Motherboard won't power, video or POST... but IPMI works

[digity]

I have a Supermicro X9DRi-F mobo that won't power on (and obviously doesn't display video nor POST), but IPMI works. When I plug in power, the PSU fan spins up for a second then stops. Pressing or holding the power button yields nothing. Pressing and/or holding the power button repeatedly like a maniac the PSU spins up for a second or two, but then just stops again.

I've tried different CPUs (1st gen. and v2), RAM, power supplies, replaced the CMOS battery (it arrived completely dead, eBay) and reset CMOS, but essentially got the same result as above. The LEDs for the NICs and the IPMI light up and I can access the web UI for IPMI, but when I click the power on button in the web UI and says it can't power on. I was able to upgrade the firmware for the IPMI via the web UI, but that didn't improve anything either.

Any ideas on how to further troubleshoot the power on issue and/or get this motherboard to power on?

 

[Stankyjawnz]

Some of the obvious questions for you:
Do you have both 8 pin power connectors plugged in?
Is the motherboard in a chassis? You could try running it on a piece of cardboard to see if there is a short somewhere.

 

[digity]

Some of the obvious questions for you:
Do you have both 8 pin power connectors plugged in?
Is the motherboard in a chassis? You could try running it on a piece of cardboard to see if there is a short somewhere.

Yes, both 8 pin power connectors are connected. The motherboard is not in a case, it's sitting on a rubber mat. Are there any points on the mobo to put my multimeter to test if power/voltage is flowing to pertinent components? Is there a way to tell if the BIOS is just missing/corrupt?

 

[nexox]

That behavior sounds exactly like how one of my power supplies acted after it died, can you use another system to verify one of your PSUs definitely works, or at least short the enable pin to ground to force it to power up without plugging it in, ideally while measuring the 12V output with a meter?

As far as BIOS goes, you can try running an upgrade over IPMI, google will tell you how to generate a product key for that if it isn't enabled.

 

[digity]

That behavior sounds exactly like how one of my power supplies acted after it died, can you use another system to verify one of your PSUs definitely works, or at least short the enable pin to ground to force it to power up without plugging it in, ideally while measuring the 12V output with a meter?

As far as BIOS goes, you can try running an upgrade over IPMI, google will tell you how to generate a product key for that if it isn't enabled.

One of the PSUs I tried is my test bench PSU, so I know that's not the problem (it's actually connected to another build now and running with no problems). As for the short trick thing, can you share a video or something visual so I can get a better idea what you mean?

I'll try the BIOS upgrade over IPMI thing in the meantime.

 

[nexox]

Since the PSU works on another machine there's no need to try the short test, but for future reference: https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025085372-How-to-Test-a-PSU-Power-Supply-Unit-

It was a lot easier back when the cables used color coded conductors, you just connect green to black, now they tend to be all black and you have to count.

 

[nexox]

Now that I think about it, this also sounds like another user's issue where they connected modular cables for a different PSU and caused a short from 12V to ground, so the PSU would immediately self protect and shut off, similar things will happen if you convince an 8 pin PCIe power connector into an 8 pin on the motherboard.