# Probably a dead motherboard -- Resolved: definitely RAM



## JohnG (Nov 1, 2019)

PC powers on, nothing at all comes up on the screen. After a minute or so, restarts. Repeats.

Any suggestions? Already substituted a different monitor, different mouse and keyboard. I will next try taking out all the cards, etc.

Setup:

Windows 10
Asrock mobo
SSD boot drive, recently replaced
Computer monitor hooked directly up to motherboard's outputs (no graphics card installed)

Is there a good way to test the mobo that anyone can think of?

Thanks,

John


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## Symfoniq (Nov 1, 2019)

A few thoughts:

Some motherboards have an LED screen that can show error codes. Does yours?

Some motherboards have a CMOS reset button on them somewhere. Does yours?

Have you tried removing and re-seating RAM?

Have you tried disconnecting the boot drive (and any other SATA/NVME drives)? If you could just get into the BIOS, that would would be a helpful indicator. I once had an issue with a borked SATA drive that wouldn't allow the motherboard to POST.


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## styledelk (Nov 1, 2019)

Unfortunately this can be at least 3 different things:
- Motherboard
- RAM
- CPU
- Cooling or Power

A bad power supply can power on, but quit providing enough power to the motherboard. Or not enough to the video card, if you have that. More often this happens under load, though.

If you have more RAM or another CPU around, swapping those out in a process of elimination is your best bet if there aren't LEDs (and you can't find the guide to the LEDs), since these don't have motherboard speakers built in anymore for tones. Last possibility is a bad video card, but I imagine that's less likely here.


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## Mornats (Nov 1, 2019)

Motherboards usually make a beep as part of their diagnostics if they have an issue booting up. Any beeps from yours?


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## JohnG (Nov 1, 2019)

styledelk said:


> Unfortunately this can be at least 3 different things:
> - Motherboard
> - RAM
> - CPU
> ...



Thanks for the ideas. Tried this:

1. removed all the RAM;
2. removed sound card;
3. removed PCIe SSD RAID card.

There is no video card.

Same result -- turns on (fans run, everything hums, lights on) then after less than 2 minutes, restarts.

PSU is Corsair CX 750; not very easy to eliminate this without (as you know) a lot of wangling, but they are pretty reliable.

I also tried swapping out a different boot drive, since about a month ago I replaced the boot drive with an SSD. Same thing.

Haven't tried swapping out the CPU.


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## styledelk (Nov 1, 2019)

JohnG said:


> Thanks for the ideas. Tried this:
> 
> 1. removed all the RAM;
> 2. removed sound card;
> ...



Removing the RAM will keep it from booting, but....
How many sticks do you have? Try with 1 stick, rotating through each stick. If one of the sticks is bad, this'll identify which.

If that doesn't change things, we're probably down to just the motherboard or CPU. And you're right-- way harder to test on your own if you don't have an arsenal around.


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## JohnG (Nov 1, 2019)

Mornats said:


> Motherboards usually make a beep as part of their diagnostics if they have an issue booting up. Any beeps from yours?



no beeps, alas.


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## JohnG (Nov 1, 2019)

excellent news -- tried rebooting with 1 stick of RAM and it did boot all the way into Windows. I will test all the RAM now.


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## Daniel (Nov 1, 2019)

You can test replace your VGA Card.


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## JohnG (Nov 1, 2019)

By process of elimination it appears that it's just one bad RAM stick. $70 to replace the pair so that's a lot less headache than the alternatives.

Thanks all! You guys were very helpful!

Kind regards,

John


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## styledelk (Nov 2, 2019)

JohnG said:


> By process of elimination it appears that it's just one bad RAM stick. $70 to replace the pair so that's a lot less headache than the alternatives.
> 
> Thanks all! You guys were very helpful!
> 
> ...



Great to hear!  Glad my background as a PC Tech 22 years ago came in handy.


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## VgsA (Nov 2, 2019)

styledelk said:


> since these don't have motherboard speakers built in anymore for tones.



Sorry to chime in, but my main computer started acting weird lately. I had one long beep and three short ones, which (according to Google) has to do with RAM. I moved the case itself (without opening it) and it hasn't acted weird since... maybe it just needed some love? Lol


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## styledelk (Nov 2, 2019)

VgsA said:


> Sorry to chime in, but my main computer started acting weird lately. I had one long beep and three short ones, which (according to Google) has to do with RAM. I moved the case itself (without opening it) and it hasn't acted weird since... maybe it just needed some love? Lol



Computers get jealous. Do you have a laptop, per chance?


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## styledelk (Nov 2, 2019)

VgsA said:


> Sorry to chime in, but my main computer started acting weird lately. I had one long beep and three short ones, which (according to Google) has to do with RAM. I moved the case itself (without opening it) and it hasn't acted weird since... maybe it just needed some love? Lol



Possible that one of the sticks just got dislodged a bit, and moving it made the connection better. But it's worth running a RAM diagnostics! Windows comes with a free one, but it will take forever: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-check-your-pc-memory-problems-windows-10


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## VgsA (Nov 2, 2019)

styledelk said:


> Computers get jealous. Do you have a laptop, per chance?


I do, but it's not the one that gives me trouble.



styledelk said:


> Possible that one of the sticks just got dislodged a bit, and moving it made the connection better. But it's worth running a RAM diagnostics! Windows comes with a free one, but it will take forever: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-check-your-pc-memory-problems-windows-10



Hope it's just that. And that's for W10 I'm afraid I'm in 7 haha refuse to upgrade until I'm forced to. Thank you so much for your help, please keep it coming!


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## kitekrazy (Nov 2, 2019)

JohnG said:


> By process of elimination it appears that it's just one bad RAM stick. $70 to replace the pair so that's a lot less headache than the alternatives.
> 
> Thanks all! You guys were very helpful!
> 
> ...



Most RAM has a lifetime warranty.


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## JohnG (Nov 2, 2019)

kitekrazy said:


> Most RAM has a lifetime warranty.



never thought of that! Maybe I'll have a go. I was just so relieved to avoid the nightmare of transferring all those files I felt lucky to escape with $70.


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## kitekrazy (Nov 2, 2019)

JohnG said:


> never thought of that! Maybe I'll have a go. I was just so relieved to avoid the nightmare of transferring all those files I felt lucky to escape with $70.



Lucky it was the RAM. I can still replace my DDR 3 RAM. If it was a mobo in my case I'd have to upgrade everything. BTW I thought you can now test RAM in the BIOS or via Windows.


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