No Output on Old PC

[BlitzTheAnimator]

Hi. I am trying to fix my father's old pc and so far I'm unable to get an output. There is no type of code that would help me identify the problem either.

 

Methods I've tried so far:

- Reconnecting Hard drives (SATA and IDE)

- Reconnecting Power Supply

- Reseating RAM

- Reseating CPU

 

Motherboard: MSI G41M-P28

RAM: 4 GB DDR3

CPU: Intel Pentium (G3250 @ 3 Ghz)

GPU: N/A

I have tried the same VGA output cables with other PCs and they have worked. I'm unsure on what may have caused this; originally there was no RAM seated in the PC when I had opened it up. I do not have any GPUs that don't require extra PCI power cables so I'm unsure whether there's a problem with the onboard graphics or not.

[lexidobe]

Do you have another RAM module you can try? The integrated graphics uses the system's RAM, so a problem with the RAM could easily cause this problem. 

[BlitzTheAnimator]

6 minutes ago, lexidobe said:

Do you have another RAM module you can try? The integrated graphics uses the system's RAM, so a problem with the RAM could easily cause this problem. 

I have tried an 8 GB stick of RAM, and the same 4 GB stick of RAM that i mentioned earlier; they both work on other computers

[mariushm]

Add a speaker to the header on the motherboard, to hear the beeps. Headphones will work, just touch the pins with the audio jack and you should hear sounds, if you don't have actual beeper / speaker.

 

any standby leds on the motherboard? maybe the power supply is kaput and not giving out a stable 5v standby, preventing chipset from turning on

disconnect reset switch and power switch and try to power mb by shorting the power sw pins with a flathead screwdriver.

Rare but sometimes reset buttons on cases can get stuck always on keeping a mobo in permanent reset mode and preventing it from starting.

if in doubt, reduce all the potential points of failure. remove mobo from case, put it on a cardboard box, put just cpu and a ram stick and attempt to boot. if a drive is dead or shorted preventing pc from starting, the minimal config should work.

 

[lexidobe]

Did you try resetting your BIOS by taking the battery out for a minute and putting it back in? Also, do you have another PSU you could try? 

[BlitzTheAnimator]

3 minutes ago, lexidobe said:

Did you try resetting your BIOS by taking the battery out for a minute and putting it back in? Also, do you have another PSU you could try? 

I have already tried resetting the BIOS, which had no luck: I don't have any other power supplies I could try either

[BlitzTheAnimator]

12 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Add a speaker to the header on the motherboard, to hear the beeps. Headphones will work, just touch the pins with the audio jack and you should hear sounds, if you don't have actual beeper / speaker.

 

any standby leds on the motherboard? maybe the power supply is kaput and not giving out a stable 5v standby, preventing chipset from turning on

disconnect reset switch and power switch and try to power mb by shorting the power sw pins with a flathead screwdriver.

Rare but sometimes reset buttons on cases can get stuck always on keeping a mobo in permanent reset mode and preventing it from starting.

if in doubt, reduce all the potential points of failure. remove mobo from case, put it on a cardboard box, put just cpu and a ram stick and attempt to boot. if a drive is dead or shorted preventing pc from starting, the minimal config should work.

 

I couldn't get any beep signals at all; I've tried speakers and headphones. I have also tried the other methods you have told me of right now and it still hasn't worked; I didn't have any cardboard box that would help me though, so I tried it within the PC's case.

[lexidobe]

At this point you either have a bad CPU (very rare), a motherboard problem, a PSU problem, or something plugged into the motherboard is shorted. Anything plugged into the motherboard such as USB port or audio headers, drives, peripherals, sound cards, etc could potentially cause the system to fail to boot if they are shorted, so unplug everything not essential to the system turning on. You only want your CPU, RAM, 24 pin power, 8 pin CPU power, and monitor plugged into the motherboard for testing.

 

Other than that, you will need to get a PSU to verify whether it is bad or not. What kind of PSU does the system have? PSU testers are worthless because they do not put any load on it, so your best bet is to buy a cheap PSU for testing. Then you could try one of your dedicated GPUs as well. 

[BlitzTheAnimator]

2 minutes ago, lexidobe said:

At this point you either have a bad CPU (very rare), a motherboard problem, a PSU problem, or something plugged into the motherboard is shorted. Anything plugged into the motherboard such as USB port or audio headers, drives, peripherals, sound cards, etc could potentially cause the system to fail to boot if they are shorted, so unplug everything not essential to the system turning on. You only want your CPU, RAM, 24 pin power, 8 pin CPU power, and monitor plugged into the motherboard for testing.

 

Other than that, you will need to get a PSU to verify whether it is bad or not. What kind of PSU does the system have? PSU testers are worthless because they do not put any load on it, so your best bet is to buy a cheap PSU for testing. Then you could try one of your dedicated GPUs as well. 

The PSU is an "ATX Switching Power Supply" with an AC Input of 115/230 V, 8/4A, 50-60Hz (I'm not the one who had built this PC, so I'm not sure exactly where these parts are from)

[lexidobe]

Just now, BlitzTheAnimator said:

The PSU is an "ATX Switching Power Supply" with an AC Input of 115/230 V, 8/4A, 50-60Hz (I'm not the one who had built this PC, so I'm not sure exactly where these parts are from)

Presuming the system still doesn't start with everything non essential unplugged, I would guess the problem is the PSU over the motherboard or CPU. Is the voltage switch on the back in the correct position? Does it have a brand on it? Does it smell burned?

[BlitzTheAnimator]

5 minutes ago, lexidobe said:

Presuming the system still doesn't start with everything non essential unplugged, I would guess the problem is the PSU over the motherboard or CPU. Is the voltage switch on the back in the correct position? Does it have a brand on it? Does it smell burned?

It's not branded (from what I think it isn't), and it's at the proper position as well. It doesn't smell burnt either. For now, all that works is the fan as well as the hard drives.

[lexidobe]

5 minutes ago, BlitzTheAnimator said:

It's not branded (from what I think it isn't), and it's at the proper position as well. It doesn't smell burnt either. For now, all that works is the fan as well as the hard drives.

At this point you either need to get another PSU to try or try that PSU in another system, which I wouldn't recommend because if its faulty it could damage your test system. Depending on where you buy it you could return it if it isn't the problem. 

[BlitzTheAnimator]

4 minutes ago, lexidobe said:

At this point you either need to get another PSU to try or try that PSU in another system, which I wouldn't recommend because if its faulty it could damage your test system. Depending on where you buy it you could return it if it isn't the problem. 

Alright, thanks for the help.