The latest in my motherboard saga, interesting finding
Hey Folks,
My mobo died weeks ago, and I posted this question to the forum:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=27747
Following the advice, I determined that the motherboard was really dead. So, next step was to buy a new one.. actually a used one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220160614669
What I found, after playing with both motherboards and switching cpus and fans and experimenting is that when the fan is not on and locked (pushing on the cpu), the mobo doesn't start. My "new" motherboard had the same 1/2 second power on then off when the fan wasn't installed.
So, my question is.. does this sound legit? I am wondering if my old broken motherboard is not working simply because the cpu isn't contacting the mobo. Maybe if I stand on the cpu fan, it'll start up.
FYI: Here comes what I found and did next after getting the "new" mobo .. this is just informational about my "new" mobo, no question really, unless you see something:
1. plugged "new" mobo into just the psu .. and started it.. and I got the same problem as my old motherboard, namely the power comes on for a half a second.
2. So, I fiddled with the cpu fan, read more of the manual, cleared CMOS, and tried again.. this time I got the mobo to start (fan runs), but I get 3 beeps.
3. So, looking at the AMI beep code guide: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000996.htm I plug in some RAM and turn the mobo on again. The fan runs (mobo is on), no beeps.. BUT no video output.
4. Lastly I plug in an AGP card and get video and two quick beeps and one short additional beep with the screen asking to plug in a bootable device
5. I plugged in the harddrive.. and now we are into software problems, but beyond the mobo issues I believe!
My mobo died weeks ago, and I posted this question to the forum:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=27747
Following the advice, I determined that the motherboard was really dead. So, next step was to buy a new one.. actually a used one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220160614669
What I found, after playing with both motherboards and switching cpus and fans and experimenting is that when the fan is not on and locked (pushing on the cpu), the mobo doesn't start. My "new" motherboard had the same 1/2 second power on then off when the fan wasn't installed.
So, my question is.. does this sound legit? I am wondering if my old broken motherboard is not working simply because the cpu isn't contacting the mobo. Maybe if I stand on the cpu fan, it'll start up.
FYI: Here comes what I found and did next after getting the "new" mobo .. this is just informational about my "new" mobo, no question really, unless you see something:
1. plugged "new" mobo into just the psu .. and started it.. and I got the same problem as my old motherboard, namely the power comes on for a half a second.
2. So, I fiddled with the cpu fan, read more of the manual, cleared CMOS, and tried again.. this time I got the mobo to start (fan runs), but I get 3 beeps.
3. So, looking at the AMI beep code guide: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000996.htm I plug in some RAM and turn the mobo on again. The fan runs (mobo is on), no beeps.. BUT no video output.
4. Lastly I plug in an AGP card and get video and two quick beeps and one short additional beep with the screen asking to plug in a bootable device
5. I plugged in the harddrive.. and now we are into software problems, but beyond the mobo issues I believe!
Comments
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Sie
Member Posts: 1,195
gneier wrote:What I found, after playing with both motherboards and switching cpus and fans and experimenting is that when the fan is not on and locked (pushing on the cpu), the mobo doesn't start. My "new" motherboard had the same 1/2 second power on then off when the fan wasn't installed.
You plugged in the CPU without a fan/heatsink and your wondering why it switched off??
Foolproof systems don't take into account the ingenuity of fools -
Mishra
Member Posts: 2,468 ■■■■□□□□□□
Yes thats legit. Some motherboards have safe guards against people who don't plug a fan in or doesn't set a heat sink on their CPUs. Because it sounds like you have been turning on your computer without a heat sink or fan then without the safe guard you would have smoked your CPU by now. It takes about 5 seconds to literally fry your CPU without heat protection.
Lesson to be learned here: never start a computer without a heat sink or fan -
gneier
Member Posts: 6 ■□□□□□□□□□
No fan/heatsink == smoked cpu.. in 5 seconds? Yowser
Fortunately, the mobo never fully turned on when I tried that. I was trying to figure out why my old mobo wasn't turning on .. and at that point the whole thing was going in the trash anyway. However.. after experimenting (dangerously) like this .. I discovered that my old motherboard was exhibiting this auto-poweroff feature whether or not the fan/heatsink was on. This makes me think that the mobo could be fixed if this auto-poweroff problem (assuming thats the cause) could be fixed. Thats out of my league, so this old mobo and cpu are separately going on ebay.
The new-used motherboard is working .. and back in the pc.. and all is well.
thank you everyone, this has been quite the learning adventure.