Which is dead, motherboard or processor?

[imported_manchild]

My system is currently not powering up, it was running fine but now it's dead. How do I figure out what the weak link is? I suspect it is either the motherboard or the processor. Frist here's the details on the system:

MSI K8N Neo Platinum
AMD Athlon64 3000+
OCZ DDRAM 1GB PC3200 400MHZ
Antec Sonata case
Antec TruePower 380W PSU
Seagate 80GB SATA
Western Digital 160GB SATA
eVGA 64MB TNT video card (old)

The system was running fine except that the front USB ports on the case were not working, then I found a post explaining a common problem with an extra wire in the connection from the Antec case to the JUSB1 connection on the MSI board, LINK. Once i removed that wire the ports worked fine and I was happy. About 10 minutes later the machine powered itself off without me doing anything.

I left it like that and looked at it in the morning, tried to turn it on and got nothing except that the case power LED came on but the power switch had no effect. So I powered it all off using the switch on the back of the power supply, disconnected all drives and USB/Firewire connections and tried again, still nothing.

When I turn on the switch on the PSU, the power LED comes on on the case but nothing else, no fans or anything. The only sound I hear is a small "chirp" whan I power down the PSU. I tried swapping out the PSU with a spare that I have and I get the same result.

So I figure it might be the power switch on the case so I switched the connection on the motherboard to use the reset button as the power switch, that didn't work either. I've read suggestions saying to manually short the power connection with a small screwdriver if you thing the switch isn't working but I am afraid to do that, is that a full live current going through there?

So at this point the PSU seems to be okay and I've removed most other variables from the equation so I'm thinking I somehow have either a dead motherboard or a dead CPU

Is that a correct assuption?
Any ideas on what in this scenario that may have caused this?
How could I pinpoint the problem a bit more? (I don't have a spare mobo or CPU to use)

Thanks for any help, I've sent a request to MSI's technical support too.

 

[imported_manchild]

Also, I cleared the CMOS using the jumper on the board, still no dice. Anyone else have a similar experience with these components? I'd like to narrow it down to the mobo before I RMA.

 

[Childs]

It may be a coincidence, but it looks like when you pulled the ground wires from the USB connections you hosed the motherboard somehow. I doubt it would be a dead CPU. The only thing to do is test the pull the motherboard out of the case, hook up the power supply, video, and a power switch, and test it again. If you still get no post, do an RMA on the board, or return it.

 

[imported_manchild]

Yeah, I haven't tried pulling the board out of the case yet, I'll do that today. If it works outside of the case then what, then I have a ground short on the case?

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: manchild
Yeah, I haven't tried pulling the board out of the case yet, I'll do that today. If it works outside of the case then what, then I have a ground short on the case?

Yup

 

[Childs]

Originally posted by: manchild
Yeah, I haven't tried pulling the board out of the case yet, I'll do that today. If it works outside of the case then what, then I have a ground short on the case?

Yup, or one of the connections was wrong. I want to point to the USB as being the culprit. I have the K8N Neo (not plat) and I had to do the same thing you did, and it didn't kill the board. Best thing to do is make sure the bare minimum is connected, and see if it posts.

Also, what do the LEDs say on the USB bracket? I forgot what its called, but they are basically motherboard diagnostic LEDs.

 

[imported_manchild]

Right now the bare minimum was connected, no drives, no front USB connections, no PCI cards and it's not working. I forgot about that D-Link diagnostic LED thing, I'll try hooking that up now when I take it out of the case. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[imported_manchild]

Crap. I just took the board out of the case and tried what Childs suggested, connecting only the power supply, video and power switch and I still get nothing. I tried it without the video card too, and also with the D-Link, still nothing.

So does this sounds like an RMA for the motherboard?

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: manchild
Crap. I just took the board out of the case and tried what Childs suggested, connecting only the power supply, video and power switch and I still get nothing. I tried it without the video card too, and also with the D-Link, still nothing.

So does this sounds like an RMA for the motherboard?

No cpu and ram in it?

If not, try to get it to post with cpu (plus HS+F), ram and vid card. Of course you need the psu and hook up your mouse, KB and monitor (so you can see if it will POST). Keep the diagnostic D-Link thingy on there too.

Tell us what happens.

Fern

 

[imported_manchild]

Oh, sorry I left that out, I had my CPU and RAM in there. I still get nothing, not even the CPU heatsink fan spins and no lights on the D-Link. So is the board dead?

 

[Fern]

Yeah, looks like the mobo died. RMA time.

 

[imported_manchild]

Damn. Well, then here's a couple more questions then:

1. Who should I RMA with, Newegg or MSI?
2. How do I keep from frying it again? I'm pretty sure all I did was disconnect one of the wires in the JUSB connection that was keeping the USB ports from working. I'm not sure how to troubleshoot grounding issues, if that's what it is.

Thanks

 

[Childs]

Originally posted by: manchild
Damn. Well, then here's a couple more questions then:

1. Who should I RMA with, Newegg or MSI?
2. How do I keep from frying it again? I'm pretty sure all I did was disconnect one of the wires in the JUSB connection that was keeping the USB ports from working. I'm not sure how to troubleshoot grounding issues, if that's what it is.

Thanks

If its less than 30 days after the purchase I think you have to go through Newegg. MSI apparently is pretty good about RMAs as well, you can go to their forums as check it out...people RMA like crazy and feel good about the process. Personally, I think thats a bad sign, but oh well.

As far as it not happening again, don't know what to say about that. Motherboards die from time to time. It may have been related to the USB connector, or then again it may have just been a coincidence.

 

[imported_manchild]

Thanks for all the help.