Is this computer dead?

hey everyone. I got this Acer Aspire T180 from a co-worker. here are the specs:

AST180-ED380M ATHLON 64 X2 3800+/512M*2 DDR2/250G/DUAL DVD DL/MODEM/SPEAKER/MC READER/USB KB & MOUSE/NO FDD/MCE EN US

problem is when i try to boot it up, all that pops up is the initial Acer logo and the "hit F" keys at the bottom. it freezes there. nothing past it. i tried to reset the cmos and nothing. is the motherboard or cpu bad? of course Acer does not carry these boards anymore.

thanks peeps !

 

First off, Welcome to Major Geeks.
Try opening it up and ensure that all connections are good and solid.
It was a working machine when you got it, wasn't it?

 

yes, i checked it all.
i would think that i should at least see the post test even if the harddrive wasn't working, right?!
no, the computer was doing this when they gave it to me. That is what I am trying to figure out. should i buy a new motherboard and or processor?

 

First diagnose, then condemn. That is a pretty nice laptop, and I'd hate to see it as a glorified paperweight. If you can get your hands on the BIOS, you could try flashing it to see if there is some error causing it to lock up. Also, can you enter Setup?

AND, Welcome to the forum.

 

unfortunately this is a desktop not a laptop. i can't get into the bios. it only gets to the co. logo then stops. could the battery be the issue? or is the motherboard corrupt?

and thank you for those whom welcomed me!

 

My bad on the type of PC. I thought laptop when you mentioned battery. Have you replaced the CMOS battery? Or tested it with a meter? They are not that expensive. However I must ask you, have you tracked down a BIOS for that board, made a disc, and flashed the board?

 

Yes, i would say replace the battery. If you reset the CMOS with the computer unplugged and no/bad battery then the board couldn't recognize that it was being cleared.

 

So, no beeps either or is there even a speaker hooked up to the mobo?

 

i haven't tested the battery yet. how can i flash the bios? it doesn't seem to recognize any hardware to flash it. i am searching for the update, but it seems to be deleted throughout the internet

 

Here is a link to anything you'd want in drivers and utilities, but were afraid to ask:

http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/fo....com&siteid=7117&areaid=2&formid=3394#results




You download the updated BIOS, and you should be able to make a disc with the file. Place that in your primary CD-ROM drive, and hopefully it will "flash" the board, and get it up and running.

If all else fails contact Acer tech support for the original BIOS, as this is an updated one which apparently runs inside of Windows. Hopefully it can run from startup as well.

 

no beeps. don't have any speakers but you should still here any beeps.

 

Possibly a bios update for the wrong motherboard, been there done that. ed

 

no this was a computer for an older family. i doubt they flashed any bios

 

Just to go back are you sure you are actually clearing the CMOS? You have to have some voltage going through the system for the clearing to be recognized.

I usually unplug the desktop and leave the CMOS battery in place when moving jumper. If your battery is dead then the change in jumper position won't be acknowledged by the board.

 

yes, i unplugged the desktop before clearing the cmos. if my battery is dead, then should i leave the comp plugged in?

 

I've only done it with the PC unplugged and a working battery. I would replace the battery and then try and clear CMOS. A battery is not a big investment and usually available at supermarket or drugstore.

 

Surely removing the battery for long enough will clear the CMOS on it's own?

 

CMOS might be cleared but collinsl, we don't know if the OP has a working battery. Without a good battery, can you even reset the CMOS?

 

ok, tried new"er" battery. from another pc that is working. still same thing. only logo pops up. no beeps, no post, no access to bios

 

I would buy a new battery or test the one you are using, just to eliminate a possible easy/cheap fix. A motherboard speaker has been mentioned. Some have a small built in speaker on the motherboard, others have a place to plug in a small speaker so you can get beep codes if there it a problem during POST.

Can you test the PSU with a multimeter? Also, try removing the RAM and booting with no RAM to see if you can get some beep codes. A lot of them go kinda crazy with the beeps with no RAM...:-D But it will not hurt anything to try to boot with no RAM.

You also need to make sure you have the clear CMOS jumper on the correct pins when you try to boot the box. Usually pins 1 and 2 are jumpered for normal operations, pins 2 and 3 are for clearing the CMOS.

Also, with the computer running, well, such as it does, test the keyboard by pressing the num lock or caps lock and see if the keyboard is working.

I would hold off a bit on flashing the BIOS. It is generally only done to fix an issue, and a bad flash can potentially cause you a lot of grief.

Excuse my manners, welcome to MajorGeeks!

 

ok i pulled the ram and i got a long beep. i pulled the battery and got a strange beeping sound. on board video card so i can't pull that. possible bad HDD? bad cpu?
I see a light on the ethernet port when i boot up

when i boot up the computer, the lights flash on the keyboard but nothing after that. this is my test keyboard that i use on all my "works in progress"

wouldn't i see the POST even if the HDD is bad?! i am wondering if the processor is gone bad.?!?!?

 

Yes, you should see a POST with no hard drive or usually a bad one. Do you have extra RAM to put in it to try?

You can POST without a hard drive, unplug the power to the hard drive an see what happens. Also, can you verify you have the CMOS jumper on the right pins?

Do you have an extra PSU to try or the means to test your current one?

 

not sure how to test psu. looks like it is working. i am seeing fans move, i hear hard drive start to work , lights on ethernet, cdrom opens and closes.

 

Test it with a digital multimeter. They are not real expensive, $20 to $30.

Can you try Booting with the hard drive not plugged in.

 

I agree. I was involved in an assignment recently to fix a PC recently and the tutor had "broken" it by changing the pins on the CMOS clear. The problem the OP has describes sounds a lot like this.

 

tried booting w/o HDD and same result. i do have a multimeter in my work truck. i will test that later today after work

there is only 3 pins for clearing the cmos, right?!. i have it on first 2 closest to middle of board. i will try booting up with it multiways. with 2 on closest to the edge

 

Yes, there are usually 3 pins. 1 2 3 One and two are for normal use, two and three are for clearing the CMOS. I think there are some with just 2 pins, you don't use a jumper for normal use, and use a jumper to clear CMOS.

 

How to recovery your system from bootup

1. Locate the Alt key, to the left of the space bar, and F10, on the top row of keys.
2. Power the system on.
3. When the system is powered on, tap the Alt and F10 keys together at the same time when the Acer splash screen appears.
It should state "Please wait a moment..." with the Acer logo in the upper left hand corner.
4. At the eRecovery Management menu it will ask you how to restore.
5. Click on the restore option you would like to use.

 

Do you have another keyboard to try with? Is yours USB or PS/2?

 

ps/2 keyboard. this is the keyboard i use when i test all other computers. i did have another one, but still same result

 

Have you verified the CMOS jumper is on the correct pins, and have you been able to test the PSU?

 

ok, i checked the cmos jumper both ways--same response both ways.

i tested the PSU (300w)
orange-4.75
red-7.25
yellow-17.25
is that too much voltage?

 

A simple voltage test is not going to be that revealing unless the PSU is under load. If you have the motherboard manual (or can get it online) you should be able to reset the CMOS. If not, unplug it and remove the CMOS battery. Then have a cup of coffee and plug it back in and boot with no battery. Your cmos settings won't get saved, but it should boot. A bad battery is worse than no battery.

Some info on power supplies, but the only tried and true testing method unless you have a power supply tester is using a known good spare.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_power_supply

 

Oh, one more thing. One position on that CMOS clearing jumper is "clear", the other one is nothing... that is just to give you a place to store the jumper. So removing it should be normal operation.

 

i tried booting up w/o a cmos battery and no luck booting up.

 

Yes! That is way too much! Eating now, will post back with more soon. DO NOT use that PSU anymore!

 

Sorry, was in the middle of a most delicious burger. The red should be 5 volts, the yellow should be 12 volts. The orange I am not sure of, 3.3 volts? If you trust your multi meter, do not power that thing back up with that PSU in it! Remove and replace, and hope nothing is fried. I think a 5 to 10% variance with PSUs is acceptable, you are way over that.

Where did you test the Orange wire at? And are you testing this with the computer on, using a molex power plug? What wires did you test?

 

i tested molex wire when it was on, also tested 20 pin going to motherboard

 

In my opinion, your PSU is bad, hopefully it did not fry anything else.:cry Replace it, and let's see what we get. Of course you are always able to wait for additional input.

 

ok, my fault. battery was going bad in meter. changed it and everything is back to mormal on power.
strange thing now, but now i am getting a bad video card error (which is onboard)
have to look for another video card now

 

ok got new video card working, but back to square 1. what a pain in the ...

 

I'd almost bet you a buck they're nothing wrong with that on board video except a scrambled driver. The thing about hardware is that 99% of the time there is only one thing wrong.

 

wouldn't be surprised! just happened last night. but it doesn't matter if i can't boot up, right?!

 

If I follow you it did boot, it just didn't finish booting to windows. Yeah <F8> (Hit f8 repeatedly while booting) yourself into safe mode and remove the driver with the control panel. If I remember right on XP that's Control Panel --> System --->Hardware--->Device manager to remove the driver. Reboot normally and install a new driver.

 

no, there is no post screen. all it does is go to company logo, then freezes. no show of cpu, memory, HDD...nothing
i would be soo lucky if i could get into safe mode.
the keyboard only flashes power when the comp is turnd on, then nothing else happens.
I am starting to believe that the mobo is bad or the processor

 

I'm not really contributing to this thread because I don't know the ins and outs of POST. But it is my understanding that without a CPU you would get nothing at all. You seem to get video, a keyboard flashing light, a HD movement sound, a CDROM light and a BEEP when no RAM installed. [If I'm confusing threads please say which on that list you don't get] So it sounds to me that some part of POST is working but being halted somewhere before you get to BIOS.

Fred G. is a better troubleshooter for this kind of thing but is that list about right?

 

ok, i see what u are talking about. so it seems that i am getting power to everything, it is just freezing before i get into the next screen to view the bios or access them. other than paying for another bios chip, can anything else be done?
I even tried to boot from cd but it never makes it to the point of trying to run thru cd

 

At this point, it seems like something has died, but I would hate to guess and have you buy the wrong thing. Can you remove the CPU and see if you get crazy beeps? A CPU test is part of the POST, so that might help, but it gets hard to advise like this on the interweb. Do you have access to a mobo compatible with your CPU you can use for testing?

" ok, my fault. battery was going bad in meter. changed it and everything is back to mormal on power." What readings do you get, can you test each one as the computer boots?

 

I'm not trying to confuse things so stick with Fred.

Just googled Acer logo freeze and a couple of things for a quick check popped up. No Media Card in reader. Disconnect any USB devices. one thread as an example: http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/73073/