HP Pavilion XT983 won't power up

Does anyone out there have an HP XT983 that has problems? I have one that will not power up.I replaced the power supply and now it will power on, fans will run, can open and close cd but nothing else. BIOS will not boot, black screen. Changed CMOS battery, still nothing. Suspect maybe problem with BIOS? It has a SantaFe-KM mobo with Phoenix BIOS and has factory install WIN XP.
Heard that MOBO and BIOS are not WIN XP compliant and lots of people with this computer are having problems. Anyone heard anything about this? Experienced this? Any ideas about this?

 

New power supply? did old one burn out while in use?
What kind of and what size is the new PS is it of equal or bigger than old?
Make sure all plugs and cables are properly connected?

The bios and windows version does not care what kind of PS you have, but would need to provide sufficiant amount of power to system

The mobo/Bios/XP you'd think if came from factory with xp on it, would be compatible.

If your old ps burned out while in use, you may have burned out some other hardware, etc.

 

Agreed. If it will not POST (no beeps), then Mobo, CPU, and RAM are suspect. Any one or all could be fried.

 

I do not know if the computer was on when the power supply burned out. It is my son's computer and one day I asked him why I hadn't seen it on and he said it wasn't working. The old power supply was a 200watt - not very good. I put in an ANTEC 350watt. I have also replaced memory, but still no good. I took off heatsink and removed CPU, it looks ok but who knows. Don't have another CPU to try. Thanks for your reply guys!

 

I am having the EXACT same problem with my XT983 (found this by google search on model). My computer power supply cut off over and over again (about 6 times), and the only way to get the thing to turn back on was to pull the plug and plug it back in. I replaced the power supply with a bigger one, and now it is dead in the water - power light on, but no boot. I reseated the RAM, CPU, everything... I even disconnected all IDE cables from all drives just to see it go into BIOS, in case a drive was the problem, and it still does nothing. I tested each stick of RAM (two) individually in the system, and it still won't boot.

Can someone please help me? I can't afford to replace this computer.

 

Nevermind... I definitely found a problem on the motherboard. I took it out of the case and looked at the capacitors with a flashlight. One of the big ones (an LXV 10-V, 1500uF cap) right behind the mouse/keyboard ports is fried all around the bottom of the capacitor - the outside heatshrink stuff is melted off, and the rubber bottom is about burned through. Luckily, it is something I can get at RadioShack and replace myself, assuming I don't burn up the board doing it...

 

I have this same computer but I need the BIOS Driver. Anyonw know where to get it?

 

Has Anyone Ever Installed A New Psu And It Actually Worked And Started To Boot?

 

Like yourself, I also had a problem with this mobo. I found the capacitor that you mentioned, and to my surprise, mine was burned up too... I used an equivalent capacitor from another spare board and booted up fine. Warning, though, if a capacitor burns up, there has to be a reason. Just replacing the capacitor may not fix the problem permanently. It still may burn out again. Maybe the put the wrong capacitors on the board? I'm out.

 

I tried this and had no luck, any board replacement suggestions?

 

I too had the same problem. The 1500 uf capicator behing usb ports blew. I replaced it and got it working again, but it is now getting hot so I have no doubt that it will blow again, don't know what is causing this. I have looked all over for a different board but haven't found one that will fit. It is a uATX form factor and have looked at many mATX and other uATX boards and they are all different dimensions and have mounting holes in different positions than the original Santa Fe board. Rather than spend any more time or money on this to get it going to only have same problem again, when it blows again I am pulling memory and throwing the rest in the garbage.

 

i have the same problem with the compasitor blowing, i have replaced the one behind the usb ports twice and they continue to blow. even increased to 3000 uF keeping the same voltage. any segustions on a motherbaord replacement where i can use the same proccessor or has anyone found what is causing the problem.

 

wiggles1999,mtman

You knows this thread it's over two years old you should had start brand new one.....

just to let you knows.......

 

yes i know, i found it searching for this model of computer and thought what the heck give it a shot.

 

Hey members,

I have the same model HP Pavilion XT983 with a blank screen. Also found the same capacitor blown. I changed it and it still won't boot. All the power supply voltages are correct (5v, 3.3v, 12v, Trickle = 4.97v). It still has probably the original power supply but I'm sure it's fine. Also I've tested a SDRAM 512MB PC133 memory to be good in another system; but the specs state:

RAM (standard) 128 MB
Maximum 512 MB
Speed PC 133 (runs at PC 100)
Type SDRAM
DIMM Slots Two

I don't know if this means 256MB per each of the two slots. I have a good SDRAM 128MB PC100 memory and hope it's happy with that.

I found this machine discarded and don't know it's history. I believe what happened is that this capacitor (a filter component in the CPU fan circuit initially shorts. The CPU and or both fans stop. This causes CPU to overheat and maybe die. Also this over draws current causing the power supply to die.

My machine now powers up fine, drive spins up and lights come on but no video. I believe the CPU is fried. I have another AMD Athlon 900 MHZ I'll try and also the SDRAM 128MB PC100 memory.

If that doesn't get it to boot I don't have any other options. Any suggestions?

Thanx,
tkappel1

 

Hey members,

I have succeeded in fixing my HP Pavilion XT983. What happened is that this capacitor (a filter component in the CPU fan circuit) initially shorts. The CPU and or both fans stop. This caused the CPU chip to overheat and die. On my machine the capacitor initially shorted and the power supply had enough current to blow it open and burn out the short. This saved my power supply. The machine probably ran without the CPU fan so long that it fried the CPU. You’d think there would have been an over temperature detected and the machine safely shutdown but not so in this case.

First: I replaced CE35 1500ufd. 10vdc capacitor with one of a higher voltage because most likely this fan circuit supply output exceeds 10vdc plus the maximum tolerance of the capacitor. We need to measure it to verify and determine the root cause of failure to be a chain reaction due to the capacitor’s failure caused by an extended over voltage condition or spikes.

Second: I replaced the CPU with my other 900MHZ Athlon chip.

Third: I verified that SDRAM 128MB PC100 and SDRAM 256MB PC133 memory sticks work.

Fourth: I measured the voltage at the across this capacitor CE35 with a Digital Meter and it was ~ 4.95vdc. This was much lower than I expected. If this capacitor is at the output of the fan circuit this voltage may go way up according to CPU speed and settings in SETUP and CMOS. Plus temperature also varies this voltage. Also, there may be huge spikes on supply and should be measured.

Well, it works fine now and is running cool. When I first found the machine it was clogged up with dust and fibers inside. The CPU heatsink plus fans were clogged with dust.

I had thoroughly vacuumed and cleaned all components previously before this effort to fix the machine.

Hope this is helpful to all of you.

Thanx,
tkappel1

 

Thanks for your post tkappel1 ... your comment about the "clogged with dust" helped me restart my laptop. I have an HP Pavilion dv8300 (dv8000 series) that started having trouble turning on a few days ago ... tonight it woudn't start at all. What was surprising is that the small light beside the Ethernet network plug was still fully lit, but pressing the power on button had no effect ... no bios, no fan, nothing started. After reading your post, I used a can of compressed air to blow out all the dust from the exhaust vents, opened and sprayed the CD compartment, sprayed each I/O port and removed the lid and sprayed around inside the RAM compartment. The laptop still wouldn't start. Although the spray can had a straw exhaust I knew it was not as powerful as me taking in a deep breath and blowing out the dust. As I blew my 2nd breath of air onto the motherboard the laptop just started up! I'm guessing the dust bridged some circuits that shouldn't be bridged. I burned out some RAM chips a few years ago because of dust build-up.

 

Well Tim,

Dust in electronic gadgets is the major cause for a multitude of failures. The first thing is the device doesn't have proper airflow leading to mild to severe over heating. This may cause a component or components to failure or burn out altogether. I recommend when you open the machine again to use a shop vacuum, after blowing the caked on dust free, to completely remove any residual dust. The loose dust with eventually work it way into the the sockets and connectors throughout the machine causing even more strange failures. The dust usually doesn't contain metallic particles so it doesn't short out things but migrates into connectors and socket causing open or intermittent connections and must be thoroughly clean to remove the fine film that builds up over time.

I my machine I periodically dismantle them, removing all plug in components such RAM, PRAM, Video RAM and all cables and harnesses. Labeling and keeping track of how it all came apart so when your done cleaning the whole machine you'll put back together in reverse oder in which it came apart. When you get it down to bare bones use a small acid or paint brush to gently loosen up any caked on dust. Blow out the complete bare unit again and then vacuum the entire unit. Make sure to clean all the sockets for the plug in cards and connectors. Now the insides should be immaculately clean. Clean all the cards and plug in devices especially the edge connectors. Test your Clock Battery while your in there and reinsert it and your good to go. Carefully reassemble the machine and it should be like brand new and good for a couple years. Once you get all back together you may notice the CMOS / BIOS settings are reset to some generic state and you'll need to change them back to your previous state of preference of your choice.

Good Luck and let me know how it worked out for you.

tkappel1
:wave