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I'm having a bit of an issue, and I contacted ASROCK tech support and they were no help at all. This is a fresh Mobo, the last one was replaced as it received no power. This one does but doesn't do anything.

ASROCK Z87E-mITX
Ballistix 16gb ram
4770S Intel
Sugo Sg-08 case.

So here is one thing I noticed. The CPU fan tries to spin but then doesn't. When the computer resets it does the same thing, moves a little...then stops. If I plug it into a different spot, the CPU fan works no problem.

I have removed the ram, cleared the cmos, reset it, rechecked it...I don't know what could be wrong. Please help.

Oh and if it helps, nothing else works, like mouse, keyboard, nothing. They don't even flicker.

1) Check to make sure that the motherboard isn't grounded to the case. Standoffs that are touching the board without being screwed in (or maybe the motherboard hole for that spot is missing).
2) Check to make sure that everything plugged into the motherboard is securely/completely connected. Specifically, halfway-plugged-in SATA cables can cause this sort of problem.
3) Check to make sure that the CMOS is cleared. (unplug the case, change the jumper, wait 15-30 seconds, switch the jumper back).
4) Unplug everything except for one stick of RAM (and the CPU of course) and see if it starts up.
5) If it does, connect a video card (PCI would be best if you have one) and try again.
6) Reconnect one thing at a time until you find the culprit.

If nothing works, it could possibly be a bad CPU, or a CPU that isn't touching the heatsink properly. Thermal automatic shutdown could be happening, check to make sure the heatsink is on and getting warm like it should.

EDIT: Sorry, bad reading comprehension. Fixed the reply.

I noticed u crossed out heatsink contact...could the CPU fan stopping and the PC restarting be due to that? I didn't tighten it down very hard, mostly with my hands.

Rageypoo wrote:

I noticed u crossed out heatsink contact...could the CPU fan stopping and the PC restarting be due to that? I didn't tighten it down very hard, mostly with my hands.

It very well could, but usually in that case the machine will power down completely. You definitely could check again to make sure, though.

Oh ok. Yea it does 1 reset then just stays on. It's really bizarre. No beeps, nothing. Just sits there while the CPU fan doesn't spin.

I called a tech support for EVGA and even though it wasn't an evga board, his suspicion was the board and not the CPU either.

Also, there are no contacts that are without a screw on the board.

Any error code showing on the motherboard?

My board is an it and doesn't have a digital readout.

Also, I tightened the heatsink screws, same problem 3 seconds then reset. The heatsink does not get hot at all.

Have another PSU to try?

My guess would be PSU and motherboard, in that order.

I don't believe it is the PSU. The last board was completely unresponsive. Once I replaced it, the power seems to work. I also have a tester and it read all working when I used it before install. My first thought was a faulty PSU too before I got this replacement board.

This sounds like a classic case of a iffy power supply; it started dying and killed the first board is what I am guessing

I've personally forgotten two or three times that i dont have monitor on auto-detect and forgot im switching to different port type on new machine... and not actually had real blank screen.

But fact that you don't see mouse laser light(just physically getting power) says bad board or PS. Did you take picture of serial number, they could have sent you back same board. ive had stuff come back to semi-life after discharging/cooling down for a day, where previous day it was dead and only difference was i went to sleep and pressed power 12 hours later.

its also unlikely, but have you checked that all the ATX power connector pins are at proper level and than when connected, everything looks like its in. It could be unrelated, just bad luck, bent CPU pin or dust got into DIMM socket...

Yea it's a brand new board, different serial and updated hardware compared to my other board (like the gpu socket has a nifty new clip)

Yea the mouse doesn't light up at all, and it doesn't post at all. It just turns on, restarts after a few seconds, then stays on with nothing happening. CPU has no heat, the CPU fan will not spin if plugged into the CPU port (but will spin with other ports) and the gpu fans spin but that's it. Case fans run of course, everything SEEMS to have power and is good to go, and I'd like to believe it is the PSU but I don't think it is, as another power supply couldn't solve my previous board not receiving power. This leads me towards the CPU being dead, however the previous board should have powering on even if the CPU died. I may have just received another dead board, I don't know.

Rageypoo wrote:

I don't believe it is the PSU. The last board was completely unresponsive. Once I replaced it, the power seems to work. I also have a tester and it read all working when I used it before install. My first thought was a faulty PSU too before I got this replacement board.

The little inexpensive PSU testers do not test the PSU under anything approaching full load. They'll tell you if a PSU is completely dead, but not much else. The PSU could fall over hard at 25% load and you wouldn't know it.

I've also seen symptoms like this when a PCIe GPU power lead is plugged into the motherboard's 4- or 8-pin CPU power socket by mistake. Double-check that the PCIe and ATX/EPS power connectors are plugged into the correct locations.

Lastly, try booting the motherboard outside the case, with nothing more than a monitor, keyboard and mouse, to rule out the possibility of a ground-out issue. You can simulate the power button being pressed by briefly bridging the power switch pins on the motherboard's front panel connector with the tip of a screwdriver.

Follow Vhalidictes' instructions, removing *everything* and adding things one at a time.

I've had your *exact* symptoms with a Dell XPS8900 system if I connected the monitor via the add-in video card. I removed the card (using the built-in video) and it worked perfectly.

On another system, symptoms were similar as the system would sort of POST but not go any further, although the CPU fan stayed on. Turns out an externally attached USB drive was causing problems with the POST process. Unplugged the drive and everything was fine.

Good luck!

Thanks for the feedback, I'm definitely using the correct 8 pin connector. It is the only connector that is long enough to reach, and is separated into 2 4-pin connectors. Also it is labeled, so are my gpu cables (says PCI-E right on the sticker) so everything is definitely plugged in.

I'm going to RMA the board, and this time I will but another PSU for it and use the brand new fresh one. If it doesn't work after that It must be the CPU.

Rageypoo wrote:

I'm going to RMA the board, and this time I will but another PSU for it and use the brand new fresh one. If it doesn't work after that It must be the CPU.

Or the new mobo or PSU. Changing multiple things at once when you don't know what's broken can lead to further confusion.

I second the recommendation to unplug every power connection from the motherboard and peripherals except the 24-pin main power connection to the motherboard (and 8-pin CPU power connector). Also make sure that you are plugging in the 8-pin CPU power and not 8-pin PCIe power connector from the PSU (I think the CPU 8-pin power has 4 12V contacts while the PCie has 3 12V contacts).

In my experience, this is behavior is power related. Not necessarily the PSU, could be a peripheral that is shorting, etc. But as JBI says, it could manifest various ways. For instance, if a CPU pin is bent (a power pin shorting, etc) it might exhibit this behavior).

Edit:

It is the only connector that is long enough to reach, and is separated into 2 4-pin connectors. Also it is labeled, so are my gpu cables (says PCI-E right on the sticker) so everything is definitely plugged in.

I guess that means you do have the right 8-pin connector!

Rageypoo wrote:

.......... I'd like to believe it is the PSU but I don't think it is, as another power supply couldn't solve my previous board not receiving power

If you tried another PS after the first PS already killed the board, the result would have been the same, so that logic is a bit flawed.
I have seen a lot more power supplies die, then I have seen CPUs die, especially if there is no overclocking going on.

Also, what BIOS is on the new board? Depending on the CPU, that could be a issue with the replacement board, but I doubt it to be honest.

just brew it! wrote:

Lastly, try booting the motherboard outside the case, with nothing more than a monitor, keyboard and mouse, to rule out the possibility of a ground-out issue. You can simulate the power button being pressed by briefly bridging the power switch pins on the motherboard's front panel connector with the tip of a screwdriver.

Good point, forgot about grounding........seen that many times as well.

The bios question is a good point, I do not know what it is, I will call ASROCK and ask, though my experience with them is that they don't do tech support, they just replace.

U think the bios isn't recognizing the CPU and causing it to not power on?

Rageypoo wrote:

The bios question is a good point, I do not know what it is, I will call ASROCK and ask, though my experience with them is that they don't do tech support, they just replace.

U think the bios isn't recognizing the CPU and causing it to not power on?

I really think it is the power supply. It is one of the reason I keep a couple of spare power supplies.........seen it too often.

I dont think it is the BIOS.
With that being said, I have seen a board with a really old bios not recognize a CPU and not boot, although usually a RMA'd board is "supposed" to have the newest bios.
That is why I mentioned it.

The board is newer than the one I had previously.

I echo the PSU sentiment. If you can find a loaner from a buddy or something, try swapping that to see what happens. I've had dodgy PSUs do all sorts of weird things, so it's always useful to keep older PSUs around just as a backup for troubleshooting.

Rageypoo, the only other thing I can think of is that the BIOS needs a update for Broadwell. That said, you almost certainly are using a Haswell CPU, right? It does match the symptoms, but given the replies to this thread I would strongly suggest:

1) Remove/unplug everything you can and then re-connect devices one-by-one. Even the motherboard sound connector - the case could be causing a short.

2) The symptoms also exactly match a ground problem. Try booting the board outside the case. The Styrofoam sheet the motherboard comes with can be used as a base.

EDIT: I agree with some people that the PSU might not be the problem, but there's no reason not to check and make sure. Do you have another PSU that you can use to check, even temporarily? Note that if the PSU *is* the issue, removing all connections like I mentioned before will lower the startup inrush power significantly.

You cant plug CPU into PCI-E ports and vice-versa on the motherboard side, they are keyed differently. Also cant plug in reverse.

On the PSU side, it can go either way(custom keyed or not) as it's only one 12V rail anyway for most new PSUs.

blahsaysblah wrote:

You cant plug CPU into PCI-E ports and vice-versa on the motherboard side, they are keyed differently. Also cant plug in reverse.

Not true.

While the keying does prevent plugging EPS12V into a GPU, and plugging in a connector backwards, it does NOT prevent plugging a PCIe 6-pin power lead into the EPS12V or ATX12V CPU power socket. Yes, you'd need to not notice the connector size mismatch (either 2 pins missing or two pins outside the socket), but if you're working by feel inside a cramped build where it is hard to see the CPU power connector, it's definitely possible to make this mistake. It'll still click in and latch.

If you're using IGP (or a low-end GPU), you won't need that PCIe lead for anything else, and once you've made this mistake you probably won't notice until you power up.

But wait, it gets worse. Unfortunately, the locations of the +12 and ground pins are reversed between the PCIe and ATX12V/EPS12V connector pinouts. So while you're prevented from physically plugging things in backwards, by doing this you've effectively plugged it in electrically backwards, grounding out the +12V rail. Depending on the wattage of the PSU and the quality of its protection circuitry, either the PSU will shut down immediately, or things will start to melt.

just brew it! wrote:

But wait, it gets worse.

Plugging a 6-pin into a 4-pin/8-pin? Well, that gut feeling that you need to stop and take a closer look comes from somewhere. Cant learn without failing

blahsaysblah wrote:

just brew it! wrote:

But wait, it gets worse.

Plugging a 6-pin into a 4-pin/8-pin? Well, that gut feeling that you need to stop and take a closer look comes from somewhere. Cant learn without failing

Fortunately I didn't destroy anything the time I did this. Symptoms were very similar to the OP.

Back in the day, it was also possible to get the power connector onto the floppy drive offset by 1 pin. Most drives were keyed to prevent this, but the connector was flexible enough that you could still push it on. I melted the insulation off the floppy power leads of a PSU once, by doing this.

just brew it! wrote:

Back in the day, it was also possible to get the power connector onto the floppy drive offset by 1 pin. Most drives were keyed to prevent this, but the connector was flexible enough that you could still push it on. I melted the insulation off the floppy power leads of a PSU once, by doing this.

Don't have to go back that far in time either-most PCI-SATA add in cards used floppy power connector.
My son did exactly the same thing.........
Was surprised PSU-SC didn't activate................

just brew it! wrote:

Fortunately I didn't destroy anything the time I did this. Symptoms were very similar to the OP.

My understanding was it became such a problem that mainboard makers began adding voltage sense protection to EPS12V connectors as to either not power on or initialize the board when that happened.