Acer XC-704G powers on but with only the fan spinning (No Power LED, No POST, No signal to monitor)

ariebe

This problem started Thursday
I noticed that at first my speakers weren't working so I replaced them with another set of speakers, the computer was working fine until I turned it off and booted the next day.  The computer would turn on, bit I could only hear the fan spinning, but that was about the only thing that worked. Any suggestions as to what I can do? Thanks.

billsey

Sure sounds like it. A quick glance at eBay says $60ish for a replacement motherboard and $80ish for the whole system. Might be time for an upgrade, assuming you are out of warranty.

billsey

You'll need to pop the side cover off to see what's really going on. It's unlikely that the speaker change did anything, but the earlier speaker failure might be indicating a motherboard failure progressing. Once you have the cover off try to turn it on and see which fans are spinning, or whether what you hear is the HDD spinning up. Report back with what you find and we'll dive deeper into the diagnosis.

ariebe

billsey said:

You'll need to pop the side cover off to see what's really going on. It's unlikely that the speaker change did anything, but the earlier speaker failure might be indicating a motherboard failure progressing. Once you have the cover off try to turn it on and see which fans are spinning, or whether what you hear is the HDD spinning up. Report back with what you find and we'll dive deeper into the diagnosis.

I popped the cover off and powered on the computer and it appears that the CPU fan is spinning (as well as the HDD)

ariebe

@billseyI popped the cover off and powered on the computer and it appears that the CPU fan is spinning (as well as the HDD)

billsey

OK, that tells us the power enable circuit is working, so the problem is happening in POST. Do you get any beeps at that point?

ariebe

@billsey, nope no beeps during the POST

paladino2

Hi dear,
1- Frist of all check all connected cables, check 'em all, and see if there is something wrong.
2- Try another monitor (maybe you can connect to your tv for example)
3- Check the power button of your computer, maybe is broken?
4- Try a different power supply (maybe you can get someone from your friend just to test!)
5- Try to start the pc without RAM (if nothing happens than with just one stick) try to hear some beep sounds.
6- Try to start the pc with just the CPU, POWER SUPPLY and MONITOR (don't attach HDD or SSD, RAM or anything else and see if power on)
7- Try to clean inside carefully, maybe some dusty can make some trouble.
8- Try CMOS RESET BIOS on your Motherboard, you can check on YouTube to do it, it's really easy, nothing difficult, than try to power on.
(If you can try different CPU [one that is compatible with your motherboard], RAM STICK as well)
Let me know if something change.

billsey

Not good then, the system isn't running at all if it can't get to the first beep test. Either the motherboard is not firing up the processor or the processor isn't responding to the motherboard. You can unplug and re-plug everything in to verify it's not just a bit of corrosion on a connector. If you are comfortable with it you could pull and replace the processor (use new heat conductive grease when reinstalling). If I were guessing I'd lean more toward the processor, since the power up circuit is working on the MB, but it could be either.

ariebe

@billsey welp the symptoms have gotten worse. Now the fan won't even run when the computer starts up, or the HDD ill spin. Only the processor heats up. Is the motherboard the problem here?

billsey

Sure sounds like it. A quick glance at eBay says $60ish for a replacement motherboard and $80ish for the whole system. Might be time for an upgrade, assuming you are out of warranty.