Difference between revisions of "MotherBoard Testing"
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|Evaluate if the motherboard should be recycled || | |Evaluate if the motherboard should be recycled || | ||
;Reasons to Recycle a motherboard include: | ;Reasons to Recycle a motherboard include: | ||
+ | * It has one of the following socket types: Socket370, Socket462, slot processor (Pentium II), a dual SOCKET server board (XEON) | ||
* It says that it is a DELL motherboard. | * It says that it is a DELL motherboard. | ||
* There are no SATA ports. | * There are no SATA ports. |
Revision as of 12:47, 2 November 2010
STEPS | NOTES AND DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS |
Evaluate if the motherboard should be recycled |
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Mount the board |
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Check the CPU speed |
Remove the fan to manually read the CPU speed.
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Installing a processor in the CPU socket | BE CAREFUL!
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Connect mouse and keyboard |
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Connect IDE devices |
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Connect the power supply | Make sure the power switch on the power supply is in the off position before plugging the connector into the board.There are, potentially, 3 types of power connectors to be connected.
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Install a tested button battery | Button/CMOS batteries are necessary for retaining BIOS settings when power is absent. |
Clear the CMOS chip | On the motherboard, usually in the upper right quadrant and near the button battery, there will be 3 posts with a jumper on 2 of them marked CLRRTC or CMOS. On some of the newer motherboards there will be a momentary pushbutton on the motherboard marked CMOS. These perform the same function. Clearing the CMOS chip returns all settings to the factory default.
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Set the audio header jumpers | Find the audio front panel header and put jumpers on pins 1&2 and 5&6. ![]() |
Power up the motherboard and go into BIOS | The following is the power-up procedure:
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Configure BIOS settings |
Enable or Disable the following settings (this list is not exclusive):
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Prep Motherboard |
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Boot into OS |
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Test the following. Recycle board if any tests fail. |
If any of the following apply go to "How to Recycle", listed as the last step.
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Fill out keeper label |
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Shut the system down | Use the system halt icon to shut down.
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Boot from the SATA drive | Now we verify that SATA works correctly:
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Finalize the testing process |
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How to RECYCLE a motherboard |
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Notes:
- Reasons NOT to reject a motherboard on preliminary inspection
- Broken or missing memory slot attachment arms are no reason to reject a board as long as the board passes all the other tests.
- Missing PS2 ports as long as there are USB ports available.
- Missing on-board sound (resolved with PCI based sound cards).
- Missing LAN ports (resolved with PCI based LAN cards).
- Missing on-board video (resolved by PCI, PCI-e, or AGP slots on the motherboard).
- Missing PCI slots - as long as there are PS2 or USB, video, and sound ports on the board.
- Broken or damaged Northbridge, Southbridge, or SUPERIO chip heatsinks can be replaced as can any on-board fans.
- Power Up Troubleshooting
Beep codes during power on step: Power down the motherboard. The beeping normally means either:
- You have the wrong speed memory installed. Power down the motherboard, choose the next slowest speed memory card, and reboot. THis usually fixes the beeping problem.
- You have the wrong processor speed/FSB speed/L2 cache size cpu installed. Refer to the user manual for the motherboard for the correct speed processor. If no user manual is available try a processor with a slower FSB speed, smaller L2 cache, or slower processor speed.
- Make 2 or 3 attempts at fixing the beeping problem before deciding to recycle the motherboard.
The heatsink fan powers up, but I get no video. You'll know if you have video because most monitors have an LED lit power button that changes color (usually green) when the motherboard senses a video sync signal. || This could be due to many issues:
- The onboard video isn't working. Either use an external video card in the video card slot or use a PCI based video card and reboot.
- The motherboard doesn't like the video card you are using. Change out the video card - twice. It COULD be something other than a video card causing the problem.
- Wrong speed memory. Use only memory that has been pretested by Advanced Testing.
- Wrong/bad processor. Use only processors that have been pretested by Advanced Testing.
- Check for blown caps - again.
Help getting into BIOS:
- Check to see if the CLRCMOS jumper is in the correct position. Normally, this means pins 1&2 are jumpered, but this is manufacturer dependant. A jumper in the wrong position will sometimes prohibit the motherboard from booting.
- Look at the motherboard...is there an open 4 pin Molex connector? You forgot to plug in the +12v.connector, dummy ! Turn off the power supply, plug it in, and try again.
The button on the monitor turns green and I get writing on the screen||Congratulations ! You have a successful boot. The next trick is to intercept the booting process so you can configure the BIOS.
- Once the initial black and white screen appears on the monitor look for and indication of what key sequence to enter to get into the BIOS configuration area.
- This key sequence USUALLY involves hitting the DEL, F1, F10, or F12 key.
- If NO indication appears on the screen about which key to enter, start entering the above keys as soon as you get a green light indication from the monitor.
- Motherboards GENERALLY have a standardized layout as follows:
- I. Lower left quadrant contains the CPU socket, CPU heatsink, the 12 volt power connector (4 pin Molex), and all the external connectors.
- II. Upper left quadrant contains the memory slots, main power connector, floppy connector, and may have one to two IDE connectors.
- III. Upper right quadrant contains SATA connectors, SOUTHBRIDGE chip, RAID connector (if any), front panel header, USB header(s).
- IV. Lower right quadrant contains AGP/PCIe video slots, PCI slots, button battery (this can actually be in this quadrant or the upper right), PCI extender slot, and audio header.