Defective motherboard?

My main machine:
Gateway E-4100 (small form factor)
P4 3.4GHz HT
4GB PC3200 RAM
XP Home SP3

Was running fine until last night. Powered off the monitor and left the machine running while folding, same as I always do.
This morning I powered the monitor back up, but there was no display. Ready light came on but it was yellow instead of green. Moving the mouse failed to get any reaction. Thought monitor was still sleeping. No good.
Powered machine off and moved to my work area and a different monitor. Would not get any display on the second monitor.
No room on the motherboard for a plug-in card,either.
Suggestions?

 

I would suggest pulling everything connected to the mainboard except the front panel connector, video and one stick of ram and see if the machine will post. I would also suggest looking at the mainboard capacitors. If any are domed on top or show evidence of leaking, the mainboard is probably failed or failing.

 

Been there, tried that.
Came to pretty much the same conclusion.:confused
Think it's the video portion because sometimes it will flicker for just a second. But being onboard, means the same thing.:cry

 

I got this same problem right now. I was on my computer last night, even watched a movie..then this morning I try to turn it on. the only thing that came on was the PSU, both fans and the HDD....any peripherals plugged directly into the motherboard are off. except the CPU fan. Could it be a faulty 5V connection? Gonna do some fault isolation but just want to know if anybody has any other suggestions i can't come up with.

 

Knowing you, you've probably done this already, but if not, open the case, plug the thing in, press the power button, and check for signs of life of any kind. Does the CPU fan come on? Do the LEDs on the motherboard come on?

If it's not beeping at all, then sadly, it's most likely a bad motherboard. Is it still under warranty?

 

to Mimsy
Status light on motherboard is green.
Status light on PSU is green.
CPU cooling fan is running normal speed.
Can hear and feel activity from hard drive.
No warranty coverage. Bought as a refurb from eBay about a year ago. Would be voided anyway because of the upgrades done.

 

Looking worse and worse.
Just connected a SATA drive to the machine after disconnecting the IDE drive.
SATA has XP Home installed. Done on this very machine.
Activity light on the front of the case burns steady with no flickering to show that anything is loading.Can still feel and hear the drive working,though.

 

Have already tested the RAM.
New CMOS battery does not do any good.
Could a faulty CPU be the problem?

 

Well, your motherboard is behaving very similarly to the way mine acted when my CPU died a firey melty death... only difference is mine beeped. I wouldn't rule out the CPU. Folding does generate heat and what not. Borrow one and swap them?

 

I still have the 2.8GHz CPU that came from this machine before going to a 3.4GHz.
Will give it a try. Only cost is a little time.

 

Switching CPUs did nothing except give me something to do for a few minutes.
In the market for a replacement motherboard.

 

Ouch...

On the plus side, if you get one with a PCIe slot you can get a video card and play that game

 

Not and fit into this case.:cry
Small form factors don't exactly have room to spare.rolleyes
Even the PSU, if needed to be replaced, is an oddball.
10 in length, 2 in width, 2 1/2 height.
May just see about a different case,though.
Should have something to work with in my "scrap" pile.:confused

 

This is a pretty affordable case. Medium sized though, so it won't hold any beastly graphics cards. For mid-range it's more than adequate, for a high end I would go with it's big brother Cosmos.

(Yes, I own both. Yes, I love them both.)

 

No case shopping or motherboard shopping either.
Was a defective IDE data cable from the hard drive to motherboard.
Replaced it and machine is now fully functional again.
My thanks to all responders and suggestions.

 

That sounds much cheaper and easier than having to buy a new case. Congratulations.