How to assemble a motherboard?

Bucketman

So I FINALLY got my girlfriends Motherboard back from ASUS, and now I need to put it back together. Problem is, she lost the instructions that went with it and all they have online is stuff about the GUI end, AFTER its installed. I was just wondering if you guys knew a site that has a good how to guide for putting a motherboard together? Thanks in advance.

David Blaine

You mean like, soldering chips together? Or plugging stuff in?

Bucketman

Plugging the stuff in, some of it is easy...but alot of it I just cant figure out without that nifty color map they usually send with new boards.

Steev

Are you sure they don't have the manual on the downloads section of the ASUS site? I found my motherboard's manual pretty quickly there just now.

Cycophant

I'm assuming you're simply talking about making all the proper connections to the motherboard from the various components. If that's the case, this is the guide I used to build my first computer a few years ago. It came highly referred from everyone on the AnandTech forums, and worked out well.

Needless to say, if your motherboard falls under some other category, the guide is no good. But it covers most of the motherboard types out there, and has decent photos if you're new to the whole idea.

Bucketman

yeah it appears they dont want me reading their pdf files. it loads then dumps to a whit screen

Bucketman

Well it all seems to work fine....except for the complete lack of video I get to show up on my monitor....any clues there?

tsmvengy

Err, turn of the computer and reseat the video card then.

Bucketman

yeah did that, I just get a black screen. I don't even get one of those cool boxes that say to check the signal cable.

Edit: Made sure it was grounded properly, and reset everything but still no go. I know the monitor works, any suggestions?

Bucketman

SO after much testing, I've found it is not Posting, I get no beeps. Anyone have any helpful ideas about that? THanks.

nexuscrawler

Go to the manufacters website and searhc fo the model of the mobo. they all have thier manuals online andthat should have a diagram of the layout of the conections.

Bucketman

So I finally got the .pdf file to open. Everything is hooked up perfectly now. But I still get no POST or display on my monitor. Any help would be greatly appricated. Thanks in advance.

I should note I just got the MOBO back from ASUS eariler today. So if theres a setting I need to mess with that I haven't thought of, please let me know. I tried a few different sticks of RAM and tried the monitor on a different PC. thanks

Daedalus

Questions: Did you use the standoff screws? You don't screw the board right into the case, you put these little standoff screws inbetween, otherwise you short your board and it fails to post if you're lucky (and begins to smell like hot dogs if you're unlucky).

Did you screw in every hole on the motherboard to the case (using the aformentioned standoffs, of course)? The motherboard uses those screws for grounding.

Is the power supply working? Do the fans spin? Is it plugged into the wall, and does the wall socket work? Is it plugged into the motherboard in all the right places? Sometimes there's an extra 4-pin plug to plug in there. Did you blow a fuse while assembling the computer?

Is the CPU in its socket properly? How about the RAM?

Bucketman

Out of all that, the only thing I didn't have where the Standoff Screws, I coulden't get them off when I sent it in and ASUS did not send them back.

Could I purchase them at any store like Wal-Mart? Or would I have to goto a computer store?

Edit: Yeah it all runs fine, I hear the HD spinning, the fans are all running properly, all my lights turn on, but the monitor light just flashes green, as if in Standby. Alot of places online say the Mobo might be bad, but as I said, it just came back today from ASUS, so I kind of doubt thats it. Thanks.

Daedalus

Bucketman wrote: »

Out of all that, the only thing I didn't have where the Standoff Screws, I coulden't get them off when I sent it in and ASUS did not send them back.

Could I purchase them at any store like Wal-Mart? Or would I have to goto a computer store?

Look for a hardware store or something, I guess, or a computer store, or the hardware section of Wal*Mart, or get on the phone with ASUS and bitch at them.

Do NOT plug your computer in again until they get installed properly. You could fry the board. I'd even disconnect the power supply from the board, just to be sure.

Bucketman

Yikes, I didn't think a few screws would be such a big deal, guess I got lucky that it didn't fry. Thanks. Tomorrow I'll have to goto Wally World and pick some up.

DrFrylock

Jesus, did you somehow mount the board directly to the case? How is that even possible, there's hundreds of little pokey metal things on the bottom that would prevent it from sitting flush.

Yes, you need standoff screws, and you need the little clay washers that go between the screwhead and the board. You can indeed buy these at computer shops like Frys or whatnot.

wenchkilla

That's really weird that you couldn't get the standoff screws off, because they screw into the case, not the mobo, and to get them off the case but not the motherboard, you'd have to disassemble your case and use really long pliers....
I hope we're all talking about the same thing here.

Edit: Even then they'd come off the motherboard. Maybe there's different types of standoff screws I'm unfamiliar with?

Cycophant

These are examples of standoffs. in case you're wondering.

RNEMESiS42

I thought those screws stayed on your case pretty snuggly? I've never had those come off in all my days of computer building.

Bucketman

Went and picked up some standoffs today, put them all in and still no go. I get no picture on my monitor and no POST.

Edit: Things I have tried so far:
Took out the Video Card and tried the onboard, still no POST or video
Tried a different stick of RAM, Nothing
Took everthing apart and put it back together, nope

I just took the CMOS out and am going to let it sit for a few while I eat then give it a shot.

nescientist

uh. You may have shorted (and thus permanently destroyed) your motherboard. In fact, the chances are extremely high that that is exactly what happened. I'm not sure if ASUS will replace it again, or what. It's worth a try though; the most you have to lose is your time.

Xenocide Geek

Um.

Worst case scenario is that you fried the motherboard. Did you smell a sort of sickly sweet, plastic smell, the first time you turned it on?

I'd say that this is more likely, though:

you mounted your RAM improperly. Make sure your RAM is in the appropriate DIMM slots.

Bucketman

nope, no smell or anything at all last night or today. Is there a more physical sign I could use to tell?

Xenocide Geek

I've never been witness to a murdered motherboard, so I couldn't tell ya.

Could you enlighten me as to how many sticks of RAM/how much RAM you're using? If you're using two sticks of some kind of dual-channel RAM, they absolutely need to be in the appropriate slots, or you won't get anything.

There's also a chance you did something to the CPU when you installed it. Did you apply thermal paste, make sure all the pins were lined up (didn't force ANYTHING, the CPU should fall into place if you're using a ZIF socket (zero insertion force).) etc.

Could use a little more info.

Bucketman

Well it already had thermal paste, but I put a little more on just to be safe. and I matched the gold triangles up(one on the MOBO and on on the processor).

I currently have a single stick of PC3200 512MB RAM. I don't think its Duel Channel, but I might be wrong, it dosent say on the side of the stick.

embrik

I'm sure you probably did this already, but I'll ask, just in case. The last time I saw a system not post and no display, it was an improperly mounted CPU. The installer (novice) had not lifted the little lever on the side of the ZIF socket before putting the processor down. If you don't do that, it won't be seated properly, and will never POST. The second to last time, the installer (me) was looking at the board upside-down, and I had installed the RAM pair in the wrong slots. Make sure to look at your mobo manual and see which slot it indicates you should use for a single stick. It's likely not going to be the first slot.

stigweard

It could be a dead processor, or you could have forgotten to hook up the second 12v line to power it. Or, you could have fried the board, or it might never have been the board but the processor the whole time. The first thing you should do is reset the bios by the jumper or by pulling the cmos battery for a couple of minutes.

Bucketman

The Manual, just shows the slots and the type of RAM it supports, not which slot is which. Lame.

I know the board was messed up before, it would start then say I had no Hard Drive. So I tried my HD in a friends PC and it detected it, so I figured it was the connection to the Mobo that was messed up.

Its getting power, all the fans/lights work fine, and theres a little green light on the mobo that tells me if its getting juice, and its on.

Just to be sure, second 12v? I have the 4 pin one and the bigger one (I want to say 18 pins perhaps?) connected to it.

Bucketman

is it just me, or are Heatsinks a bitch to remove?

Edit: took out the Processor, no bent pins or anything, and I made sure it was in properly.

Also found the part in the manual that stats which RAM slot is 1 and 2, so RAM is in the correct slot.

tech_hunter

Sounds like the board or processor is dead. This happened to me recently Computer was working just fine then it shuts itself off. I turn it on no post or video. Try disconecting and reconnecting everythng and still nothing. I ended up buying a new processor board and memory. So good luck

Bucketman

IS there any way to find out what it is exactly? I was considering taking it in to a shop to have them check it out, but $30 just to be told the motherboard i JUST paid $15 to have repaired by the manufacturer is bad again would really piss me off.

Mostly beacause I would have to return the Mobo again, and that would cost another $15.

If its the processor, I don't even know. I got the parts as part of a barebones system from Tigerdirect.com and it came wrapped in plastic so I have 0 clue of its even warrentied.

embrik

Check the board for blown capacitors and scorch marks. Look for blackened pins and contacts on the board and around chips. Capacitors are those little cylindrical things sticking up off the board. If the top is bulging up (they should be flat on top), it could be bad. (image)

Bucketman

No bulging capacitors, or noticeable scorch marks or anything of that sort. I might just take it to my local computer store and see what they say. If its the processor(which I fear it might be) I might just have to pay to get it replaced. (socket 754 AMD processor...thats like 50 bucks or so for a 2.0 right?)

nexuscrawler

Remount the whole board. Sometimes it's just barely touching the case and shorting out

But yeah the board or proc is prolly dead. Chances are better it's the board. They make tons of lemons.

Bucketman

Well is there anyway to be sure? I don't want to RMA it again and have to pay the shipping if I don't have to. Someone said Best Buy can tell you for free sometimes, is that accurate?

Daedalus

Do you have any spare Socket 734 processors lying around to test it with? An old Sempron, perhaps? How about your friends? Do they?

And Best Buy won't do anything for free, least of all computer hardware help.

Bucketman

nope, one or 2 of my roomates may have some stuff I can test with, but there anal retentive about their shit and on Spring Break.

Janson

tech_hunter wrote: »

Sounds like the board or processor is dead. This happened to me recently Computer was working just fine then it shuts itself off. I turn it on no post or video. Try disconecting and reconnecting everythng and still nothing. I ended up buying a new processor board and memory. So good luck

Same here! Had to replace my video card too. Was probably the fault of the cheap PSU.

Short of borrowing spare parts from a friend, there's no sure fire way to test which part is broken.

Bucketman

Okay so, the MOBO is working now. But I have the same problem as before. It will not detect my Hard Drive. As a matter of fact, when I connect the I/O cable, it doesn't even turn on. Whereas if I just connect the power, I hear the hard drive begin to spin. Any clues as to what's up?

Thanks.

iTunesIsEvil

The machine won't turn on if you've got the IDE cable plugged into the HDD? Could be a bad IDE cable. I actually had this happen at work the other day. My machine wouldn't boot at all, and after screwing around for a full hour we tried a different IDE ribbon and everything played nice. Alternately you could have a bad drive, or you could have done something to the board when its standoffs were missing.

Side note: I ruined my first mobo by not putting the standoffs in.
The guys at work had a good laugh about it though. They were like "Where's the risers?" To which I replied "The... uh.. what now?"