Asus Z87i-Deluxe problem: SBPW LED solid green, nothing else happening

phybron · Mar 2, 2014

I just got the final parts of my new build and started putting it together. As usual I started by testing the motherboard outside of the case. It seems I may have a bad one.

I have put the CPU, heatsink and fan, 4-pin speaker and one stick of RAM in, connected the PSU and all I get is a solid green SBPW LED on the mobo. The PSU fan is not spinning.

I then tried shorting the PSU to check it works; fan spins up and it all looks good.

I've also tried reseating the RAM, switching to the other RAM stick and tried both slots. As the DRAM LED is not on I'm presuming it's not the problem.

The manual uselessly omits diagnostics for the LEDs; it doesn't even say what the SBPW one is for and I can't find much online either. I'm going to call Asus tomorrow, but in the meantime was wondering if I was just being stupid and had missed something.

unknownofprob · Mar 2, 2014

if it didn't boot outside the case and the PSU works fine, it is a problem with your motherboard.

phybron · Mar 2, 2014

That's what I thought. Unlikely to be the CPU and, again, that would make a different LED light up presumably. I'll have to do a return. Thanks.

unknownofprob · Mar 2, 2014

well, if it happens again, it would have to be a compatibility issue, and you may have to go for a different motherboard. Hope this helps.

phybron · Mar 2, 2014

I'm still going to call Asus tech support tomorrow, just in case they have an idea. They may highlight a compatibility issue, but with just a CPU and RAM plugged in, there's not much room for conflicts.

unknownofprob · Mar 2, 2014

exactly, What HDD were are booting from? and is it SATA III 6GB/s? Or is this an SSD?

phybron · Mar 2, 2014

No HDD. I was just testing the mobo to see if had any errors that would be apparent with the LED's or the 4-pin speaker. I was hoping for the one short beep to signal everything was fine, and then I'd build the rest of it and boot properly. It's literally just a five second test instead of getting everything in the case and then finding a mobo problem.

Do you think connecting an SSD would help?

unknownofprob · Mar 2, 2014

nope, just curious if you had a HDD/SSD connected up. Which if you did I would recommend to disconnect it.

phybron · Mar 2, 2014

I just spoke to Asus support who said I need to test it with another power supply. Of course, I don't have another power supply, but given that it's sending power to the board (the green LED comes on) and shorting it did make the PSU fan start up I think it's working.

Is there still a chance it could be that, or shall I just do a return on the mobo?

pmdureska · Mar 2, 2014

phybron :

pmdureska · Mar 2, 2014

i built a computer a few months ago using this board, i assume you are not getting a single beep from the speaker. my first board was bad and i nreturned it to the seller on the advice of asus. the second board worked. before i returned the first board they said to try a new psu. if you have a quality psu it is probably not that, i ended up testing my psu using the paper clip test and also all the voltages on the power plug 20 pin using a multimeter. there are yutube videos to do all this. they also said it was my ram but i sent that back and it was replaced by corsair but my ram was platinum dominator and i dont think it was bad as i still could not get a post. you did plug in the cpu power cord, 8 pin i think at the top of the nboard.

phybron · Mar 2, 2014

pmdureska :

Yes I plugged in the main 20+4 pin connector and the 8-pin CPU power. I finally tried adding an SSD and the GPU, just in case, but it was the same every time. Standby power LED solid green and that's it.

My PSU is a Silverstone ST65F-G, so not cheap. It could always be faulty, but as fan spins up on the paper clip test, and it's on standby when plugged into the mobo, I'm thinking a mobo fault is more likely. I don't have a multimeter to test it further.

Anyway I've got a return scheduled for the board and a new one on the way. If the same thing happens again then I guess I'll try exchanging the PSU. It's not a RAM problem, I don't think, because the board isn't even getting as far as checking the RAM. It literally just switches on the SBPWR LED and that's it.

unknownofprob · Mar 3, 2014

phybron :

There is still a high chance it's the PSU, Which in fact I'm leaning towards that conclusion, It may be lighting up the board, but it could be faulty, so it can still do that.

phybron · Mar 3, 2014

Well the new board is due tomorrow. If it's the same situation I'll have to return the PSU.

unknownofprob · Mar 4, 2014

well, if you could update on that, that would be great.

phybron · Mar 4, 2014

Ok all good now. The answer, as usual, was my own stupidity. The last time I did this I set up as described and the board started up. This time the board required connecting to the on/off switch on the case (or shorting the pins) to activate.

So that's it. I have the new board and have returned the old one, but there was probably nothing wrong with it. My idiocy never fails to surprise and disappoint me. I should just buy pre-built.

unknownofprob · Mar 4, 2014

phybron :

Never ever buy a pre-build PC, It a sin to humanity. The price you spend on those pre builts are ridiculous for something decent. For a $2000 pre built, you can get something better for $1000 if you custom build it.

phybron · Mar 4, 2014

Of course. Building it is half the fun, although I do feel bad for returning a part that was fine. Oh well. Amazon will probably survive to see another day.

All up and running now, and it's quite a beast. The game I was playing previously on a laptop, on low settings, was running at 19fps. Now I have 170-200fps or thereabouts, on maximum settings.

unknownofprob · Mar 4, 2014

well, glad it works for you. Enjoy your new rig!

Jeric Sayoc · Oct 25, 2014

I had the same problem. I learned later that it was because I installed the VC already at first boot.

phybron · Nov 2, 2014

Jeric Sayoc :

Sorry for the delay, I was away. Short it with a paper clip. No harm can be done, you're just completing the circuit.

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