Motherboard damage?

[rddlog]

I have been doing quite a bit of research on overclockers.com and elsewhere and decided to build myself an overclocking-friendly system.

I purchased the following components at a local computer show:

Asus A7V133-RAID motherboard
AMD Duron 1.1 Ghz CPU
ATI Rage 64mb Video card
Turtle Beach SantaCruz Sound card
256mb Micron PC133 RAM
Turbolink CWT-350ATX-12V Power Supply (350 W)

I assembled the system and started up without any problem. I was able to manipulate my BIOS settings, format my hard drive, and install an operating system. All of the BIOS settings were standard, no attempt to overvclock. Everything seem to be working fine until I decided to tinker with my harddrive ED.

I was under the impression that the system message LED pins on the motherboard system panel were intended for the harddrive LED from the case. I had inserted the HD LED into the connector during assembly and, up to this point, the only effect was that the LED on the case was steadily on during operation.

Since I thought that the LED was supposed to indicate hard drive activity I tried to reorient the connectoir on the system panel. I intended to just turn it around but actually shifted it to the left and inserted it into the wrong set of pins. When I tried to power up again everything cut out almost immediately.

I flipped the switch on the power supply off and back on again and powered up using the case switch. Within a few seconds I started to smell an "ozone" oder and tried to shutdown using the case switch. Both the power switch and reset switch on the case had worked up to that point now neither does. I finally shutdown using the powersupply switch but I fear that damage had already been done.

Now when I try to startup the fans spin, the drives cycle, and then it just sits there. There is no video output and no speaker tones...nothing.

Did I destroy my motherboard? Out of desperation I disconnected everything expect the video card and got the same behavior. I even tried a different video card! What can be wrong? Could there be damage to the CPU, RAM, or PCI cards?

Any help you can give would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[Wa11y]

Welcome to the forums. I'd give you a personal touch but...well, never mind. That's a inside joke. Just...Welcome. Hang out, read around, and don't be afraid to ask questions.

I tried checking the Asus website for more info, but was unable to find that specific mobo (there were about four A7V-133s), and it didn't have any info about jumpers, so I couldn't tell you for sure what you did.

Look in the manual, and find out which jumpers you shorted. It does sound like you shorted something that wasn't meant to be shorted, and killed it. Try looking at it in a well lit room, both front and back, and check for any noticeable damage, such as scorch marks. Also try contact Asus support for more information once you find out what the jumpers were. Just give them the full story. It's better to be embarassed a bit and get a board fixed than to be a stinking liar that jacks prices up for the rest of us.

You can try to take it back for a replacement, but be honest about it. "It just died!" is not honest. If the store you bought it from won't take it back, try contact Asus about it. But again, be honest. Lying about your RMA causes higher prices, and makes Baby Jesus cry. And you wouldn't want Him to cry, now would you?

 

[rddlog]

Two questions. First...RMA?

Secondly, in your opinion is it a pretty safe bet that the motherboard is the problem? Based on my description do you think that there may have been damage to the CPU, PCI cards, RAM, etc.? Is there any way I can tell? There aren’t any visible marks on the board that I can see. I haven’t inspected the processor, is it likely that there will be visible damage on the CPU itself?


I have a nice new multimeter but at this point I'm pretty inept with it. But I have to learn sometime right? Is there any way I can diagnose the problem and pin down exactly where it is? I’d hate to go out and buy a new board only to find out that the processor is the problem.

I plan to go through and try the PCI cards and RAM on my other system to check for any problems. At this point though I’m a little gun shy though. I don’t want to fry a second system…at least not in the same week!

 

[Wa11y]

RMA means return material authorization. Basically, it means that you're returning the board to the manufacturer for repair or replacement. But you need permission from them first, and they usually issue you an RMA number. But first trying contacting their tech support.

I don't think it's very likely that it's a processor problem, since you said it was the HDD light that was going on. I doubt that would damage the processor in any way.

And there's no reason to be gun shy, unless you can't afford to replace any more hardware. Full steam ahead. You're not going to make an omlette without breaking a few eggs. You're not going to overclock a system without killing some hardware.

Try and find out what jumpers you shorted. You manual should have a list of the jumper.