Pentium 4 Computer turns on but screen remains black

Local recycling facilities do indeed exist. (I live in the Silicon Valley area, and we love to do those kind of things.) I'm not sure how environmentally friendly recycling something like this is. I've heard some horror stories about these things being shipped off to China and being processed in primitive fashion that harms workers and the environment. But it does seem better to take a chance on recycling than the trash.

 

Oh no! I thought I had everything fixed, with my new motherboard. But after working for a while, the computer has the same problem. Black screen.

My motherboard seemed to be the problem. I bought a replacement motherboard off the Internet. I got the motherboard all put together, tested the computer several times with a bare bones setup, and found that it worked.

I then put everything in the case and tried it. Worked. For an hour. Then it froze up. I tried to restart it. Black screen. Same exact problem as I had before.

Something tells me the motherboard is not the problem. Could something be burning out the motherboards? Think the power supply has a problem?

Just when I thought everything was fine again.

 

Daanii:

Based upon your original description, I felt Steve Jones hit the nail on the head the first time around. The fact that you had to power this system off using the power supply switch was as close as it gets to proof positive. Now, I read where you said you tried a different PSU, however, that PSU might not have been "up to snuff" for this board.

Unfortunately, you are going to have to go through a step by step methodical procedure to determine what isn't causing your problem in order to discover what is. Personally, I still believe the PSU is your most likely culprit but you may be better off taking this machine to a qualified technician who can troubleshoot different components. Do not take this to a box store.

 

Thanks for your comments, Rockster. I probably am at the point where I should seek expert assistance. Hard to tell what the problem is.

Trouble is, it's a little hard to justify spending much more money on this computer. My son and I put it together from parts a few years ago. We don't really use it much anymore. I'd like to fix it up and have it available for occasional use, but the more practical thing might be to take it out and shoot it. It's a dilemma.

As to the power supply, it turns out that there was no need to power it off using the power supply switch. I had forgotten that on that computer you need to hold in the on/off button for a few seconds to power it down. Once I read that in the motherboard manual, I realized that was not an issue.

It still might be the power supply. But I did again try using another known-to-be-good power supply on that computer, and it did not work. I also tried the suspect power supply on another computer, and it worked. That does not rule out the power supply, but it does seem to suggest that the problem may lie elsewhere.

Could it be that the power supply is putting out too much power, and frying something on the motherboard? Could that be why the replacement motherboard worked for an hour or so, and then the computer would not work? If so, maybe if I had left the suspect power supply hooked up to my other computer for a longer time, it might have fried it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also, if anyone knows any good repair shops in the San Francisco/Silicon Valley area, please let me know. Meanwhile, I'll try to make the life or death decision for this poor, ailing computer.

 

One more question about my motherboard problem. I noticed the smell of something warm on the motherboard when I was testing it. I traced that smell to a component just below the microprocessor and in the center of the motherboard. That component has a heatsink on it.

What is that component? Could it be burning out somehow?

Thanks.

 

That's going to be your Intel Chipset.

I also stumbled across something else that may be of interest to you. Read this for reference.

 

Thanks for help with problem of computer not booting up

The problem was that the motherboard had gone bad. So I replaced the motherboard. The new one worked for an hour, then went bad. Steve Jones and Rockster2U had thought all along that the power supply was probably bad. So I bought a new power supply and a new motherboard. The computer now works.

This problem taught me a good lesson, although an expensive one. Thanks to Steve Jones, Rockster2U, Matt, PeteC and others for the helpful advice.