Question After overseas travel, system will not boot even with shorted pins

[smloader]

To begin with, I acknowledge that traveling with my pc without fully disassembling it was foolish.

When I returned home from abroad, it was clear that my pc had been handled poorly by the airline, as the glass side panel had broken and the pieces of it got everywhere. I thought that this was the extent of the damage, but then I realized that, despite the PSU I got overseas being able to work with US electricity, the pc wouldn't boot at all, despite the lights on the mb and gpu both coming on. I started checking connections and noticed that the gpu was sagging a bit, so I took it out and the PCIe slot seemed to be somewhat popped out of place. I tried to push it back into place which mostly worked (it's only a tiny bit loose now), and I moved my gpu to the other PCIe slot on my mb, thinking it would fix the problem. I also switched my overseas PSU out for my American one. Again, lights on gpu and mb came on, but no boot at all. I checked the power switch connection and even tried to short the power switch pins according to the manual as well.

To be clear, when I say the system doesn't boot, I mean absolutely nothing happens. No fans spin or anything.

If that PCIe slot really did get messed up in my travels, is that what's preventing me from booting, even though it now has nothing in it? I'm led to believe that it couldn't be the psu, since I tried both of mine that previously worked with the system and got the exact same results.

 

[Karadjgne]

File a claim with whatever airline handled the pc. It's toast. The motherboard will be trashed simply by the gpu trashing the pcie slot, possibly shorted out. That could also apply if the cpu cooler has stressed the socket area. Individual parts like ram, gpu etc may still work, but there's no guarantee if there's a short on the mobo as to the extent of the voltage damages until they are tested individually.

 

[smloader]

File a claim with whatever airline handled the pc. It's toast. The motherboard will be trashed simply by the gpu trashing the pcie slot, possibly shorted out. That could also apply if the cpu cooler has stressed the socket area. Individual parts like ram, gpu etc may still work, but there's no guarantee if there's a short on the mobo as to the extent of the voltage damages until they are tested individually.

As per United's legal page, they evidently absolve themselves of all liability, since computer hardware is considered a high value or or fragile item. Of course, this isn't shown when you agree to check the bags, and my bag had fragile tags on it

High-value, fragile or perishable items​

If you’re traveling with high-value, fragile or perishable items, we recommend keeping them in carry-on bags or personal items instead of checked bags. If you choose to pack high-value, fragile or perishable items in your checked bags or as checked bags for domestic travel, we’re not liable for the loss of, damage to or delay in delivery of such items.

Visit our page about high-value, fragile and perishable items for a detailed list of excluded items. For international travel, our liability is limited as per above.

 

[smloader]

File a claim with whatever airline handled the pc. It's toast. The motherboard will be trashed simply by the gpu trashing the pcie slot, possibly shorted out. That could also apply if the cpu cooler has stressed the socket area. Individual parts like ram, gpu etc may still work, but there's no guarantee if there's a short on the mobo as to the extent of the voltage damages until they are tested individually.

Thank you for the information. Guess it's time for a forced upgrade.

 

[Karadjgne]

The airline might get away with that for small items, like laptops etc, but their own policy also prohibits carrying most PC's on a plane as carryon luggage. Too big, and has glass, therefore must go as luggage instead of carryon. Since they insist on it going as luggage, they cannot then deny any claim.

If you chose to pack high-value, fragile or perishable items in your checked bags or as checked bags for domestic travel, we’re not liable for the loss of, damage to or delay in delivery of such items.

There was no choice.