Source
r/techsupport•
Werehuman

After 3 hours of troubleshooting I give up. Can you guys think of something I havent?

Alright, here's the deal. I have a 5(ish) year old Asus P5E WS motherboard that I think is dead.

No POST regardless of hardware swapped. It will power on but doesnt do anything once the lights come on and the fans start running. There are no error LEDs on the board. I have checked the power supply by swapping the cable modules to different slots, which seemed kinda silly since the MoBo main power is fixed and cant me swapped.

Is there anything else I can try, or should I just call the board dead and wait the 4 months before I can afford another one?

Posted Nov 29, 2011, 9:24 AM UTC

217
MostlyJustLurks•

If you're sure the psu is working and you've cabled it correctly, then yep, it's dead.

2
kcvv•

Check the power supply using a multimeter . Changing wires from modules will not be useful if a complete power rail has failed. Better still if you can get hold of a known working powersupply, test with that.

Assuming the power supply is good, Connect the power supply to the motherboard with just the cpu and cpu cooler on. No memory as well. If you get beeps, chances are the motherboard is good. Start looking at other components in this order - Memory, gpu , keyboard, mouse, any other cards you may have.

If there are no beeps, either your mother board or cpu is dead. Check the motherboard physically for any blown capacitors / burnt resistors.

Checking beyond this is possible only if you can get a spare cpu / mother board. See if you have any computer repair shops around who are willing to just test these for your. If the motherboard is dead, one of them might be having a spare mother board around that they might sell you for real cheap as its a pretty old one.

2
WerehumanOP•

I dont have a multimeter or access to one, so that wont be possible.

I tested the components by pulling everything off the board and putting them back in one at a time, each time it never made it to the POST. It just powered up and never progressed.

Both the manual and personal experience says that if the CPU is bad the MoBo will provide a POST beep code, so I doubt it is the CPU. However, since the CPU is just as old as the board itself (Intel Q6600) then it is probably due to be replaced as well.

I'll check the board for burned components tomorrow... I've been drinking my rage into submission so anything requiring delicate motor skills and precise observation is probably a bad idea at the moment.

Taking it to a computer repair shop is, unfortunately, also out of my budget. I'm low ranking military trying to provide for a kid and a wife going to school... it's either a self fix or a scrap job.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check for blown components when I sober up a bit.

1
kcvv•

I've been drinking my rage into submission so anything requiring delicate motor skills and precise observation is probably a bad idea at the moment.

For a drunk man, that is a very sane decision! :-)

Good look. I really hope it's a simple issue that you can fix yourself.

1
MrPoletski•

Find the erase cmos jumper, erase the cmos and make sure it is not left in the erase position then try it again.

edit: you posted me a reply but seemed to delete it. here is the response I typed...

It should be in the normal position now (mobo manual will tell you the right position, may also say on the PCB). Put it into the remove position, wait a few seconds (may as well give it thirty, but three is probably enough) then put it back to the normal position. You might also wanna try taking the battery out if this doesn't work.

Do all of this with ALL the power off. In fact, make sure the mobo has been off for a little while first, the PSU being plugged into the mains but the soft-on not pressed is insufficient, unplug the PSU and leave the lot for a minute first.

It's a bit of a longshot, but it might just work.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
WerehumanOP•

Done. Didnt help. Thanks though.

Edit: Sorry for deleting my reply. I checked the manual and it gave me step my step instructions.

1
MrPoletski•

No worries, sometimes brand new boards require a CMOS clear to be usable. Nearly returned a mobo as DOA before finding that little gem out.

Also, a failed overclock will produce much the same symptoms.

Incidently, do you get a fan chirp when you hit power on? do they all run up or just fllick a bit?

1
WerehumanOP•

Funny you should mention the fans actually...

It seems they run much slower than usual unless I have my Access Card Reader (USB) hooked up. Once I hook that thing up the fans go back to running at normal speed.

I have never overclocked the system, dont know if that will help or not.

1
MrPoletski•

Ooo, you should make sure you have tried to boot without ANY usb devices plugged in. I did replace a non-faulty board because of that BS issue.

But the fans speeding up when you plug a card reader in? that's weird. Fans will run slower when they have a lower supply voltage. Perhaps plugging in the usb device gives power another route through the mobo to the fan connectors as the usual route is not getting enough juice for one reason or another.

1
slayerboy•
  1. Unplug everything
  2. Hold power button for 30 seconds with everything unplugged and then plug everything back in and try to power on.
  3. If this does not work, unplug everything and open your case up.
  4. Remove memory, video card, cd/dvd drives, hard drives, keyboards, mice, and monitor if you haven't already.
  5. Plug the power supply to the motherboard if you disconnected it, plug the power cord into an outlet and turn on. If no beeps, the board is most likely bad, however the CPU may need to be reseated as well, but don't do this unless you have thermal paste.
  6. If beeps occur, unplug power cord, put memory back in, plug power cord back in and boot. If no beeps, memory is bad and try a single stick at a time if you have more than one.
  7. If beeps occur, repeat step 6 for the video card and plug in monitor. If no beeps, video card is bad or PCI express/AGP slot is bad, this means the motherboard is bad.
  8. If beeps occur, repeat step 6 for keyboard.
  9. If beeps occur, repeat step 6 for hard drive.
  10. If beeps occur, repeat step 6 for cd drive.

By now, something should be eliminated as the culprit. Most likely, you didn't get very far, because it definitely sounds like something is wrong with the motherboard.

1
mrme17k•

Sure sounds like a powersupply.

A new PS is cheaper then a new MoBo...and if it aint that, well everybody needs a spare ps laying around. I have one of these to check all my boxes and crap. Works like a champ. bang it here

1