Bad Motherboard?

[BouncingSoul]

Part call for help, part rant. Begin rant.

I moved about 3 weeks ago so I could go back to school. Since that time the following has happened to me.

My nice plasma died.

The head snapped off my TaylorMade R7 driver

My computer died.

End rant.

Begin help.

I don't know how my computer died. It was working fine, it's hooked up to a really good battery backup which is still functioning nicely. All I know is I get up to grab my dinner out of the oven. I set it down on my desk and as I reach for the mouse the system powers down. When I try to power it back on nothing happens. I open the case and check all the connections. Still nothing. I disconnect everything but the main MB connections and try to fire it up. Still nothing. At this point the only option I have is to fly to Best Buy and get a new PSU. I end up with a BFG 650w monster. A true definition of overkill but I figured if my current system stayed down than I'd at least have a new PSU ready for my next system. Well as luck would have it, my current system is still down. I did the same thing with this new PSU as I did the old one, I only hooked up what is necessary to power up but it won't power up. So I'm guessing that the MB is bad, sound right? Also what are the odds that if it failed then everything on the board failed as well, like my video card and such? I'm just curious since I'll salvage what I can but it certainly seems that I'm just bound to be building a new system ASAP. Well thats my story, I'm going to go try to play golf without a driver now. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[X-Istence]

If you have a more high tech and more expensive board, most of them have protection against overpower to the other components. One of my asus motherboards has extra fuses soldered to the motherboard for protection. You might be lucky and can keep the cards, I don't know about the ram or the CPU. Your hard drives should still be okay, you might get a blow there. Depends on how hard your previous PSU spiked itself.

If you have a volt meter, find out how to jump an ATX psu. It is as simple as connecting two of the terminals on the big block of power connectors you normally plug into your computer, and then measure what it is outputting.

 

[trainmaster77]

sorry for the bad news ... what kind of plasma was it? Did you drop it while moving or something? Did the power go out in you place? Did you move to somewhere "higher in elevation?" Most plasma televisions that are bad ... are bad right out of the box ... but since most people dont see multiple plasmas they don't know it because of no comparisons. Lastly, how long have you had it. Judging from your sig ... you are in the Chicagoland area ...

Number one reason plasma is bad from the box is leaked plasma or cracked screen. Then the second reason is faulty power supply (something the b stock brands skimp on). I could come look at it and possibly make a suggestion or recommendation provided it was a brand I'm licensed to sell and even service.

As far as the motherboard ... They are very inexpensive nowadays ... I'm sure you could go pick one up for less than 150usd. That price is much less than the headache and time you are gonna spend or spending right now trying to fix it.

 

[BouncingSoul]

The plasma was just faulty. It was beautiful to look at but after a few minutes the audio would die. I tried two HDMI cables, every HDMI port on the thing as well as 2 cable boxes and it did the same thing. Best Buy took the TV back and I got a 50in DLP to replace it. The DLP rocks and it was cheaper.

As far as the system goes, it's old. I initially put it together 5 years ago. It's not the same system as it was 5 years ago, everything but the floppy drive has been upgraded. About 3 to 4 years ago the cheap PSU that came with my old case zapped the MB. I was able to save most everything off the board that time, but the guys that ran the diagnostics said I was lucky. I've been going back and forth over building something new for close to a year now. But everytime I get close something happens (like the tv or driver deals) plus now that I'm going back to school I can't really afford to go all out. So really, if I'm lucky and save everything I can put a new MB in place, but if anything is fried I'd be better off just building something new. Even if that meant buying one part with every paycheck and it taking 6 weeks to put together. We've got electricians running around on weekdays, I'll see if one of them has a volt meter and post some results.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[LeeJend]

You can power up an ATX PSU by jumpering the green wire to an adjacent black wire. A paper clip works fine. See if at least the fan on the old PSU spins up. Same for the new PSU. Make sure the switch on the back of the PSU is on and that the voltage switch is set for 115(120)V. Some PSU have one or both switches some don't.

Reasons for no power up:
1) Bad PSU (you have 2 to cross check now so unlikely).

2) Bad PSU switch. Jumper the two MB header pins that connect to the front panel switch (I use the tip of a pen, or the paper clip will work).

3) Shorted PSU. This could be anything. So do the old "disconnect everything" and start adding things back in.
-IF the PSU doesn't spin up with everything but the MB plugged in pull the MB and make sure it hasn't shifted in the case and shorted some leads near the attachment screws. Try powering up with the MB out of the case.
-Use the beep codes and keyboard lights flashing to isolate which component is shorting the power as you add them back in.

Uhhh? Why are there electricians running around? That is not a good sign. Problems with power in your building? Renovations?

 

[BouncingSoul]

After reading all of this I'm absolutely terrified of trying anything. I would think that jamming a paper clip into the power supply would be bad. Our electrician didn't come in today so I can't use his volt meter thing. Everyone that I've talked to here has said that my MB is shot and there isn't anything I can do so I might as well just start shopping for parts.

**edit**

I found one of our electricians, he let me use his voltmeter but I haven't the slightest idea as to how to use it. I have the PSU plugged in and the connected the voltmeter to the green and black wires but nothing shows on the voltmeter. I connected the PSU to another system I have here and it takes right off so I know its not a bad PSU. Would just seem that somehow, someway the MB just died.