Question I have a fatality motherboard

[MrStickyFingers]

It wont go into the ready to start phase where it flashes on and off. I know it has something to do with the usb 3 connection because I usually have to giggle it around to get it to flash and to start the pc. Please help

 

[Eximo]

Front panel or the back?

If it is the front panel USB3.0, unplug it from the motherboard. If it is the rear, go into the BIOS and see if those are on a separate USB controller that you can disable.

If you have a shorted pin in there somewhere, that would certainly prevent the system from booting. 5V short to ground will do that sort of thing. Only thing for that is to visually inspect the ports to see if there is damage, might be something you could unbend (with the computer disconnected from power)

Last resort, I have seen people completely remove USB ports from boards. Usually very poorly done, but it works. I would probably make a replacement attempt myself, you can buy USB ports through electronic component retailers, but you would need to know how to solder safely.

 

[MrStickyFingers]

Front panel or the back?

If it is the front panel USB3.0, unplug it from the motherboard. If it is the rear, go into the BIOS and see if those are on a separate USB controller that you can disable.

If you have a shorted pin in there somewhere, that would certainly prevent the system from booting. 5V short to ground will do that sort of thing. Only thing for that is to visually inspect the ports to see if there is damage, might be something you could unbend (with the computer disconnected from power)

Last resort, I have seen people completely remove USB ports from boards. Usually very poorly done, but it works. I would probably make a replacement attempt myself, you can buy USB ports through electronic component retailers, but you would need to know how to solder safely.

Sweet. The connection is front panel of the motherboard. That is where I have to mess with it. Almost like old headphones to get to the point where I can actually turn the pc on. So you think I should check each usb port on the exterior of the pc? All pins on motherboards connection are good as far as i can tell. Soldering isnt something I'd consider at first but I have done some in auto fuze boxes and fuze relays. I guess all I needed to know was where to look

 

[Eximo]

Ah, then you have access to a multi-meter and have experience with wiring?

If you have an old USB 3.0 cord you don't care about, chop the end off, strip back the wires. Take the USB 3.0 header out of the computer, plug the stripped cord in and Ohm it out for connection/shorting issues.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_3.0

About halfway down the page for the wiring pinout.

Though you could just buy a new USB 3.0 header, you would have to match it to the chassis if it isn't a standard layout.

 

[MrStickyFingers]

Sweet. The connection is front panel of the motherboard. That is where I have to mess with it. Almost like old headphones to get to the point where I can actually turn the pc on. So you think I should check each usb port on the exterior of the pc? All pins on motherboards connection are good as far as i can tell. Soldering isnt something I'd consider at first but I have done some in auto fuze boxes and fuze relays. I guess all I needed to know was where to look

Ah, then you have access to a multi-meter and have experience with wiring?

If you have an old USB 3.0 cord you don't care about, chop the end off, strip back the wires. Take the USB 3.0 header out of the computer, plug the stripped cord in and Ohm it out for connection/shorting issues.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_3.0

About halfway down the page for the wiring pinout.

Though you could just buy a new USB 3.0 header, you would have to match it to the chassis if it isn't a standard layout.

Ok so just to clarify... the problem is with the connection at the motherboard and header not any plug In ports? I'm contemplating taking it out because the header and cable only run to the one usb3 port on the front panel and I rarely use that anyway

 

[Eximo]

I don't know where the problem is, but usually it is in the port itself from user use/abuse. What I described would be a method for confirmation.

If it is just the one port that simplifies things a lot. Once you have it out of there you should be able to find a single USB 3.0 header cable on amazon or ebay. You could contact the case manufacturer and see if they offer replacement parts (though that would probably be the more expensive route)

Just leaving it out of the computer is fine as well.

 

[MrStickyFingers]

I don't know where the problem is, but usually it is in the port itself from user use/abuse. What I described would be a method for confirmation.

If it is just the one port that simplifies things a lot. Once you have it out of there you should be able to find a single USB 3.0 header cable on amazon or ebay. You could contact the case manufacturer and see if they offer replacement parts (though that would probably be the more expensive route)

Just leaving it out of the computer is fine as well.

Ok. Now how would I go about removing the cable. It seems to be glued into the panel that has the mic audio jacks power and restart switches as well. Just making sure I'm not going to cause more damage. Because right now the pc still wont start up with the header unplugged

 

[Eximo]

Well, it could be glued in, or molded into the unit.

If it still won't boot with it unplugged then that isn't the problem.

Typical troubleshooting would be to remove everything you don't absolutely need. I can't really say what that would be without a hardware list, but the basics:

CPU/Motherboard/1 stick of memory, power supply. Chassis optional. The system can be started by shorting the power switch pins on the motherboard with a screwdriver. If you don't have display capability on your CPU, the GPU is necessary to see the results (though the board itself can tell you if it is working if it has a BIOS 7 segment display, or a buzzer/speaker is plugged in)

Then you start plugging things back in one at a time and seeing if the system boots. If it doesn't, and removing the last thing you plugged in again makes it work again, you have your culprit. If it all just works, you had something loose that needed to be re-inserted.

 

[MrStickyFingers]

Well, it could be glued in, or molded into the unit.

If it still won't boot with it unplugged then that isn't the problem.

Typical troubleshooting would be to remove everything you don't absolutely need. I can't really say what that would be without a hardware list, but the basics:

CPU/Motherboard/1 stick of memory, power supply. Chassis optional. The system can be started by shorting the power switch pins on the motherboard with a screwdriver. If you don't have display capability on your CPU, the GPU is necessary to see the results (though the board itself can tell you if it is working if it has a BIOS 7 segment display, or a buzzer/speaker is plugged in)

Then you start plugging things back in one at a time and seeing if the system boots. If it doesn't, and removing the last thing you plugged in again makes it work again, you have your culprit. If it all just works, you had something loose that needed to be re-inserted.

Yeah the thing is i had it running yesterday perfectly fine.. shut it down for the night and this happened. But I cant even get the motherboard to activate. The other times this has happened I had to giggle that usb header on the board to get the motherboard to light up( a red pulsing light). But I cant even get that to come up now

 

[MrStickyFingers]

I'll try and see if i can order a new cable or fractal designs has any parts for the front panel