On 26 Jul 2006 10:31:58 -0700, "Zed Rafi"
<backuplm2@gmail.com> wrote:

>Hello all,
>
>My brother's computer crashed a while back, and i've been lazy about
>repairing it. I've now gathered the courage to starts buying the
>replacement parts and repair the damn thing.
>
>The computer completely crashed; it displays a blank screen upon power
>up (no bios text or anything). After opening up the case, i noticed
>brown goo had seeped out of some of the capacitors on the MOBO, so i
>figured the MOBO is the problem.
>
>anyway, the specifications of his computer are here:
>http://tinyurl.com/juy2y
>
>the spec page on the HP site does not mention the socket type of the
>MOBO, so it's kindda hard for me to choose a replacement
>motherboard.... I want to buy it off ebay. Could someone point out to
>me which characteristics i should be looking for in a replacement
>motherboard?
>
>anyway, i've also been told that HP cases are not compatible with
>non-hp motherboards (size and power-up/reset buttons)... is that
>correct? does that go also for the PSU?
>
>thanks a lot for your time and help


As for the power, LED and reset buttons, yes those are a
possible issue. I have a somewhat similar empty HP case
here that has a single row 8 pin connector for the power and
LEDs on the front. It is not compatible with most
motherboards. If yours is similar, you can take a needle or
X-acto knife and gently pry up the plastic tabs on the
connector just enough to slip out the wires, then take a
knife and cut the connector lengthwise to make it into 2 or
3 smaller connectors.

Next put the wires back in to match the pinout for your new
motherboard (as seen in the new motherboard manual). If
you don't have enough positions available by cutting up the
original connector, you may need to find an old system being
trashed somewhere and take the connector off of it. Even
very old AT systems often had a few of these plastic
connectors you can salvage, as HP did use a standard size,
just a proprietary pin positioning (on "some" of their
boards, I don't know for sure about yours).