System: MSI Neo2 (MS-7025) Platinum Motherboard AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2 Gig Generic Ram PNY GeForce 6600 DDR 256MB AGP card SoundBlaster Audigy sound card 3 1/2 inch Floppy Drive (Generic) 40 Gig EIDE HDD- Western Digital 80 Gig SATA HDD not RAID - Maxtor 80 Gig SATA HDD not RAID - Maxtor CD/DVDRW Toshiba (OEM) 620 Watt Enermax PSU, Modular connections except MoBo. XP Pro with Service Pack 2 Bios is version 1.9 from MSI NOTE: This unit never touches the web and has no contact with other computers. Data loaded that may have Cooties has been scanned and tested for same before leaving the source. System Mechanic 6 is used for software maintenance along with a few test/screening programs. Problem: Removed original CPU (AMD 3000+, Socket 939) and replaced with the 4200+ mentioned above but it took awhile to seat correctly with some board flex involved. All connections checked prior to power-up, CPU seated correctly and Heatsink in place. When power was applied, all the fans came up including the CPU unit and video card, there are power lights lit on A: (3.5 Floppy), C: (40 Gig), and the 80s but no activity lights and no P.O.S.T. First shot: Reinstalled old CPU and rechecked all connections...No P.O.S.T....damn. Second shot: Installed new CPU again, disconnected ALL wiring and applied jumper to reset the BIOS. Installed all wiring and confirmed RAM was well mounted in place, confirmed CPU was seated correctly after examining all pins...again, set jumper to operation position for BIOS and hit the switch.....no joy, just the same as before. Question: Dead motherboard? or bad karma?
If it's not working with the old cpu and you are absolutely sure that all power cables are connected, including auxillary power that might be required by the cpu mboard or graphics, then the board must be dead.
LDee: Thanks for confirming my fear(s)! I needed a second opinion since I was too close to the problem to see clearly...that and I had never changed a CPU before. I think that next time it may be wiser to remove the motherboard from the case and work the mount on a good flat surface. Any tips on this type of brain-surgery for me? Or, is it better to dodge-the-bullet by buying a pre-tested MB+CPU combo?
Some motherboards are real bastards to get the cpu and hsf in without flexing a lot, it's not really a problem when making a new build cuz you can hold the board in your (clean, dry static free) hands and support the back while you put the cpu and heat sink and fan in. It can be a problem when you don't want to take it out of the case though, I support the board as much as I can with my fingers. Don't let this put you off though, just buy a new board and install the cpu and hsf before you put it in the case. Make sure you are static free and that when you hold the board you only hold it by the edges and just use a finger or 2 on the underside of the board where the cpu goes (on a flat uneventful bit, not on one of the pointy solder parts) when you need to support it. Not so great to just lay the thing down on a flat surface and push down since there are little bits of solder and stuff on the underside that could get broken off that way. You can have it out in front of you but just put one hand in underneath it with a finger or two for support where it's required to stop flex. Always lay the board on static bags when you are not holding it, and keep grounding yourself as you go. But seriously, don't worry, it's not very hard. I don't mean to make this difficult but the nature of mboards dying is such that I'm never totally convinced that it's actually dead unless I see a domed capacitor (which ddp taught me to always look out for now) or some other sign or sure fire way of telling such as testing it with other components. Can you see any blown capacitors on your board? The cylindrical capacitors standing up right, are any of the tops of them domed up? They should be flat. Can you test it with a different power supply? And are you 100% sure that you have ALL the required power cables in, such as the auxillary 4pin cable from the power supply to the mboard (I don't know if these are used at all in amd socket boards even), this had me packing my mboard up for a return in the past before someone alerting me to what was wrong, the symptoms sound perfect for an auxillary power cable not in somewhere. If all these things can be satisified then I guess you bent it a bit too much, I hope it's still under warranty.
Preliminary autopsy revealed no caps with signs of swelling, each is impressed with a cross or trilinear indentation that would plainly stand-out as lifted. Nose test did not find any unusual funk from factory-installed-smoke release. I agree with your direction here, a retest with another PSU might be a good idea. This Enermax unit is the second one I got, the first was returned after less than 30 days of mild use (liked the modular idea..I don't know, maybe too much blotter back when...) and the second one seems to be Ok. I shamelessly tried to convince the merchant to upgrade me for the inconvenience but they just wouldn't take pity on my plight...makes me wonder why I don't see this PSU advertised much???? I thought I was on top of the static charge situation through the grounding I was doing, perhaps I was not doing enough in my desire to raise my unit's IQ. I do have a Brand X PSU that can be used to test the board in a bare-bones configuration and this will be undertaken tomorrow after work. Can such a thing be done on the tabletop sans case? Do you think that some twisted engineer uses the case to ground out their microcircuits? I would tend to think so but I'm guessing here.
Opps...warranty long dead. This was not a new build but a "Flowers for Algernon" sort of effort...this unit was born a couple of years ago and upgraded as time and cash-flow allowed.
Lol. Yes you can test it all out on the table top. It's possible that you damaged it with static but very unlikely. It will be grounded via the psu.
