The drives are not recognized in the post. It will not go to bios. the motherboard is a m2n78-la

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Other-Desktop-PC-Questions/looking-for-M2N78-LA-Violet6-motherboard-manual/td-p/819333
Is this any good.
or http://www.scribd.com/doc/45660126/M2N78-LA-ASUS-Pegatron-Manual-Rev-3

Before you give up check on ebay. If you do replace just make sure that the physical size is the same and that the replacement uses the same cpu and memory you have now. Otherwise you will be spending much more dinero.

go to hp support download bios from there ok.

inside bios

Go here and select the operating system you are using and download the "Chipset Driver" and install it:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=4120567&

Also, recheck the connections to the drives, both power and ide or sata.

This motherboard's full name is ASUS M2N78-LA and also used from HP/Compaq with the name: Viola-GL8E. A good replacement solution for this board is Zotac GF8200-C-E GeForce 8200-ITX WiFi AM2 DDR2-1066 (about 130$). Here are some links for this board: from Nvidia for specs and from Amazon. Take care that the original board is micro ATX factor and the suggested one is ATX factor, so you may have to check the available space in the tower.

Stelios

Photo of the Asus M2N78-LA motherboard,

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c01421635&dlc=en

This photo also shows the orientation (Direction), that the motherboard is sitting in a computer case.

To the very bottom right is the Front Panel header.

The front plastic panel of the computer is the Front Panel.

The area of pins on the motherboard that the cables, (Wires) from the Front Panel connect to, is the Front Panel header. ( F_PANEL )

The Front Panel header, is the black rectangular shaped plastic block, that is sitting vertically on the motherboard.

Has two columns of pins.
4 on the left side, 5 on the right side. Makes it look as though there is a pin missing, at the top left corner.

I'm going to number the pins.

Pins on the Left side starting at the Top, going down;

Pins 1, 3, 5, and 7.

Pins on the Right side starting at the Top, going down,

Pins 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10.


A) Pins 1 and 3 are for the Power On switch. (Power On button)

B) Pins 5 and 7 are for the Power On LED light.
Pin 7 is for the Positive ( + ) wire.
(If the LED light is dim, reverse the wires around)

C) Pins 4 and 6 are for a Reset switch, IF a Reset switch is used. (Reset button)

D) Pins 8 and 10 are for the HarDDrive activity LED light.
Pin 10 is for the Positive wire. ( + )
(If the HDD LED light is dim when operating, switch the wires around)

Pin 2 at the top Right is NOT used. (NC. Not Connected)

For additional questions please post in a Comment.
I am looking at a motherboard manual in PDF file form, for the Asus M2N78-LA motherboard.

Regards,
joecoolvette

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Did you test the power supply with a power supply tester? You may only have partial power or very low power. I would try a power supply from another pc, Then I would check the ram in another pc if possible one stick at a time or if no other machine :
I would try removing all the ram and try one stick at a time in a different slot each time till it boots and then try a different stick the same way. You could have a bad memory stick and or slot.
I think its the power supply first, a bad stick of ram second or a bad ram slot third and the motherboard last. I would try all my parts in another pc first before a buy another motherboard