Did I fry my motherboard?

After connecting an external modem via a 25 to 9 pin connector to the COM2 on
my Supermicro P6SBS MB, I no longer get any life except a blinking power on
light! The HD does not spin up unless I disconnect the IDE cable, I get no video
at all, and the system doesn't even give error beeps. I tried to reseat all
components and remove one at a time the cards, the memory, and even the CPU,
but still I just get the blinking light. Could I have done something very serious to
the MB maybe when I removed the old internal modem or attached the powered
external mdem? Even the floppy isn't accessed. There is power to the CD drives
and the MB since the CPU fan runs. Could a wiped out BIOS be the problem?
What else can I try before I am forced to buy a new system? Please help!!!

Grafx

 

Hi Grafx, welcome to TSG....

first, calm down......things may not be as bad as you think....take a deep breath.....now relax.....

Let's try the easy things first....since you were inside playing around......look to see where the power supply connects to the motherboard....make sure that is still snug.....also, even though you've already checked, let's take another look at the cpu and ram.......try reseating them again.......also take a look at the power connector to the hard drive, and the gray cable that runs from the hard drive to the motherboard.

Also, try removing any extra ram chips (leave just one in), disconnect cd drives......hook up just the bootable hard drive, video card, cpu and one ram chip......any beeps with just those items?

Of course, turn the pc off while you are doing this and be sure to touch the metal on the case so you don't do any damage with static......

 

Check to see that one of the standoffs supporting the MB didnt break or come loose and that the MB is not touching the case in any way.

 

Hello AcaCandy,
I hope you don't mind, I have been looking for a post that describes my problem with static, none seem to resemble mine:
I have a laptop, almost every evening, when I boot and begin to work, everything is fine, then, I move onto the sofa beside me to take a break, and I get a static spark on the left side of the exterior of the laptop (near the opening where a PC card is used - by the way, I don't have a PC card, just the hardware for it).
Then the computer freezes up, and the only way out is to unplug it and also remove the battery. Then when I reboot I get beeps and a message to reset the time.
Do you have any idea what is causing the static spark when I move the laptop?
Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
I enjoy reading your posts.
PS: The laptop is an IBM Thinkpad Celeron A21e with 192 MB RAM and Windows 98, 70% of system resources free, 20 G partitioned.

 

That is indeed strange.....are you on carpeting?

 

Sorry for the delay, was busy trying out the new chat room ..
yes, I am on carpeting.
Is this dangerous for the laptop?
Do I use a humidifier or, is there another way to prevent static?

 

I would think that it couldn't be good if it causes the laptop to spark and freeze like that....

Is there another place you can test the static theory? A tile floor perhaps....or if not, touch a piece of metal and ground yourself before you carry it and again after you set it down before you touch it again.

 

I will try those suggestions.
Thank you.