Gateway 600YGR Motherboard????

[chiarism]

This is a Gateway 600YGR that was working fine when I got a blue screen full of writing (couldn`t read it all) But I saw error and will now shut down. It shut down I started it back up and it froze.I shut it down and restarted it and only the fan runs no beep no lights nothing. Took it to a shopand was told its the motherboard. I have been trying to get the name of the manufacturer and part number from Gateway but keep getting the run around. Gateways part number is 3501244. Can anyone help me out with the name and part number?
:sad: :sad: :?: :cry:

[KaidKintell]

I have found that most gateway 600's freeze becouse of a flaw in the design of the heat sink. The mounting posts that hold the heat sink to the processor are soldered to the motherboard, the solder then breaks free after some time and heat. When gateway fixes this problem they just re-sloder the posts and send it back. I have created a step-by-step how to, to repair this problem. Best of all it will cost you less then $3.00. I am ataching the how to at the bottem of this post.

[poepoe12002]

I'm having a similar problem with my gateway. I press the start button(from a cold start). Lights flicker once but from then on only the fan spins. To get it to boot I would have to strike the bottom several times in several places. So I figured that somthing was loos or the HD war going.

Why might the above mentioned repair work. When I try to start the machine it is cold. What do you thing about this.

TIA, D.

[KaidKintell]

poepoe12002:
If the heat sink is broken completely loose three or four sides then you are not getting any heat transfer from the processor. This will cause the processor to heat up very quickly. It only takes a few seconds for the processor to hit its max tempture then the computer will freeze. If hitting it makes the problem go away for a short time I would guess that by hitting it you are forceing the heat sink to make limited contact to the processor. The only way to be sure would be to open your machine and see if the heat sink has broken loose. I hope this helps.

[dwatep]

The company is Mundo.com The price for the motherboard is 399.95 the Website is http://www.mundocorp.com/600ygr.html. By the way mine died just like yours. The heat sink had broken from the MB and just quit.

Hope this helps

This is a Gateway 600YGR that was working fine when I got a blue screen full of writing (couldn`t read it all) But I saw error and will now shut down. It shut down I started it back up and it froze.I shut it down and restarted it and only the fan runs no beep no lights nothing. Took it to a shopand was told its the motherboard. I have been trying to get the name of the manufacturer and part number from Gateway but keep getting the run around. Gateways part number is 3501244. Can anyone help me out with the name and part number?
:sad: :sad: :?: :cry:

[KaidKintell]

If you refer to my earlier post you will see how this type of problem can be fixed for a few dollers and a little of your free time. If you buy another motherboard it will just break in the same way shortly after you install it.

[henrymci]

Kaid, thanks for putting together the presentation on the heat sink repair. I took one apart for a friend tonight and it does have one broken post. Your presentation does not mention if you need to bother with re-soldering or if inserting the screws will take the place of the solder. Also, my friends PC is not booting at all. A couple of lights flash briefly and then only the fan runs. Does this meen that the heat has damaged the processor or will the heat sink fix solve all problems in your opinion. I guess I will find out one way or another but if you think more repair will be necissary I will try to fix that now while I have the 350 screws removed (slight exageration). Thanks again.

[KaidKintell]

Sorry about the late reply. The screws are ment to replace the solder. As for the processor, it is always possible that the heat has damaged the processor. I can only hope that the computers overheat shutdown is why the computer will not start. If the auto shutdown is working then once you make the repair the computer should start just fine. If not then you may need to look into another processor. Please let me know the outcome.

[henrymci]

Kaid, I went ahead and did the fix on the four heatsink posts and everything seems to be working now. I have rebooted it several times and it seems to boot up fine each time. I was not able to find any screws at Lowes or Home Depot small enough (3.5mm x 6mm was the smallest they carry) so I borrowed from the key board area and a couple from the bottom of the PC. I will replace those when I find some small enough. Your diagrams were a big help. There are a couple of steps for complete motherboard removal that are not covered in your presentation but I figured it out easy enough. Thanks again for the great instructions.

[erickws]

Hi, I also wanted to thank you for the presentation, nicely done. I followed the process, unfortunately I have a black rather hard looking film on my CPU instead of gel, I cleaned it off, gelled it, and reassembledit and still no joy, I can't get to a boot screen, so I am guessing the CPU is fried. I have been looking for a replacement, any recommendations, and do you know what pin set it is? Gateway, only seems to quote that it is micro-FCPGA2, I can't seem to find one outside of docs on the Intel site? Am I limited to the 1.6Ghz, or can I, should I upgrade it? Or should I just sell it for parts and buy a new laptop? :D :rolleyes: :(

[dinograd]

KaidKintell,

Thank you very much for your post!! Your procedure saved another laptop. I had been pullin' my hair out until I found this forum. Thanks again!

[igmlfc99]

KaidKintell,

Thank you so much for your wonderfully clear and effective instructions (Repairing a Gateway 600 Heat Sink.zip)!! I have been having terrible problems with my Gateway laptop for several years and finally gave up and went out and bought a new desktop. Your procedure saved my laptop from becoming a doorstop. Since the fix (only took two hours to do) my laptop has not froze up once. You are great!

By the way, I'm sure Gateway also knows about this fix but they were absolutely no help at all. Totally useless. They wanted me to send it in to be fixed at my expense but it wasn't $3.00. I've owned three Gateway computers but I will never buy another one.

Thanks again KaidKintell!

[garlicktr]

Seems this is a pretty common problem. I pulled my system apart and reseated all components. The heatsink mounts are still solid and I added new silver thermal paste but still no luck. I'm guessing a fried processor. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[igmlfc99]

Seems this is a pretty common problem. I pulled my system apart and reseated all components. The heatsink mounts are still solid and I added new silver thermal paste but still no luck. I'm guessing a fried processor. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Even though I only had two of the four mounting posts broken away I still screwed down all four posts to the motherboard. Maybe you can try that. I hope it helps.

[VicJr]

I wanted to add to this post even though it is quite old.

I had the exact same scenario with a Gateway 600ygr and after
disassembly following KaidKintell's EXCELLENT instructions, I found
all four posts to still be intact.

I added screws to the bottom of the MB anyway, and continued to
search for the answer to what else might cause the black screen on
boot.

In my case, it turned out to be one bad memory chip out of two that
were installed. I tested the *good* memory chip in both slots, and
the *bad* chip in both. With only the good memory chip used, the
computer would boot just fine.

I *really* thought I had a dead processor

Now, the next problem is that the heatsink fan kicks on at the start of
the boot process, then immediately kicks off and doesn't come back
on.

The temperature according to Everest, ran up to 58C, which scared
the daylights out of me, so I shut the laptop back down.

What is a standard temperature for the 600ygr
(nevermind this one... I found it to be 41 to 95° F (5 to 35° C))

Shouldn't the heatsink fan continue running?
(also this one is answered in the Gateway FAQ's as no... but you can change
the power settings in BIOS to Maximum Power Savings, instead of
Maximum Performance)

Should the other fan (upper right corner) be coming on, and when?
(I haven't noticed it come on as yet, but did pull it and test with an
external power supply to verify that it does work)

[ecrservice]

I have found that most gateway 600's freeze becouse of a flaw in the design of the heat sink.

This guy speaks the truth. I followed his instructions and successfully fixed the problem, much thanks! The funny thing was that when I disassembled the laptop, the same exact post was broken on mine as was broken on his. It takes a little time, and you'll probably have to cut the screws down to the right length, but this fix works.

Thanks again!

[lkvee]

I found this thread by using the terms 600YGR, heat, and sink. I suspect my own 600YGR's suffering from the same problem. I put it together from parts laying around for a while. I also read and followed the service manual to the letter, starting with taking out the battery, memory cover, mini-PCI cover, etc.

The Frankensteined laptop posted BIOS and seemed to work fine. I was ecstatic! It asked for a user password to access the SETUP portion. I used KILLCMOS on it (twice, actually, not sure why I did so a second time). I was still able to use it the laptop. I tried to run KNOPPIX 3.6 but had kernel panic. Then I successfully loaded BeatrIX and then ran MemTest. The machine did freeze about nine minutes into testing. I rebooted, ran it again, and after it completed one pass (after more than nine minutes), I shut it down. I believe the laptop was running for anywhere from thirty to sixty minutes.

I wanted to see if the battery would hold a charge. I let it sit and charged the battery. When the battery light turned green. I unplugged the AC adapter and powered it on.

I see the three lights blink on the keyboard panel. I hear the fan. There's no reaction on the LCD. I keep powering down and trying to power up. No change in behavior. I also found no reaction from pressing the Eject button on the DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive.

As soon as the epoxy cures on the LCD bezel, I'll perform the recommended procedure outlined by KaidKintell. Got the Arctic Silver ready, too.

Any thoughts going forward?

[dwatep]

Thanks for the reply but after taking the thing apart my heat sink was not the same it was screwed from the bottom of the motherboard.

I found that the sleep button on the top was bad I removed it and the machine works like a charm.

Thanks again

[lkvee]

May I ask how did you determine the sleep button was bad on the board? I'm also interested in finding out about what else you saw when you opened up the motherboard and the heat sink.

I'm having problems with my own 600YGR. I posted in this thread but it got displaced. I may bring it back here, because I'm still waiting for an explanation about its displacement.

[KaidKintell]

I wanted to add to this post even though it is quite old.

Now, the next problem is that the heatsink fan kicks on at the start of
the boot process, then immediately kicks off and doesn't come back
on.

The temperature according to Everest, ran up to 58C, which scared
the daylights out of me, so I shut the laptop back down.

What is a standard temperature for the 600ygr
(nevermind this one... I found it to be 41 to 95° F (5 to 35° C))

Should the other fan (upper right corner) be coming on, and when?
(I haven't noticed it come on as yet, but did pull it and test with an
external power supply to verify that it does work)

I am sorry to be so late replying to you. As you said this is an old thread and I do not check it much. For some reason I just receved the email that you had posted this message yesterday?:confused:

Anyway about the fan. I have noticed that the fans in these computer run at strange times. they will almost always run for a few seconds at startup and then stop again untill some time later. The computer normaly becomes very hot before it does run again (arond 55-60F) then it will run for anywhere between 15sec and 2min and shut off again. The computer does not cool down much during this time but I guess it gets what it needs. Like most older laptops it was designed to draw air fron the back and push it out the bottem, not the best sence the small rubber "legs" on the bottem of my computer have long sence worn off. I try to keep the back of the computer elevated and all fan vent holes clear.

If your fans do not run again at all then I would like to know if you have noticed any other problems with the computer as it gets warm. Does is slow down or have errors? Do programs stop working or work incorrectly? Do you see video errors or random pixels? Anyway please reply if you can, I know it has been some time sence you posted and I hope I am not too late.

[KaidKintell]

Thanks for the reply but after taking the thing apart my heat sink was not the same it was screwed from the bottom of the motherboard.

I found that the sleep button on the top was bad I removed it and the machine works like a charm.

Thanks again

I have just read all the posts on this thread. This person / company??? Has posted twice. The first time they claim that they had the same problem with the heat sink coming loose. The second time they claim that there heat sink was in fack screwed in place and it was insted the sleep button that caused the problem. Now I have as of yet to find a "sleep" button on my gateway 600YGR but I guess it could be there and I am just blind.

Either way they are trying to sell you a new motherboard. Before you do buy a new motherboard you may want to try to fix the old one. I meen if you where thinking about buying a new one anyway what is a few hours and $0.16? That is my tidbit, a bit late, I know but there it is.

[BuggZ]

I would recommend checking the memory as well. Another possible cause could be a damaged processor. I had a similar problem with a Toshiba that would post but not complete installing the image from the recovery CDs. It would also result in a kernel panic when trying to load Knoppix. I determined it was a defective processor after swapping in known good memory and trying the processor on a known good board.

[lkvee]

I took the service manual, the laptop, lots of little plastic cups, and some screwsdrivers as I hunkered down inside the basement. I followed the steps for the service manual without skpping one until I extracted the motherboard.

When I unscrewed the four captive screws for the heatsink, I noticed one post needed help getting its captive screw out. The post would turn with the screw, so I had to brace that post with a flat screwdriver blade as I unscrewed the captive screw. Did this post come loose? The post itself stayed in place.

The CPU core and the immediate surrounding area were black. The area around the core looked discolored and bulged as it neared the core. Rubbing alcohol cleaned the core and I would say the thermal tape should be replaced. I would also say the bulging discoloration around the core wasn't the result of any overheating.

I found screws that fit (from another laptop taken apart) and screwed them on the underside of all four posts. I cleaned the copper on the heatsink, and put Arctic Silver on the copper and the core. I went in reverse in the service manual. I powered the laptop.

I hear a fan. I see three blinking lights on the power panel. I see no reaction from the LCD. I see the power light on the front. Same reaction as before I took it apart. I took my three RAM chips and put each one in both slots. Same thing. I took one combination of two chips and tried again. Nope.

I flipped the laptop over, and I slapped the CPU area with my head. Yes, I made sure I hit it hard enough to sting my hand.

The laptop posts BIOS. It passes the CPU diagnostic checks from at least three different programs. I suspect running MemTest should yield no errors. The laptop did indeed freeze up once, but I decided to brush that off, since it loaded KNOPPIX fine. Before the fix, KNOPPIX suffered a kernel panic attack, even though I used a different CD.

I'm very happy! I *am* wondering if I'll need to rap the underside of that laptop on a regular basis, since I have those four new screws in place.

Thanks fo reading.

[KaidKintell]

I am happy to hear that slapping the computer helped. I do not know if you will have to repeat the slapping or not. Mine needs it at least once a week, sometimes more, but I carry mine in a backpack allot and the constant shifting and bumping may be the reason for needing the constant slapping. If there is anything else I can do please let me know. I am slow to respond sometimes but we all get busy right?

Kaid

[RogRosales]

Hello! I was having issues with this labtop, I solved it by replacing a new Bios battery. It booted up fine but when I gave it back to my cousin not even 24hrs he came back to me saying it doesnt work. The charging light only comes on and not the CPU fan or any other lights. As I was taking it apart I noticed the screws to hold down the heatsink was really loose. I'm hoping screwing down the post will help out, I can test the CPU in my computer to see if its dead or not. But if its not the CPU what else can I check out before buying a $200+ motherboard :sad: Thx!

[KaidKintell]

After doing the fix you should always inspect the eniter motherboard for blacked or burned looking spots before putting the computer back together. Also make sure you add heat sink gell. I can not say this enough times, if you skip the gell you will burn up your processor. The stupid copper foil they use dosent realy work to move the heat.

[RogRosales]

Checked out the motherboard and all other componets and it still wont boot. I can hear the harddrive spin but thats about it & the cpu fan doesnt even turn on anymore... hmmm... :sad:

[serialtrader]

Hey KaidKintell, thank you so much for your help notes. I followed the instructions and the EXACT SAME post was broken on mine too!!

I had a difficult time prying open the mother board so I used a skinny philips head and went through the air vents from the outside . The broken post still isn't very tight, but I let it be.

Btw, I used 4 of the smaller screws from other parts of the laptop. I use this mostly at home and don't move it much, so I hope there's no problems later.

Thanks again so much!!

[ev0lution7]

I have had a similar problem but mine is showing NO signs of the posts being broken the only thing i can find with this machine is the cpu might be bad it has always smelled a little warm.... but the whole machine looks good inside i have inspected everything... all solder joints on the board caps... everything looks good any suggestions??

[jello217]

Have a 600ygr....need to know if the MB is layered. Also...need to clear bios, default PW wont work, assuming its bc the cmos battery died, just asked for a PW one day, default PW to bios wont work....anyone got any ideas? or know WHERE the cmos battery is? (pheonixbios)