How to troubleshoot Motherboard

[Team Leader]

MotherBoard Troublshooting links.



If the motherboard will not boot.

1.Reset the bios
http://www.faqfarm.com/Q/How_do_you_reset_the_BIOS

2.Check the power supply
http://www.ultimatepcrepair.com/news/18.html
http://channels.lockergnome.com/it/a...problems.phtml
http://www.worldwide-training.com/ar.../article23.htm
http://www.informit.com/articles/art...seqNum=12&rl=1

3. Make sure you didnt over tighten the screws.

4. Make sure that the mb standoffs are only in the places where there are holes. if not it can short the

Motherboard.

5. Check for loose screws

6. Verify in the manual that the Power Switch is on the correct pins

7. Verify that the switch works. You can do that by finding the pins where the power switch connects and then take

a screwdriver and touch both of the pins (dont worry it will not shock you)

8. reseat all cards and memory

9. Unplug all fans, cables and cards from the motherboard. Only have the powerswitch, powersupply and cpu fan +

memory hooked up. then try to post (this will eliminate the possibility of other things shorting out the mb)

10. As a last resort remove the motherboard from the case. and Only have the powerswitch, powersupply and cpu fan +

memory hooked up and try to turn it on. (this will elimate the possiblity of having the case short out the mb)






If the mb turns on, but then turns back off.

1. Check the cpu, make sure its not over heating.

2. reseat all cards and memory.

3. check the powersupply.

4. check bios settings ( you may be overclocking the mb to high)

5. replace the bios battery (typicaly when it goes dead your computer gets stuck rebooting)


Bios Setup


Bios Troubleshooting

Bios Checksum Errors
http://duxcw.com/faq/cmos/checksum.htm

Bios beep codes
http://www.bioscentral.com/
http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml
http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm
http://www.uktsupport.co.uk/reference/biosb.htm
http://www.amptron.com/html/bios.beepcodes.html

bios fuctions and what they do
http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=9


Motherboard bios download page
Asus http://support.asus.com/download/dow...Language=en-us
Abit http://www.abit-usa.com/downloads/
Albatron http://www.albatron.com.tw/english/service/bios.asp
Aopen http://download.aopen.com.tw/default.aspx?Website=US
Asrock http://www.asrock.com/support/Downlo...x_download.htm
Biostar http://www.biostar.com.tw/support/bios/index.php3
Chaintech http://www.chaintechusa.com/tw/eng/D...te.asp?DCSNo=4
DFI http://us.dfi.com.tw/Support/Downloa...YPE=MB&SITE=NA
ECS http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWeb/Downloa...uID=35&LanID=9
Epox http://www.epox.com.tw/eng/support.php
Gigabyte http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/Motherbo.../BIOS_List.htm
Intel http://developer.intel.com/design/motherbd/genbios.htm
Iwill http://www.iwill.net/support.asp
Jetway http://210.201.178.76/evisn/download/bios/download1.htm
Mach Speed http://www.machspeed.com/biosupdates.htm
MSI http://www.msicomputer.com/support/bios_result.asp
PcChips http://www.pcchips.com.tw/PCCWeb/Dow...uID=35&LanID=2
Saphire http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/support/drivers.php
Sis http://www.sis.com/download/
SolTek http://www.soltek.com.tw/soltek/down...ex.php?catid=1
Soyo http://www.soyousa.com/downloads/?language=English
Tyan http://www.tyan.com/support/html/bios_support.html
Tul http://www.tul.com.tw/global/DlBIOS....20%20%20Search

Other MB troubleshooting webpages
http://motherboards.mbarron.net/testing.html
http://www.auldfart.co.uk/motherboarda.html
http://www.duxcw.com/faq/mb/deadmb.htm

[Ramya K]

I didn't get the chance to read over the whole thing, but thanks to you for putting together a very useful one-stop source of this information.

Great Job

[ROMEO]

That's awesome dude - it'll hopefully ease the number of "my motherboard won't boot" threads