Computer Issues....*Custom built*

[EXccord]

Well, heres my problem. After receiving a dud motherboard from asus...it took them 3 weeks and 6 days EXACT to get me a new motherboard...now when i put the motherboard and everything in...everything was hooked up right....as i sat it up and turned on the power supply switch then hit the power button...my mom said she saw a spark near the bottom of the case which would be the bottom of the board if you were facing it right side up. My monitor would go into power save mode after receiving no signal at all...and my mouse and keyboard wouldnt show power to them...nothing loaded up...however my back fan works and so does the processor fan, the drives open up too...but its like the motherboard isnt sending signals or anything...anyone know whats the deal? and if someoen knows i will need your help in finding a good motherboard, with what specs i give...I appreciate it guys!

 

[birdpup]

Judging by the spark, it seems your motherboard is now fried and will need replacement. It would be good to understand what went wrong with the motherboard installation, if anything. Maybe a screw was tightened over one of the electrical races (is that the proper term). Maybe the motherboard was not properly grounded by the PSU. Can you see if any part of the motherboard appears burnt?

Apparently this is your second motherboard. I think you may need to restep your motherboard installation and see if the installation procedure in the motherboard manual was followed properly.

Maybe the Power Supply is faulty?

I do not have experience with this issue. These are just educated guesses.

 

[EXccord]

well...i looked and examined very closely and i couldnt find ANY burnt marks....the guys at geek squad said that i maybe had one of the soddering points connected to the motherboard

 

[sintaxera]

Here's a possibility. Did you put all the motherboard mounts in the case, regardless of whether or not they actually matched up with a hole in the motherboard? I have seen people do this and it gives the exact same kind of problem you are having.

 

[EXccord]

Originally posted by: sintaxera
Here's a possibility. Did you put all the motherboard mounts in the case, regardless of whether or not they actually matched up with a hole in the motherboard? I have seen people do this and it gives the exact same kind of problem you are having.

the little copper "studs" screw thingies? no...not all of them ligned up exactly....i used some normal hardware screws that came with my case.

 

[Turkey22]

When you say they didn't line up, you mean you had to reposition them slightly to screw them in right? Not that some didnt have a hole at all, cus if it doesn't have a hole then its conducting to the back of the mobo, hence the frying.

 

[wpshooter]

Did you use the stand-offs (use only those that line up with the holes on the motherboard) to mount the motherboard to the case tray and did you use the insulating washers between the head of the screws and the motherboard ?

In any case, follow the motherboard mounting instructions per the manufactuers manual.

 

[birdpup]

Originally posted by: sintaxera
Here's a possibility. Did you put all the motherboard mounts in the case, regardless of whether or not they actually matched up with a hole in the motherboard? I have seen people do this and it gives the exact same kind of problem you are having.

Originally posted by: Turkey22
When you say they didn't line up, you mean you had to reposition them slightly to screw them in right? Not that some didnt have a hole at all, cus if it doesn't have a hole then its conducting to the back of the mobo, hence the frying.

Originally posted by: wpshooter
Did you use the stand-offs (use only those that line up with the holes on the motherboard) to mount the motherboard to the case tray and did you use the insulating washers between the head of the screws and the motherboard ?
In any case, follow the motherboard mounting instructions per the manufactuers manual.

:thumbsup: Very nice diagnosis

Originally posted by: EXccord
the little copper "studs" screw thingies? no...not all of them ligned up exactly....i used some normal hardware screws that came with my case.

You will see that there is a (nut &) washer-like buildup around the screw holes on the motherboard to prevent the screws from tightening and contacting the motherboard surface. If there are mounts on the backside of the motherboard supporting the motherboard in places without this separation material, then the mounts will actually be contacting the electrical races and electrically shorting the motherboard to the case. This is not a good thing. Only use the back mounts where there are supports (on the motherboard) for their placement.

 

[mparr1708]

To kind of sum up what others have said, make sure you use the little washers that come with your case. (Most of the time they are orange.) Some mobos do not require the washers as they have sufficient insulation around the screw holes. Regardless if your case comes with them then use them. It prevents you from shorting out the mobo on the screws.

Take the mobo out of the case and go through mounting it again. Make sure you only leave the standoffs that match up witht he pattern of screw holes on your mobo, mount the mobo using the included screws and washers, and only tighten it down to be snug (no need to over tighen it as you may push the screw through the PCB).

If you are getting power to your fans and they are hooked to the mobo that is a good sign. At least the board isnt completely fried. Try taking the machine down to its base config:

MOBO
1 stick of ram
Video Card
CPU

See if you get a post then. If yes add one part at a time until you have everything in and you can finish setting your pc up. If it doesnt post but you get a beep code then look it up in the mobos manual and see what it says the problem is. If it doesnt post and you dont get a beep code the only way to know for sure what the problem is would be to try your mobo with another CPU and memory or try your cpu and memory with another mobo.

The short answer to all this would be to RMA it back to ASUS again but if they determine that you caused it to fail they may charge you to replace it.

Good Luck!

 

[EXccord]

my case nor motherboard came with any washers..anyhow just like some have said...i got those copperish colored "pins" perse...yea not all go into the holes..like on certain parts of the motherboard the mobo is higher than the hole it needs to go in...but yea, if i RMA the board back to asus...how much would they possibly charge me? the full charge of the mobo?

 

[sintaxera]

Well, before you send it off to Asus you could just make sure you only have mounts where there are holes in the motherboard. You might get lucky and the thing just might work. Otherwise you could send it back to Asus, and well, since this is your second board, I don't think they're going to give you the benefit of the doubt and might charge you this time.

 

[birdpup]

Originally posted by: EXccord
well hey i messed with it earlier today and i had it out of the case...and it loaded through bios(im guessing it isnt fried after all...) but i unplugged it all and put it back in and now i cant get the monitor to show up again...so im trying it all over again and im getting no where...maybe i hooked up things wrong

I think something is going wrong when physically installing the motherboard into the case. Did you read the motherboard manual concerning the physical installation? That should help. Did you check for extra standoffs that could be shortcircuiting the motherboard with the case?

 

[EXccord]

got everything up and running! read my other threads...im having other issues right now iwth it