnosis...or does it still sound like a bad motherboard?
Thanks again.

 

The video chip is soldered onto the motherboard; it doesn't mean you have a bad motherboard but a bad video chip. The fix is either desolder the video chip (only a small group of very specialized people would attempt to do this) or replace the motherboard.

 

Dear friends,
I am currently experiencing the same exact problem with my Gateway ZX4300. Can you tell me if and how you resolved this frustrating issue? Many thanks!

 

Looking at this computer, I would recommend that you take it to a shop because it would be very difficult to even disassemble this type of computer to diagnose a problem. It seems this particular model has this problem of blank screens.

One thing you may try is to unplug the computer from the power outlet. Hold the power button down for 30 seconds. Attach the power cord and try to reboot the computer.

You can download Puppy Linux. Burn the iso with Imgburn and then boot the CD. If the screen is still blank, then you definitely have a hardware issue.

How to write an image file to a disc using ImgBurn

 

Same thing happen to me. I took it back to Bestbuy because I was still under the year warranty and it ended up being the motherboard going back. Thank goodness I didnt have to pay a penny to fix that, but its looking like the jipped me and screwed over my graphics card and gave me a notebook graphics card/motherboard

 

Same thing happened to me, out of warranty. It seems to be a common problem, I had the same thing happen to an old laptop. There's insufficient cooling, the graphics chip overheats and the solder melts shorting out the chip. Since laptops and all-in-one's don't have a separate graphics card - it's part of the motherboard - that means replacing the motherboard. I didn't think it was worth $300 for a new motherboard or even a couple hundred for a used one when the same thing would probably happen to it.

I was about ready to take hard drive out and recycle it - In fact I went out and got a cheap laptop as a replacement. But then I found a service on ebay that says they fix motherboards for $80. I figured it was worth that. The motherboard was not that difficult to get out - much easier than a laptop. I mailed it in, a week later got it back and it worked.

In order to make sure it doesn't happen again - I cut a hole in the back of the computer case and the metal shroud over the motherboard using a 4" grinder before putting it back together. I found a little usb fan and just have it blowing on the chips all the time. Worked great. So for about $110, I got it running again and hopefully won't happen again. Hope this helps someone out that has the same problem.

I'd post a picture but don't know how - so attached a picture. I also posted a picture on "there i fixed it.com" - http://cheezburger.com/6580973312

 

Do you have the contact info for the guy who fixed your motherboard for $80?


Thanks!

 

The repair service I used is:

Computer Parts Repair & Services, Inc.
6951 NW 82 Ave.
Miami, FL 33166
786-845-8323

The ebay "auction" is here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motherboard...244?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item460842ccc4

There are a lot of other motherboard repair service ads on ebay, they may be just as good. But I can vouch for this one and they got it back to me 1 week after I sent it UPS. Hope that helps.

 

PS - I'm not sure if you have the same model computer as mine, but I think for laptops the disassembling and reassembling are included, anything bigger they require you to send only the motherboard. Luckily, the gateway all-in-one wasn't too difficult to get out. Easier than laptops for sure.

 

The integrated Radeon chipset typically fails from overheating. The solder on the BGA pulls toward the hottest side causing a disconnect. A simple reflow of 650F for 3-4 Min will fix the issue. The issue may occur again in the future. The best way to fix this is to remove the BGA and reball it, then solder back on.

You can confirm this issue by removing both sticks of RAM. You will NOT get any beep codes indicating "No RAM detected" and therefore you have a hardware fault that is stopping the initialization routine. POST is not completing, so BIOS never starts hence, no beep code.

BGA is labeled "AMD Radeon" and is located above the CPU. Close to the LVPD connector for the LCD. Take care to shield the aluminum caps for protection. You don't want one to pop you in your face:cry


-----or----- buy a $250 system board

 

I used these guys myself last week. I was having the same issues. Power light, no video. Fan spinning, HD active, etc... I tested power supply, tried the unplug / power button move, and no luck. I read about the procedure of reflowing the GPU and decided to try a local repair guy that said he repairs motherboards(just not to the extent that mine needed). His response was that I needed a new motherboard, same as a Big Box Retailer, except that he didn't charge $70 to tell me that.

I decided to give the guys from eBay (mentioned below) a try. I had nothing else to lose except the cost of shipping if they could not fix it. I sent it in just before Thanksgiving and got a call back the following week telling me that it was fixed. I paid for it and had the Board in hand a few days later. (I paid via phone, so was unable to leave ebay feedback). At any rate I installed it and It Works again. All told about $100 (incl. shipping both ways and I'm up and running with no issues.

This type of repair is not something that most computer repair shops are equipped to perform, given the specialized equipment required. It's good to know that the option is there if something like this happens again.

 

when you say 'a simple reflow of 650f', is it possible to do this w/ an ordinary heat gun or heat lamp? also, which side?
seems ridiculous to waste $250 on a refurb/used board and risk a repeat condition once you take apart the same amount of stuff to do either...

 

I had someone give me one of these. Intially I thought the Video card was bad. I pulled out the motherboard/video chip and had it checked. They told me both the board and the Video chip work fine. SO I am thinking I have another problem. I push the power button it turns on, fan turns on then off. Hard drive goes click click and power light goes off and will not come back on (2 second time laps for this event). Unplug replug same thing. Check the power supply gets 19 volts on the male end. Pulled the Ram started the computer got a Beep Beep. IDK bad hard drive? Since this only takes 2 seconds I am not getting am image on screen.

 

i found another thread which mentioned this same problem w/ this same hardware on an xbox or some such. the 'repair' is risky, so i asked questions about it but got no reply, so tried it as i thought best. the procedure involves allowing the system to basically overheat, removing the fan/heatsink assembly & running the system for 8-10 mins. i asked about the risk to the cpu & if the person removed the cpu in order to do this. since i got no reply, i removed the heatsink / fan, removed the cpu, powered the system as suggested. re-assembled the system & now it works fine. as they mention, and i agree, this is pretty risky & anyone attempting this should be aware of the poss of totally frying the system. good luck

 

Hi, I just managed to fix this problem with the method mentioned above (overheating). No it works fine but I am going to cut a hole on a back and install additional fan.

BUT! I have killed my recovery partition. And I don't have recovery media too.

Please, guys, If someone has or can make ISO's of these disks and send it to me, I will really appreciate this!

Thanks!

 

are you sure and if so how do you know? (just looking for detail)
I upgraded to windows 8 on this machine and it shows the recovery partition is empty but it still works from post using the alt+f10 keystroke.
if you verify destroyed, I can try to help, but because I have upgraded to 8 and don't want to recover 7 on this machine just yet, it would involve removing the drive and copying it to something else like a 16gb jump drive since the partition is 15gb and I cant tell how much of it is used. then you would have to repartition your drive w/ a new recovery partition and copy the files to it, and I still wouldn't be sure of it working since it's a gateway...lol.
you would have to either send me a jump drive or pay me for one of mine and my time. I could probably do it in less than an hour. I think you're better off just installing 7 or 8 and getting the drivers and software off the gateway site.
let me know if you want to hash out my help.

ez

 

editing my previous post.
I figured out how to make windows 8 give me access to the recovery partition and am uploading the files and folders to my google drive if it will fit

 

go here:
http://sdrv.ms/11tNgVR
should be done uploading by saturday, will keep online for a month or so...

 

I have the same machine and same problem. I have also considered the MotherBoard Repair provider in Miami. But my question to you is, did the Ebay repair folks specifically diagnose and report to you what your problem was or what caused your problem and the exact repair(s) performed?