Debug computer from trash

[sannyo]

Hey all,

 

Literally found a full gaming pc (no back panel) in the trash. Covered trash area so no water damage or anything.

 

The computer does start up, but there is no POST I assume that is why it ended up in the trash in the first place.

 

It is a cyberpower c series something probably like from 2019-2020 since the GPU seems to be 2019. Can't really tell the exact model/year. It has 2x8GB RAM sticks and a RX 5700 XT card in it. Can't tell the CPU and so far didn't try to remove it to check since right now I don't have thermal paste. (it has a tiny AIO cooler from coolermater)

 

It is AM4 platform with a AsRock B550AM Gaming motherboard. (Based on googling it is an OEM board)

 

So far have tried to reset CMOS and reseat the memory/use 1 stick and based on the debug LEDs it dies at the BOOT led.

 

It could be a dead CPU based on googling. Since I can't tell what BIOS version it has, it is hard to tell if it would support a 5000 series AM4 cpu out of the box so lets assume it does not.

 

Which CPU should I buy to try to revive the computer? I do not own a PC to individually check the components like ram and gpu, but have tried with one stick (either) and with and without gpu and did not see a post screen and kind of was not expecting one when there was no gpu since I assumed the CPU has no integrated graphics.

 

The video attached is the sequence after the CMOS reset I've tried.

 

Any helps is appreciated! Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

[Tetras]

10 minutes ago, sannyo said:

Which CPU should I buy

Since you can't confirm if any of the PC works I'd only get the cheapest possible CPU on the support list, unless the alternative is just a few $ more.

 

Not sure if this CPU is supported, but could be of interest:

 

[strange13930]

24 minutes ago, sannyo said:

Hey all,

 

Literally found a full gaming pc (no back panel) in the trash. Covered trash area so no water damage or anything.

 

The computer does start up, but there is no POST I assume that is why it ended up in the trash in the first place.

 

It is a cyberpower c series something probably like from 2019-2020 since the GPU seems to be 2019. Can't really tell the exact model/year. It has 2x8GB RAM sticks and a RX 5700 XT card in it. Can't tell the CPU and so far didn't try to remove it to check since right now I don't have thermal paste. (it has a tiny AIO cooler from coolermater)

 

It is AM4 platform with a AsRock B550AM Gaming motherboard. (Based on googling it is an OEM board)

 

So far have tried to reset CMOS and reseat the memory/use 1 stick and based on the debug LEDs it dies at the BOOT led.

 

It could be a dead CPU based on googling. Since I can't tell what BIOS version it has, it is hard to tell if it would support a 5000 series AM4 cpu out of the box so lets assume it does not.

 

Which CPU should I buy to try to revive the computer? I do not own a PC to individually check the components like ram and gpu, but have tried with one stick (either) and with and without gpu and did not see a post screen and kind of was not expecting one when there was no gpu since I assumed the CPU has no integrated graphics.

 

The video attached is the sequence after the CMOS reset I've tried.

 

Any helps is appreciated! Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

do you have a different pc you can test the gpu in? and can you try reseating the cpu.

[sannyo]

31 minutes ago, strange13930 said:

do you have a different pc you can test the gpu in? and can you try reseating the cpu.

I do not own a PC, have a mac, but that won't help me

 

Took off the AIO, the CPU is a Ryzen 7 3700X. Reseating the CPU didn't help, at the end ended up at the boot LED on the MB again.

Since will need to get some thermal paste, put the heatsink back as is and just quickly tried it to see if it posts.

 

So the question is, what should I see on the motherboard if it posts and the graphics card is just broken?

[sannyo]

49 minutes ago, strange13930 said:

do you have a different pc you can test the gpu in? and can you try reseating the cpu.

Probably this is normal? The pci-e connector has one shorter but googling images other cards have similar shorter pin at various locations....

 

Haven't put together a PC in a while and thought I can figure this out, but not having another PC to test components with kind of hinders my progress.

[strange13930]

1 hour ago, sannyo said:

I do not own a PC, have a mac, but that won't help me

 

Took off the AIO, the CPU is a Ryzen 7 3700X. Reseating the CPU didn't help, at the end ended up at the boot LED on the MB again.

Since will need to get some thermal paste, put the heatsink back as is and just quickly tried it to see if it posts.

 

So the question is, what should I see on the motherboard if it posts and the graphics card is just broken?

if the gpu is Broken you wouldn't see anything other than a via light. is the cpu power cable plugged in?

[sannyo]

1 hour ago, strange13930 said:

if the gpu is Broken you wouldn't see anything other than a via light. is the cpu power cable plugged in?

So it isi interesting.

CPU power cable is connected.

 

For some reason it posted once, that i was not able to replicate since. Actually twice.

Had only 1 stick of ram, cpu and that is all.

 

Noticed that the boot light disappeared. Turned it off, added the GPU and it posted and saw the BIOS.

It is v2.0 so technically I could buy any cpu that i can find on marketplace and try it, but also at this point i am unsure if this is a cpu issue.

 

Was able to plug in a mouse and it worked.

So decided to turn it off and put a storage in it. since then i went back to just RAM + CPU but still get the boot LED.

 

Maybe motherboard? short etc? 

 

Anyway my afternoon was more interesting than expected.

 

 

[strange13930]

1 hour ago, sannyo said:

So it isi interesting.

CPU power cable is connected.

 

For some reason it posted once, that i was not able to replicate since. Actually twice.

Had only 1 stick of ram, cpu and that is all.

 

Noticed that the boot light disappeared. Turned it off, added the GPU and it posted and saw the BIOS.

It is v2.0 so technically I could buy any cpu that i can find on marketplace and try it, but also at this point i am unsure if this is a cpu issue.

 

Was able to plug in a mouse and it worked.

So decided to turn it off and put a storage in it. since then i went back to just RAM + CPU but still get the boot LED.

 

Maybe motherboard? short etc? 

 

Anyway my afternoon was more interesting than expected.

 

 

is it currently in a case? if so you could take it out and try it without the case.

[Sawa Takahashi]

7 hours ago, sannyo said:

So far have tried to reset CMOS and reseat the memory/use 1 stick and based on the debug LEDs it dies at the BOOT led.

Leds should lit in that order : CPU, DRAM, VGA and BOOT.

You are lucky since Boot simply means that the computer did not find a boot device. Either the boot drive is missing or it does not contain a boot partition.

At worst, you need a boot drive, at best you need to install Windows (or another OS of your choice).

 

[sannyo]

1 hour ago, strange13930 said:

is it currently in a case? if so you could take it out and try it without the case.

Ok, took it out most of the way from the case. Power supply and some of the cable management is still in the case. It was zip tied together, so took out the AIO, motherboard, gpu, and put it on the top of the case on a cardboard.

 

What I've noticed that it does POST more often as long as I leave it alone it posts. I think moving it around or removing the gpu, putting it back kind of messes with it. Wanted to put back the original SSD i found in it, but every time i do that it won't post. Remove the ssd, put gpu back, move it around a bit on the cardboard and it posts...

 

Anyway fun stuff If I would have spare parts it would be easier to figure out what is wrong with it.

[sannyo]

4 minutes ago, Sawa Takahashi said:

Leds should lit in that order : CPU, DRAM, VGA and BOOT.

You are lucky since Boot simply means that the computer did not find a boot device. Either the boot drive is missing or it does not contain a boot partition.

At worst, you need a boot drive, at best you need to install Windows (or another OS of your choice).

 

But it does not POST. Haven't had a PC in many years, but last time I had one it still posted and worst case it just said no boot device. This doesn't post at all.

 

Next week if i have time after work will get a different boot device and will ask somebody to create a bootable windows installer on an usb.

[Sawa Takahashi]

7 minutes ago, sannyo said:

But it does not POST.

What do you mean by it does not post ? You even showed the BIOS screen so it should post somehow.

If you mean the beeps the computers used to make during POST, yes those are mostly gone by now. They have been replaced with the four debug leds.

If you can access the BIOS, you should check if any drive is present. This motherboard has at least one NVMe slot and that should be the boot drive.

A useful tool would be a bootable USB drive with Windows installer. You can try to boot on it to see if the computer works and you can use it to install Windows on the boot drive. You can download a legal copy of Windows directly from Microsoft's website for free.

Good luck again !

[sannyo]

37 minutes ago, Sawa Takahashi said:

What do you mean by it does not post ? You even showed the BIOS screen so it should post somehow.

 

Thanks for your suggestions. Will experiment with it. The main problem is that most of the time it did not post, no display output etc. Like 99.9% of the time. 

The pic I posted was like one random time posted. 

 

Not sure if taking it out of the case actually helped or just a placebo feeling, but at least it goes into the bios more often and can repeat it if I don't move it around.

 

 

 

[strange13930]

9 hours ago, sannyo said:

Ok, took it out most of the way from the case. Power supply and some of the cable management is still in the case. It was zip tied together, so took out the AIO, motherboard, gpu, and put it on the top of the case on a cardboard.

 

What I've noticed that it does POST more often as long as I leave it alone it posts. I think moving it around or removing the gpu, putting it back kind of messes with it. Wanted to put back the original SSD i found in it, but every time i do that it won't post. Remove the ssd, put gpu back, move it around a bit on the cardboard and it posts...

 

Anyway fun stuff If I would have spare parts it would be easier to figure out what is wrong with it.

are there different spot you can connect the ssd?

[sannyo]

2 hours ago, strange13930 said:

are there different spot you can connect the ssd?

Ordered an external case for the SSD to see if it works or not. Will be here like in 2 days.

There are no other m2 slots on it and i didn't see any other type of data cable in the case.

[strange13930]

26 minutes ago, sannyo said:

Ordered an external case for the SSD to see if it works or not. Will be here like in 2 days.

There are no other m2 slots on it and i didn't see any other type of data cable in the case.

there's a chance that the m.2 slot is shorting.

[sannyo]

9 hours ago, strange13930 said:

there's a chance that the m.2 slot is shorting.

The usbc enclosure came and the ssd seems to be working fine.

The only thing beside windows (seems like a standard out of box system setup (basic windows app, amd apps) there were some BIOS files in the download folder. So it might be that whoever had this PC tried to flash a BIOS and that went wrong or they tried to fix something with it....

 

Not sure if it is a fair guess, but wonder if this is a motherboard issue based on the files found in the download folder....

 

[strange13930]

32 minutes ago, sannyo said:

The usbc enclosure came and the ssd seems to be working fine.

The only thing beside windows (seems like a standard out of box system setup (basic windows app, amd apps) there were some BIOS files in the download folder. So it might be that whoever had this PC tried to flash a BIOS and that went wrong or they tried to fix something with it....

 

Not sure if it is a fair guess, but wonder if this is a motherboard issue based on the files found in the download folder....

 

see if you can do a new bios flash.

[sannyo]

1 hour ago, strange13930 said:

see if you can do a new bios flash.

It worked, I think every time i put the ssd back it dies.

 

After that nothing if i take it out unless i do a CMOS reset.

 

Will get a sata cable and drive later today to see if that helps

[strange13930]

1 minute ago, sannyo said:

It worked, I think every time i put the ssd back it dies.

 

After that nothing if i take it out unless i do a CMOS reset.

 

Will get a sata cable and drive later today to see if that helps

yeah the m.2 drive is probably bad.

[sannyo]

On 4/8/2025 at 1:06 PM, strange13930 said:

yeah the m.2 drive is probably bad.

Didn't have time to thinker with it until now.

Unfortunately won't post with a sata drive either. Guess it might be motherboard issue (storage controller issue)