I have a client with a Am37-l motherboard , Athalonxp 2600 processor. The power supply was bad so i replaced it. But now the motherborad will not boot, no video, no post, everything else seems to run. I reset the bios, pulled all the cables except hd, pulled all of the cards, replaced memory but no go. It has a modem card which when the computer is turned off and the card inserted , powers up the motherboard like youve pressed the power on putton. I'ive replaced the processor also with a spare. Is there anthing else i shold chech, the only other option is to replace the motherboard. By the way this is a clients machine. I have a soyo diagnostic card which points to the processor but i beleive that it is something else. Any help would be appreciated.

rhv2880,

i have the same exact setup and i am having the same exact problem. did you ever figure out what the problem was? by the way, was it an emachines computer? i really need to figure this out.

The computer is an E-machine, and i am going to scrap the motherboard and get another matx of another brand to replace it. The restore disk will not work with another motherboard as the operating system id is tatooed into the board bios. hopefully i can savage the hard drive and other components and i just need to get another copy of xp and the new board. HP and compaq used the same board in some of their cheaper computers and several other board manufacturers have ones that will fit. From what i have read you can get e-machine replacement parts but they are exspensive.

I am also having this exact same problem. First I would power, but no post, no signal to monitor. But after I unplugged everything, reseated memory and processor I tried to power it up, I get nothing. No power to anything, seems to have blown the power supply also. (which had already been replaced once before) Did the new motherboard fix the problem? Thanks!!!

I have a friend's emachines pc with the am37 mobo that is exhibiting similar behavior. emachines has the replacement board for $159. I can't imagine anyone spending that amount of money on that board when you can get a Socket A Mobo for $40 at Newegg . That would be sweet except Microsoft won't tranfer OS licence because they have determined that putting in a different Mobo makes that a NEW machine! So you have to buy new OS license which is $90 for XP home. It seems that you can replace the CPU or harddrive and still use the existing license.
For more on this go to

http://bink.nu/Article6247.bink

So my friend's options are:
1. Buy mobo from emachines. $160. new w/90 day warranty
2.Buy mobo from NewEgg for $40. and either $90 for winxp or learn linux! Even with linux you will maybe have to buy some software.
3. Look for deal on new pc.

The bottom line is that replacing the factory mobo is not cost effective.The other parts have seen better days and it would be better to put that $160 towards a new pc. I've seen both Dell and HP with entry level pc's at around $300. Buying a mobo at NewEgg or other would be OK if you did not have to buy new OS license for WinXP. I think I read somewhere about MS going to a new business model where you never own their software but lease it and pay annually. Pray for Google OS online for FREE!

That behavior is typical of a system that has a 4-pin square ATX12V connector which hasn't been connected to the power supply. Your replacement power supply might not have the connector? Check the board to make sure no power connector is empty.

It's also the behavior of a board with bad capacitors, check for bulging or dirty tops or leaky bottoms.

I just replaced one of those boards with the same problem and it had some capacitors had blown and fried the proc. so I would just cut the board and proc and upgrade.

I have board with the same problem. Did any one try a Video card ? To get a post screen.

I've tried new AGP video card, monitor, power supply, and RAM. Same results. I don't have a CPU that I can swap.
This board was manufactured during the time period that capacitors with bad electrolyte were being produced and I'm about 95% sure that it is the mobo even though the capacitors on board look OK (i.e. no leaking, swelling, smoking, etc.).
I did a little research and found that the manufacturer of the caps on MY board did not use the supplier that produced the bad electrolyte in their caps. Still this doesn't 100% eliminate bad caps for my board and of course FIC used many capacitor suppliers so it is highly probable that many of their boards do indeed have the infamous bad caps.
I have no way to cheaply test the CPU so I won't buy a new board for this only to find out that the CPU is also bad. Instead I'm getting low end Athlon 64 and Mobo for about $100 and sticking it in the emachines box! Yep a sleeper! Windows? No problem if you know what to say when reactivating by phone.

My client, a single mom, shut off her Internet dial-up and after 6 months, got DSL. When she tried to turn on the eMachine system, plugged into the AC power that whole time, it was dead, though the monitor light came on.

The PSU was DEAD, as was the FIC AM37 mainboard. No visible evidence of the "capacitor plague" where Taiwan manufacturers kept selling known defective parts for upto two years after they knew the parts they stocked and used were defective!

Evidently, power spikes can affect all computers and monitors, even when the system is in the 'OFF' state, as long as it is plugged in! The PSU has no power switch. Even then, in all the PSUs I have dissected, only the "hot" black AC Power wire is disconnected, and Ground and Neutral remain connected. Monitors and TVs only blank the screen. All the electronics parts are still powered.

The CPU and DDR memory stick and the Hard Drive and CDrom are good, as tested in a different machine. We will be buying a different brand mATX board to replace this one, at a cost of about $48.00. A new PSU cost us $20 on the Internet. Of course, it is a 450 watt unit, for this AMD Athlon 2200 XP processor.

We are in Central Florida, and power can be horrid. There is no 'grid' as power plants are arranged like dominoes ready to fall over.

Recent power monitoring over two months of our residential lines ( by Progress Energy Corporation, with two different computer systems, at the transformer and at our new Square D entry, I installed, to replace the failure prone Federal Pacific junk from 1980 ), showed 50,000 'hits' or spikes, of voltages above 17,000 Volts, each hour, and, we did not have any lightning storms in the three day periods of monitoring each week over those two months!

I have continued to preach to everyone, since my stint as an engineer covering EMP (Electromotive Magnetic Pulse Discharges - Lightning, inductive spikes (from motors on the lines, refrigerators, Dryers, Washers, and static discharges) in 1987.

You NEED to spend the $39.00 to buy a 500VA (350 Watt) Uninterruptable Power Supply for computers, if you live in Florida or Washington State, both being Ground Zero for record Lightning strikes!

Anyone who lives in a Northern Temporate region needs a UPS to protect from seasonal brown outs, too.

Hey, I'm running a dozen in my home, right now, because of Progress Energy's policy of switching generators every 12 hours, causing 3 to 6 brown-outs during each! I do not have blown up TVs, VCRs, Computers, Printers, or satellite and cable controllers, like some of my neighbors suffer!

When you turn 'off' your appliances, computers, you might remove the AC power plug.
Get a UPS, and let it protect your valuable computer, and entertainment, systems!

No "reactivation" woes, is one more reason I really recommend GNU/Linux.

Try http://pclinuxos.com . It does run upto 50X faster on the same hardware, according to multiple reports of benchmark tests in the magazines, in reports of 'shoot-outs' over the past 8 years. It runs Live in the CDrom, too, but, at CDrom buss speeds.

I load the image into memory, which can be done when there is 1Gb or more available.

The motherboard is bad. I have an e-machine right now that i just diagnosed. Quick way to tell if a motherboard is bad: plug in the speakers, and the keyboard. Turn on the pc. If you don't see anything, Then listen for the windows theme. While you're listening the next thing to do is hit the num lock and caps lock key, if the lights aren't turning on, it's a motherboard failure. I have a warehouse from where I get all my mainboards. If anyone wants to but one, I can help you out, at a discounted price.

What if "Num Lock" stays lit while the computer is either on or off? I've unplugged external video card, ram, all power to drives. Only thing plugged in on this Athlon 2400+ Emachine is the main motherboard power connector. I tried removing the Bestec PS and tested it with a generic 300W. Should I atleast try a 350W before assuming Mobo/CPU is bad?

Do you happen to know of a good replacement mb for Replacement Motherboard for eMachines AM37 Model W2686