Motherboard failure?

[halo102]

Hi, I hope somebody can help me, Iv been building a PC and when I got all the bits together I switched on the power and the processor fan spun for a few seconds then died, now when I switch on the power the fan spins for about half a second then dies. Iv been told this is indicitive of motherboard failure but if i send it back to where i bought it (ebuyer) theyl charge me for shipping and then charge me again to ship it back if its found to be working, so I thought id ask around first. The motherbard is a PC chips K7 socket A mother board.

Also I just read in the post at the top of the page that a mother board can be 'grounded by a misplaced mounting post', what does that mean and how can I fix it?? Any comments greatly apreciated!

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by halo102 on 02/03/05 02:54 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[o1die]

It refers to the standoffs inside the case. An extra one will short out the board. All should line up with the mounting holes on the board. You can try a minimal install outside the case, with just the video card, one stick of memory, and cpu/heatsink.

 

[tweebel]

If what the others suggest doesn't work you might also have a dead PSU.
Also check if the heatsink is in the right place and the contact with the CPU is good.

 

[Crashman]

Yep, sounds shorted. Try putting it together outside the case, you can lay the board on a phonebook to insulate it. You can use a screwdriver to touch the "power button" jumper and start the system.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[halo102]

Thanks for the help guys, I can now get the thing to POST but when I try to install windows xp i get as far as a blue screen saying do you want to install xp? repair xp? or quit? and it stops responding. I know the keyboard works because it works in BIOS, do you think iv damaged the motherboard when I shorted it?