G41 won't boot up

[cliddell]

Hello all

I recently bought this G41 on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0377164621

It's a 2886-79U with a 3.2 GHz CPU, NVidia graphics and an SXGA screen - yummy! It appears to be in good condition apart from the usual light scuffs and sticker residue on the casing. It was sold as faulty and that's precisely what it is - to be precise, it won't boot up.

When applying power it gives one beep, three beeps, three more beeps and one more single beep. According to the IMM, this indicates a fault with either the DIMM(s) or the motherboard. The DIMMs used for testing worked fine in a G40, likewise the CMOS battery although I intend to replace the latter with a new item to eliminate one possible cause of the problem.

I will try reseating the CPU when I have acquired more thermal paste but I was wondering if anyone might have idea of what the problem might be or whether there might be an easy solution to this problem? I should add at this point that I have attached a working G40 keyboard to test the machine.

I guess that at worst I'm looking at a repaired or a new motherboard - assuming one can find a new one to buy that is. But it seems a let this beastie languish collecting dust when I could have a powerhouse sitting on my desk...

With thanks in advance for your advice / help.

[ajkula66]

Try replacing the GPU if you can find a known good one to test with. Should that reap no results, you're in for a new planar.

Good luck.

[cliddell]

Thanks for that. The only problem is where to obtain a new GPU, discrete NVidia units for teh G40 / 41 not being exactly commonplace...

[RealBlackStuff]

1-3-3-1 Error normally points at the RAM, whether it's a bad module or a bad slot needs to be tested.
Try all RAM modules that you have (incl. those from the G40), one by one, in each slot, to see if any of them work.