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Dead motherboard?

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hi all

i have a bad feeling that i have somehow killed my good old Gigabyte P35DS3 Motherboard. Suddenly my attempts to start windows 7 end with a bsod, and the same happens when i attempt to start up winxp, which is in fact located on a second hdd. I have also tried to start the mini xp version from hirens boot cd, but it ended with bsod as well... I guess this rules out hard drive corruption, what i have first suspected. worst of all, i am not getting any display output at all!

Here is what i did before the complete failure occured: i have fired up "mini linux" from hirens boot cd in order to partition my old 250 GB IDE harddrive which is residing in a coolermaster x-craft enclosure. I have created the partitions on the external hdd and started to backup stuff on it from my two sata hdds (which are in my pc case) - still from mini linux. the process took like two hours. Then i have connected two usb flashdrives to the x-craft enclosre, as i wanted to move data from one to another. Afterwards i have restarted the pc and wanted to go back to win7.

The first problem came when i was still at the boot screen: the post memcheck appaerently failed and the computer restared itself. Then another restart occured when trying to boot windows. I have realised that the hdd enclosure (with the two attached usb pendrives) was still connected, so quickly plugged out the cable from the usb port.
Windows repair mode was also a no-go, as it either hanged or gave me an I/O error telling something about an improperly disconnected external drive (which is actually close to the truth).

So i figured that the problem will be probably mobo related, so i have tried to restore default settings in bios (i was running a slight OC for like more than 3 years). And this is where the real misery occured: no display output on the monitor!! In fact i had probs like this in the fact (display taking ages to turn on or wake up), but i always thought it was a problem of my hp lp2275s monitor and its displayport connection. Now i have connected my old phillips lcd through dvi, but i am not getting any signal either....

Does any of you have an idea what could be wrong???

I will try to get an old pci graphics card later this week, so i can get a display output and run some diagnostics from rescue cds, but any help would be appreciated.

I am afraid, that the usb enclosure somehow fried some crucial interface on my mobo...
 

streetfighter 2

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post memcheck appaerently failed
Umm... Maybe you should try pulling out one stick of RAM, then swap to the other stick, then try another DIMM (and alternate sticks).

It's probably just a horribly failed stick of RAM.
 
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Check the RAM for errors!
Also try a different CPU and remoove all unnessesary components!
Try to boot up only with Onboard GPU/Keboard and mouse.
ou could also try to reset your bios!

Hope it helps! :/



ahhhh Streetfighter2 was faster!!! ><
 
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yes, indeed my computer acts just like it had a fried ram, but i am still reluctant to think that the ram is the problem:
- before i started to mess around with the external hdd everything was working fine
- in my experience ram dies very rarely. it is either dead on arrival or works for ages until thrown away

i have also thought that there could be something wrong with the sata interface, as booting from both harddrives and cd-rom failed. if nothing works i will try to add an IDE dvd drive to try to boot from it.

unfortunately my mobo does not have an integrated video adapter, so i will have to go with the PCI solution - i should have an ancient Rendition Verite card ditched somewhere, i hope it will work with my mobo (which is 10 years newer).

Thanks for the replies so far, i will report back once i am at home again.
 

Eric_On_Web

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unplug everything EVERYTHING remove the video card, unplug the hdd the optical readers and allthe memory sticks. boot up.. .if there is a regular BIP sound the mobo is fine and sending a signal that the memory is missing. If no signal then possibly the mobo or worse the cpu. But mostly the mobo since they are more prone to fail than the cpu itself.
 
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try to connect a usb drive and boot memtest and hdd/motherboard diagnostic tools
also check the manufacturers webpage for fixes and patches/updates :toast:
 
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yep try to unplug ram first and turn it on. does it beep?
if beep it sounds fine.
check the chipset, just turn it on for several minutes and check. if it warm its good but if its too hot or cold indicate your board in trouble
 
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yep try to unplug ram first and turn it on. does it beep?
if beep it sounds fine.
check the chipset, just turn it on for several minutes and check. if it warm its good but if its too hot or cold indicate your board in trouble


I dont think, that the computer would start at all, if that was the case! :roll:
 
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I dont think, that the computer would start at all, if that was the case! :roll:

he said it would on, but end in bsod and anything that done ends in bsod
so i guess at least the chipset should warm if it works
:toast: :toast:
 
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well...bsod can only be displayed by windows!
He should try to reinstall ans see, if there are anny errors!
If reinstalling works, then its not the harddrive ot the motherboard.
It would most likely be a driver problem.
Maybee heat or Hardware incompatiblity??? :nutkick:
 
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well...bsod can only be displayed by windows!
He should try to reinstall ans see, if there are anny errors!
If reinstalling works, then its not the harddrive ot the motherboard.
It would most likely be a driver problem.
Maybee heat or Hardware incompatiblity??? :nutkick:

yep, i miss something
it should be related to the hardware, driver/software problem or even bios setting
try to load default setting first, i assume your hdd is fine
 
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it seems that i wont make any further progress for a while, so here is the report of the first testday:

after several trial-and-error attempts i have realized the following:
  • system with ram module#1 does not post at all (blank screen, no beeps)
  • with ram module#2 system posts. tried to run Memtest86, which failed instantly. windows memory diagnostic run for a few secs, it displayed an error on the third test then hanged on the fourth - see screenshot attached

some interesting points to make on the behavior of the PC when started with ram module#2
  • on the first attempt my BIOS hanged when trying to enter "Advanced BIOS features"
  • after i did some changes in the bios and restarted, the Advanced BIOS features option was working, but i was getting some random corrupt characters on the screen when moving around with the arrows
  • when trying to POST with my HDDs plugged in, the computer didn't POST and my graphics card fan was running at full speed

So, what do you think what is the problem? It seems to me extremely unlikely that both of my memory modules failed at the same time. The weird behavior with the HDDs plugged and the bios screen corruption still makes me think that its the motherboard making the problem. But can a mobo die just partially? Could it be eventually a PSU problem?

Unfortunately i have no other memory modules or a spare PSU to do further testing, so i am now kinda stuck here where i am right now... Any idea how to move on is greatly appreciated
 

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Puzzler eh ? You sure the gfx card is OK ?
 
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Puzzler eh ? You sure the gfx card is OK ?

Well i am not... but i know that replacing it with an old PCI GeforceFX card did not help, so i guess the card is ok. Anyway how could a damaged gfx card cause ram test errors.

I did some further tryouts and i have realised that the ram module which is showing some signs of life works only in 2 of 4 memory slots. That seems definitely like a motherboard problem to me...
 
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Yeah ram slots died on 2 boards I own
 
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did they also kill the ram modules seated in them? because strangely both of my ram modules seem to be damaged and one of the dead ram slots never had a memory module...
 
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Hmm don`t think so. Can`t rly remember tho`. Can you test different ram in the board ? You might have 1 or 2 working slots left..
 
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just a little status report: i have acquired a 1gig memory module which runs flawlessly in my system. so it seems that the memory modules were what failed. i will rma them tomorrow and hope to get a replacement pair asap. i have tried the replacement module only in one slot tough, so i keep my fingers crossed that everything's alright with my mobo

thank you everyone for your contributions
 

streetfighter 2

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yes, indeed my computer acts just like it had a fried ram, but i am still reluctant to think that the ram is the problem
Right now I'm resisting the temptation to say, "I told you so." :laugh:
(I realize the irony in telling you that. :laugh:)

Anyway, I'm glad you got that sorted out, and thanks for keeping us updated on your progress! :rockout:
 
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