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Dying motherboard or something else?

T

terrigat

n00b
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
17
I am having strange problems with my motherboard and was hoping for help diagnosing the system before RMAing.

First off, the PC is running right now. The only real change is that I haven't kept the system unpowered when not in use since it first powered on again. I usually completely turn off the UPS when the system is off.

Config
----------
Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD3 rev1.0 BIOS 12a beta (sandforce fix)
Antec Nine Hundred (1st)
Intel i5 core 750 (Stock Cooler)
G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 2GBx2(x2)
CreativeLabs X-FI Platinum
Western Digital 1TB
OCZ Vertex LE 100GB (sandforce)
XFX AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB
Seasonic 750W 80+ Silver (S12D-750)
Sony Optiarc Sata DVD/CD AD-7240S-0B

Problem
Computer won't power on. Case Fans wouldn't so much as twitch.

This PC has worked in the past, with the current hardware and other configurations. I have had no need to remove the cpu or its heatsink since the original install two years ago. Temps have remained favorable.

The PC had done this once before last year. Removing the PSU and booting another system worked fine. I stuck it back in and acted as if nothing happened until now.

Tried a different outlet, a different power cord, directly into the wall (usually attached to a UPS). The PSU boots another computer fine. Disconnected all power plugs except 8pin molex and main into motherboard. Switched BIOS battery, removed battery.

I used canned air to clean all internals (psu, pce, gpu, cpu, etc).

Disconnected all harddrives, optical drive, soundcard, graphics card, fans (case and cpu), USB cables, monitor, case connectors (usb, firewire. not case power button, duh), pulled RAM sticks. Also tried a spare gpu (nvidia 6800 gt).

PCMonitor hasn't shown any heat anomaly's while idle or under load. PSU never deviated more than 1% on any rail during any prior tests.

Only other symptoms have been anomalous USB issues. Ex:
My Kindle thinks it is plugged into USB 1.0.
USB Flashdrives copy files slowly (copies some then idles, copies some, ...).
Mice will randomly Double Click.
PCWizard showed USB devices as plugged into USB 1.0 but still said I HAD USB 2.0 plugs.

I tried many different Chipset drivers (Gigabyte, Intel) attempting to solve this, but gave up at least a year ago.

Since it did finally come back after sitting on the workbench for a few hours I can assume that maybe the CMOS reset needed longer than 15min to fix whatever corruption may have infected the BIOS. After the first power failure last year I have left the BIOS at default settings. This problem started from a cold boot. The system had been shut off all night (from the UPS).

What could make a system that is just a motherboard with a cpu+fan plugged into a PSU not even twitch? Why did it finally just work after a few hours sitting on a bench?

Opinions welcome.
 
So you checked to make sure the power button header from the case was properly connected, right? I mean I understand this just happened one day after you'd been doing your normal thing.

I have a gigabyte motherboard too that has given me a lot of grief. Have you called gigabyte tech support?
 
I did mess with those cables before ripping out parts. I must've removed and reinserted the psu mobo cables at least 20+ times during troubleshooting.

I wrote to support first. I didn't get much to work with. About the best advice I found involved clearing the CMOS over several hours but that was on the tweaktown forums.

I did hope that the power on & USB issue were linked somehow. I tried to use the official USB test utility but never could quite get it working.
 
IMO just RMA it. They will send you your board first if you ask them and then you send back the broken one.
 
Does the motherboard indicate it is receiving power? Generally there is a status indicator that will light up even if the PC is off but plugged in.
 
Last edited:
Trust me, they do cross-shipping. I just received a cross-shipped motherboard last week. Call, explain your situation, they will give it to you.
 
I think your UPS is causing the problem.
Try to direct connect your PC from your power source.
You have check your PSU but you have not test your UPS.
 
My favorite thing about troubleshooting is that when you finally call and then you can't get a single issue to appear when you need it to.

$*&#$&!!!

So.
Anyone know how to stress-test USB ports?

@pchealth_2: "Tried a different outlet, a different power cord, directly into the wall (usually attached to a UPS)." Wish it was that simple too.

@allen5055: It nice to hear that you got them to cross ship for you. My guess is that the phone line is to their RMA staff & another dept is responsible for the tech sup.

@PersonalJ: No luck there. For some reason they dedicated four multicolor LEDs to indicate posting information so that you don't need a display to know if your system is good to boot and no visible means to determine whether power is being received from the wall. My MSI board has an odd USB bracket with LEDs to show the same thing but the board itself has what you mention. So go figure.
 
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