Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!uunet!rayssd!sud509!heiser@tdw201.ed.ray.com
From: heiser@tdw201.ed.ray.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: fried motherboard?
Keywords: dumb   board fried motherboard
Message-ID: <2051@sud509.ed.ray.com>
Date: 10 Aug 90 16:15:05 GMT
Sender: heiser@sud509.ed.ray.com (Bill Heiser - Unix Sys Admin @ Raytheon Company, Sudbury MA)
Distribution: usa
Lines: 40

In the process of building a new machine, I think I did something REALLY
dumb.  I am putting a 386/25 board in a tower case, and basically 
followed the way the m/b in my AST 286 was set up.  That is, on the 
motherboard, where the screws go thru, there were metallic areas ... it
appears that AST has the motherboard grounded to the chassis.

Well, I went along with this idea, and did the same on my 386 board in
the tower case.  When I powered the machine up, the power supply fan
wouldn't even start!  It appeared that maybe something was shorted out.
Anyway, I rummaged thru the ahrdware that came with the case, and found
some fiber washers.  I then re-installed the mb, using the washers to
insulate it from the chassis.  Now the system fires up, but the mb
seems brain-damaged.  When running thru the ram check, it goes VERY
slowly...  even when hard-jumpered into turbo mode.  

Once the system is up (it beeps a few times along the way, but does boot
up, but only from a floppy -- it times out tryin to reach the disk), I
ran the landmark test ... and it shows the system performing "normally" 
(the same as it did when I tested it in my 286 case).  When I run a 
progrma (called "t.com") that tests the cpu speed, it shows it at much
below what it should be (but this program worked before).

My question is this:  what did I probably damage by shorting out the mb?
Should I try to just send the whole thing back to NJ for replacement and
live without it for a couple of weeks or whatever it take s to get it (or
a replacement) back?  Should I try to replace some specific part on the
board?

Thanks for your comments.

Bill

-- 
Bill Heiser
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