so a friend is trying to revive a packard bell pc......

[trenchfoot]

a friend of mine handed to me a packard bell pc model "basic unit" to troubleshoot and possibly fix for him. the model doesn't turn up in google. even the serial number gets nowhere. support in usa is useless.
i hope you guys can help me here....
i powered up and immediatly got a steady beep. it's got an award bios chip so i assumed it to be a memory problem.
i opened the box and found on the floor of the inside of the case what looked to be some white powder and corrosion of the case metal. also, the cpu fan did'nt work.
i therefore assumed that when the fan went belly-up the cpu then overheated and the overheating caused the thermal compound to leak out and spill onto the bottom of the case and burned away the case coating and the bare metal thus corroded.
a check with a diagnostic pci card turned up a code 99 for cpu problem.

my question is when the cpu died could that occurence have killed the four sticks of ram along with it as the award bios beep code suggests?

and if it did, what else could the dying cpu have taken along with it?

 

[sniperruff]

do him a favor and throw it out into a dumpster.

 

[trenchfoot]

i think that's where he got it from.....well sniperruff, in answer to your suggestion, i already tried to talk him out of repairing it, but it seems he has attached some sentimental value to it.

 

[hans030390]

throw it back in the dumpster, or better...burn it, run it over, smash it, throw it off of a building, etc.

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

Shoot it with a gun, or a bat.

 

[trenchfoot]

now now fellas, as much as i agree with you, i think just maybe i could learn a thing-or-few from diagnosing this issue. help me out here with some on-topic comments please? the guy is a good friend of mine...

 

[Nocturnal]

What could you possibly learn from trying to troubleshoot equipment that doesn't even work let alone is very very old?

 

[Nocturnal]

Part of the solution is trying to recreate the problem. How would you attempt to recreate the problem with such old equipment here? How will you test the memory to see if the memory is not the issue? How will you test the CPU and etc etc...

 

[Shaftatplanetquake]

i therefore assumed that when the fan went belly-up the cpu then overheated and the overheating caused the thermal compound to leak out and spill onto the bottom of the case and burned away the case coating and the bare metal thus corroded.

I would like to highlight this quote as a perfect example of a false assumption. Hugely false. I would recomend that you do not attempt to undertake this project due to your non-technician obviously persistent frame of mind.

 

[trenchfoot]

nocturnal, i guess it's not so much what i can deduce for myself, as just for the fact that i'm here posting for help means i've pretty much exhausted my level of experience and am now looking for helpful information from persons here on this board that have more experience than i that's specific to this thread topic. but i do see your point and it's well taken.
also, if any one knows where i can find info on the cyrix cpu part number gmscm829 ax i'd appreciate it much, as google is dumbfounded by the query.

 

[Nocturnal]

I work as a tech for a mom and pop store and when a mom and pop comes into the store with this type of old school unit with Windows 95 and they want to upgrade it to run Windows XP, we kind and gently tell them that it's past its prime and that it is no longer feasible to do any maintenance on the unit. We also point them in the right direction in where they can purchase a decently priced system from www.dell.com.

 

[Shaftatplanetquake]

I work as a tech and a salesman at "Your Neighborhood Computer Store". It honestly is more like the neighborhood ripoff store. Thats beside the point. Basically, tweaker2, you would need to have a whole lot of knowledge in your noggin to accurately, effectively, and quickly find out what the heck is going on with this computer. I really really doubt that thermal compound cooked and leaked out of the processor/heatsink contact surface. I would first check over everything on the board and see if everything appears to be where it should be. I would then try to POST it. If that failed; I would then remove unnecessary cards and cables. (unnecessary for POST, that is). I would then try to POST it. If that failed; I would then take the processor out and get a good look at it, and re-seat it into the socket. I would then try to POST it. If that failed; I MIGHT go and see about dropping another socket 7 chip into the socket. I would then try to POST it. If that failed; I would test all the parts in another motherboard one by one until I found the culprit. If all the parts ended up testing out just fine then basically the motherboard in the computer system is bad.

Unfortunately, the packard bell isn't worth any time at all, so I would recomend not doing ANY of this. About 3 months ago a customer dropped off a packard bell for a diagnostic. It had windows 3.1 and PB-Explorer loaded on it. My coworker at the time told me that the packard bell was very much like a system he owned a long, long time ago.

 

[wasserkool]

Petrol + match = the computer is hopeless

 

[xgsound]

Shaftatplanetquake has good advice, including the I don't suggest this part.

If you are expecting a "useful" compputer when you are done, I think you will be disappointed. If this is because you enjoy it, here's some help.

Cyrix was around the time of amd k6 and so on. If it is a socket 7 system, maybe there is a chance there is some info at http://www.k6plus.com under board compatibility.

To begin finding mobo info, look for chipset numbers. this can lead you to other cpu possibilities.

Cpus of that era had voltages, multiplier and bus speed set by jumpers or switches. This means that a diagram of settings will be very important to get any other cpu to work.

Is the mobo AT or ATX? What chipset? What cpu socket? Any model numbers on front panel? Get a flashlight and read what is near jumpers or switches. If you're lucky, you may get voltage/mult settings and a mobo #.

Anandtech is a better place than any to get info how to revive this old computer. I've heard people get advice that fixed cars, front doors, washers, and dishwashers here; you will eventually get info here about computers.


Jim

 

[Sforsyth]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
I work as a tech for a mom and pop store and when a mom and pop comes into the store with this type of old school unit with Windows 95 and they want to upgrade it to run Windows XP, we kind and gently tell them that it's past its prime and that it is no longer feasible to do any maintenance on the unit. We also point them in the right direction in where they can purchase a decently priced system from www.dell.com.

you work at a computer shop and you tell costumers to go to dell to buy their pc's ?

 

[Sforsyth]

You could probley buy a working system like that or better for $50 - $100 I'd do that and give it to your friend.

My little sister found a P166 in the trash and the CD-ROM was bad cause 95 not to boot up I replace it for here and as soon as she found out if was 2 slow to put a CDRW into it she didn't want it anymore.

Also the CPU and PSU FAN where not spinning I took them out and lubed them up.

 

[Shaftatplanetquake]

I wouldn't be so certain that the packard bell board has any jumpers for cpu speed. It could, but this is only one detail that a good technician would be prepared to deal with among thousands of others.

 

[Nocturnal]

Originally posted by: Sforsyth
You could probley buy a working system like that or better for $50 - $100 I'd do that and give it to your friend.

My little sister found a P166 in the trash and the CD-ROM was bad cause 95 not to boot up I replace it for here and as soon as she found out if was 2 slow to put a CDRW into it she didn't want it anymore.

Also the CPU and PSU FAN where not spinning I took them out and lubed them up.

Why? Are Sonys, HP, Compaq etc all superior to Dell? I think not. And Alienware is just overkill as well as building a system.

 

[DanDaMan315]

Funny how computer older than 10 years are a nice piece of legacy, but between 5-9 years is just a piece of garbage.

 

[trenchfoot]

thanks all for your replies. sorry i couldn't post back sooner, i had take care of some family business.

i got a clear picture of where i stand in trying to "raise the dead" as it were from all of your posts. seems somewhat tedious but not impossible. thanks to you all i'm a whole lot more informed than i was a few hours ago.

xgsound, thanks for the linky, i'll definetly check it out.

i can tell my friend with confidence that the consensus opinion of some knowledgeable and experienced people on this board is that he cease and desist his quest if he's looking for practical use from this relic. i owe him at least that much effort in trying to assist him.

wether he wants to pursue further for some odd reason should be interesting in itself.

 

[shroud]

CPU's life expectancy is only 10 years and since Cyrix overclock their chips at the factory to run faster, the PC was living on borrowed time. In the old days I had a Cyrix P166 which was clocked at 133mhz that ran warm enough to heat my coffee.
Best thing to do is to sell it on Ebay as a boat anchor, you might actually get a bid.
Funny thing is that they still do sell Packard Bell computers in Spain and people actually buy them.

 

[Dennis Travis]

Originally posted by: shroud
CPU's life expectancy is only 10 years and since Cyrix overclock their chips at the factory to run faster, the PC was living on borrowed time. In the old days I had a Cyrix P166 which was clocked at 133mhz that ran warm enough to heat my coffee.

I had to work on one of those for a neighbor once. It got hot enough to fry burgers and french frys! Amazing heat output for such a SLOW CPU also! Amazing. It for it's time was hotter than a Prescott overclocked today. hahahaha

An Intel P166 was COOL in compairson as was an AMD K5. When I see an old machine with a Cyrix I tell them JUNK IT. It's NOT WORTH FIXING. That and those Packard Bells with Cyrix's are even worse. There were a couple of PB's with P233MMX's that were not that bad for their time though, but a Cyrix PB, Use a Flame thrower on it!!

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: djmihow
Shoot it with a gun, or a bat.

how do you shoot a bat?

http://img267.imageshack.us/my.php?image=roflcopter1fr.jpg

And yes I have mastered paint