- Aug 30, 2015
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- 4,510
So my friend ended up frying his motherboard by vacuuming inside this computer. Lesson learned. He ordered a brand new motherboard of the same make and model as a replacement. Here is the problems that occurred so far.
I want to start of by saying I have looking into the thread with the step-by-step instructions on new motherboard installations and followed and consulted with no positive outcome.
Gist of the situation:
Motherboard receives power, Fans spin. No motherboard error beeps, does not post, no display from monitor.
Computer is a Dell XPS 8300.
Motherboard is a brand new Asus A88XM-A. Motherboard Box Picture
Motherboard Specs
All parts are original with the Dell XPS. The Motherboard was just replaced with a brand new one, same model.
Here is what is happening and my steps to resolve the issue thus far.
1) I ensure that the CPU is correctly seated with new thermal paste and with the original heat sink. Socket Plastic Cover removed(lol)
2) I ensured that the 24pin connector is connected correctly to the motherboard.
3) I ensured that the 4pin CPU power connector is connected correctly to the motherboard
4) I ensured that the CPU Fan Power cable is connected to the motherboard.
5) I plugged 1 case fan into the motherboard for power as well
At this point the first attempt was with the Motherboard in the case with the front controls cable plugged into the motherboard (Controlling the power button and lights)
5) I installed 1x Stick 2GB DDR3 Ram (Original Ram) into slot 1.
6) Reset the BIOS battery and even tried a new BIOS battery.
7) Plugged in the VGA Cable into the VGA port on the motherboard. (Motherboard has 1 VGA and 1 HDMI)
8) Plugged in the power cable into the PSU.
- A green light on the back of the PSU PSU Light and An amber LED indicator light Motherboard with Amber Light turn on. The LED light is marked with Aux_Pwr on the right side of the board between the memory modules and the 24-pin power connector, which I read means that there is power running through the motherboard at the time.
- There are no other peripherals attached. No HDDs, no additional memory, no DVD drives, no PCI or PCI-e cards and no USB Power/Data connections attached.
9) Used the Power Button on the case to turn on the desktop.
- At this point the power button led on the top of the desktop turned white (normal for power on), the CPU Fan began to spin and the Case fan began to spin. No beeps. Nothing on the screen.
My first reaction was to turn off the computer and try the integrated HDMI port, (switching monitor to HDMI), and still nothing on the monitor. I tried a different monitor and still no luck.
I think decided that maybe there is an issue with the on board video or it is disabled for some reason even though the BIOS battery has been replaced and out of the unit for a day or two. I put in an external PCI-e video card (don't remember model) which does not use an additional power cable which has HDMI, VGA and DVI. I tried all 3 ports with no luck. The Video card was powered as the built-in heat sink fan was running.
So at this point I took out the video card to go back to my original setup.
10) I switched out the ram with another one of the same type and even tried different positions, no luck. Still nothing on the screen and no beeps.
- To check if the system is recognizing anything, I powered up the system with no ram and got 2 Short Beep Error, which is associated with Memory Issue. I re-seated the 1 stick of ram afterwards and back to no beeps and no post/no video on monitor.
11) Assuming that the BIOS might still be a problem, I removed the battery. After powering up the computer, I received 5 Short Beeps, which is associated with a Time-Clock error. After I replaced the battery, and powered on I get no more error codes and back to the same place.
12) Next step, Motherboard + PSU and no case. (Sorry for the crappy picture) Motherboard and PSU Only
-I unplugged the front controls cable from the motherboard and turned on the motherboard by shorting the power pins. The CPU fans turns on, the PSU light is green on the rear, the Amber LED Aux_Pwr is still on the motherboard and VGA cable still plugged in onboard. No post, no beeps and nothing on my monitor.
-I tried the HDMI cable again and still no luck. When I plug either the HDMI or VGA cable to the motherboard my monitor turns on from sleep mode and then shows no signal and goes back to sleep mode. So it recognizes the signal of the opposite side being attached to something. Once again I have tried another monitor.
At this point I am trying to figure out what the issue is. I only have 2 theories.
a) The motherboard's onboard video is busted since i'm getting no error codes.
b) The new motherboard is magically DOA somehow even though it is able to recognize errors of no ram and no BIOS battery.
c) Something is up with the CPU? Maybe the CPU is busted. I've been searching for information about if there are any error beeps if the CPU is busted.
d) Maybe the 4-pin CPU power cable is busted somehow and CPU is no getting any power. The CPU fan gets it's power from the Motherboard directly. (I haven't had a chance to use a Multimeter to check the voltages on the 4-pin cable yet, hopefully I'll be able to get to it later tonight)
If anyone has any thoughts of what the issue may be or any follow-up questions in regards that I may have forgotten to mention, please let me know. This would be a great help to figure out the issue.
I want to start of by saying I have looking into the thread with the step-by-step instructions on new motherboard installations and followed and consulted with no positive outcome.
Gist of the situation:
Motherboard receives power, Fans spin. No motherboard error beeps, does not post, no display from monitor.
Computer is a Dell XPS 8300.
Motherboard is a brand new Asus A88XM-A. Motherboard Box Picture
Motherboard Specs
All parts are original with the Dell XPS. The Motherboard was just replaced with a brand new one, same model.
Here is what is happening and my steps to resolve the issue thus far.
1) I ensure that the CPU is correctly seated with new thermal paste and with the original heat sink. Socket Plastic Cover removed(lol)
2) I ensured that the 24pin connector is connected correctly to the motherboard.
3) I ensured that the 4pin CPU power connector is connected correctly to the motherboard
4) I ensured that the CPU Fan Power cable is connected to the motherboard.
5) I plugged 1 case fan into the motherboard for power as well
At this point the first attempt was with the Motherboard in the case with the front controls cable plugged into the motherboard (Controlling the power button and lights)
5) I installed 1x Stick 2GB DDR3 Ram (Original Ram) into slot 1.
6) Reset the BIOS battery and even tried a new BIOS battery.
7) Plugged in the VGA Cable into the VGA port on the motherboard. (Motherboard has 1 VGA and 1 HDMI)
8) Plugged in the power cable into the PSU.
- A green light on the back of the PSU PSU Light and An amber LED indicator light Motherboard with Amber Light turn on. The LED light is marked with Aux_Pwr on the right side of the board between the memory modules and the 24-pin power connector, which I read means that there is power running through the motherboard at the time.
- There are no other peripherals attached. No HDDs, no additional memory, no DVD drives, no PCI or PCI-e cards and no USB Power/Data connections attached.
9) Used the Power Button on the case to turn on the desktop.
- At this point the power button led on the top of the desktop turned white (normal for power on), the CPU Fan began to spin and the Case fan began to spin. No beeps. Nothing on the screen.
My first reaction was to turn off the computer and try the integrated HDMI port, (switching monitor to HDMI), and still nothing on the monitor. I tried a different monitor and still no luck.
I think decided that maybe there is an issue with the on board video or it is disabled for some reason even though the BIOS battery has been replaced and out of the unit for a day or two. I put in an external PCI-e video card (don't remember model) which does not use an additional power cable which has HDMI, VGA and DVI. I tried all 3 ports with no luck. The Video card was powered as the built-in heat sink fan was running.
So at this point I took out the video card to go back to my original setup.
10) I switched out the ram with another one of the same type and even tried different positions, no luck. Still nothing on the screen and no beeps.
- To check if the system is recognizing anything, I powered up the system with no ram and got 2 Short Beep Error, which is associated with Memory Issue. I re-seated the 1 stick of ram afterwards and back to no beeps and no post/no video on monitor.
11) Assuming that the BIOS might still be a problem, I removed the battery. After powering up the computer, I received 5 Short Beeps, which is associated with a Time-Clock error. After I replaced the battery, and powered on I get no more error codes and back to the same place.
12) Next step, Motherboard + PSU and no case. (Sorry for the crappy picture) Motherboard and PSU Only
-I unplugged the front controls cable from the motherboard and turned on the motherboard by shorting the power pins. The CPU fans turns on, the PSU light is green on the rear, the Amber LED Aux_Pwr is still on the motherboard and VGA cable still plugged in onboard. No post, no beeps and nothing on my monitor.
-I tried the HDMI cable again and still no luck. When I plug either the HDMI or VGA cable to the motherboard my monitor turns on from sleep mode and then shows no signal and goes back to sleep mode. So it recognizes the signal of the opposite side being attached to something. Once again I have tried another monitor.
At this point I am trying to figure out what the issue is. I only have 2 theories.
a) The motherboard's onboard video is busted since i'm getting no error codes.
b) The new motherboard is magically DOA somehow even though it is able to recognize errors of no ram and no BIOS battery.
c) Something is up with the CPU? Maybe the CPU is busted. I've been searching for information about if there are any error beeps if the CPU is busted.
d) Maybe the 4-pin CPU power cable is busted somehow and CPU is no getting any power. The CPU fan gets it's power from the Motherboard directly. (I haven't had a chance to use a Multimeter to check the voltages on the 4-pin cable yet, hopefully I'll be able to get to it later tonight)
If anyone has any thoughts of what the issue may be or any follow-up questions in regards that I may have forgotten to mention, please let me know. This would be a great help to figure out the issue.
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