How to Troubleshoot for Motherboard Failures

Motherboard failures can be divided into three types:

• Power failure
• Bus failure
• Component failure.

Due to the complexity in the structure and components in computer motherboards, the failure rate is relatively high. Repair the failure using the following steps.

Steps

1. 
   1
   Check that there is no sign of physical damage. Determine whether the motherboard seems burned, blown, foam board, has a broken connector, corrosion, exploded capacitors or dirty fans and chips, etc.
2. 
   2
   Check that BIOS battery provides sufficient voltage.
3. 
   3
   Clean out the dust using a soft brush. Clean the dust off the motherboard. Check the motherboard after each step. The failure may have been caused by dust.
4. 
   4
   Using a multimeter, measure the motherboard supply voltages (5V, 12V, 3.3V, etc.). If there is an abnormal voltage, check if the power supply is faulty.
5. 
   5
   Check the all chip clock, input and output signals. Until you find the faulty component.
6. 
   6
   Remove and replace the failed component(s) with the same type, then boot to test operation.
7. 
   7
   Use the tangent line by line method to find short routes. If you find some signal line and ground or 5V voltage line short circuit, trace the circuit board to determine the failure source.
8. 
   8
   If the above steps fail to fix the problem, find a motherboard with the same characteristics and replace it completely.