PC won't boot

[matty-hodgson]

i took my motherboard out before to add some stand-offs that i ordered so that it was all secured down the right hand side of the motherboard. and i re-seated the CPU heatsink.

the PC now won't turn on and when it did turn on the flourescant tube light thingy vaporised inside, i'm still getting power from the PSU but i can't get it to boot now
not the graphics card, not the HD, not the DVD drive, not the Belkin wireless adapter, tried with 1 RAM stick.. and i'll try my dad's processor and RAM later, when he gets home and says it's okay.

any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[peterb]

I would be very wary about putting a known good CPU/components in that mobo, with that PSUuntil you have proved they are good.

It sounds as if you have caused a short circuit when you removed and replaced the mobo, or perhaps misconnected the various leads.

It is difficult to predict the consequences. If you are lucky, you may only have damaged the PSU - and if it is a good one, it should have some overcurrent protection which has protected the system, although possible to the detriment of itself. Worst case, teh current surge has damaged voltage regulators on the mobo and the risk of damage to the components is that much greater.

You might get some clues by a close visual examination of the mobo and the internal wiring. Any scorch or burn marks might give you some clues where any short might have taken place. I should warn you that anything on the tracks on the mobo are likely to mean bad news - certainly for the mobo.

I presume the tube has some form of invertor to generate the high voltages needed to produce the discharge in the tube. The fact the tube is damaged implies either the invertor for the tube failed - which may have damaged the main PSU. Alternatively, if one of the connectors was left (or fell off) the tube and the tube pin or connector shorted to earth, or worse, tiuched a mobo pin, that would cause damage. (I think those tubes are cold cathode, like a neon tube, so once they have 'struck' they need a constant current source to operate - otherwise they self destruct in the spectacular way you describe)

If you want to test the CPU and RAM, you would be better to test your suspect components in a known good system - and that system shoudl be a minimal configuaration. Once you have proved CPU and RAM, you could test the hard drives and graphics card. If they all check out, the finger points to the PSU on the computer, but damage to the mobo cannot be entirely ruled out - but you could then replace the PSU and again rebuild your system step by step - adding components one by one to test them out.

As for the bling - why bother? It adds nothing to the functionality and is another load on your machine, raising internal temps.

Good luck with the diagnostics - take it slowly, methodically and a step at a time. CConsider the results of each step before you move on. I hope that the damage turns out to be minimal.

[-iceblade^]

was there a smell? most PSUs seem to give off a not so nice smell when they die from what i have read...

[matty-hodgson]

was there a smell? most PSUs seem to give off a not so nice smell when they die from what i have read...

I would be very wary about putting a known good CPU/components in that mobo, with that PSUuntil you have proved they are good.

It sounds as if you have caused a short circuit when you removed and replaced the mobo, or perhaps misconnected the various leads.

It is difficult to predict the consequences. If you are lucky, you may only have damaged the PSU - and if it is a good one, it should have some overcurrent protection which has protected the system, although possible to the detriment of itself. Worst case, teh current surge has damaged voltage regulators on the mobo and the risk of damage to the components is that much greater.

You might get some clues by a close visual examination of the mobo and the internal wiring. Any scorch or burn marks might give you some clues where any short might have taken place. I should warn you that anything on the tracks on the mobo are likely to mean bad news - certainly for the mobo.

I presume the tube has some form of invertor to generate the high voltages needed to produce the discharge in the tube. The fact the tube is damaged implies either the invertor for the tube failed - which may have damaged the main PSU. Alternatively, if one of the connectors was left (or fell off) the tube and the tube pin or connector shorted to earth, or worse, tiuched a mobo pin, that would cause damage. (I think those tubes are cold cathode, like a neon tube, so once they have 'struck' they need a constant current source to operate - otherwise they self destruct in the spectacular way you describe)

If you want to test the CPU and RAM, you would be better to test your suspect components in a known good system - and that system shoudl be a minimal configuaration. Once you have proved CPU and RAM, you could test the hard drives and graphics card. If they all check out, the finger points to the PSU on the computer, but damage to the mobo cannot be entirely ruled out - but you could then replace the PSU and again rebuild your system step by step - adding components one by one to test them out.

As for the bling - why bother? It adds nothing to the functionality and is another load on your machine, raising internal temps.

Good luck with the diagnostics - take it slowly, methodically and a step at a time. CConsider the results of each step before you move on. I hope that the damage turns out to be minimal.

CPU and RAM both work fine.. HD works fine, Graphics card works fine, so it's looking to either be the PSU or the mobo. gonna work out which tomorrow and request an RMA of it. the PSU i'm certain has many overcurrent protections and other ways to prevent PC damaga, HX620W, they cost £80.. so it isn't a cheap PSU, but i'm kinda hoping it's the Mobo and i'll see if i can get a refund and buy a better mobo 'cause it's an absolutely awful mobo incapable of even the slightest tasks, a 10MHz CPU would be classed as overclocking this board!

thanks for taking the time to write all that, appreciate it pal

and yeah, there was a smell, but that came from the inverter off the Cathode Tubes. (i hope)

will get back to you all tomorrow and let you know what happens.

[Splash]

Bear in mind that if the retailer determines that the failure is down to whatever you have done you may not be entitled to an RMA...

[matty-hodgson]

Bear in mind that if the retailer determines that the failure is down to whatever you have done you may not be entitled to an RMA...

yeah, i realise that, but i don't see it as anything i've done, i took it out, sat it on the foam from the motherboard box, put a few standoffs in the case so that all the screw holes were secured and put it back in, and re-seated the CPU heatsink 'cause it felt loose when i picked it up.

[Agent]

What mobo?

You are only supposed to put stand offs in certain holes on motherboards - they have a silver coating on them (or you must use a washer).

Make sure you have not put it in a wrong hole as this is fairly common. Some of these holes have traces around them and when you tighten the screw up, it damages them and causes a short.
edit - see http://forums.hexus.net/abit-care-he...rror-code.html

[hse180]

Make sure you have not put it in a wrong hoe as this is fairly common.

Some threads are cracking me up tonight

[Agent]

Funny thing is, spell checker won't pick up correctly spelt words in the wrong context

[matty-hodgson]

What mobo?

You are only supposed to put stand offs in certain holes on motherboards - they have a silver coating on them (or you must use a washer).

Make sure you have not put it in a wrong hole as this is fairly common. Some of these holes have traces around them and when you tighten the screw up, it damages them and causes a short.
edit - see http://forums.hexus.net/abit-care-he...rror-code.html

these stand-offs are like the things on the back of a graphics card that holds the cable onto the graphics card, are those the things you mean?

i'm pretty certain i've not shorted the board doing that, maybe a different way though..

that link is nasty! can't see anything like that on my board. would there be something similar if i've shorted my board, or is there not always a mark/burn on the PCB?

[HSK]

^ not sure whats on the graphics card, but the standoffs are screwed in place onto the main inside area of your case, and in turn what you mount the motherboard onto, and securing with screws (in to the standoff). the holes for those screws in the motherboard will have silver surrounding areas. the most common one is a brass hex standoff.

[Agent]

I'm not sure what you mean either.
A stand off is one of these:

[matty-hodgson]

^ not sure whats on the graphics card, but the standoffs are screwed in place onto the main inside area of your case, and in turn what you mount the motherboard onto, and securing with screws (in to the standoff). the holes for those screws in the motherboard will have silver surrounding areas. the most common one is a brass hex standoff.

I'm not sure what you mean either.
A stand off is one of these:

pretty much what he described, and yes.. that's them on that picture.

turns out i've shorted my board though
top right screw hole has a form of small transistor right next to the hole, and i put a screw in the bloody thing!

*voila, poomph* fried board!

will i get an RMA?
it's VERY difficult to spot that i've fried it..
there's a small amount of blackening but it's right next to a capacitor so it's concealed quite a bit.
my dad's not gonna be happy if i can't get this RMA'd.
i want a new board anyway though.. could be my chance.. maybe get 1 that'll OC my Q6600 past 3GHz.

thanks for the help Agent, and everyone else.
can't believe i shorted my board!
everything else works fine still though.. so just need a replacement mobo.

[Splash]

It's down to the vendor, but if you've put a screw through a component and killed it that way I would expect them to pick it up at RMA testing...

[peterb]

You broke the board - do you think it right that the vendor should pay for your carelessness? (If you bought something in a shop, walked outside and dropped and broke it, would you expect the shop to replace it?)

[Agent]

You break it, you pay for it
Just take it as a lesson learnt and move on. Remember that if you sent it back and they found the fault, you could very well be handed a bill for testing / shipping (to and from you) due to it not being a manufactures fault.