IBM Aptiva Will NOT Boot

steven_mckenzsteven_mckenz
edited February 2004 in Hardware
Hey. I just signed up on this message board and I have a huge problem....

My boss has this IBM Aptiva and he said it used to work fine for him, but one day it just quit working, so he brought it here to work and told me to fix it. The only problem is that I cannot fix it. When I push the power button, the fans turn on and what sounds like the HDD starts to spin, and it makes a few little clicks, but there are no beeps or anything, and nothing ever displays on the monitor. I have absolutely NO idea what to do! Any help would be deeply appreciated!

Thanks all!

Comments

  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    Video card or perhaps the RAM....

    I would try to take it apart and maybe dust it off if need be... then put it back together and if that don't work... I would try to swap out parts to see what exactly is the problem.

    It COULD also be the CPU, but I didn't wanna say that. I have had this same thing happen to me a few times, and it turned out to be the CPU once.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited February 2004
    FWIW... I do some community service work for habitat for humanity's local office. They have an old IBM desktop (I don't think it's an aptiva, but I can't remember for sure). Anyhow, the machine WILL NOT will not, will not, will NOT boot unless you have the IDE drives in the order it wants them.

    You have to have the CD as the primary master, zip as the primary slave, and hard drive as the secondary slave, or it won't POST.

    Try fiddling around with the IDE devices.
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited February 2004
    since i doubt he's ever messed with the IDE cables as geeky suggested, im going to have to basically restate what RWB said.

    re-seat the ram. re-seat the cpu. clean off the inside. try again.

    as things stand, it sounds to me like your CPU is not working, but they can become unseated over time, especially in p3 machines
  • steven_mckenzsteven_mckenz
    edited February 2004
    Here's what I've tried:

    Dusting the whole thing off w/compressed air
    Re-seating all ide cables
    Tested out different memory sticks
    switched harddrives
    put the cpu in another computer, it works in the other computer
    reset CMOS (switched HOPEFULLY, the right jumper)

    Still nothing :S

    The computer turns on, the CD Drive light flashes, then nothing. It just sits there with it's quiet little hum and does nothing. The part that sucks about it is that it has an onboard video connection, so I can't try a different video card. Is it the mobo? I bought a new one for it off of ebay (5$ :rolleyes: ), but it doesn't have the right socket for the CPU, so it's kinda worthless....I don't even know where I would buy another motherboard that would be worth it. The computer is about 5 years old, and the one place that I saw where I could buy the exact motherboard that's in it was 300$. I could get me a newer computer than what it is for less than that! The only reason I'm trying to fix it is because it's my boss' and he's become attached to it......

    Is there something obvious that I just seem to be missing? Thanks for the quick responses though!
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited February 2004
    sounds like the motherboard. What model of crAptiva is it, and what CPU does it have?
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited February 2004
    if its the motherboard i'm going to assume its irreplacable. at least without replacing the case, and probably without replacing the PSU and maybe the optical drives as well (i seem to recall my old aptiva had some kind of identifier on all their drives that prevented them from working in other pc's... maybe they stopped that though).

    it seriously doesn't have an agp port?
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    I've only ever seen ATX Aptiva's. You might be able to get away with a motherboard swap if you find a board that has the same specs as the one he has.

    -drasnor :fold:
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited February 2004
    As Geeky1 mentioned, give us the exact model number. Then we can be more specific.
  • steven_mckenzsteven_mckenz
    edited February 2004
    Hey. Sorry I haven't responded in awhile. I'm at home right now so I can't get the exact specs on it at the moment, but I will get them tomorrow afternoon and post them. I REALLY hope it's not the motherboard!

    Also, is's snowing a long right now so I may not have school in the morning. If that's so, I'll have the specs up sooner.

    Once again, thanks for the quick responses!
  • steven_mckenzsteven_mckenz
    edited February 2004
    Ok. Here are the "specs" that I could get off of the computer. (I'm good with software and OS's, but awful with hardware stuff.)

    IBM Aptiva
    Machine Type: 2140
    Model Number: 4Y1 (SL - A)
    Motherboard: FRU 93H5148

    It has a:
    Trident 3DImage975 chip
    Sis 5597 Chip

    The video is integrated. It also has a little cable that goes out and plugs into a mini-board (Is there such a thing) that has a weird sound plug in. It's round with 7 small holes in it.

    That's about all the specs I can give off of the top of my head.......if there's anything else you would like to know, please ask it.

    Thanks for the help!
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited February 2004
    The board look something like this?

    What model is it? On the front it'll say IBM Aptiva XXXX or something...

    Board:
  • steven_mckenzsteven_mckenz
    edited February 2004
    Um, that's CLOSE to what mine is, but not exact.

    I think mine may be a type A-1. On the front of the case it doesn't say anything about what the exact type is........Does that help at all?
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    IBMs are listed by model and type number
    My IBM is a PC300GL with type 6282 and model 66U. It's got a sticker with 6282-66U on the inside front after removing the cover.
    You have an Aptiva with type 2140 and model 4Y1. Just get on IBM and do a search in support for your type's family page and select your model from the list of available models for that type to get information about it.

    Google can search the IBM site so that may be an easier way to do this.

    -drasnor :fold:
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited February 2004
    The type A-1 board has a socketed CPU. Does the board in your boss' computer have a slot CPU or a socketed CPU?
  • steven_mckenzsteven_mckenz
    edited February 2004
    It's socketed. It has a Socket 7 on it.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited February 2004
    Oh. For some reason I thought it was a slot CPU. Then yeah, it's a Type A-1.

    You may be able to fix it, but IMO, you should probably tell your boss (nicely) that it's time to get attached to a new computer. Anything with a S7 in it is basically worthless.
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    Geeky1 wrote:
    Anything with a S7 in it is basically worthless.

    Ahem.

    IBM PC300GL 6282/66U
    Intel Pentium MMX 233MHz / 66MHz FSB
    512KB L2 cache
    Intel i430VX chipset
    64MB PC66 SDRAM
    Triple monitor support provided by Cirrus Logic GD5446 on board and nVidia GeForce FX 5200 128MB PCI
    Toshiba 16x8x32x8 CD-RW/DVD combo
    Creative SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold ISA w/ 4MB hardware SoundFont bank RAM
    3com 3c905C-TX-M managed 10/100 fast ethernet NIC
    USRobotics 56K hardware-controlled voice/fax modem
    8.6GB Maxtor DiamondMax w/ Windows 98SE
    4.3GB Maxtor DiamondMax w/ RedHat Linux 9

    1070 3D Marks
    Future host of 1337 processor. :leet:

    -drasnor :fold:
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited February 2004
    And the fact that it has a GeForceFX somehow conveys value on it? ROFL. That P233 is worth more than that FX5200 ;D

    Like I said. Totally worthless.
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    Your machine is pretty old. Check the voltage of your CMOS battery.

    -drasnor :fold:
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    Geeky1 wrote:
    And the fact that it has a GeForceFX somehow conveys value on it? ROFL. That P233 is worth more than that FX5200 ;D

    Like I said. Totally worthless.

    Hey now. :grumble: I don't knock your machines. It's not obsolete, it's 08501337. :vimp:

    Had to get a graphics card to match the capabilities of the machine *hisss nVidia FX hisss*. It can play Half life, Total Annihilation, and MechWarrior 3 just fine thank you very much. Surfing is fairly quick but not by any means snappy. Office 2k is responsive though not overly so. This is my DOS gaming box and alpha-code test machine, but for the most part but I can't recommend something like it for everyday use. I look at it like my old NES: good for that certain breed of game that you can't find on newer consoles.

    Geeky is right in the sense that a new computer would probably be the best option for you.

    -drasnor :fold:
Sign In or Register to comment.