HP d530 Ultra Slim Definitive Guide to Repair
At the school in which I manage the IT, we had 33 HP d530 ultra slim form factor desktop computers donated from a large corporation. They have been so frustrating, with more than half with hardware problems right now. I will use this post to list the problems, and solutions with this model.
Rule 1: If you have any problems with an HP d530U, always start by examining the motherboard capacitors. The only one I’ve seen go bad is the one all alone near the RAM slots:
This one is very bad, or as I like to classify it, a Class 4. Here is another Class 4:
I always replace Class 3/4 immediately and plan on replacing Class 1/2 in the short- to mid-term.
Bad capacitor symptoms: computer won’t turn on, freezing, blue screens, turns off while in use
If you need to replace the board, look for the model number on the board and search for that model number on eBay. I bought lots of 332935-001. It can be tricky to avoid buying bad boards, but that’s how I did it.
Here is the HP Repair Manual with instructions on how to take apart the computer (start on page 149). To swap the motherboard, remove the CPU fan, power supply, hard drive, bay drive, front bezel, CPU heat sink & CPU, RAM, front chassis panel, drive bay, PCI card, then unscrew the two screws on the CPU cradle.
If you determine that the capacitors look good, here are your next steps:
Symptom 1: Computer won’t turn on, hard drive light illuminates, but power doesn’t:
In my testing, I tried swapping RAM, processor, motherboard, but found that the solution is to replace the Power Supply. I have been buying power supplies on eBay with part number 308446-001. NOTE 1/2011 – I’m finding these power supplies hard to come by and the last two I bought were bad upon receipt. Be careful!
Symptom 2: 511-CPU FAN NOT DETECTED
There could be multiple reasons for this message (like not connecting the fan or connecting it properly, or a bad fan), but I swapped fans and motherboards. Finally, I swapped the power supply and it was fixed. The PSU must have not been sending power to the motherboard to run the fan.
Symptom 3: Power light blinks 4 times
I’ve found this to be the power supply each time, although it may not fix it 100% of the time.
Here is a page on HP’s website with a guide to the blinking lights:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c00274415
I’ve found this to be very helpful in troubleshooting.
Long Term Problems – HEAT:
These computer sure get super hot. I’ll tried installing a PCI fan, since it is right below the power supply, but it only dropped the case temperature near the power supply from 120F to 110F. This may be one of the contributing factors of the part failures.
Here is the HP reference page with lots of info.
If you have questions, post them here.
Hi,
I have just built one of these to replace my wifes old Compaq P3 866 EN-SFF.
The mobo is new, and i bought a 2nd hand psu and DVD/CDRW, added my ram and HDD.
I’m literally installing the OS now, but have noticed that the PSU is really hot!
Im thinking about adding a USB powered fan (one of those laptop ones with a goose neck) to circulate air around the PSU.
Anyway, please keep me posted on your solutions/journey with the D530u.
Thanks
GLO,
You are absolutely right, the power supply gets super hot. I actually measured the temperature of the case at 115-120F above the PSU. I bought a PCI slot fan to see if I could get the temperature down, but it only brought it down to about 110F.
I believe this is the main reason for the poor reliability of this model. The heat does bad things!
hi,
I am now trying to set the D530u to hibernate/sleep but it wont go into that mode.
Are you able to get it into that state?
Cheers
I’m going to pick one of these up for $20 off Craigslist. It has the red light issue which is the power supply for sure. I’m going to use a regular ATX power supply then invest in a DC-DC power supply for it. It will make one sweet truck computer.
Hey, my d530u has those symtoms eccept the not turning on one, but the capacator next to the ram slots looks fine no lumps on top nothing ?? i dont know what to do??
What symptoms exactly are you referring to that you are having?
i have an hp d530u, problem is error code 917 front audio not connected always pops up as well as the F1-Boot (have to press F1 key to continue the boot up), P4 2.66ghz 1gb ram, need help
still have the same problem with my hp d530u (F1-Boot key, 917 Audio error) now boot up process recycles back to POST and wont boot up, it only recycles back to choosing safe mode, last known good configuration etc. etc. etc., Really need help.
i also do have the same hp d530u, problem is that when i reformatted the hard drive due to corrupt files, the pc would no longer properly load the installation files from an original win xp pro, error says can not copy files from the optical drive even if i replaced said optical drive with a new one, i tried clearing the cmos and still it wont continue loading up installation files, i replaced the hard drive for a brand new one still the same problem, nedd help please, thanks
Amie,
It sounds like it could be RAM, processor or motherboard. Heat in this model is a huge problem and it destroys components. It might be a lost cause, unless you get get some similar RAM to swap. In my case, I have 20-some machines to swap parts around.
Joey,
Did you check to see if the wires coming from the front panel are connected to the motherboard?
We had bad capacitors on a few hundred of the d530U models, and had warranty repair on them. All of the replaced motherboards had different capacitors where the top creases were in the shape of a letter K. No problems with any of these motherboards for years after. The motherboards with the top crease like a Mercedes symbol are the ones to avoid.