Dropped something heavy on the mainboard. Now it won't start. Please help.

[The Tiger]

I just purchased a new Intel Atom board+processor combo. After testing it was okay, I kept the mainboard on the floor and went to fetch the cabinet (big, ATX cabinet) from the corner of my room.

Call it fate or coincidence, the handle of the cabinet broke in my hands, just when the cabinet was in mid-air and exactly above the mainboard that was kept on the floor.

After the fog of war settled, I found a few fins of the heatsink on the processor, bent. That's it. No cracks, not even a visible scratch on the board, itself. No capacitor is bent or broken.

But, woe! I powered it up, and the system doesn't POST anymore. Just the LED on the board glows, the PSU powers on, but no display to the monitor.

I tried another RAM, another PSU, but to no avail.

But what just happened? The mainboard, itself, is in a pristine condition (minus the fins on the processor heatsink). I checked very closely with a magnifying glass, but not even a single scratch that can be seen.

Why did the system fail? Could you please give me any tips to resurrect it?

Thank you.

 

[Cons29]

damages may not be obvious, you saw what happened (i mean we did not saw the impact of the drop), so most likely the board was damaged

 

[littleleo]

I just purchased a new Intel Atom board+processor combo. After testing it was okay, I kept the mainboard on the floor and went to fetch the cabinet (big, ATX cabinet) from the corner of my room.

Call it fate or coincidence, the handle of the cabinet broke in my hands, just when the cabinet was in mid-air and exactly above the mainboard that was kept on the floor.

After the fog of war settled, I found a few fins of the heatsink on the processor, bent. That's it. No cracks, not even a visible scratch on the board, itself. No capacitor is bent or broken.

But, woe! I powered it up, and the system doesn't POST anymore. Just the LED on the board glows, the PSU powers on, but no display to the monitor.

I tried another RAM, another PSU, but to no avail.

But what just happened? The mainboard, itself, is in a pristine condition (minus the fins on the processor heatsink). I checked very closely with a magnifying glass, but not even a single scratch that can be seen.

Why did the system fail? Could you please give me any tips to resurrect it?

Thank you.

Why did the system fail? ... because you dropped a case on it.
Tips to resurrect it... not going to happen, even if you sacrificed a virgin on the summer solstice it is staying dead, move on.

Most likely you damaged connections inside the motherboard, there is no way you can repair it. Motherboards are fragile that is why it says fragile on the box. I guess they need to add "don't set on the floor and drop a case on it" on the warning label too. Get a new one and I suggest next time don't set it on the floor try a table or your desk. Good luck now put that virgin down and move on.

 

[The Tiger]

I just purchased a new Intel Atom board+processor combo. After testing it was okay, I kept the mainboard on the floor and went to fetch the cabinet (big, ATX cabinet) from the corner of my room.

Call it fate or coincidence, the handle of the cabinet broke in my hands, just when the cabinet was in mid-air and exactly above the mainboard that was kept on the floor.

After the fog of war settled, I found a few fins of the heatsink on the processor, bent. That's it. No cracks, not even a visible scratch on the board, itself. No capacitor is bent or broken.

But, woe! I powered it up, and the system doesn't POST anymore. Just the LED on the board glows, the PSU powers on, but no display to the monitor.

I tried another RAM, another PSU, but to no avail.

But what just happened? The mainboard, itself, is in a pristine condition (minus the fins on the processor heatsink). I checked very closely with a magnifying glass, but not even a single scratch that can be seen.

Why did the system fail? Could you please give me any tips to resurrect it?

Thank you.

Why did the system fail? ... because you dropped a case on it.
Tips to resurrect it... not going to happen, even if you sacrificed a virgin on the summer solstice it is staying dead, move on.

Most likely you damaged connections inside the motherboard, there is no way you can repair it. Motherboards are fragile that is why it says fragile on the box. I guess they need to add "don't set on the floor and drop a case on it" on the warning label too. Get a new one and I suggest next time don't set it on the floor try a table or your desk. Good luck now put that virgin down and move on.

Good humour! 😛

Thank you. I got a new one.

 

[vagrancyx]

never put electronics on the floor! I've learned that lesson...the hard way.

 

[The Tiger]

never put electronics on the floor! I've learned that lesson...the hard way.

Yep! You're right. Maybe, share your story for us to be more careful?

 

[vagrancyx]

Had my old z68 board on a pad on the floor.. went to grab dinner and a beer. Had my boots on still..walked in the room..CRUNCH.

 

[littleleo]

I just purchased a new Intel Atom board+processor combo. After testing it was okay, I kept the mainboard on the floor and went to fetch the cabinet (big, ATX cabinet) from the corner of my room.

Call it fate or coincidence, the handle of the cabinet broke in my hands, just when the cabinet was in mid-air and exactly above the mainboard that was kept on the floor.

After the fog of war settled, I found a few fins of the heatsink on the processor, bent. That's it. No cracks, not even a visible scratch on the board, itself. No capacitor is bent or broken.

But, woe! I powered it up, and the system doesn't POST anymore. Just the LED on the board glows, the PSU powers on, but no display to the monitor.

I tried another RAM, another PSU, but to no avail.

But what just happened? The mainboard, itself, is in a pristine condition (minus the fins on the processor heatsink). I checked very closely with a magnifying glass, but not even a single scratch that can be seen.

Why did the system fail? Could you please give me any tips to resurrect it?

Thank you.

Why did the system fail? ... because you dropped a case on it.
Tips to resurrect it... not going to happen, even if you sacrificed a virgin on the summer solstice it is staying dead, move on.

Most likely you damaged connections inside the motherboard, there is no way you can repair it. Motherboards are fragile that is why it says fragile on the box. I guess they need to add "don't set on the floor and drop a case on it" on the warning label too. Get a new one and I suggest next time don't set it on the floor try a table or your desk. Good luck now put that virgin down and move on.

Good humour! 😛

Thank you. I got a new one.

Thank you I'm glad you too it in the spirit I meant it, good computing with your new system.

 

[The Tiger]

Had my old z68 board on a pad on the floor.. went to grab dinner and a beer. Had my boots on still..walked in the room..CRUNCH.

Whoopsie! Thanks for sharing, my friend.

 

[The Tiger]

I just purchased a new Intel Atom board+processor combo. After testing it was okay, I kept the mainboard on the floor and went to fetch the cabinet (big, ATX cabinet) from the corner of my room.

Call it fate or coincidence, the handle of the cabinet broke in my hands, just when the cabinet was in mid-air and exactly above the mainboard that was kept on the floor.

After the fog of war settled, I found a few fins of the heatsink on the processor, bent. That's it. No cracks, not even a visible scratch on the board, itself. No capacitor is bent or broken.

But, woe! I powered it up, and the system doesn't POST anymore. Just the LED on the board glows, the PSU powers on, but no display to the monitor.

I tried another RAM, another PSU, but to no avail.

But what just happened? The mainboard, itself, is in a pristine condition (minus the fins on the processor heatsink). I checked very closely with a magnifying glass, but not even a single scratch that can be seen.

Why did the system fail? Could you please give me any tips to resurrect it?

Thank you.

Why did the system fail? ... because you dropped a case on it.
Tips to resurrect it... not going to happen, even if you sacrificed a virgin on the summer solstice it is staying dead, move on.

Most likely you damaged connections inside the motherboard, there is no way you can repair it. Motherboards are fragile that is why it says fragile on the box. I guess they need to add "don't set on the floor and drop a case on it" on the warning label too. Get a new one and I suggest next time don't set it on the floor try a table or your desk. Good luck now put that virgin down and move on.

Good humour! 😛

Thank you. I got a new one.

Thank you I'm glad you too it in the spirit I meant it, good computing with your new system.

Thank you for your wishes.

 

[GradualFailureRecovery]

Uhm... if you still have the board you might want to experiment with it or have it repaired.
If there are cracks in the cricuits you could maybe reconnect them by melting them, using infrared or another heat source like a heat gun or an owen.

They should make the boards out of something transparent, that way you could actually see the cracks under light.