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Motherboard failure

I have an ECS K7S5A (SiS 735 chipset) which I bought in September 2001 and is failed on me the other day. I was just using the computer and it went totally blank, shut it down, waited, then it worked, gone after 5 min and never came back. I tried stripping it down to just the Video card, RAM, CPU and MB but nothing(I get power, but no beep codes, display or activity). THen just the CPU and MB, still no beeps. Changed the power supply, no effect. Changed the CPU, no effect, then tried my CPU in another system, and that worked ok, so I'm almost 100% sure it's the MB. Does it sound that way to anyone else? I just wanna be sure before I pay for shipping to repair it. Is there anyway to be sure?

Also, shipping is about $10 CDN. Does anyone know about ECS's warranty reputation? Like how long they take, if they'll actually fufill the warranty, etc. Thanks.

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dew_associates

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Wakeup

SKG,

You said:
Also, shipping is about $10 CDN. Does anyone know about ECS's warranty reputation? Like how long they
take, if they'll actually fufill the warranty, etc. Thanks.

Warranty and reputation of most companies are alright. Before you ship it back to them, I would suggest emailing or calling them and discussing it with them and get an RMA (return to manufacturer authorization) number. Otherwise you may not see your motherboard back for a long time. I would also suggest since it has been under 1 year since the purchase date of the board, that you call the place where you purchased the board from to see if they support the warranty etc. (some companies give out a year warranty on parts etc...

BOFH

My MSI went dead about 2 weeks before warranty expiration.
to get it working, I disconnected everything including power supply, and battery on bios.
Left it for a DAY (maybe less time will be sufficient :)
and upon reconnecting everything worked again!!!

Strange things happen,
BOFH

hopmedic

I work for an extended warranty company, and I do telephone troubleshooting for a living. The other day I had a customer whose motherboard had been changed 2 times, power supply once, and the problem recurred once again. After troubleshooting with a very unhappy person (he wanted me to just send a tech out), I got him to pull out the ram that he had added to the computer - all of a sudden it started up. Don't leave RAM out of the equation when trying to figure out where the problem is. I've seen a modem, hard drive, ram, video card, and even keyboard hold the system down, sometimes even keeping the power light from coming on, and once even a hard drive kept the power supply fan from turning. The best way to be sure is to strip EVERYTHING from the logic board (except processor that you've already tested), and see if you get a post beep. BTW - I've got the same MLB you have, so I know it will beep.

Rich

dew_associates

SKG, if the info I provided serves your purpose, then why the "B" grade?

ComTech

After reviewing the thread here, I cannot see anything wrong with the answer, as it is as good an answer you will find. Perhaps you didn't choose a grade and the system defaluts to a B, until that is changed in the re-write of the code here.

Thank you,
ComTech
CS @ EE

dew_associates

Thanks CT!

SKG

ASKER

I gave a B grade because I had stated in my question that I had already done what you suggested. Secondly, I was inquiring about info regarding warranty fufillments and you did not say anything about that. But I guess you have your A grade so everything is ok, I will try and explain my grade next time. Thank you.