Did I just fry my mobo?

EvanK

EvanK

Member
Hey everyone,

A few months ago, a microphone that I had plugged into my front USB port was pulled out at an awkward angle, and caused the plastic bit that houses the four prongs in the PC to come out. The USB port was dead, but today I accidentally plugged my printer into there thinking that it was the working port (I'd put a cover over it earlier to prevent something like this, but it fell off). The PC made a buzzing sound, so I shut it off. I'm fairly certain that I somehow shorted the prongs.

Anyways, now it won't start back up. I'm pretty confident that it's not the power supply as the lights and fans still function (the power supply's fairly new as well, if that helps), so is the mobo completely dead now?

Any ideas or suggestions? I currently don't have anywhere else I could plug the PC's harddrive into, and I need some data off of there within the next few days.

Thanks,
-Evan
 
EDIT: Upon closer investigation, I discovered that one of the prongs was bent out of place and touching the edges. I straightened it out and now I'm able to boot up once again. What a relief!

Apologies for the redundant thread, mods, please feel free to delete it.
 
Have a look to see if you can disconnect that specific port from the motherboard.

Some cases use 2 USB cables instead of 1 for the header connections :)
 
Thanks, I've since reattached a cover preventing the port from being used. Unfortunately, my particular Dell case uses the same connection and power for both ports, so if I disconnect one, neither will function.

Hopefully I can get my new build funded soon and can enjoy WORKING USB 3.0 ports.

Thanks for the help, guys!
 
On a similar note, does anybody know why although everything else throughout Windows seemingly goes untouched, the date sets itself to December 31st 9999?
 
That would mean you need to replace the cmos battery on the motherboard. This battery is what keeps your date and time set when the computer is turned off. How old is this system?
 
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That makes sense. The system's about 6 or 7 years old, and I haven't touched the battery since day one.
 
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