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TheFluff · 2013-07-01, 15:15

If you've tested your motherboard with a known working CPU and a known working stick of RAM and it still doesn't work, then it's dead. If you do this test you should probably do it with an older CPU you don't value so much though, because if there's a short circuit somewhere there's a possibility (however small) that you could end up frying the CPU.

If the fans whirr to life but you get no beeps from the system speaker, it's not POST'ing (POST = power on self test) for whatever reason and that's usually hard to diagnose; it can be a bunch of different things ranging from broken capacitors to bad RAM to bad PSU. If it starts beeping weird sequences at you, it probably works and is just complaining you don't have a graphics card or something.

Mostly unrelated anecdote: I once had a motherboard that refused to POST; it turned out to be the PSU's fault. According to the ATX specification that power supplies are supposed to adhere to, one of the pins on the power connector is used as a "status report" line. The PSU is supposed to deliver a certain amount of voltage (+/- 10% or something like that) on that pin in order to tell the motherboard that it's operating normally and it's okay to proceed with powering on. My PSU delivered a voltage just under the voltage limit, and thus the motherboard refused to pass the POST because it thought the PSU was broken or not ready yet. The fans would run, but nothing else happened. Since the store I got it at were being assholes about it and refused to replace it because it "worked fine" with their small voltage meter of a PSU tester, I "fixed" it by hardwiring the status report pin to one of the spare +3v lines on the power connector. It worked, and I'm pretty sure my sister's computer is still using that PSU today. "No user serviceable parts inside", maybe, but you can accomplish some interesting things with a voltmeter and a pair of wirecutters even without opening the box.

The above took me two or three days to figure out, one very boring summer week just after I had finished high school.

2013-07-01, 15:15	Link #12
TheFluff Excessively jovial fellow Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: ISDB-T Age: 37	If you've tested your motherboard with a known working CPU and a known working stick of RAM and it still doesn't work, then it's dead. If you do this test you should probably do it with an older CPU you don't value so much though, because if there's a short circuit somewhere there's a possibility (however small) that you could end up frying the CPU. If the fans whirr to life but you get no beeps from the system speaker, it's not POST'ing (POST = power on self test) for whatever reason and that's usually hard to diagnose; it can be a bunch of different things ranging from broken capacitors to bad RAM to bad PSU. If it starts beeping weird sequences at you, it probably works and is just complaining you don't have a graphics card or something. Mostly unrelated anecdote: I once had a motherboard that refused to POST; it turned out to be the PSU's fault. According to the ATX specification that power supplies are supposed to adhere to, one of the pins on the power connector is used as a "status report" line. The PSU is supposed to deliver a certain amount of voltage (+/- 10% or something like that) on that pin in order to tell the motherboard that it's operating normally and it's okay to proceed with powering on. My PSU delivered a voltage just under the voltage limit, and thus the motherboard refused to pass the POST because it thought the PSU was broken or not ready yet. The fans would run, but nothing else happened. Since the store I got it at were being assholes about it and refused to replace it because it "worked fine" with their small voltage meter of a PSU tester, I "fixed" it by hardwiring the status report pin to one of the spare +3v lines on the power connector. It worked, and I'm pretty sure my sister's computer is still using that PSU today. "No user serviceable parts inside", maybe, but you can accomplish some interesting things with a voltmeter and a pair of wirecutters even without opening the box. The above took me two or three days to figure out, one very boring summer week just after I had finished high school. __________________ \| ffmpegsource 17:43:13 <~deculture> Also, TheFluff, you are so fucking slowpoke.jpg that people think we dropped the DVD's. 17:43:16 <~deculture> nice job, fag! 01:04:41 < Plorkyeran> it was annoying to typeset so it should be annoying to read Last edited by TheFluff; 2013-07-01 at 15:25.