Scott Mueller's Upgrading and Repairing PCs Forum

pc diagnostic card reads ff 96, clear huge es segment register on 10 year old hp pc. what does that mean? is my pc dead or im thinking maybe new heatsink fan, new power supply new cmos battery installed. i did not see blown capacitors. the fans seem silent.

That could be the power supply, motherboard, processor, video or RAM. I'd start with the power supply (replace with known-good spare), then remove and reinstall the CPU with new thermal grease, then replace the video card and finally the RAM. If none of those help then the motherboard would be suspect. Let me know what you find, Scott.

i took out mobo and noticed bulging capacitors, possible leaks with black staining on top capacitors the ones closest to cpu. cleaned cpu and heatsink appllied thermal grease. cpu fan spins very fast, exhaust fan working better but no video on screen, no contact with monitor.
no power supply to test with, only a 4 pin will fit on hp pc. tried with one ram module at a time no good. this pc has been on almost everyday for hours except for occasional repairs.
tested with 2 video cards, nogood. no reading on diagnostic card

No need to look any further, the motherboard is bad. You can either replace the capacitors or the entire board. I've fixed motherboards and other components by replacing caps but it usually isn't worth the time. Scott.

Here is a video that will help you with other codes as well if you get them on other motherboards.

Just replace that motherboard or replace the whole computer if there are parts from that computer that still works maybe you can use them in a new build.


Enjoy.