How can I tell if my motherboard is fried?

[Rachet]

HI, my son's machine was working fine, he turned it on (connected to an APC Surge protector)- started to boot - received message "CHECK POWER SETTINGS".
Went to the CMOS to check settings - cursor would not move so he hit the switch on the surge surpressor to shut the system off.

When I try to start the system again I only see the green light on the motherboard - no sounds, no led lights working on the case cover.

I had a different PS, so I installed the power cable from the other PS - no change.

I have a different case cover (testing Power switch on cover) connected new switch to motherboard - no change.

Trying to figure out what componet or componets are gone - any ideas on how we can narrow down which items are bad?


Could this be a bios problem?

All help would be appreciated ASAP - my son has to get back to college next week.

Thanks

 

[gcy]

have you tried without the apc.

 

[Rachet]

Yes, that was one of the first things I tried.

 

[GCJ]

Strage!

I had a similar problem, I was installing Win XP when the screen went blank and the MESSAGE LED on my case was blinking. I turned off the PC and it never booted again.

when opening the case, the LED on the MoBo was lit but there was no way to turn on the PC. After thinking ii over, i tried a new 300W PSU and the PC came back to life.

Check the MINIMUM power requirements of your son's MoBo. If it requieres 250W at the very least and you're using a 230W PSU, it will never boot. also check the the APC surge protector can deliver enough power to the PSU...

just my 2 cents....

 

[jsmckenna45431]

This is a long shot, but my old K62 did something similar to me. Try removing the RAM and reseating it. If that doesn't work, it really could be a number of things. Without being there to witness it first hand, it reall is hard to tell. Just remember when troubleshooting, start with the cheapest possible problem and work your way up.

Jeff

 

[Rachet]

The PS I tried was a 250W - I have checked to see if any of the componets have jiggled loose and they all appear to be seated correctly.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Rachet]

I forgot to mention that I plugged the system directly into a wall outlet so I could test the system with out using the surge surpressor in case in was defective.

The original PS was also a 250W unit.

The system has an Asus 815e CUSL2 motherboard with a PIII 733 processor in it - it is a little over a year old.

 

[CompKing]

Try disconnecting all molex conectors ( connected to HDs and CD-ROMs and floppy). Turn on the system and check front panel lights and fans. If fans run and lights are on, reattach one device at a time. If not, disconnect the case fan and reattach the devices. Still nothing, reattach all devices and remove all expansion boards and try again. Still nothing, the mobot is definitly gone. Good luck.