ga-ep45-ds4p fried?

[stickynz]

I built a computer a couple of weeks ago, using the ga-eps45-ds4p board. and everything was running sweet until i plugged in a firewire cable connected to another machine. (mac g4) which was set up as a firewire drive (hold down t on startup). The computer instantly switched off.

When I turn the computer on it has power to the reset, cmos clear, and power switchs and the 2nd acpi led is red.

when I press the power button the leds all over the board flash briefly and the 1st acpi led stays orange.

I tried to clear the cmos but nothing changes on start up.

has the firewire cable killed my mother board?

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: ga-ep45-ds4p fried?

How did you try to clear the CMOS? Please Unplug the PSU from the wall, and put a Jumper on the Clear CMOS pins and let it sit for about 20 minutes. Then remove the jumper and plug the PSU back in and see if you get the CMOS Checksum error screen, without seeing this screen you have not cleared the CMOS Fully.

Another way you can do this, is the same as above but also Push in Power Button for about 1 minute after you unplug the PSU to fully drain the system and remove the CMOS battery, and push in your Clear CMOS Button for a minute or two.

Once the CMOS is cleared properly you will see a Black screen with a CMOS CheckSum error and will be presented with Options to choose last know good, optimized defaults, ect. Choose Last know good. Again, if you do not see this screen the CMOS has not been cleared

But finally, yes you could have fried it. I am not sure about a MAC, is the wiring the same? It may or may not be, and since you said it instantly shut down it may not. Can you check the wiring diagrams for each? I would think it is universal, but with a MAC you never know

Have you tried starting the system again with only one Stick of ram in slot one? Just checking.

Can you look and see if it is for sure the first ACPI LED? The S0 one, or is it the S4/5 one? They are in order and I may be able to find some better info if I knew for sure which it was. but they are indicators of improper Plug/Unplug actions, which you likely know. See here at the bottom >>>
GIGABYTE - Product - Motherboard - Overview - GA-EP45-DS4P (rev. 1.0)

Once you let me know for sure I will see what, if any, info I can find out for you

[stickynz]

Re: ga-ep45-ds4p fried?

followed your instructions on clearing the cmos but it made no difference. The computer isn't on long enough to post any messages.

I had the order of the leds wrong. The red led is 4/5 (closest to the phase leds) the orange led is the next one along towards the dimm slots the led closest to the dimm would be 0.

thanks for your lightening fast response!

cheers

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: ga-ep45-ds4p fried?

So, which LED is actually lit? I think you confused me more that time. I am not sure I can find you any info but I would like to know for sure before I try looking.

Since you cannot clear the CMOS at all your board may be fried anyway, as you should be able to do so and get into the Checksum error screen if the system is posting. Do you have a case speaker connected? Have you had the board out of the case, off the tray and looked for burn marks and tried with the bare minimum hardware (CPU/Heatsink, One stick of ram in slot one, and GFX card only)? If not that is what I would try next before setting up a RMA

[stickynz]

Re: ga-ep45-ds4p fried?

basically when the computer has power going to the motherboard and the board is in standby, mode the s4/5 led is red. when i try to powerup the motherboard by pressing the power button on the front of the computer the next led (s3?) lights up orange, and the other leds on the board flash on for an instant then nothing. no post, no beeps no fans nothing

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: ga-ep45-ds4p fried?

Did you check the wire diagrams to be sure they are the same inside the wire for MAC as PC?

Standby, I thought you cannot start it. Or did you just mean before? If so, I know how that works as I am using that exact board now >>

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/huge-thanks-gigabyte-mr-tweak-27765/?highlight=Huge

It does sound to me like you fried the board somehow, you should be able to clear the CMOS for sure

What happens if you start it with no ram installed? Do you have a case speaker?

[stickynz]

Re: ga-ep45-ds4p fried?

hi there,

the firewire interface on the mac (IEEE 1394 High Speed Serial Bus) is an international standard so I don't think it will differ from mac to intel.

Have tried to start with no ram, and it makes no difference.

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/9611/powersupplyonzk7.jpg

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/950/computeronxk0.jpg

first image is when it is plugged in and powered but not turned on. second image is when i try to turn the computer. hope this makes things clearer.

I would also like to thank you for your help. You have gone way beyond the call of duty on this one.

cheers

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: ga-ep45-ds4p fried?

Looks like it may be fried, have you removed it and looked for burns yet? You still dont have firewire connected do you?

Have you tried the system outside of the case, off the tray? Maybe you shorted something out by pushing on the firewire connection? Just thinking of other possibilities.

All in all, I think you are going to have to RMA if you cannot ever get the CMOS Cleared. You have tested it with different ram right? Maybe when you get it out of the case, try a reinstall/reseat of the CPU to see if this helps. Sometimes it does for various issues

[stickynz]

Re: ga-ep45-ds4p fried?

busy installing a dog door today, will take it out of the case tomorrow and have a look for burns, but am thinking it is a dead duck.

thanks for all your help and advice.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: ga-ep45-ds4p fried?

Anytime man, sorry to hear this happened to you but it does sound dead to me. Was you plugging this wire in while the PC was on or what? Maybe you bent the PCB a little when you plugged it in which caused it to short under the Firewire plug or elsewhere.

Good luck with your RMA, hopefully you bought local or Newegg

[DesolationRow]

Re: ga-ep45-ds4p fried?

I had almost this exact situation happen to me last week. I also found one other victim. We were all using Gigabyte EP45 mobos connected to a mac in Target Disk Mode (where the mac acts as an external firewire drive).

Obviously this is something to avoid in the future, but is it Mac's fault in the way they do target disk mode, or is it Gigabyte's fault in their Firewire hardware, or is it user error (something we did that screwed it up)?

Any insight would be helpful.