Question Did i fry my motherboard?

[skidbladnir]

I messed up pretty bad yesterday when i wanted to upgrade my case and motherboard.
It started well when i put everything together and it worked perfectly. I ajusted some things in the bios then booted into windows no problem. But then i noticed i forgot to plug in the usb3 connector from the front pannel into the MB. That's where my idiocy began.

The cable was already zipped down in the back of the case so it wasn't quite long enough. Trying to plug it in anyway i bent a few pins on the motherboard side. The peak of my stupidity was when i went in to fix the pins while the pc was still running.

When i touched the pins with my screwdriver the screen froze and the pc would not react. I shut it down, fixed the pins, plugged in the connector.

Since then when i try to power the pc on i get no sign that it's posting and no video output at all. All fans rev up and light up, including the gpu and the lights on the MB, but i get no beep and no signal.

Does anyone have an idea how it might be fixable, or did i just straight up kill my MB?
Also i know how stupid what i did was, so please keep it constructive.

Thanks in advance!

MB: msi z390 gaming pro carbon
CPU: i3-9100F
GPU: msi gtx1070
RAM: 2x hyperx fury 2666 8gb

 

[adamgrant520]

id say do a good check around the the area of the usb connector and look for any fried resistors or burn marks, they will be hard to see so keep your eyes peeled.

you may also want to check other hardware if you have spare stuff lying around, for example if you have an old gpu try that, if you have another old cpu/mobo combo try those with other hardware.

Another thing which might be worth doing is trying to remember which pins you touched with your screw driver, then compare to a chart of what each pin does. If you touched a power and a data pin for example you may have shoved voltage down a trace which shouldn't have voltage.

 

[skidbladnir]

id say do a good check around the the area of the usb connector and look for any fried resistors or burn marks, they will be hard to see so keep your eyes peeled.

you may also want to check other hardware if you have spare stuff lying around, for example if you have an old gpu try that, if you have another old cpu/mobo combo try those with other hardware.

Another thing which might be worth doing is trying to remember which pins you touched with your screw driver, then compare to a chart of what each pin does. If you touched a power and a data pin for example you may have shoved voltage down a trace which shouldn't have voltage.

Thanks for the quick responce. I can't spot any burn marks, which if anything is a good sign for now. I'll try my old GPU and then the old MB. That should narrow down what the problem might be.

 

[skidbladnir]

Update:

I rebuilt my old setup, where only the MB and the case are different and it worked fine.
So i can say that the other components are working properly. That also gives me a backup if i bricked my new MB.
I still get the same issue after putting everything back into the new setup.

I looked into the pinout of the usb 3. The problem was somewhere at the 5 pins closest to the missing one. Quite possibly i connected one labeled SSRX+ to an SSRX- or either of those to one of the Vbus pins. I can only guess none of that is really great.

I'm still open to and grateful for any suggestions on what i can try next.

 

[gamenadez]

a pic would help..

 

[skidbladnir]

a pic would help..

I guess you mean a pic of the pins? I fixed the ones on my MB, so there's nothing special to see there.
I has to be somewhere around the lower 5 pins. If i remember right, i think i shorted the P2_SSRX- to the Vbus below.

If that's not the pic you mean please let me know.

 

[gamenadez]

so you cant use your USB 3.0 on your case with your motherboard anymore?

if the motherboard still work the one you short then you could just buy adapter for USB 3.0 and plug it on to your pci slot that available.

As for the motherboard that you fried, have you tried removing the cmos battery and holding down the power button for 10 second? make sure the psu is unplug. then put back battery and turn it on?

 

[skidbladnir]

so you cant use your USB 3.0 on your case with your motherboard anymore?

if the motherboard still work the one you short then you could just buy adapter for USB 3.0 and plug it on to your pci slot that available.

As for the motherboard that you fried, have you tried removing the cmos battery and holding down the power button for 10 second? make sure the psu is unplug. then put back battery and turn it on?

The case part of the usb should be fine. It's just about the motherboard.
I followed your instructions real quick and sadly that didn't fix it.

 

[gamenadez]

The case part of the usb should be fine. It's just about the motherboard.
I followed your instructions real quick and sadly that didn't fix it.

Dang so msi z390 gaming pro carbon is dead? wow that expensive mobo :O

 

[skidbladnir]

Dang so msi z390 gaming pro carbon is dead? wow that expensive mobo :O

Yeah, apperently it is. Well i mean the rgb still works, so it might serve as a colorful wall ornament.
I got it for around 190€ of amazon. I wanted to have something nice, that was ready for any upgrade i might make in the future.

 

[gamenadez]

Yeah, apperently it is. Well i mean the rgb still works, so it might serve as a colorful wall ornament.
I got it for around 190€ of amazon. I wanted to have something nice, that was ready for any upgrade i might make in the future.

maybe it still under warranty :O u could rma it.

 

[Butterflygirl]

maybe it still under warranty :O u could rma it.

Yeah if he RMA's it , he should make sure not to tell them that he was altering it or bending the pins. Then they wont help him.

 

[gamenadez]

Yeah if he RMA's it , he should make sure now to tell them that he was altering it or bending the pins. Then they wont help him.

Or he could just say it "DIED". It wont turn on and but only RGB working..

 

[Butterflygirl]

Or he could just say it "DIED". It wont turn on and but only RGB working..

Yup. Agreed as long as he does not admit to messing with it. Some companies will use that as a reason to not give an RMA order.

 

[skidbladnir]

Yup. Agreed as long as he does not admit to messing with it. Some companies will use that as a reason to not give an RMA order.

I'll try to send it back. Sadly the "no questions asked" time to return is gone, since i've had it lying around in the box for like a month. I guess i should have waited longer and do it properly and not with half a brain between tasks.

I'm grateful for all the advise i've gotten here. Thanks everyone.

 

[Butterflygirl]

I'll try to send it back. Sadly the "no questions asked" time to return is gone, since i've had it lying around in the box for like a month. I guess i should have waited longer and do it properly and not with half a brain between tasks.

I'm grateful for all the advise i've gotten here. Thanks everyone.

Warranty is longer than 30 days. Many parts are up to a few years. I would call give them your purchase month and if they ask if you removed a part or touched it, just say no. say it died and you just want to repair or replace.

 

[skidbladnir]

Warranty is longer than 30 days. Many parts are up to a few years. I would call give them your purchase month and if they ask if you removed a part or touched it, just say no. say it died and you just want to repair or replace.

I just checked. Amazon still just takes it back with hardly a question asked. So that's a lucky break. It'll be on it's way back tomorrow and i'll get full refund without having to talk to anyone.

 

[Butterflygirl]

I just checked. Amazon still just takes it back with hardly a question asked. So that's a lucky break. It'll be on it's way back tomorrow and i'll get full refund without having to talk to anyone.

Wonderful.

 

[adamgrant520]

I just checked. Amazon still just takes it back with hardly a question asked. So that's a lucky break. It'll be on it's way back tomorrow and i'll get full refund without having to talk to anyone.

Now just dont bend the pins 😛