Need some help with diagnosing potential motherboard problem....

[Instantaneous]

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to the boards, but I've been reading many many threads and the
knowledge shown here is amazing.

Maybe someone can help me with this issue:

Computer won't get past HP splash screen to boot up. Esc, F1, F9, or
F10, F11 nothing works (but there are caveats, read further).

This is the model:

HP Pavilion p6320y Desktop PC running Win 7
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?product=4120661&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&tmp_track_link=ot_we/prodlink/en_us/4120661/loc:0&cc=us

This is my motherboard:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01925562&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=4120661#N66

Bought it as a refurb a while ago and am 5 mo out of warranty. D'oh.

Troubleshooting steps:
(I remove the power cord and drain before changing HW. No mouse
connected, only USB keyboard. There is no PS/2 port.)

(1) Removed all three 1TB SATA drives. Put them 1 by 1 into an old
eMachines running XP Pro. Drive with the OS on it registered many
errors by CHKDSK. All were fixed and there a few bad sectors on it
(Western Digital Caviar Green). Drive runs fine a secondary drive in
the eMachine. Other 2 drives are WD Black drives and are problem free
(no issues with CHKDSK).

(2) Put only the OS drive back into the HP and powered up. No luck.
Still hangs at splash screen. ESC, Fx, nothing works. Hung.

(3) Read a bunch of forums.

(4) Disconnect the Flash reader at the reader itself (not the MOBO).
Reboot. Same issue. Hung. ESC, Fx, nothing works.

(5) Disconnect the 2 front USB ports/speaker/mic by pulling cable from
MOBO.
Reboot. Same issue. Hung. ESC, Fx, nothing works.

(6) Disconnect all SATA drives from MOBO. (CD drive and all HDD).
Reboot. Now ESC, F1, F9, F11, etc. work. I am now able to get into the
BIOS to see what's there (Change boot order, etc). I set the order to
boot from CD first, then HDD.
The HP diagnostics show that the CPU and Memory are good. It obviously
fails at the Hard Drives because none are connected.

(7) So then I just reconnect the CD Drive and try to boot from it. (I
put in an Ubuntu CD). After restarting the computer, I get the same
hang. No ESC, Fx, works. Just hung. Now I'm starting to think this is
a SATA issue.

(8) Thermal grease on the Northbridge probably not an issue because the
heatsink gets fairly hot.

(9) Only thing I have not tried is booting from USB. Not sure if it's
worth the effort.


Any ideas on what my issue might be? I'm thinking motherboard but I
defer to your expertise.

If I needed to replace it, I don't want to get the same model if it's
junk:
Manufacturer's motherboard name: Pegatron M2N78-LA
HP/Compaq name: Violet6-GL8E

Would this one be a compatible replacement?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130295

Thanks!!

[Paul]

When you were in the BIOS, was there an option to disable full screen logo ?
That's the first setting I change in a BIOS - disabling full screen logo
allows any text error messages to show, while it attempts to boot.

And if SATA booting isn't working, by all means, try a USB test. Even a USB
memtest would be better than nothing.

"Download - Auto-installer for USB Key (Win 9x/2k/xp/7) *NEW!*"
http://www.memtest.org/download/4.20/memtest86+-4.20.usb.installer.zip

You can progress from there, to a USB Linux Live if need be. (I made one
the other day, with the built-in USB-Creator, but the software was painful
to work with. It seemed to work OK, if copying from the physical Ubuntu CD,
but less so if working from an ISO9660 file.)

Paul

[rb]

SATA controller may have failed, but try a different power supply before
tossing the motherboard.

[yukonron]

Had a look at your specs.
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/processors/phenom-ii/Pages/phenom-ii-model-number-comparison.aspx
if you scroll down to where it say's

AMD64 Technology Yes

Simultaneous 32- & 64-bit computing Yes

My guess is that when you (fixed) it you turned them into a 32 bit only
hard drive and your *AMD Phenom™ II X2 Processor *won't recognize
the hard drives any more. Are all three readable on your 32 bit
emachine? Can you still see the window 7 folder if so only connect it as
your primary drive to see if it tries to boot. Do you have the sata
drives set up in a RAID configuration?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID
I'm kind of new to 64 bit systems. Just got one myself it's an HP 64 bit
system running windows 7. There are alot of highly trained members on
this site. I'm just guessing at the problem. Maybe one of them could
shed some more light on your problem. Booting from a USB might work and
there might be a back up on one of your hard drives that will restore
your system to the factory original condition. I know my hp has one in a
seperate partition. And you can create recovery disks.
http://www.pctechbytes.com/hp/recovery-creation/
Hopefully this helps but if it didn't I'm sure someone with more
knowledge will be around soon to help you out.
Hey *rb* there weren't replies yet when I started my reply should have
known you would beat me to it. LOL
-You can't have evrything. Where would you put it?
-

[Instantaneous]

Thanks for the advice. I'll try that out and let you know. Now I just
have to find another power supply.....

[rb]

yukonron;1310865 Wrote:
> Had a look at your specs.
> http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/processors/phenom-ii/Pages/phenom-ii-model-number-comparison.aspx
> if you scroll down to where it say's
> AMD64 Technology Yes
> Simultaneous 32- & 64-bit computing Yes
>
> My guess is that when you (fixed) it you turned them into a 32 bit only

> hard drive and your *AMD Phenom™ II X2 Processor *won't recognize the
> hard drives any more.

In a nutshell... 'bit' refers to the maximum size of info that can be
transferred over the system bus at once...4 bytes for 32 bit, 8 bytes
for 64 bit.
A 64 bit CPU will run both 64 and 32 bit OS and programs. A 32 bit CPU
however, can only run a 32 bit OS and programs.

> Hey *rb* there weren't replies yet when I started my reply should have
> known you would beat me to it. LOL

fast fingers....:D

[yukonron]

rb;1310867 Wrote:
> In a nutshell... 'bit' refers to the maximum size of info that can be
> transferred over the system bus at once...4 bytes for 32 bit, 8 bytes
> for 64 bit.
> A 64 bit CPU will run both 64 and 32 bit OS and programs. A 32 bit CPU
> however, can only run a 32 bit OS and programs.
>
>
>

> fast fingers....:D

Thanks for the education rb.:D I did say it was a guess. But I thought
he could read his SATA drives with a 32 bit emachine after he (fixed) it
with XP

[Instantaneous]

Hi Paul,

Good advice on disabling the splash screen, I had already done that in
the BIOS and could see that the 4 memory sticks all came up clean. I'm
going by memory here but I don't recall any errors being logged. It
just hung at a certain point when the SATA drive(s) were connected.

I'll try out the USB memtest to see if that works.

I also need to pull a working power supply from a working machine to see
if that is the issue.

Will keep you posted.

I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on ordering a new motherboard to
make a project out of this. I've never tried to replace a mobo before
and think that it would a fun and frustrating project to tackle.

[rb]

The MSI 880gm-e41 mainboard you selected is ok, but it lacks USB3 and
SATA3(6GB) support. So if you intend to keep the new mainboard for 3-5
years, consider a board with at least USB3....such as... Biostar A880GU3
w/USB3 , TA880GU3+ w/ USB3 & SATA3(6GB)

[Instantaneous]

I'll keep that in mind when choosing a new board.

I did try the USB bootable memtest and I was able to successfully boot
from the USB drive. The memtest completed with no errors reported. So
I guess that's a good sign that my RAM is good.

The HP diagnostics reports that the CPU is good.

So I guess it's down to the motherboard (SATA controller) or the PSU.
Since I don't have another PSU handy to test it out, I'm just going to
order a new mainboard and give it a go.

Newbie Question: Will I need to remove and reapply the thermal grease
on the CPU's heatsink when I pull the CPU off one board and install on
the new board?

[Paul]

I always apply fresh thermal compound.

In some cases, the material present may be reusable. If it
gets scratched up, or if it's the "phase change" kind which is
as hard as a rock when cold, you're probably better just
cleaning it off. Some can be removed with solvents, but some
requires "scraping and scrubbing".

(These are proper solvents. But I just use isopropyl alcohol, which
isn't the right solvent, but does wet the cleaning cloth enough to aid
in cleaning - i.e. smears the stuff around.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100010

You want a thin layer of paste. You want maximal surface area of contact.
If the stuff is scratched or if there are hard ridges that
prevent the heatsink from properly seating, then the CPU is going
to get hot.

There are actually a fairly large number of thermal interface
materials, and some aren't used that often. Which is why it's
kinda hard to cover every possibility.

I've been using the same tube of thermal paste for years now,
and never seem to use it all up. So if you pick up a tube, it
could last a while. I think that's why some of the cheapskate
companies, have come out with smaller applicators - so you'll
run out faster :-)

So yes, pick up a tube of something, so you're ready for anything.

Paul

[rb]

Instantaneous;1311296 Wrote:
>
> Newbie Question: Will I need to remove and reapply the thermal grease
> on the CPU's heatsink when I pull the CPU off one board and install on
> the new board?

Yes.

A few tips:
To separate the CPU from heatsink, you may need to use a slight twisting
motion.

Once separated, clean the old paste off the CPU and heatsink. Rubbing
alcohol works fine... apply a few drops to the old paste and let it sit
for a minute till the old paste softens, then wipe it clean with a
lint-free cloth(coffee filter works nicely). May need a few treatments
to remove all the old paste. :)

Reinstalling CPU and Heatsink:
Insert CPU into socket on mainboard.
Put a dot of thermal paste on the center of CPU....dot should be a tad
smaller than a pea. (Idea is to get a paper-thin layer of paste over as
much of your CPU as possible.)
Next, press heatsink straight down and with ever so slight twisting
motion so that the thermal paste spreads evenly in all directions.
Lock down heatsink/fan...done.

[Instantaneous]

Thanks rb and Paul! Appreciate your tips on the thermal paste
removal/application. I used your info as well as info gleaned from many
youtube videos and was able to successfully get the old processor
installed on the new board.

I ended up buying this one:
ASUS M4A88T-M/USB3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131660

Doesn't have SATA6 which is just fine with me. I'm not a performance
user anyways, just need it for bookkeeping, internet, email, and
photo/video storage.

For others out there that are replacing their faulty M2N78-LA Pegatron
boards from HP, you'll need to use the front panel pin diagram from the
manual to determine which pins from the HP case's front connector to
connect to the power and gnd pins on your new mobo:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/45660126/M2N78-LA-ASUS-Pegatron-Manual-Rev-3

Since the pin layouts on my original HP board and the new ASUS board
don't match, I have not connected the power led or HDD led wires. I'll
have to get a couple new connectors to do this.

For now, the power is up and working and the computer boots up with the
new board. My original HDD's OS is unrecoverable so I'm doing a backup
of data from that drive and will reinstall a fresh copy of Win 7 x64.

So far so good! Thanks to all the help of the folks on the forum!

[rb]

Instantaneous;1311784 Wrote:
> Thanks rb and Paul! Appreciate your tips on the thermal paste
> removal/application. I used your info as well as info gleaned from many
> youtube videos and was able to successfully get the old processor
> installed on the new board.
>
> I ended up buying this one:
> ASUS M4A88T-M/USB3
>

> Doesn't have SATA6 which is just fine with me. I'm not a performance
> user anyways, just need it for bookkeeping, internet, email, and
> photo/video storage.

> ...

> For now, the power is up and working and the computer boots up with the
> new board. My original HDD's OS is unrecoverable so I'm doing a backup
> of data from that drive and will reinstall a fresh copy of Win 7 x64.
>
> So far so good! Thanks to all the help of the folks on the forum!

Nice board!

Oh and your welcome! :)