Tommy Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 So, this computer has been quite reliable for years and while I was using it, the monitors sort of just faded out until they went into sleep mode and the fans started going full speed. The on/off switch was useless too, I actually had to pull the power cord. So...troubleshooting beings. I basically removed everything but the board and power supply, it would not boot again, no beeps either. I tried a different power supply I knew worked, no difference. I reseated the board in the case, no difference. For s's and giggles, I swapped the CPU, no difference. the only thing I haven't done was breadboarded the motherboard yet since I have little time right now. So, the question I ask is, do you think the board is just shot or something could be shorting it out? I looked it over carefully and didn't see any bulged or blown capacitors, nothing went bang or started on fire. It just refuses to do anything but turn the fans on high speed and do nothing else. I'm a little saddened because I liked this board but in the midst of this, I broke the CPU cooler tab as well and said a bad word after doing it. But even right now, it doesn't seem to matter much since it just sorta died as I was using it. It's almost like my Dell Optiplex GX270 all over again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dencorso Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Give every cap a gentle tug. Sometimes they blow downwards, not up. If nothing appears wrong, do inspect the backside again, for black spots, melting or any other more subtle signs of a short. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 I took a look at the board again this afternoon. I don't see anything else out of the ordinary. The caps do seem good. I breadboarded it and still got nothing, not even beeps by hooking up my external speaker to it. There are these black little squares around the CPU. I don't know what they are or what they do so I'm not sure if they could've done something or not. The fact that this computer is actually a bit better (Intel E7500 vs AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+), YouTube videos start right up immediately, but it seemed like my other one was starting to struggle with that as time went on, sometimes I'd have to hit refresh a few times before it would even start playing. It just seemed like it was starting to degrade over time. So I dunno if that has anything to do with it or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 I decided to really go the long side, and even though the system is in a cool basement. I turned the machine on for about 7 seconds without any sort of heatsink on it (Just the fan so I knew the machine was on), after about 7 seconds I killed the power and the CPU was still somewhat cold. Does this sound bad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripredacus Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Did you try using less RAM or different RAM sticks? I didn't see that mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 I left no RAM in it at all, I thought at the very least I'd get the beep code for no RAM. However, I'm using the very same RAM from that computer in this Dell I brought out of storage as a temporary replacement and it all works just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dencorso Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Either the northbridge or the southbridge have (at least in part) burnt out, IMO. Remove the heatsinks from over them and clean the past or tape from over them, to give them a good look. Some times the damage is visible. Some times it's not. But if I'm right, the mobo is toast. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 I'll give it a look over. It's really no biggie as I have another board on order, but it's Intel based since I have an E8500 that can go in it which is much better anyway. But I'll check out the board and I'll report back if I find anything on it. It lasted me three years and was used anyway so I had a decent run with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntoMX Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Did you try a BIOS reset? Was it connected to the Internet and if so, what virus/malware protection was used? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 I really didn't think of that, I could try it. I had AVG and Malware Bytes installed and I generally run them fairly often. The board is protected by DualBIOS to help protect against attacks, which I'm not sure would help much but hey, anything is worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripredacus Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I left no RAM in it at all, I thought at the very least I'd get the beep code for no RAM. The board making beeps for errors is not at all standard. Some do, some don't. Some can have it disabled in the BIOS, etc. In my experience, all Intel boards will have the beep codes, but I certainly have come across others that don't beep ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 I left no RAM in it at all, I thought at the very least I'd get the beep code for no RAM.The board making beeps for errors is not at all standard. Some do, some don't. Some can have it disabled in the BIOS, etc. In my experience, all Intel boards will have the beep codes, but I certainly have come across others that don't beep ever. I can't remember if this board beeped before or not but I had put in another known good piece of RAM and the board didn't boot either. I took the heatsinks off the north/southbridge chipsets and noticed the northbridge had some compound on it but most of it was as hard as a rock and the other part that needed it didn't really have hardly any at all so I'm wondering if the northbridge could've overheated and failed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntoMX Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Could be, but you most likely had shutdowns before a 100% fail. Did you reset the BIOS? Dual BIOS or not, but there is a big chance it hangs on the BIOS (before VGA init so to say). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Could be, but you most likely had shutdowns before a 100% fail. Did you reset the BIOS? Dual BIOS or not, but there is a big chance it hangs on the BIOS (before VGA init so to say).Would taking out the battery and leaving it out be consider resetting it? I'm not sure how to do this one jumper wise as I haven't seen a jumper on here for doing that. I did have a few days before that where the computer just completely locked up for no reason at all and I restarted it but it was fine afterwards so that could be one of those shutdowns you're talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dencorso Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Yeah. Take the battery out, let it alone overnight, then put in a brand new battery, and let's see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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