Fixing motherboards?

[IamDavid]

I have a few dead Mobos and I was wondering about how to fix them. Don't know if replacing the BIOS will help or not so help me out.

Mobo 1. MSI K7 Pro 6195 : Died when my power supply went dead, reset after reset finaly killed it. Now it doesn't even post, all the LED lights stay on red after turning on the power.

Mobo 2 MSI 6167"I think" : Bought it off this board and was trolled. It starts to post but stops right befor the RAM check is displayed. Goes threw video check fine.

Mobo 3 DFI PA61: Not sure why this one died. It doesn't post anything.

It would be nice if replacing the BIOS would fix these but I don't want to spend $20 a board and find out they can't be fixed.

Thanks, David

 

[IamDavid]

Anyone? Anyone at all?

 

[DSTA]

Don't waste your money. In my experience, BIOS chips are pretty robust and usually don't self destroy.

What about getting a RMA from MSI and DFI? The stuff you have there is quite recent and might still be under warranty.

Other than that, check for any strange goop/leak on capacitors and see if parts have come loose. I've seen a few mosfets and other parts become so hot that they 'desoldered' themselves.

 

[IamDavid]

I've checked all the boards and there is no damage to any of them. And I purchased all the boards used so I doubt if the warranties would be valid.

Thanks

 

[jamarno]

Measure voltages, including the regulator for the CPU core. Check any picofuses, which look like precision resistors (green or grey with writing on them). A shorted bypass capacitor can be hard to pinpoint because there are so many of them on the board. If all the voltages measure right, then there may have been damage to a chip output or input line (check PCI bus). For your MSI 6167, try to borrow a POST card to read error codes.

 

[DSTA]

And I purchased all the boards used so I doubt if the warranties would be valid.

Try Jamarno's suggestion and see if you can find the culprit by measuring.

WRT to RMA, I'd give it a try anyway.

Can't speak for MSI's US branch, but their German Office is surprisingly helpfull (or I was lucky) even if the return policy is supposed to be "distributors only".

Send 'em a polite and friendly e-mail and ask if they can help you. Cost = 0, and at least you can say that you have tried .