Computer Problems 3: Electric Boogaloo · 9:42pm Jul 16th, 2016
I need some advice on whether or not a solution is a good idea.
So, my new computer stopped working today, in what appeared to be exactly the same way as the last one.
"Not again!" I cried.
So, I pulled out my motherboard, but before totally disassembling it, I decided to breadboard it.
It worked.
For those of you who don't know what breadboarding is, it is where you take a motherboard that isn't set into your computer case, but does have everything necessary for it to post, and you run it outside of the case while sitting on an anti-static bag.
So... huzzah?
Stick it back into the computer. Doesn't work.
So, I'm 99% sure now that the thing is shorting out on the freaking case somehow. Problem is, there are the right number of standoffs, and it isn't making obvious contact with the back of the case... this makes me think that one of the standoffs is touching something it shouldn't be, or that the back of the motherboard is coming into contact with the metal case behind it where I can't see it doing so.
Now, some Googling found some enterprising fellow who encountered this same problem. Their solution?
Stick an anti-static bag underneath the motherboard, with holes for the stand-offs, then wrap the stand-offs with electrical tape.
Janky, but it seems ruthlessly logical.
Any thoughts about whether or not this is a good solution?
EDIT: Well, after some (okay, a lot) of effort and electrical tape, the thing works. And all I had to do was cover the inside of the case with half a roll of electrical tape!
Could work, although if the bag shifts the problem might reoccur. Would giving the inside of your case a thorough dose of spraypaint work? I don't know whether spraypaint insulates.
That sounds like it might work. Though I'm not a PC person.
4096178
Well, the plan with the bag is to tape it to the case. Also, as long as the bag has those holes over those screws, it shouldn't be able to move too much anyway, as the holes are... well, over the holes.
You could get plastic motherboard standoffs.
4096208
This seems the most surefire solution, remove the single, sure metal contact to the motherboard.
Otherwise, the antistatic bag thing sounds like it'll work.
I'd be worried about heat buildup melting the antistatic bag…
If the standoffs or something similar is really the culprit, could you install them on the motherboard while it's still out of the case?
My recommendation would be to use something else, because an anti-static bag is coated with metal and can be conductive if scratched through. Simple paper usually works well. Covering potentially offensive spots on the case with scotch tape also works. Otherwise, this is a perfectly sensible idea.
Mind you, the real cause of your problem could be a USB device, an USB cable, or some other power consumer that is not present when you're breadboarding it. Video cards which require their own power supplies are common culprits. A short in a power cable or any other kind of overload will prevent most sane power supplies from starting up partially or completely. I've also observed certain really bizarre cases when plugging one end (!) of a cable into a motherboard and leaving the other end unconnected would cause it to refuse to start up, but that was back when SATA controllers were new...
The best way to filter this sort of thing out would be to tape up potentially shorting places, start it up without anything plugged in except the PSU, and plug in cables one by one until it stops starting. If it doesn't start up when screwed into place, you're sure you have isolated everything, but nothing is plugged in yet, you have a microfracture (either in the motherboard itself or in a glob of solder somewhere) that only manifests under tension, in which case, you probably need a new case that doesn't put this stress on the board...
4096210
No, that's impossible; the standoffs need to go into the computer case. They'd be underneath the board when I tried to put it in, so there'd be no way to screw them in.
4096208
Where would I get such a thing?
4096219
Amazon has them as well as possibly a more local place near you.
4096218
It is definitely the case; even without plugging anything extra in, putting the Mobo into the case causes it to fail, while it boots just fine outside of the case. It even works with the video card when breadboarding.
Good thought, but it doesn't work even when not screwed into the case, so no possibility of added tension, save perhaps just from resting on nine points of support - in which case, there's nothing I can do but RMA it. Again.
I had this issue back in the 90s. Turns out there are some standoffs which NEED plastic non-conductive standoffs and some which need to be attached to the case with screws in order to ground. If you mix up the two, Bad Things happen.
The problem is heat dissipation.
Again, Jewel could help you. He's jazzepi at gmail.
You could just breadboard it permanently :B Fuck cases, man. Cases are for squares.
Go for it. The computer I built back in 2008 had the same problem, so I went with the static bag solution. Worked just fine for the next seven years, and is only not in service now because I built a new one.
Now, TD, computer problems are no excuse for said-bookisms. Next time, do something right after you say "not again!" to show your dispair.
4096525
Now, now, I could have been crying. It's ambiguous.
Reading this post right after five minutes of really weird boot sequences with my (still relatively new) self-built desktop has probably doubled my heart rate. Glad to know you resolved the problems.
4096901
That's no good.
Though weird boot sequence is better than "turns on, won't boot, won't even POST".
4096915
Oh it's definitely better. And everything seems fine now.
It's just that tiny little splinter of anxiety that you can't quite shake. Like, why was there something wrong? Is this going to come back to haunt me later? Should I be trying to fix the problem? But it fixed itself. And so on.