My luck officially ran out!

[Andeh13]

Long story short, I have a carPC, touchscreen computer wired into the car to run all the music, films, sat nav etc. When it works it is pretty **** hot!


One day computer decided not too boot, amps turned on fine (controlled by carPC power supply) so figured it wasn't the PSU.

I brought motherboard etc inside, and tested it on a PSU I had lieing around (last time I checked the PSU was fine). Same symptoms...PC didn't boot. Bought a new motherboard (see other thread in hardware) figuring it was down to the motherboard, when it arrived I found it to be an OEM mobo with stupid ass connectors that weren't labeled. After 30mins of sweating & poking around I managed to stumble across the right pins to turn it on.

Only issue being when i tried to turn it on the CPU fan & PSU fan would flicker but not catch on or start the PC. Figuring I had nothing to loose i dismantled my main gaming PC and tried that PSU....and voila...fans spin up and motherboard seems to be working....except no signal to the computer screens, despite it all being connected fine AFAIK.

At this point I started wondering if it was my bad luck & me having two dead PSUs. I re-assemble the carPC (figuring the second motherboard is broken), and plug it into the PSU...just like I have done a few times that evening and dozens of times in the past few years

Upon plugging it in & turning it on i hear an almighty pop & smell that lovely burning leccy component smell. The PC hangs at the first boot screen (tells you motherboard make etc) and nothing happens. I look over the entire board with a torch and cant see any damage & the smell has passed. I re-try it having double checked the wiring and again fans spin up but screen stays blank.

What the **** sort of luck is this? One dead PSU has revealed to me my spare PSU is dead, the new motherboard seems to be dead and the original (now) working motherboard I replaced I have just ****ing fried!

I am at a loss as to what to do, the car is totally wired for a PC & would take days to rewire for the OEM stereo, or I fork out £100+ on components I have just buggered and wait a week for everything to arrive, int he meantime allowing me to have pver 6 hours of driving in silence rubbing salt in the sounds!


grrrrARGH!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Get an iPod??

[Andeh13]

If I heard a loud pop coming from the CPU end of the motherboard, anyone think what it could be? The motherboard seems to work fine (just doesn't show anything on the screen) and fans all work..

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What were the specs of your car-PC??

[Andeh13]

Gigabyte GA-73PVM Socket 775
1gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2
Onboard Video


Thats about it really!

The second motherboard (one that doesn't show any video) is the same but a Gigabyte GA-8TRC410MNF.


edit: Looking at the motherboard I think (now know) I've fried, I can see a transistor with a tiny pin hole in it, I am guessing this is the one that went pop. Will have to ask around at work to see if anyone there has any ideas on possibly fixing it (communications/electronics company). I still don't know what happened to make it go pop.

The only difference is I had the full 24 pin (+4 pin?) power plugged into the motherboard and the separate 4pin PCi (?) power plug in as well. Could this have done it?

[Jay]

yup, the PCI is for graphics cards only I think.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would probably replace the whole shebang with a mini-ITX based build. You could probably run it passively and it would take up less space.

[ik9000]

yup, the PCI is for graphics cards only I think.

possibly, though my MOBO needs the full 20+4 and also either a 4-pin 12V or 8-pin 12V (depending on what's available from PSU). without this the manual warns it will not even post. presume it powers the PCI lanes or something

[kalniel]

and also either a 4-pin 12V or 8-pin 12V (depending on what's available from PSU). without this the manual warns it will not even post. presume it powers the PCI lanes or something

It powers the CPU (8pin for more thirsty CPUs). Molex connectors won't fit, and PCI-E are normally 6 pin. I guess if you had a 6+2pin PCI-E it might go in the EPS socket (8pin version of the CPU power connector). So no, I'd guess Andehh actually had the correct connector in the correct socket given the square 4 pin cable isn't designed for anything else.

[Andeh13]

Which leaves the question as to what made it go bang. I have never had this problem in the past and can't imagine I plugged anything in wrong. Could it just be down to pure bad luck?

Couple guys at work recon this transistor with the hole in can be replaced, but I'd rather not fry the same motherboard twice!




Looks like I need a new carPC PSU and new Motherboard worse case scenario then...I've spent more money on worse things so can't complain too much!

edit: the motherboard does show some signs of old water marks that have crusted up. The motherboard had been sat inside the house for a few days before I plugged it in, but could the slight corrosion have done the deed?