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  • fault finding server motherboard short - any pointers?

    From jkn@jkn+nin@nicorp.co.uk to uk.comp.homebuilt on Fri Jan 23 21:27:48 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.comp.homebuilt

    Hi all
    on the off chance...

    I have a Supermicro server which I have used for home NAS and VM
    experiments etc. It is only occasionally powered up these days. I last
    ran it successfully a couple of weeks ago; it was fine then. Two days
    later, I tried to power it up ... nothing.

    To cut a long diagnostic story short, I think it is a motherboard issue.
    A DVM measures basically a short between 0V and 12V, with no CPUs, DRAM
    or boards plugged in. I have tested the PSU(s) separately, they seem fine.

    I can see no issues from a visual inspection of the motherboard. It is economically a non-starter to get the board repaired commercially, and
    there are currently no similar boards on eBay.

    So before I just cut my losses - in a way this server has done its work
    for me - I might just poke around and see if I am lucky and able to find
    the fault. I just thought I'd come here and see if anyone has advice or experience to offer. Most of the YT videos and web pages on 'Motherboard
    fault diagnosis' are worse than useless.

    I'm currently thinking that I could apply 12V from a current limited supply(*), and try to see if anything is getting warm. I don't have a
    thermal camera, but I do have one of those temperature 'guns' you can
    use for radiator balancing. Unsure if that will be any use.

    I realise I have a low chance of success but thought I'd ask regardless.
    The Motherboard is a Supermicro X9DRH-iTF - Dual LGA2011 sockets.

    (*) I think the fitted PSUs are detecting the short and failing to power
    up the board. The BMC, running on 5V standby, runs fine

    Thanks
    J^n
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  • From Andy Burns@usenet@andyburns.uk to uk.comp.homebuilt on Fri Jan 23 23:17:10 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.comp.homebuilt

    jkn wrote:

    To cut a long diagnostic story short, I think it is a motherboard issue.
    A DVM measures basically a short between 0V and 12V, with no CPUs, DRAM
    or boards plugged in. I have tested the PSU(s) separately, they seem fine.

    Fried VRM? See various YT channels for diagnosis/repair techniques ...

    Necroware
    Bits und Bolts
    Adrian's Digital Basement

    or EEVblog's forums
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