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December 28, 2005
Repairing Intel's D865GVHZ Motherboard
In my hands for less then 30 minutes, I had Intel's D865GVHZ motherboard installed and hooked up. Of particular note, is a new case fan hooked to the front fan connector. I knew the board worked from a past test, so the large *bang* from the machine, and the billow of smoke from the new case fan did not overly worry me. The PSU tripped from an over-current on the 12V line and the system shut down properly. Some tears for the deceased case fan, a power supply reset, and another attempt at power. *Nothing*... CPU fan spun up, lights on, no post, no video, and no immediate response to the power and reset button.
Some investigation would reveal a blown trace coming from under the IDE connectors toward the front fan connector. (see above image) With a small alligator-clip cable connecting both sides of the trace, the board booted normally. Without, nothing. Some probing with a voltmeter revealed this to be a 12 volt rail (of unknown origins).
Further quick probing showed the IDE header side to supply +12, while the fan header side should have received it. A quick google for the 3-pin connector pin-out shows the centre pin supplying +12 volts. A frankenstein union of a 3-pin connector and a 4-pin molex fan connector was wired up to supply +12 back into the broken trace through the fan header. (see above images)
With the completed assembly connected, the board powered on and operated normally, crisis averted.
Obviously, once it's been established that this hack works, the broken trace should be cut away and carefully covered.
Deciding why Intel designed the board with the +12 volt line to the fan header powering useful electronics, and why the fan header was not current protected is left as an exercise to the reader.
Posted by spiffed at December 28, 2005 11:11 PM