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Is my motherboard toasted?

Joined
Feb 11, 2016
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Hey guys. So, I'm building a lower consumption pc for a pfsense router. The build is done, tested it last night, went through some configuring and did a laht system to power it off, and disconnected everything from the wall. This morning, I thought let me try to finish the configuring, but it doesn't want to turn on. I have a pico psu and a 100W power supply, used for LED strips, but it was never actually used. I have the same setup used for my NAS build, and it works fine. This build only has 2 RAM modules and an SSD, so it's not power thirsty.
I tried resetting CMOS, taking out the ram memory, tried a different PSU, from my PC, different power cable, different CMOS battery.
The weird thing is, that the same scenario happened to me last year when I was bulding that NAS. The motherboard just died. I ended up buying a new one. So, now I want to know what the heck is going on?! Is it the pico psu that's creating me issues?! Because it's the only thing common to these 2 builds that had the same issue.
And what could happen during the night?! Or could it be that the pluging in the power cord that toasted the motherboard?

 

cnmcdee

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Joined
Nov 26, 2022
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2 Isolation points - First make sure that power is supplied (and that voltage is not under rating due to overcurrent)
Secondly is your power switch actually hooked to the right pins? Remember without this 'call-for-power' the powersupply does not actually turn on. In the case of a pico psu I have no idea.
Check capacitors for hot / swelling and if so carefully check voltage across it - it should not be zero.

You should get at least a 'led on' on the motherboard before call for power.

Thirdly and I was caught on this - the CPU has it's own power connection separate from the motherboard - without hooking that up you get no response. The very old 24 pin was sufficient in the day but now the motherboards require a second power feed that goes direct to the CPU. 4 pin small, 6 pin normal, sometimes you get the dual 4 pin or 8 pin hookup and it's close to the CPU on the motherboard.

Also since you roll-your-own this tool is a must
ATX Power supply Tester is a $25 tool from amazon and it has a in-out connection.
It's very good in that you can tell under load if your powersupply is browning (12 V becomes 11V, and 5V becomes 4v) which means the current draw for the system is overloading the powersupply.
 
Joined
Feb 11, 2016
Messages
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1. Yes, there is 12.3V on the input of the pico PSU.
2. Yes, the power switch is connected: https://prnt.sc/qksDSuGXsQdg
As I said, the build worked for couple of hours before I had to shut it down, and go to sleep.

And about the CPU 4pin connector, here it is: https://prnt.sc/-kqBbiGp90bv

And about the PSU tester...this setup shouldn't consume more than 10W of power, at most. It's a J1900 CPU, and SSD and 2 RAM sticks. And as I said, I even tried it with a full ATX power supply, no luck.
 
D

Deleted member 185158

Guest
Hey guys. The motherboard just died. I ended up buying a new one.
And what could happen during the night?!
Like you've been through the ropes, a new motherboard sounds like a good idea!

Anything could happen over night really. Who's to really know. Could be the board warms and cools and might flex cracking solder joints. Could be just poor motherboard design choice. Power surge. Bad capacitor. Cat rubbed on it, some static discharge. Toss up really.
 
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