[SOLVED] Came back from a walk . . . . . . .

[nbartolo7]

. . . . . . to find my screen completely dark and couldn't do anything to wake it up, and was pretty sure the problem was not the screen, so I hard shutdown my pc, and then on boot, the bios showed up with a message saying "PCH fan was broken, please check PCH fan". Went and checked what PCH fan was, and internet is telling me it's my motherboard. So here I am not knowing what to do. PC then proceeded to boot properly after I clicked on the message, but I cannot check state of MB fan because my mini-itx build does not allow me to have a direct line of sight on my motherboard. The only way I can see my MB is if I unplug everything, but if I do that, I won't be able to know if fan is working obviously because MB won't be powered on.

Any clues?

 

[Colif]

You can use HWINFO to see if the fan is running

Info - How to use HWINFO to track Sensor values on Ryzen

Download HWINFO - https://www.hwinfo.com/download/ when you open the app, click the tick box next to show sensors only, and click run in the next window, click on the gear icon in bottom right, this opens settings. On General tab, under polling period, set it to 500 and click the set button...

forums.tomshardware.com

should show just above chassis intrusion

At least if you had a window you could possibly see fan. On my Aorus X570, the fan itself is under my GPU so I can only tell its on via sensors or if I point a torch under GPU and look
You can see its heatsink below

 

[SkyNetRising]

The only way I can see my MB is if I unplug everything, but if I do that, I won't be able to know if fan is working obviously because MB won't be powered on.
Any clues?

If the fan is not working, you'll have to replace it.
Fan is located in central part of the mother board.

Remove motherboard from pc case, connect power supply (24pin and 8pin CPU power) and try to start it.

 

[nbartolo7]

You can use HWINFO to see if the fan is running

Info - How to use HWINFO to track Sensor values on Ryzen

Download HWINFO - https://www.hwinfo.com/download/ when you open the app, click the tick box next to show sensors only, and click run in the next window, click on the gear icon in bottom right, this opens settings. On General tab, under polling period, set it to 500 and click the set button...

forums.tomshardware.com

should show just above chassis intrusion

At least if you had a window you could possibly see fan. On my Aorus X570, the fan itself is under my GPU so I can only tell its on via sensors or if I point a torch under GPU and look
You can see its heatsink below

My HWINFO dashboard looks nothing like that. Weird. Anyway, I just noticed something. I have no fan, as I did not (could not due to ITX build) install the fan and cover on top of the m.2. Would that explain the bios error message? That particular m.2 is the one that holds my OS, could it be that it is getting too hot? CPU fan is blowing directly through the CPU heatsink though and seems to be reaching the m.2, so not sure if it's too hot or not.

 

[Colif]

Anyway, I just noticed something. I have no fan, as I did not (could not due to ITX build) install the fan and cover on top of the m.2. Would that explain the bios error message?

Yes. That is the reason you got the BIOS error.

Before installing the M.2 SSD, loosen the screws from the PCH heatsink module and remove the PCH heatsink module. Then unfasten the M.2 SSD screw and standoff from the motherboard.

you seem to have missed step 3

Press the M.2 SSD down and then secure it with the screw. Make sure to refasten the PCH heatsink module and connect the fan power cable to the SYS_FAN2 header to prevent the chip or M.2 device from overheating

page 16 - https://download.gigabyte.com/FileL...1002_e.pdf?v=23cfc4576c7861ec51ce161658374de7

Now you need that attached, so I don't know what you have done so that it doesn't fit now, but PC is likely to overheat without it.


The window I showed from HWINFO is the sensors view. When you start HWINFO, click sensors only and you will see a screen with way more sensors than what I showed here.

 

[nbartolo7]

Yes. That is the reason you got the BIOS error.

you seem to have missed step 3

page 16 - https://download.gigabyte.com/FileL...1002_e.pdf?v=23cfc4576c7861ec51ce161658374de7

Now you need that attached, so I don't know what you have done so that it doesn't fit now, but PC is likely to overheat without it.


The window I showed from HWINFO is the sensors view. When you start HWINFO, click sensors only and you will see a screen with way more sensors than what I showed here.

Thanks. To be precise, I didn't miss step 3, it's just that my super low profile cooler did not allow for the heatsink module and I just ran with it. Anyway, I will purchase another cooler I guess. Now, question, when I remove m.2 and put it back again correctly and with fan, when I reboot PC, will it boot up as if nothing had happened with my desktop items and browser tabs still intact?

 

[Colif]

Yes, it should.
if you on win 10, you might want to turn this off first - https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4189-turn-off-fast-startup-windows-10-a.html

 

[nbartolo7]

Yes, it should.
if you on win 10, you might want to turn this off first - https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4189-turn-off-fast-startup-windows-10-a.html

Yes I have it off. Why W10? Did they remove the feature or have it turned off by default in W11?

 

[Colif]

I believe its off by default in 11 but I may have shown you different steps to reach it in win 11, just in case. I think it depends on if its a clean install or upgrade, as if you came from 10 and had it on, it might keep settings in 11.

Its unnecessary now that most people who run 11 should be using an ssd/nvme and they so fast that they don't benefit from Fast Start-up

Fast Start-up introduced with Windows 8 when most people still used HDD as boot drives. 10 years later that has changed. So its lifespan of usefulness was only 2 versions of windows. There are other functions in windows that are rarely used now.. such as a fax machine and readyboost

 

[nbartolo7]

I believe its off by default in 11 but I may have shown you different steps to reach it in win 11, just in case. I think it depends on if its a clean install or upgrade, as if you came from 10 and had it on, it might keep settings in 11.

Its unnecessary now that most people who run 11 should be using an ssd/nvme and they so fast that they don't benefit from Fast Start-up

Fast Start-up introduced with Windows 8 when most people still used HDD as boot drives. 10 years later that has changed. So its lifespan of usefulness was only 2 versions of windows. There are other functions in windows that are rarely used now.. such as a fax machine and readyboost

How do you turn off readyboost? Never heard of it.

 

[Colif]

You don't need to, it will never run. it was from the days when people had 512mb of ram, not 32gb of ram. It will never enable on your system
You used to be able to use USB drives to speed up PC, but as I said... its ancient tech.

 

[SkyNetRising]

How do you turn off readyboost? Never heard of it.

Does Google not work for you?

Deactivating ReadyBoost for Windows 10

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