think i fried my mobo:(

breadbin

i ugraded the bios about a week ago and its been working grand til now. but when i press the power button now, i get a split second of the fan leds coming on and then nothing. i think it turned itself off too the last time i had it on but can't be sure.

i don't want to go out and buy a replacement motherboard in case its not the problem so i'm trying to narrow it down. i suppose there's a chance it destroyed the cpu maybe?

i disconnected everything even the video card and used one stick of memory and tried then but still nothing. the little green power led on the mobo is on ok though. i was gonna take the cpu out and see if i got any beeps. i tried the clrrtc jumper too and gonna replace the battery in case thats it either

any other advice? could it be the psu either?

voxpop

PSU ok ?


A motherboard wont just fry itself - I guess a power surge might have damaged it, but you have its plugged into a surge protected socket - right ?

Moon54

Can you see anything on the BIOS screen when it first boots up?

breadbin

maybe fried was the wrong word to use:) it still has power to it cos of the green led and this can be turned off and on with the power switch on the psu, so that bit is working ok. until i find an old motherboard to test with the psu i suppose i won't know for sure. but any i have are out in the shed so they could be f***ed to start with;)

@moon54: it doesn't even go to post, the case fan led and hsf led light for literally a split second, like half a second i'd say and then its dead as a dodo:(

i tried the cpu with an old one and theres no change so it can't be the cpu, would a dead cmos battery cause this?

Maj Malfunction

It's your motherboard and a maybe on the PSU. If I had to choose one I'd go with the mobo.

The fact that your getting fan kick suggests that the PSU is fine. A no post and no beep codes is pointing clearly at the mobo.

Chances are the RAM & CPU are okay, they have a low failure rate, esp for cpu's.

Moon54

Ah, i c. If it's not the PSU, it's probably something essential like the RAM or mainboard then. No, the battery is definitely not the problem.

I'd disconnect everything but the essentials in the hope of eliminating everything else, even disconnect the hard drive.
If you can see some kind of BIOS message then there is hope.

deceit

I had this same problem recently, turned out the new bios didnt take too well as I was silly enough to flash it in windows. To get it too show stuff on screen again I just left the battery out for about 2mins put back in and would usually let me boot once before it would happen again. I just flashed the bios again, but this time from dos boot drive and all was sorted.

breadbin

thanks for the posts, i can rule out the processor anyway cos i tried with an old one and same problem, i replaced the cmos battery but i didn't leave it out for a bit so might try that:) something different anyway but don't hold out much hope really:(

would any of ye recommend the paper clip method of testing the psu? like the one here? it seems a bit dodge and last thing i want is to fry myself;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXzrCr0RLm4

although i think the fact that the green power led on the mobo proves that it is outputting some voltage anyway. so maybe better off not testing it;)

after_shock3000

All that the paper clip is doing on that video is giving the PSU the signal to power on. It's the same signal that your motherboard gives to the psu when you power on the pc. While that green cable is connected to ground, anything connected to the psu should work.

Here's the full pinout for a 24-pin connecter, in case you want to check the voltages with a multimeter.
ATX 24 Pin

If you have a known working PSU to try on the board instead, it'd be an easier/quicker option.

Hank Scorpio

Whats the point of the paperclip in that video? Apoligies if im missing something obvious

breadbin

ah i don't have a spare one to test it with unfortunately but i reckon the fact that the green light is on shows the same as checking it with the paperclip. might be time to start shopping around i think:(

after_shock3000

The green LED is probably powered by the 5v standby voltage of the PSU. It isn't an indication that the PSU is 100% ok.
The 3.3v, 5v and 12v won't become active until that green cable is grounded (Otherwise your psu would be supplying power to everything even when the pc was turned off. Case fans etc. would be permanently powered on).

With the way that your fans are spinning up for a moment, one of two things is happening.
1) The PSU is ok, and the motherboard is grounding that pin for only a second or 2.

2)The psu is faulty. It could be the case that when that pin is grounded your psu is powering on and then cutting out due to a fault.
Depending on where the fault is, it may not be present until the psu is fully active.

Grounding that wire manually will tell you which of those is happening.

breadbin

so i should do the paperclip test with a fan then? sure it might save me getting a new mobo:) i'll let you know how i get on.

Maj Malfunction

breadbin wrote: »

would any of ye recommend the paper clip method of testing the psu? like the one here? it seems a bit dodge and last thing i want is to fry myself;)

Wear Trainers :D

breadbin

Maj Malfunction wrote: »

Wear Trainers :D

ha ha yeah good advice but turns out there was nothing to be worried about. i used the case fan and cpu fan to test it and they both worked perfectly so all the fingers are pointing at the motherboard now. i even tested the power switch in case it was that and took everything out of the case just in case something was shorting somewhere.

still nothing else happening after all that so will have to start looking at getting a new one methinks:(