Zero3X Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 About 4 years ago I bought an Asus M4A785TD-M Evo motherboard to go with my AMD Phenom Quad Core CPU, Sapphire HD5770, 4GB of Corsair XMS3 RAM and Corsair 950W PSU. When I first got it and put it together everything worked well - for about 4 months when the ethernet port on the motherboard stopped working. I really couldn't be bothered to send it back so I put in a spare ethernet card I had lying around. About a year in I decided to clean out the PC. The graphics card was blocking direct access to the rear fan so I took it out and proceeded to clean. Upon putting the graphics card back in I found it I wasn't getting any video. So I tried moving it about a bit but got nowhere. I then remember removing the graphics card completely and trying the motherboard's display. That didn't work so I out the graphics card back in, moved it about a bit and eventually got it working. I think I went through this same motion once before. Anyway, today I decided to move all the components into a new case. I placed everything in and connected the monitor to the graphics card. No display. I tried reseating the graphics card and still no display. There's no display on the motherboard's display either. Both the 4 pin power connector and the larger power connector (16 pin?) are in place and have been reseated quite a few times. I've tried 4 separate sticks of RAM in various slots and that didn't work. I don't have a motherboard speaker so can't tell if it's posting or not but I have tried logging in to windows blind a few times and I dont get the logon sound playing. I've also tried the above again after resetting the CMOS. I also just noticed that my keyboard and mouse aren't receiving power after turning the PC on - the optical mouse's LED isn't on and the caps/num lock LED of the keyboard doesn't work. I've tried various USB ports on the back and they didn't work. When I connected the mouse to the front USB of the case the optical LED flashes on for a second and then no more. So, is my motherboard borked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scootstah Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Do you have a PS/2 keyboard? If so, plug it in and boot up. If the numpad, capslock, and scrolllock keys all flash once then it has POSTed. When you installed the motherboard, did you use the brass standoffs on the motherboard tray? Did you make sure to only place them where there was a corresponding mounting hole in the motherboard? If you put one where there is no mounting hole, you will be grounding out the motherboard and it won't work properly. Does the video card need power? Did you plug that in? Are all the fans turning (especially the CPU)? Does the CPU heatsink appear to be seated properly? Just to be clear, you plugged in the 20+4 pin ATX connector (the big brick), as well as the standalone 4/8 pin CPU power, correct? They are not on the same connector, the 4/8 pin (if you even have it, which you should) will be located near the CPU socket. EDIT: Also, closely inspect all of the capacitors on the motherboard. They should be perfectly cylindrical, with a flat top. If any of them are bulging, or leaking it could explain the problem. Check the surrounding area of the capacitors for a brownish sticky residue, which would be a sign of a leaking electrolytic fluid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero3X Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 I don't have a PS/2 keyboard to hand :/ The motherboard is raised from the case and no part of the case is touching the motherboard at all. I've also tried booting up with the motherboard suspended on 4 cardboard pillars as a last resort - that didn't work. Video card is powered with a 4pin PCI connector. CPU fan as well as all other fans are turning. The CPU heatsink appears to be seated properly. Yep, the 20 pin connector and the 4 pin CPU power are plugged in. The motherboard's power status light is also illuminated. I can't see any leaking fluid or feel any bulges on the top of the capacitors (on the motherboard or the graphics card). I should also mention that there is no voltage selection switch on my power supply so that isn't causing a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scootstah Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Have you tried resetting the BIOS? To do that... 1. Unplug the powersupply, or switch it off 2. Move the jumper over 1 pin and wait 10-15 seconds, then move it back to the original position (or) Remove the CMOS battery and wait 10-15 seconds, then replace it This image shows both the CMOS battery and the jumper: Also, try removing all non-essential devices connected to the PC. This means all USB devices (except for a keyboard), the floppy drive (if you have one), any optical drives, any hard drives, sound cards, ethernet cards, etc. Remove anything that isn't required to boot the PC and get a visual display. I would recommend using the onboard video out for trouble shooting, just because it removes a variable. If none of the above yields any results, unfortunately you'll have to find some spare parts to test things. It is unlikely to be the RAM, because usually bad RAM will at least power on, though not always. It is even more unlikely that all sticks of RAM are bad, and unable to boot from any slots. So, therefore it is most likely either a faulty CPU or a faulty motherboard, and I'm going to lean towards the motherboard. Usually if the CPU is bad, it will power off again. One of the best things you can do is go buy a motherboard speaker. They're very cheap, and should be available at Best Buy or Radio shack or something like that. It is important to know if there are any beep codes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero3X Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 Yep, I have reset the BIOS and tried everything I've already tried again ealier today - and after that didn't work I removed the BIOS battery for an hour, put it back in and then tried everything a third time. I've removed everything and tried to boot, that didn't work. I'm also not getting any signal from the built in DVI or VGA ports. It's definatley not the monitor because it works fine displaying input from my backup PC. I've tried a different power supply and still didn't get anywhere. I also tried the RAM in my backup PC and all works well. I might just bite the bullet and buy another motherboard - I've had my suspicions that this one was a little bit faulty since day one. Thanks for all ya help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scootstah Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Worst case scenario is it's NOT the motherboard, and you just get a refund. I don't know where you live, but I'm from USA and always use http://newegg.com for stuff. I'm pretty certain you can return for a refund within a small window of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero3X Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 I'm from the UK so i bought it from overclockers.co.uk. I'm well outside of their returns policy as well as Asus' 3 year warranty. So I'm just going to hope it is the motherboard and buy a new one - I actually don't see how it could be anything else; the in built graphics don't work, the USB ports aren't supplying any power and a grounding issue has pretty much been ruled out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kicken Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Have you checked the Power Supply to make sure it's working properly? If it's not providing enough power or unstable power it might be causing issues, any may just ruin any new equipment you might get later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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