Worth recapping?

[Marbo]

I've swapped out a dodgy Alienware master io. I hate to just throw away the old one. 

 

Is it worth recapping to see if that will kick start it back to life? 

 

I know there could any number of issues, but there is no visable damage. I'd say that 10 year old electrolytic caps are going to be a weak point. 

[Hackentosher]

You didn't describe any problems or post any pictures so it's pretty impossible to figure out what, if anything, is wrong with this thing. Also what is a master io? is that the front panel io for an alienware case?

[Marbo]

4 minutes ago, Hackentosher said:

You didn't describe any problems or post any pictures so it's pretty impossible to figure out what, if anything, is wrong with this thing. Also what is a master io? is that the front panel io for an alienware case?

Sorry, that would have helped. 

 

Its the control board for the rgb, fans, front io, power and hdd leds

 

It connects to the MB via USB. I was getting no communication between mb and master io. 

[Bombastinator]

Caps don’t look bad.  There are lots of cpas that last much longer than 10 years.  My first suspicion would be oxidation on connectors.

[Marbo]

6 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Caps don’t look bad.  There are lots of cpas that last much longer than 10 years.  My first suspicion would be oxidation on connectors.

So you think ipa and a small brush? 

[Hackentosher]

14 minutes ago, Marbo said:

So you think ipa and a small brush? 

I'd start there, but it's also possible that whatever chip manages the USB interface is dead. 

[Bombastinator]

8 minutes ago, Hackentosher said:

I'd start there, but it's also possible that whatever chip manages the USB interface is dead. 

I don’t know how to fix that but I’ve watched some console repair videos.  They tend to look for bad fuses.  They do it by testing continuity.  Lots of that board appears to be empty but I counted 14 of em so far.

[Marbo]

4 minutes ago, Hackentosher said:

I'd start there, but it's also possible that whatever chip manages the USB interface is dead. 

Absolutely, the thing is full of chips and resistors. 

 

I hate to think it could be something simple that I didn't try before scrapping it. 

[Bombastinator]

You do have a known good board to take direction from.

[Marbo]

3 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

You do have a known good board to take direction from.

I do, but not the knowledge or experience for such small components. 

 

I'll try cleaning it up. If that doesn't work I'll offer to the alienware community for spares or repair. 

[mariushm]

I'd say <5% probability it's the capacitors that are a problem. Unless it's a well known series of capacitors which leaks electrolyte or has unstable electrolyte (ex ucc kzg series, panasonic fj series etc) it's probably something else.

You have loads of transistors (the 3 pin surface mount things), you could start by testing those out with a multimeter (figure out the base, source and drain  / collector and emitter and test) , check the diodes to see if they're ok , check the linear regulator u10 that powers the chip to the right (u8?) which is probably a microcontroller ... you could also test the max7313 port expander chips but they'd probably have to be desoldered, not worth it.

[Marbo]

1 hour ago, mariushm said:

I'd say <5% probability it's the capacitors that are a problem. Unless it's a well known series of capacitors which leaks electrolyte or has unstable electrolyte (ex ucc kzg series, panasonic fj series etc) it's probably something else.

You have loads of transistors (the 3 pin surface mount things), you could start by testing those out with a multimeter (figure out the base, source and drain  / collector and emitter and test) , check the diodes to see if they're ok , check the linear regulator u10 that powers the chip to the right (u8?) which is probably a microcontroller ... you could also test the max7313 port expander chips but they'd probably have to be desoldered, not worth it.

I was really looking at anything simple that might have given it a fighting chance. 

 

Failure of these boards seems to be quite common. But they are an important aspect of the old alienware auroras, and add quite a bit of value if working. 

 

Just a shame for another one to go to e waste. 

[TehDwonz]

On 6/30/2020 at 8:33 PM, Marbo said:

I was really looking at anything simple that might have given it a fighting chance. 

 

Failure of these boards seems to be quite common. But they are an important aspect of the old alienware auroras, and add quite a bit of value if working. 

 

Just a shame for another one to go to e waste. 

As said above, the main caps look fine (dead and dying ones tend to have a bulge on top). Most likely one of the tiny VRMs or ICs. I'd sell it for spares/repairs., definitely don't land-fill it! At the very least, someone with desolder everything and recover anything working.