▷ Bad motherboard symptoms (tips and tricks)?

The truth is that discovering the symptoms of a damaged motherboard is a fairly random task and difficult to carry out if we do not follow an order or a methodology. In addition, some basic knowledge of hardware and errors that may appear are required. In this article we will try to explain, in the best way that we can, how to proceed in the face of a problem of this type on our PC.

Index of contents

Most important parts of a motherboard

Let's start by doing a quick review of the parts that make up a motherboard. As you may know, the motherboard is a complex electronic circuit that is responsible for interconnecting all the components of a computer. There is no peripheral, hardware or hard disk that does not pass through the motherboard, through its power lines through which all the data that will go to the main component, which is the processor, circulates.

Precisely because of its complexity and the number of elements, it is quite difficult to find the specific problem you may have, however, the solution is almost always simplified: buy a new one.

Connected electronic components and peripherals will be in all these marked areas, and each of them will also be susceptible to having a fault, and for this reason locating a fault on the board becomes more complicated.

How to know when a motherboard is broken (or component)

Giving a concrete explanation to this matter is quite complex. In fact, the longer you spend your life in computing, the greater variety of failures and problems you discover, the more you find them more extravagant and with the strangest behavior. Let's try to cite the most frequent:

You touch the power button and the PC won't start

• Possible cause: power supply, poorly connected start

The PC starts up, but nothing appears on the screen

• Possible cause: BIOS unconfigured, monitor broken or disconnected, graphics card

The PC starts up, but nothing appears on the screen and beeps are heard

• Possible cause: faulty or poorly connected component: CPU, RAM, HDD

The Post Screen does not finish passing and shows a message on the screen

• Possible cause: defective component, CPU fan disconnected, BIOS unconfigured

Hard drive, keyboard, mouse is not detected and PC does not finish booting

• Possible cause: faulty peripheral, faulty connector or incompatibility

The PC starts up, but after a while it shuts down or restarts

• Possible cause: high heat, power supply

Before I finish booting, a blue screen comes out

• Possible cause: RAM memory error, system error, hard disk error

The computer starts up, but there is no image or streaks appear on the screen

• Possible cause: badly connected or broken graphics card, broken monitor

When connecting a USB the computer shuts down or restarts

• Possible cause: power shunt to chassis, poor insulation, bad USB

Well, right now we do not remember more cases in which the end result is an error in the motherboard or, attention, in the components and peripherals connected to it. Later we will try to see all these failures and the possible solutions in the different steps to follow.

Failure of the motherboard or other components?

This is the next question that you will have to ask yourself. The truth is that it is difficult for a motherboard to break "suddenly", by this we mean that, if it is installed in our chassis and we have not accessed the interior to install anything new, or perform thorough cleaning, it is quite difficult it to break. Of course, unless it is a very cheap motherboard, from an unknown or old brand, although there are always exceptions.

At this point, what would you do? Well, the normal thing will be to test each of the peripherals and components that are connected to the motherboard in another computer beforehand, or directly test the motherboard with other components. These are the components that can provoke the behaviors that we have mentioned before:

• Processor RAM memory Hard drive and SSD drives Graphics card Motherboard battery Power supply Chassis USB connectors, flash drives or peripherals Any other unidentified objects that we have connected to the board

These are the possible components that are always connected to a motherboard and the truth is that they will almost always be the ones that fail or cause the motherboard to fail.

Steps to locate symptoms of a broken motherboard

Imagine all the problems that can happen with so many peripherals connected to our motherboard, so the first thing we will have to do is be sure that it is indeed the motherboard, so we will try to see all the steps to follow until isolating the problem.

If the computer does not turn on

1. Possibly the failure is from the power supply. Verify that any lights on the PC come on, on the motherboard, chassis, or whatever, if nothing comes on then remove the power supply and try another that you know is working fine. If lights are on, verify that the starter connectors are installed.

Inspect the physical components of the board

It is never unnecessary to open our PC and verify in detail the appearance of our motherboard and other components. If it is a plate of dubious quality and very cheap, it is possible that some component has burned, either because it is old or because of the heat.

1. Check the capacitors: they are small cylinders quite visible and located in the VRM of the board. Check that they are not inflated or detached from the plate. These elements are easy to change, due to their accessible size. Check chokes and power connectors: the chokes are those squares that are next to the capacitors and are in charge of stabilizing the voltage that enters the board. Look at the back and in front of the plate, that there is nothing detached from it or something burned.

If it turns on, check that everything is connected

1. Verify that the main components are securely connected: the power supply connectors to the board, which are the 4 or 8 pin EPS and the ATX connector. Verify that the hard drive is connected to power and to the motherboard with SATA. Likewise, remove and reinsert RAM memory making sure the typical click is heard. If you have more components, check that they are connected well. Look, see if the starter cables are well connected. Use the motherboard manual to find out how to connect them correctly.

How to find the motherboard manual

1. Now try to reboot the computer

You hear beeping when starting. Look at the Debug LED

At this point, your motherboard may emit a series of beeps upon startup if the speaker is installed in the startup panel. If you don't have it, it's time for you to look in the motherboard case, if you bought it as a standalone component.

Again look in the manual how the speaker is connected, although in almost all the plates the way of doing it is perfectly indicated next to the panel. Remember that, in all cases, the white wire of the connector will be the negative, while the colored wires will be the positive.

At this point it is possible that your board has Debug LED, which consists of a digital LED panel installed on the board itself that generates codes with letters and numbers notifying errors and states. It is the substitute for beeping, so to speak.

Beeps code table:

Beeps	Meaning
No sound	There is no current, the plate does not turn on. Possibly power failure
Continuous Beeps	Power failure. Maybe some misplaced cable and disconnected EPS cable
Short and steady beeps	Motherboard failure
1 short beep	Memory upgrade failure
1 long beep	Slot or RAM module failure (if it does not turn on) Everything correct (after lighting)
2 short beeps	Memory parity failure
2 long beeps	Low / null CPU fan speed
3 short beeps	Failure in first 64 KB of memory
4 short beeps	System Timer failure
5 short Beeps	Processor failure. The one that interests us
6 short beeps	Keyboard failure or connection to this
7 short beeps	Virtual Mode Processor, motherboard or processor failure
8 short Beeps	Memory read / write test failure
9 short beeps	BIOS ROM failure
10 short Beeps	CMOS write / read shutdown failure
11 short beeps	Processor cache failure
1 long beep + 2 short 2 long beeps + 1 short	Graphics card failure
1 long beep + 3 short	RAM memory test failure

As for the Debug LED code table, better look at them in the motherboard manual. In all those that bring this system, there is a table with more than 50 codes, and it is also common in all manufacturers.

1. If when starting the computer you get a code or combination of beeps, what you have to do is verify the correct operation of the peripheral to which it corresponds

Do a Clear CMOS or CLRPWD

This is to clear or reset the defaults in the BIOS. Physically it is about placing a jumper or contact on two pins of the motherboard for a few seconds to reset the BIOS. This information comes in the manual of the base plate.

Sometimes the simple failure of your PC is this, and it is very easy to solve.

How to reset the BIOS of your motherboard

The symptoms of this failure are that the computer starts up, but does not show anything in the image, or simply the Post Screen does not complete.

Heatsink attached and fan connected

1. Verify that the heatsink is well attached to the CPU, it is possible that the CPU is getting too hot and does not allow the PC to start. Make sure that the fan is connected to where it says " CPU FAN ", otherwise the BIOS will not allow you to start the computer because it is considered insecure.

Socket in good condition

1. If you just put a new CPU on your PC and it crashes, it's time to take it apart and see if you've bent the pins on the socket or CPU in the process.

How to straighten the pins of a processor or motherboard

Isolate components

It's time to isolate the components to see if the fault is really with the motherboard.

1. Disconnect the peripherals and hardware connected to the board one by one. Every time you disconnect one, try booting. Start in this order: USB cables from the chassis, hard drive, graphics card, RAM, and finally CPU. Try to boot and expect a single beep. If so, the plate will be in good condition. Test each component on a computer that you know is working well, and that you know is compatible. In this way you will be able to know if with your components the other PC starts correctly.

How can I find out the compatibility of my PC components

1. If they all work including the processor then the problem is with the motherboard

Then isolate the motherboard

If you are already almost sure that they are a symptom of a damaged motherboard, do the following:

1. Remove the motherboard from your chassis and connect it to a PC that you know is working. If the error reproduces, it is clearly a problem with the motherboard. If you are surprised that it does work, check your own components better. You can try it out of the chassis and only with the basics, memory and CPU. Your chassis may not electrically isolate the board. This symptom usually causes for example reboots when connecting peripherals. Ask us in the hardware forum or in the comment box the problem you have if you do not find the solution.

Conclusion and links of interest

Without a doubt the process to decipher the symptoms of a damaged motherboard is quite tedious and sometimes it could even end our patience if we do not find the fault. The most normal thing is that it is a bad configuration of this or some component that is breaking, since a motherboard is not easy to break.

Now we leave you with some links that may be interesting to you:

We hope that this article has been helpful in locating the problem of your motherboard, remember to be patient and especially another PC at hand to test its hardware.