![]() Disconnect EVERYTHING else from power (hard drives, DVD drives, etc).Ĥ) Remove all RAM. If you don't have the PSU tester, swap in your known-good PSU.ģ) With the PSU verified to be good, plug in ONLY the power to the motherboard (20+4-pin and 4/8-pin CPU power, but NOT the 4-pin molex connection if it has one). Keep an eye on the "PG" and see if it ever reports 0ms or 999ms as this means it's a bad PSU (since this is unloaded it won't fail the PSU tester every time even though it will fail the motherboard every time). Unplug and re-plug the 24-pin connection several times. If you smell burnt electronics, keep that in mind if you hit step (7b) below as that'll means its the motherboard 99.9% of the time.Ģ) Test the PSU with the tester, if it's not beeping/blinking at you then it's ok (if you're using the one I linked). Specifically around the VREG (left/above the socket), Southbridge (below the socket) and Chipset (right of the PCI slots) areas. The dreaded "FF" POST code, or no POST at all (this fix is best done outside a case to ensure the case isn't shorting the motherboard):ġ) If you know what burnt electronics smell like, then smell your motherboard. X79 DARK BOOT C DRIVERA small flat blade screw driver (for removing the BIOS battery) or something equivalent - I usually use my pocket knife.įirstly, if you're computer beeps or gives any other error code, look it up and fix it accordingly, the guide below is for the FF error code or if the computer won't POST at all. One of these two is a MUST for fixing/testing "no POST" or FF situations If you don't have a PSU tester, then you need a spare PSU that you know works. It's reliable, gives you the unloaded voltages of every rail, and checks the "Power Good" signal from the PSU. EVGA all chipsets - Unlisted in their documentation (I've heard EVGA techs call it "Fault Found" and that it's a short) ASRock x58, P67, Z68 - Reserved error (same BIOS as ASUS, asuming it's the same error) ASUS x58, P67, Z68 - Reserved error (according to tech support it's a short) MSI x58 - This is the CPU and power check on boot (hanging here means it can't pass this check) X79 DARK BOOT C MANUALSPlaces it staying there is a problem verified from the manuals (incomplete list): Gigabyte P45, P55, P67, x58 - This as the last step of POST to show a boot attempt is made (Thanks to kiwiasian) X79 DARK BOOT C MANUALPlaces the error code is normal according to the manual (incomplete list): This is significant if you're using a very new CPU on an older board, keep a copy of the appropriate BIOS handy as you may need to re-flash your BIOS. Booting a motherboard with the BIOS battery out won't damage it, but it will erase all your BIOS settings and in a few RARE cases may reflash it back to what the board shipped with (seen this maybe 20 times total). I ignored high voltages on it once and lost a motherboard to that PSU dying 2 days later. It passing the PSU tester just means the PSU is "good enough" to get the motherboard through POST (the voltages can be unstable under load), but if it fails it is definitely bad. The voltages on the PSU tester I linked aren't perfect, but they're pretty close. PSU testers won't fail it every time, but if even it fails ONCE out of 20 tries, it's almost definitely a bad PSU. The PG signal is still pretty widely used on motherboards. I've seen a failed PS/2 keyboard make a computer not POST. I've seen DVD drives stop a computer from POSTing. Yes, I've had times where a motherboard smelled burnt, but it was still a bad CPU and the motherboard worked. This works for both AMD and Intel motherboards, but I posted it here as all my PCs are Intel and I can only put it in one place - the fix is universal though. It was a good job to get through college on, and I learned/found/invented a couple VERY useful tricks that I haven't ever seen posted about for diagnosing "dead" desktops. needless to say I fixed a few computers in my 4 years there. X79 DARK BOOT C FULLI worked on up to 40 computers at a time (I wired the work area myself), and we checked in ~8-20 computers on an average day - they were done on average in 1.4 days when I was a full timer (we only had 1 other tech, whom I also trained). I was the guy in the back fixing all the computers who's face you didn't see unless you had a really technical question that could stump one of the guys on the front counter (all of whom I trained). As I mentioned in my "Swedish Fish Theory" thread I'm a former Geek Squad agent. Hi everybody, I'd like to put my years of experience troubleshooting/fixing computers at your service (and for your sticky consideration). ![]()
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