Power; but NOt Beep No Display

[dmmackay]

Title pretty much says it all - Except it's an ACER Aspire DESKTOP AM1200 E1520 B
AMD Athlon 64
Was designed for Vista; but I am/was using Win7

Some time ago, I recall plugging it in- and it wasn't working- but worked fine previously..
I wasn't using a Surge Protector- for the record.

NO DISPLAY but POWER TO DVD/HD/ Quick flash of light on the Optical Mouse
Also NO BEEP ON START UP/ Even with RAM REMOVED.
CPU fan does not work/ but I plug it into another socket on the MB and it does.


I read in a Previous Post with a similar situation- that someone had to reset the BIOS ( http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/308288-30-system-boot-beep-video) .. but I'm not sure how to (don't see a button on the MD)/ or/ if I can do that without any Display. I tried another Graphics Card; but that changed nothing.

Unplugged everything took CMOS Battery out, and pressed the Power button for a minute... NO Change.

 

[smorizio]

if it been unplugged for as bit the cmos battery may be bad. if the pc a few years old i would replace it it a few dollar part. if the pc was a 2009 unit you may have a few issues. may want to google if there been a class action lawsuit for bad caps on the mb or power supply. a few years back a buch of bad caps got into every product you could think of.
look at the mb and power supply look for swolen or leaking caps. see if someone has a test power supply see if cap in the power supply failed.

 

[dmmackay]

if it been unplugged for as bit the cmos battery may be bad. if the pc a few years old i would replace it it a few dollar part. if the pc was a 2009 unit you may have a few issues. may want to google if there been a class action lawsuit for bad caps on the mb or power supply. a few years back a buch of bad caps got into every product you could think of.
look at the mb and power supply look for swolen or leaking caps. see if someone has a test power supply see if cap in the power supply failed.

 

[dmmackay]

nothing visabily wrong with MB. In fact the M.B. could not be any cleaner!
Battery Change- yields no change
I did take the computer out of one room to another and that is also when it stopped working-
I can't say for sure- but that day there may have been a power outage ---Just for a Second or two/ and as I say- it was not plugged into a surge protector...
I don't have a way to test the power supply...and by cap/ I'm not sure if you're referring to a fuse/
or what I would call the transistors /resistors
I won't rule out the possibilities might be:
Processor/ Power Supply/ Motherboard shorted out?

 

[Chicano]

When ever you're not getting BIOS beep/s, and no display, the PSU is the likely cause... but sometimes BIOS corruption gives the same symptoms so a propper BIOS reset is suggested. If the CPU fan isn't running, the motherboard is also a likely cause.

1. First of all you need to propperly reset* the BIOS
2. Test the computer with a different PSU
3. If 1 and 2 fail, the propable cause is a dead motherboard.


* Three suggested methods to reset the BIOS
1. Unplug the AC cable, remove the BIOS battery, move the BIOS jumper from 1 and 2 pins to 2 and 3, press the power button for a minute, wait 10 minutes and replace everything to normal.
2. If this fails, repeat the same method but this time allow a full hour or the BIOS to reset.
3. If that also fails, as last resort, reset the BIOS again but this time leave it resetting overnight or from 10 to 12 hours.... if this last reset fails, you can be certain either the motherboard or BIOS is dead.

On many posts describing the same problem originating from moving the computer, the cause was more frequently the PSU, to a lesser degree the motherboard had died, and even less frequently the BIOS was either corrupted or dead.. replacing the BIOS chip can only be done if it's removable (not soldered in), and replacing it doesn't help most of the times.


BTW: "Cap" is capacitor.. those cylindric shaped objects on motherboards and other PCB boards. (mostly black or metallic cover [on more modern dry capacitors]).
Motherboard damage is most times unnoticeable to the inexperienced eye and may take electronic tools to identify the damage.

 

[dmmackay]

A couple more things I take notice are:
the Power Button Switch does not light up and to shut the power off I need to pull the plug on the back

I tried the Jumper on the BIOS - but the 1st time did not do anything... I'll try it again, and leave it over night

 

[smorizio]

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=195