[Asus x399-A Threadripper] ER_LED4 ? Motherboard wont boot. Possiblr pcie damage?

Q

QLofLandfill

New Member
Hey so I was shutting down my computer to install a pcie wifi Card. My computer is at eye level so I had it opened up I was waiting for it to turn off my hand twitched a little the pcie cards metal tapped the pcie slot and it seemed to havr shorted out....ever since neither the power button on the tower or MOBO do anything at all.

Things I've tried and notable stuff

1. The light for the SB_PWR is the only consistent light when I have power running to the computer.

2. The ER_LED4 light flashes quickly as I power it on sometimes.. (I can't find anything about this in the manual or online, I assume its for debugging and to tell if there's an error with the hardware on the pcie slot...but not sure)

3.ive tried all regular troubleshooting...removed everything right down to the fans reseated all the main components including cpu and power supply. No change


I'm kinda guessing my motherboards completely fried and I shorted it out at this point but any other opinions? Thoughts?

ASUS X399-A Threadripper
 

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Hey, sorry to hear about the trouble you're having. It does sound like you may have shorted out the motherboard, especially given the symptoms you’re describing.

Since the SB_PWR light is on, the board is getting some power, but the fact that it won’t fully boot and the ER_LED4 flashes points to a potential issue with the hardware. Unfortunately, shorting the PCIe slot while the system is powered on can definitely cause damage to the motherboard or other components.

Here are a few things you could try before writing it off completely:

  1. Clear CMOS: Try resetting the CMOS to see if that helps—sometimes a short can mess with the BIOS settings.
  2. Check for Visible Damage: Inspect the PCIe slot and other components for any visible signs of damage (burn marks, bent pins, etc.).
  3. Test PSU: Even though the light comes on, it’s worth testing the power supply with another system or using a power supply tester, just to rule out any PSU-related issues.
If these steps don’t work, it’s likely that the motherboard is damaged, but it’s always good to double-check before assuming the worst. Hope this helps!
 
beers said:
Hey, sorry to hear about the trouble you're having. It does sound like you may have shorted out the motherboard, especially given the symptoms you’re describing.

Since the SB_PWR light is on, the board is getting some power, but the fact that it won’t fully boot and the ER_LED4 flashes points to a potential issue with the hardware. Unfortunately, shorting the PCIe slot while the system is powered on can definitely cause damage to the motherboard or other components.

Here are a few things you could try before writing it off completely:

  1. Clear CMOS: Try resetting the CMOS to see if that helps—sometimes a short can mess with the BIOS settings.
  2. Check for Visible Damage: Inspect the PCIe slot and other components for any visible signs of damage (burn marks, bent pins, etc.).
  3. Test PSU: Even though the light comes on, it’s worth testing the power supply with another system or using a power supply tester, just to rule out any PSU-related issues.
If these steps don’t work, it’s likely that the motherboard is damaged, but it’s always good to double-check before assuming the worst. Hope this helps!
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Appreciate the response! Yea I've tried most of that although I don't really have a separate setup to test the PSU with I just bit the bullet and spent money I don't have on a new motherboard...ugh

One more question though.

If I got the exact same motherboard would I need to start with a fresh install of windows? Or am I able to just connect all my components to the new board and turn it on like nothing happened? Would there be a high potential for system instability?
 
Should be okay, it might or might not harass you to reactivate Windows.

Modern versions like 10 and 11 are much better at transplanting into different systems than previous versions even if the hardware is a little different, the same board should be fine just as above the ID of the board will change.
 
Awesome ty. Hopefully this fixes the issue. Should get it next week. But yea upon closer inspection all ER_LED lights flash on startup. (ER_LED1, 2, 3, 4 ETC) so I'm pretty positive I fried the board. Brutal lol...well who knows when I take it apart I have a soldering kit might be a good project to see if I can pinpoint it and maybe fix. Highly doubtful but why tf not

Ohhh last question I do have another motherboard with bent pins on the cpu slot. Is it possible to swap out the cpu insert with a new one or is the whole board just screwed?
 
Self soldering an entire socket? Good luck.

Sometimes you can fix the pins with huge amount of patience and a steady hand, depends if an entire bank is smashed or just a couple.
 
QLofLandfill said:
Ohhh last question I do have another motherboard with bent pins on the cpu slot
Click to expand...
Ooof. Depends on how bad it is, it could be fixed with some basic hand tools.

If you have access to the socket's pin map and you can correlate it to the pin map, you can at least check to see if that pin's used for anything. Sometimes they're just extra ground pins that might not be a problem if they're not making contact.

Replacing sockets is not really a DIY thing.
 
Not a huge issue was. I got a new board coming at least. Just have a damaged board with bent pins. Quite a few of them are screwed. Attempted to fix it before in poor lighting and just bent more lmao someone gave me this one though
 
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