[sandman1142]

Yes I'm an idiot, I dropped my ASRock Z97 Killer Fatal1ty motherboard out of the packet from a carrying height onto tiles. It did not get any visible damage, except the CPU fan plastic casing cracked and it was replaced; it seems the CPU fan took the impact.

So I connected it up, and as per picture I get a red light. I removed the RAM chips and GPU and still the red light persists. It spins up all the fans (case, CPU, GPU) but there is no POST and no beep and no output to the monitor. It reboots several times to get into a steady fan spinning state.

I have no idea if it worked before, but have to go with the word of the seller.

So did the drop damage it and do I throw it away? Or any hope of fixing it?

 

[Corday]

We can only guess, but if no MOBO visible damage, most likely problem is the CPU is done for.

 

[sandman1142]

So the guess based on impact to CPU fan? The CPU, or the CPU connector to the board? Guess I have to test all the combos now but so hard to find old boards.

 

[SpywareDr]

BIOS selection number LED maybe?

Source: Their page marked "20" (and also see their page marked "7") of this ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer motherboard manual (.pdf)

 

[sandman1142]

Thank you for the info SpywareDr! Should I move the jumper over to default? I think backup is selected, and that is strange... why would the seller have sent it like that?

 

[SpywareDr]

1) See the instructions included in the above screenshot, starting with "This motherboard has two BIOS onboard" ...

Note that you should NOT change anything on the motherboard while it is On. Power down, unplug the main power cord leading into the PSU (from either end) wait a minute or two, make sure you are static free, then move the little jumper to the other two pins.

2) No way of knowing for sure. Since the factory default is pins 1+2 shorted, maybe the person was: 1) simply to lazy to continue with the instructions above, or 2) maybe there is something is wrong with the Main BIOS and they didn't want to tell you?

Note that I didn't realize this MB was purchased used.

 

[sandman1142]

I followed your instructions above and moved the jumper over to default BIOS - and the red light went away. But it still did not boot or show POST or anything on the monitor.
Then I tried CLRCMOS1 (clear CMOS) and it still does not boot. The red light now comes on and goes off randomly but is never on all the time.
Then I removed the CMOS battery, waited 2 minutes, put it back, and tried again. Still nothing. Perhaps there is damage after all?

 

[SpywareDr]

Yes, it does. Will if you boot into the BIOS after starting over with the jumper back on 2+3? If so, see the instructions above starting with the the sentence "After that, use" ... and see what happens. Let us know aht you find out ...

 

[sandman1142]

Nothing works. I cannot follow the instructions from the sentence "After that, use" as it never does boot into the BIOS. Like I said, it doesn't beep, it doesn't show anything on the screen. It simply spins the fans and there are various combinations of fan spinning, rebooting and red lights, depending on what the BIOS jumpers are.

 

[SpywareDr]

Unfortunately, yes it does sound like "there is damage after all".