# dead motherboard....?



## neatfeatguy (May 13, 2016)

At least once a year after everyone goes to bed, I pull apart my tower and clean. Remove the gpu, fans and such....clean them all off, put it all together and things are fine and dandy.

This time the computer wouldn't power on. I rechecked all power cables, everything was plugged in and still no power. 

I didn't remove the heatsink or even unplug the power cables on the motherboard. I verfied the power and reset pins were plugged into the board - they were. Still no power. 

I unplugged all power cables from everything and did the paper clip test on the psu, it turns on. I removed the motherboard from the tower and set it on a cardboard box. Plugged in the psu power cables (24 pin + 8 pin), I powered on the psu and I got no response.

I grabbed my spare working psu. Paper clip test works. I plugged the spare psu into the motherboard and I still can't get the motherboard to power on. I tried with a screwdriver and the built in power button on the motherboard.


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## Jetster (May 13, 2016)

No bios switch? Any chance you got some liquid somewhere? Reset the memory and CPU try again. Could be dead

When you bench test don't plug anything but a keyboard and monitor. Nothing else. So no drives
One time I used too much alcohol on the CPU and got some in the socket. No boot


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (May 13, 2016)

take it all apart and start again.


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## Caring1 (May 13, 2016)

Is the post code lighting up when you power on?


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## R-T-B (May 13, 2016)

Ouch.  I don't have any advice per say, just sympathizing with what must be a frustrating situation...


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## RCoon (May 13, 2016)

Caring1 said:


> Is the post code lighting up when you power on?



This. Getting and LED lights at all on the MoBo?


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## qubit (May 13, 2016)

@neatfeatguy Mobo short against the case maybe?


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## jboydgolfer (May 13, 2016)

you didnt pull the jumper off did You?


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## neatfeatguy (May 13, 2016)

Jetster said:


> No bios switch? Any chance you got some liquid somewhere? Reset the memory and CPU try again. Could be dead
> 
> When you bench test don't plug anything but a keyboard and monitor. Nothing else. So no drives
> One time I used too much alcohol on the CPU and got some in the socket. No boot



I only took the fans and gpu out, cleans them off and put them back. I didn't touch the heatsink or cpu fan.



CAPSLOCKSTUCK said:


> take it all apart and start again.



That's basically what I did. Everything came out. Only the MB and psu are plugged in while resting atop a cardboard box. 



Caring1 said:


> Is the post code lighting up when you power on?





RCoon said:


> This. Getting and LED lights at all on the MoBo?



Nothing. No LED code. I've pulled the CMOS battery as well and tried 2 psu,  no lights on the MB.



qubit said:


> @neatfeatguy Mobo short against the case maybe?



I don't how since she's out of the tower. This was my initial thought, but I don't get any response on the mb when she's out of the tower.



jboydgolfer said:


> you didnt pull the jumper off did You?



No, nothing has been pulled, bent or damaged that I can tell from a visual inspection.


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## qubit (May 13, 2016)

Ok, perhaps the mobo is dead then, unfortunately.


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## JrockTech (May 13, 2016)

Sounds like it's dead. But what would cause no power to go through at all? The motherboard must have gotten damaged badly.


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## P4-630 (May 13, 2016)

Did the motherboard got an static electricity charge from yourself accidently?


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## neatfeatguy (May 13, 2016)

P4-630 said:


> Did the motherboard got an static electricity charge from yourself accidently?



I wouldn't think it did. I was barefoot and in shorts/t-shirt. Tower was sitting on top of the wooden table I was using.

Here's what I did last night after I turned the computer off to do some spring cleaning:
I powered off the computer.
I turned the PSU power switch off and pulled the power cable from it. I waited about 30 seconds and then started unplugging all other cables.
I took the case and set it on the wooden table. I removed the side panel and set it on the chair next to me. I removed the top grill and front grill to access fan screws.
I removed the fan filters on the case.
I took out 5 fans and the GPU (after disconnecting the power cables).
I took canned air and sprayed out the GPU and then using a small brush I cleaned off the fins on the fans and brushed off the heatsink on the GPU some (what I could reach without removing the shroud).
I brushed off the case fans.
I used canned air to blow out the fan filters.
I put the GPU back in, all fans back in and put all fan filters back. I checked to make sure everything was plugged back in with the appropriate power cables.
I moved the tower back to it's rightful location, plugged in the keyboard/mouse, monitors, speakers, printer, ethernet and PSU power cord. I flipped the power switch on the PSU and pressed the power button - no response.

Here's the steps I took for troubleshooting:
Unplugged everything from the I/O. I flipped the power switch on the PSU off. I unplugged and replugged the power cable on both ends, switch the PSU on, press button on the tower - no response.
I moved the tower back to the table and plugged the power cable into a different outlet - no response.
Thinking the MB may be shorting out somehow I unplugged everything from the MB. I only have the H100i, 1 stick of RAM and the PSU plugged in with the MB sitting on a cardboard box - no response. No LED.
Thinking maybe the PSU went dead I did the paperclip test - she turns on.
Just to be safe, I grabbed my spare 750W Seasonic 80 Gold and plugged her into the MB - no response.
I did the paperclip test on the Seasonic -  powers up.

I've also removed the CMOS battery and put it back after about 20 minutes and tested again with both PSUs. I tried powering the MB on using a screw driver and using the onboard power button - no response on the MB. This is when I called it a night and crashed around 1:45am

Guess that goes to show I shouldn't try to keep my computer clean. I didn't do anything differently then I've done before in the past.....


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## Caring1 (May 13, 2016)

The only thing I can think of apart from static killing it, is possibly a short when you placed the GPU back in, one of the fingers may have bent in the slot.
Have you taken it out and checked in the PCI-e slot?


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## neatfeatguy (May 13, 2016)

Caring1 said:


> The only thing I can think of apart from static killing it, is possibly a short when you placed the GPU back in, one of the fingers may have bent in the slot.
> Have you taken it out and checked in the PCI-e slot?



I can take a look when I get home, but that won't be for a while (curse work interfering with my need to fix my computer!).


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## jboydgolfer (May 13, 2016)

did you flip the switch on the back of the Power supply? Half joking, but half not. no offense, i say it because its something i would do.

also, im not able to read through everything, but maybe try powering up with no CPU? worth a shot, if you havent tried it yet.

i hope it works out for You


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## R-T-B (May 13, 2016)

jboydgolfer said:


> did you flip the switch on the back of the Power supply?



lol, I have done this...  I cannot lie.


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## MrGenius (May 13, 2016)

You should at least try reseating the CPU. If you haven't yet.


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## stinger608 (May 13, 2016)

jboydgolfer said:


> did you flip the switch on the back of the Power supply



I have to assume he did this as he stated that he tried the "paper clip" method of firing up a power supply. 

I'll bet over just the last two years, I have responded to half a dozen tech calls and that was all that was wrong.


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## jboydgolfer (May 13, 2016)

stinger608 said:


> I have to assume he did this as he stated that he tried the "paper clip" method of firing up a power supply.
> 
> I'll bet over just the last two years, I have responded to half a dozen tech calls and that was all that was wrong.




Yeah, as i posted i couldnt read through all the thread, i was working,but its been the source of more than one issue in my exp. 

Short of catastrophic physical fklures or damage i dont think i can recall a time that a mobo showed zero life.weird


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## jaggerwild (May 13, 2016)

Remove the battery, move the jumper, leave it sit for 24 hours, put everything back, re try computer


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## jboydgolfer (May 13, 2016)

neatfeatguy said:


> after everyone goes to bed, I pull apart my tower and clean. Remove the gpu, fans and such....clean them all off,



i do this as well, but more frequently. something about doing it when all the noise makers have gone to sleep is Very peaceful


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## neatfeatguy (May 13, 2016)

To try and satisfy my curiosity, I picked up a new mb at micro center.

I took the spare pc that works. It powers up to Windows (vista, baby!). I connected the psu to the new mb and it gets no power. The LED code doesn't come on. I also connected a couple of fans to the power supply as well to see if they get power when the new mb is connected....nope, they don't spin. Everything is on a box, too. I connected the psu back to the spare computer and she boots....


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## neatfeatguy (May 13, 2016)

Forgive the double post....using my phone....

I took the psu from my build that's not working and hooked it up to the spare pc andshe starts right up....

Think maybe I got a doa mb?


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## OneMoar (May 13, 2016)

do you get no power from the board at all ?

check and make sure the clr cmos jumper isn't shorted some-boards wont do anything with the clr cmos jumper enabled if your board has a reset button for that check that as well as well as any and all other jumpers 
 make sure the power switch polarity is correct,try bridging the pins with a shiny screw driver (yea I know switch polarity lolwat but I have seen some boards no cooperate)


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## neatfeatguy (May 13, 2016)

OneMoar said:


> do you get no power from the board at all ?
> 
> check and make sure the clr cmos jumper isn't shorted some-boards wont do anything with the clr cmos jumper enabled if your board has a reset button for that check that as well as well as any and all other jumpers
> make sure the power switch polarity is correct,try bridging the pins with a shiny screw driver (yea I know switch polarity lolwat but I have seen some boards no cooperate)



Only jumper is the clear cmos. I removed it, still no power through the new mb with any psu. The Ethernet cable shows no power light and the onboard led code doesn't light up.  I checked the clear cmos button and pushed it, I also pulled the battery for a minute, still no luck.


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## Caring1 (May 14, 2016)

Very odd, is the power connected for the CPU as well as the 24 pin for the Motherboard?


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## neatfeatguy (May 14, 2016)

Caring1 said:


> Very odd, is the power connected for the CPU as well as the 24 pin for the Motherboard?


Yep, 24 & 8 pin cables connected. Sitting on box. Power cable plugged into working wall socket. Flipped psu power switch on , press power button on the mb....Nothing.

Pulled apart spare pc, set on the box, only gpu and psu connected, the board gets power and gpu fan spins. 

Put spare pc back together and she fires right up. I reconnected new mb to psu, nothing.  I tried old mb, nothing.....

Man, when my stuff breaks, it really breaks.


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## jaggerwild (May 14, 2016)

neatfeatguy said:


> Only jumper is the clear cmos. I removed it, still no power through the new mb with any psu. The Ethernet cable shows no power light and the onboard led code doesn't light up.  I checked the clear cmos button and pushed it, I also pulled the battery for a minute, still no luck.


Before or after cleaning the case out, you removed the jumper?


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## OneMoar (May 14, 2016)

Did any of you read the thread ?
No you didn't ..sigh
board is likely toast sometimes they just quit bad trace someplace is likely or you where unlucky enough to have ESD kill it
did you try powering it on using a shiny screw driver or paper clip by shorting the pins ?
long shot but try it


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## Deleted member 67555 (May 14, 2016)

Make sure you have a proper spread on the pins on your psu cables...make sure none are pushing back when you connect them.


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## vigia (May 14, 2016)

One of the steps you miss in your first try was to leave unplugged the cpu cooler, if the short is there is why your mobo is unpowered, I bet you place the new mobo with your hydro.


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## RealNeil (May 14, 2016)

Sounds like a dead motherboard.


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## Caring1 (May 14, 2016)

OneMoar said:


> Did any of you read the thread ?
> No you didn't ..sigh
> board is likely toast sometimes they just quit bad trace someplace is likely or you where unlucky enough to have ESD kill it
> did you try powering it on using a shiny screw driver or paper clip by shorting the pins ?
> long shot but try it


Did you read the thread?
Two motherboards doing the exact same thing.
And yes he did the paperclip thing ....


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## MrGenius (May 14, 2016)

Never did try reseating the CPU huh? Can I have that mobo? Is it the ASRock Z87 Extreme4? I'll pay shipping.

@vigia...I tried explaining that to him. He doesn't seem to get it. You're the 3rd person including @Jetster to mention it.


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## jboydgolfer (May 14, 2016)

R.i.p.
Seems like everything has been tried.


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## MrGenius (May 14, 2016)

Ye of little faith. And little...nm.

Just watch this. Next post from the OP will be about how he finally did reseat the CPU and now it works.

Of course a just as common happenstance is when I'm right, but the OP of the thread goes dead silent. Too ashamed to admit the fact that I was.


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## neatfeatguy (May 14, 2016)

MrGenius said:


> Ye of little faith. And little...nm.
> 
> Just watch this. Next post from the OP will be about how he finally did reseat the CPU and it now it works.



I reseated the cpu. Still got no response.

I returned the z97 Asrock extreme4 I got from micro center and picked up an ASUS z97-ar. I took the working psu from spare pc, installed the gpu, connected up the h100i, double checked all necessary power cables were connected and plugged in one moniter to the onboard gpu. I pressed the power button and she posted!  (it's too tedious putting images in posts on a mobile device, but see the one I took time to attach)






I swapped power supplies, and kept the same hardware connected - successful boot. Got into bios even. Seems my luck is changing


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## neatfeatguy (May 14, 2016)

MrGenius said:


> Of course a just as common happenstance is when I'm right, but the OP of the thread goes dead silent. Too ashamed to admit the fact that I was.



Sorry I'm not posting here fast enough. Family stuff, work and 2 trips to micro center....plus posting from my phone has taken up a lot of my time. Not to mention all the hardware swapping and testing.

Sorry for the double post, couldn't figure out how to add a quote when editing my last post.


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## Jetster (May 14, 2016)

MrGenius said:


> Ye of little faith. And little...nm.
> 
> Just watch this. Next post from the OP will be about how he finally did reseat the CPU and now it works.
> 
> Of course a just as common happenstance is when I'm right, but the OP of the thread goes dead silent. Too ashamed to admit the fact that I was.



Little quick to take credit? I suggested reseat the CPU in the #2 post. Of course if not about credit its about helping others right.

Honestly I think he has a bad power header


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## RealNeil (May 14, 2016)

It works now, that's good.


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## MrGenius (May 14, 2016)

Jetster said:


> Little quick to take credit? I suggested reseat the CPU in the #2 post. Of course if not about credit its about helping others right.


Hey...I mentioned that fact. No credit for anything except the spelling correction is due. And apparently no credit to anyone for the idea. Though it's still a good idea. I know from plenty of experience that it does work quite often. I've done so at least half a dozen times and had it work. Argue or deny it all you want. Then when it happens to you you'll see we aren't that dumb after all. 

Damn! I was seriously hoping he would give it to me so I could try. Oh well. Better luck next time.


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## neatfeatguy (May 14, 2016)

So far I'm up to getting Windows installed after redoing cabling. Last things to do once Windows is installed is get the gpu in and finish up cable management. Do far things are looking up. I'll post my final results hopefully from a working pc.


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## eidairaman1 (May 14, 2016)

that asrock was dead def


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## neatfeatguy (May 14, 2016)

I feel asleep last night before getting windows updates in, but everything is installed and working. Now I'm going through the wonderful list of windows 7 updates to see what I need and don't need.

Thank you everyone for the help and ideas, I'd have to say the problem is resolved after testing 2 new motherboards.


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## Deleted member 67555 (May 14, 2016)

Just for fun can you check the solder under the 24 pin mobo power connector?

See if any of them are lose...even just a little.


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## neatfeatguy (May 14, 2016)

jmcslob said:


> Just for fun can you check the solder under the 24 pin mobo power connector?
> 
> See if any of them are lose...even just a little.



Luckily I still have the MB and box down here by the PC (else I'd be to lazy to walk up to the storage area to get it right now). I pulled her out and none of the solder is loose. I looked over the board and nothing looks damaged. No bent pins, no jumpers were pulled, no capacitors were bulging....

The board has a 3 year warranty on it. I've got a RMA request put in with ASRock. Hopefully I'll get it replaced.

I do like ASRock. This is the first time I've had real big problems with their MBs, but they've always had great customer service in the past so I'll see how things go this time.


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (May 14, 2016)

neatfeatguy said:


> Luckily I still have the MB and box down here by the PC (else I'd be to lazy to walk up to the storage area to get it right now). I pulled her out and none of the solder is loose. I looked over the board and nothing looks damaged. No bent pins, no jumpers were pulled, no capacitors were bulging....
> 
> The board has a 3 year warranty on it. I've got a RMA request put in with ASRock. Hopefully I'll get it replaced.
> 
> I do like ASRock. This is the first time I've had real big problems with their MBs, but they've always had great customer service in the past so I'll see how things go this time.




sniff it......not joking, smell the back of it.


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## neatfeatguy (May 14, 2016)

CAPSLOCKSTUCK said:


> sniff it......not joking, smell the back of it.



In and out, in and out....you guys sure to ask a lot of me 

I dug her out again and if memory serves me right, the back reminds me of the smell of solder. It's been a long while since I soldered something, but that's what I remember it smelling like. I don't smell anything burnt or anything else that seems out of place.


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## OneMoar (May 14, 2016)




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