Aurora R10, motherboard issue?

Question

Hey guys,

I need some advice. I have an Alienware aurora Ryzen 10.

When I power it on there is no output to my monitor, I can hear the fans spinning, I tried plugging my keyboard, and the indicator above the num lock flashes.

Does anyone know what this means? I suspect it could be the motherboard but wasn't 100% sure.

If so, I will be looking to get a retail motherboard.

What motherboard would you guys suggest? Ideally want to keep costs down and use the original r10 water cooling and psu if possible. I will also swap out the standard parts such as ram, ssd and gpu

speedstep · Answer

@canford  Could be bad power supply.  keyboard cycling on off every few seconds. Dell board uses INTEL cooler Mounting so anything other than DELL board is not going to work in the case. Replacement boards are not expensive but i would check PSU before changing.

ProfessorW00d · Answer

Is the power button displaying any diagnostic blink code?

Vanadiel · Answer

Retail motherboards do not fit into the R10 case without serious modification to the case.

As for your R10 not booting, what are the blinking error codes on the power button, if any?

You can also try a CMOS reset to see if that returns it back to normal.

redxps630 · Answer

good idea of Vanadiel to try clear cmos settings by reset cmos jumper on motherboard. if still no post, begin by removing oem gpu, all usb and storage devices, and all memory. install a very simple verified working video card and only one ram in DIMM1.

you can also send the motherboard to Dell repair depot for out of warranty repair estimate which may be cheaper than getting another board.

speedstep · Answer

@canford  The following table shows different light patterns and describes what they indicate.Light pattern 2,1 CPU failure2,2 System board: BIOS and ROM failure2,3 No memory or RAM detected2,4 Memory or RAM failure2,5 Invalid memory installed and or bad Cmos battery.

Vanadiel · Answer

Looks like faulty CMOS battery. I would replace the CMOS battery.

canford · Answer

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Just checked the power button and it blinks 5 times continuously and stops for 3 secs and then blinks 5 times again. The led is white in colour

speedstep · Answer

@canford  Disconnect any storage aka nvme sata etc and see if it will post with no bootable device error. Power LED Blinking/Beep Code 1 Motherboard: BIOS ROM Failure Motherboard, covers BIOS corruption or ROM error. Run the Dell Diagnostics. 2 Memory No Memory (RAM) detected Troubleshoot the Memory. 3 Motherboard: Chipset Chipset Error (North and South bridge error Time-Of-Day Clock test failure Gate A20 failure Super I/O chip failure Keyboard controller failure Run the Dell Diagnostics. 4 Memory Memory (RAM) Failure Troubleshoot the Memory. 5 Real-Time Clock Power Failure CMOS battery failure Try reseating the CMOS Battery and run the Dell Diagnostics if that does not resolve the issue. 6 Video BIOS Video card/chip failure Run the Dell Diagnostics. 7 Central Processing Unit (CPU) Central Processing Unit (CPU) Failure Run the Dell Diagnostics.  Power LED Status Power State Off Power is off, or the computer is in an S4 (hibernate) or S5 power state. LED is blank. Solid White The computer is in power-on state. Solid Amber The system board cannot start initialization. There may be an issue with the system board, memory, processor, or the power supply. Blinking Amber The system board cannot start initialization or in an S3 power state. There is a power problem, a device may be malfunctioning or incorrectly installed.

Tesla1856 · Answer

@Vanadiel wrote:

Retail motherboards do not fit into the R10 case without serious modification to the case.

@canford

Then case is not worth keeping either (lights would not work without genuine MB anyway).

So go ahead and pickup a case while you are at it. Maybe there are a few (still good) parts you can more to new build.

HOWEVER, PLEASE read suggestions here and try to fix it (ie, verify motherboard is really fried). I don't "do AMD" but If I had a newer Aurora that just died like this, I would be very upset.

canford · Answer

Cleared Cmos settings, replaced Cmos battery and still the same issue. Tried PSU from my other PC and the power button blinking changed to 2 amber blinks. Plugged back the original PSU still 2 amber blinks. What could it be as earlier today was 5 white blinks and now 2 amber blinks. The GPU lights up and fans spin, but the case fans dont spin now. Also I have to unplug the power cable from the psu for it to turn off? Have i done something wrong trying to connect the PSU?

Tesla1856 · Answer

@canford wrote:

Have i done something wrong trying to connect the PSU?

Do AMD boards have the "GPU_PWR" connector on the motherboard? If so, did you connect it?

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/How-to-connect-the-8-pin-GPU-PWR-on-motherboard/td-p/7960877

speedstep · Answer

@canford  You have done static damage and killed your cpu.   It will blink 2 amber even with the cpu physically removed. Any ole Joes crab shack PSU is not acceptable.  BARE minimum is EVGA 700BR.  Recommended update is EVGA 850B 110-BQ-0850-V1.

ProfessorW00d · Answer

The motherboard GPU_PWR  connector ended with the Aurora R9. Perhaps OP could drop some photos of the inside of their rig so we can see what is going on.

canford · Answer

I uploaded some pics, hope it helps - really hope its not the CPU

ProfessorW00d · Answer

I don't see anything obviously out of place in the photos. Triple check that your EPS 8-pin CPU power and ATX 24-pin are securely connected at the motherboard, and re-triple check that all of your connections are securely locked at the PSU end. Make sure your graphics card is securely seated and locked in the slot. Try taking out the RAM; clearing CMOS by removing the CR2032 coin cell battery and discharging flea power; then put just one RAM module in the white slot closest to the CPU, assuring that it is fully seated and locked in the slot. Try to get a successful POST.

Alienware Desktops

Aurora R10, motherboard issue?

Was this post helpful?

1	Motherboard: BIOS ROM Failure	Motherboard, covers BIOS corruption or ROM error.	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
2	Memory	No Memory (RAM) detected	Troubleshoot the Memory.
3	Motherboard: Chipset	Chipset Error (North and South bridge error Time-Of-Day Clock test failure Gate A20 failure Super I/O chip failure Keyboard controller failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
4	Memory	Memory (RAM) Failure	Troubleshoot the Memory.
5	Real-Time Clock Power Failure	CMOS battery failure	Try reseating the CMOS Battery and run the Dell Diagnostics if that does not resolve the issue.
6	Video BIOS	Video card/chip failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.
7	Central Processing Unit (CPU)	Central Processing Unit (CPU) Failure	Run the Dell Diagnostics.

Off	Power is off, or the computer is in an S4 (hibernate) or S5 power state. LED is blank.
Solid White	The computer is in power-on state.
Solid Amber	The system board cannot start initialization. There may be an issue with the system board, memory, processor, or the power supply.
Blinking Amber	The system board cannot start initialization or in an S3 power state. There is a power problem, a device may be malfunctioning or incorrectly installed.