To all,

I'm trying to help my mom solve her computer's problem - of not working at all. She rarely uses her computer. Her computer is an E Machines T5212. I know little about these computers other than what I've read on-line (not very flattering remarks). I'm not exactly sure of the problem, but it sure seems to me to be the hard drive, a Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 200 Gb drive.

I wasn't sure if this belonged here, since I think it is the hard drive, or in the beginning computing section. Here goes...

When booting it up there are three things that happens in fairly quick succession. First - the fan comes on, running at what seems to be high speed. Second, the hard drive makes a couple of very short crunching sounds. That lasts for what seems like not even 1 second (really rather short). Lastly the DVD drive flashes. It won't open, but it flashes like it is trying to read something. Nothing ever shows up on the screen - no DOS, nothing.

Any thoughts or suggestions? My hope is to solve this with a new component versus spending $$$ for a new computer. My folks are in their 80s and don't have a lot of available money.

Thanks in advance,

Elia

Hard drive making crunching sounds, that sounds bad, possibility the hard drive heads have come into contact with the platters, if this is the case the hard drive is totalled. In which case a new hard drive is needed and Windows, drivers etc will then need to be reloaded.

How old is the PC, is it under warranty ?

johndoe99,

I think the computer is 2 or 3 years old. I'm not sure and my mom doesn't seem to have any purchase paperwork filed or saved. On the E Machines website I found the computer model including a list of its components. The website doesn't have any information on when those computers were built.

(Today I luckily found the disk with the OS and drivers on it, so installing a new drive and formatting it won't be too difficult.)

Elia

From the way I interpreted what you've wrote. I would suggest that it's a failed drive. I think this because "crunching" is not good. But then when you see the Cd-Rom light flash, it wants to read from it, which to me seems like it couldn't find the info it needed on the drive so it moves to the second boot device on it's list, which is usually the cd-rom.

It'
S weird that not even the BIOS or POST details aren't displayed! We'll try and figure it out!
Rick

Hard drive failure, download and burn to disk Drive Fitness, and run advance test, green screen means drive is good to go, red screen with error code generally means drive is fried.

EMachine T5212 model are pretty old, at least 5-7 years.

Helljack6,

Where can I find Drive Fitness for download?

Elia

Support - Downloads and Utilities (http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT)

helljack,

How does that software work. You simply burn to a disc and then you boot your system and it will display a red or green screen. Red=bad drive, Green=Good Drive?


Let me know!

helljack,

How does that software work. You simply burn to a disc and then you boot your system and it will display a red or green screen. Red=bad drive, Green=Good Drive?


Let me know!

Burn to disk, boot from disk, select drive to test, either perform a quick test or an advanced test, results are Green Screen with 0x00 code or Red screen with 0x? DFT code indicating the cause of drive failure, generally it's due to an exceedingly large amount of bad sectors.

Well, I burned the diagnostic tool to a CD and last night had an opportunity to head over to my folks house to try it out...

The DVD drive tray doesn't open..! No matter what I tried it wouldn't open... the little light flashed but it just wouldn't open.

So... do I assume it's the hard drive and order a new one? [that's what I'm leaning toward]

Regarding a new HD the Seagate OEM was ATA-100. The ones I'm thinking of replacing it with are a SATA or SATA II. Are there any things unique things I need to do to install it?

Thx in Advance,

Hmmmm... wondering about this,no post test messages? Do the keyboard leds flash on power up? Sounds to me maybe the 12v supply has failed or something is dragging it down, which would certainly be cheaper and easier to replace than a hdd

Yes, the keyboard, the speakers, everything lights up. The monitor doesn't, though. It's got power but stays in sleep mode (orange LED vs green LED). The fan makes a significant amount of noise - 'moving air' noise, not a sweaky bearing noise. That to me suggests its getting a reasonable amount of current/power. As I noted before the DVD platter LED flashes.

??

Ok, I suggest that you disconnect the drives, both data and power connectors on them and switch on the power, obviously it won't boot up, but if the bdisplay comes out of sleep mode its one of the drives causing the problem, and disconnect the keyboard and mouse too, in fact try that first.

If it is still the same after that i.e. display in sleep mode then it must be either the psu or mother board, see if you can borrow a psu, that's the easiest and most quick thing to swap, if display still not working its got to be the motherboard... a thought just occurred to me, could be memory, so pull those out too.
HTH.
Tony.

Yes, the keyboard, the speakers, everything lights up. The monitor doesn't, though. It's got power but stays in sleep mode (orange LED vs green LED). The fan makes a significant amount of noise - 'moving air' noise, not a sweaky bearing noise. That to me suggests its getting a reasonable amount of current/power. As I noted before the DVD platter LED flashes.

???
Those are diagnostic signals, look up your computer's model online and find the manual.

A two or three year-old machine means it's out of warranty and anytime a hard-drive makes a noise like you described, it's on it's way out. You may be lucky enough to get away with a new hard drive which are dirt cheap.

slapshot_oi

I can't seem to find any diagonstic information on the emachines website. I can't even find an on-line copy of the owners manual. Hmmmm.

slapshot_oi

I can't seem to find any diagonstic information on the emachines website. I can't even find an on-line copy of the owners manual. Hmmmm.

Go out and invest in a $40 BIOS POST Code Card, plug it in to any PCI slot and start the computer up. The card will quickly run through a list of codes, as long as it keeps moving, it's passing POST. If it hangs somewhere, reference the POST Code in the included manual that comes with the card. They aren't 100% accurate, but they're better than guessing.

While you got the side open, inspect the motherboard for any caps (capacitors) that are no longer flat but rounding at the top or exploded/exposed. This is a sign of failure and generally results in the replacement of the whole board.

Folks,

I'm back. After too many distractions I'm back at trying to rebuild my mom's computer. The hard drive isn't the issue (I bought a replacement and that didn't solve the original problem). So I think it likely is the motherboard. Helljack6, I waffled around and didn't buy the POST diagnostic tool, so I don't know if there are other problems.

I've read in a number of forums that emachines motherboards are cr*p so I don't want to spend money on an exact OEM replacement board just to have it fail again in a year or so. I want to buy a good, inexpensive motherboard that will work with the remaining contents of her T5212. I have a new Seagate HD, the DVD drive, the PSU, the RAM, the monitor, speakers, keyboard & mouse. What criteria should I use to determine what is a reasonable non-OEM motherboard? Is the CPU included with the motherboard? Video card capability? Sound? Are there other considerations? Any recommended brands?

I understand that I'll need to buy a new OS, since the disc included with the PC doesn't contain the entire OS, only a portion of it; apparently the OEM HD that came with the PC had a partition on it and that's where the other portion of the OS resides. I wonder if I can still find a copy of XP available somewhere.

Last - since this started as a HD question, but has the potential to morph into a MB thread, maybe I'll need to post this (or a slight re-write) over in the MB portion of the forum.

Many thanks in advance,

What criteria should I use to determine what is a reasonable non-OEM motherboard?


Fits in existing case (likely ATX or mini-ATX format)?
Compatible with existing processor, processor heatsink, and memory?
Compatible with existing power supply connectors?


Is the CPU included with the motherboard?

No.


Video card capability? Sound?

Onboard video and sound will be needed features if the computer does not have discrete adapter cards for these devices (and you need/want video and sound).


Are there other considerations?


Onboard storage controllers are compatible with existing drives - SATA vs. PATA.
If upgrading CPU and memory too, power supply is ample for new power requirements.
Onboard network adapter if computer does not have discrete network adapter card.

You will also need thermal grease (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=thermal+grease&x=0&y=0) and anhydrous isopropyl alcohol (http://www.altex.com/GC-Isopropyl-Alcohol-Anhydrous-16-oz-10-1507-P141833.aspx) for reinstalling the existing CPU. Failure to properly do so may cause CPU failure in seconds. See How To Correctly Apply Thermal Grease (http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/274/1).

Do you have the necessary tools - screwdriver with various bits, diagonal pliers, needlenose pliers/hemostat, cable ties? An antistatic wrist strap (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antistatic_wrist_strap) would also be prudent when working inside the computer.


Any recommended brands?

I like Intel - 3 year warranty, readily available, exceedingly well documented, attention to details - haven't had one catch on fire due to what appeared to be a failed capacitor like a Giga-Byte board or fail as often as Asus boards I've had, little stuff like that. I also like Supermicro and Tyan but they are probably more of a challenge to integrate for this situation.


I wonder if I can still find a copy of XP available somewhere.

Yes, but you may not like the price - Microsoft Windows XP Professional - Full version (http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=20345073&listingid=45096487). You will need full version product as opposed to upgrade unless you can supply qualifying upgrade media (Windows 98/ME/2K).