[geeks] Dual Xeon Motherboard - the End of my Tether??

[Arno Kletzander]

One more thing to try, could/did you revert to the configuration _without_ the
studs for a test? (It's not totally clear from your post but I rather suspect
not.) Try to recreate the stresses when it worked as accurately as possible ,
as it looks like this gave the board "just the right" amount of flex/sag to
close the marginal connection and make it work. This is also consistent with
the fact that it would go "TILT!" with just a tap on the side. Turning the
system sideways etc. will of course also matter so you can experiment with
that as well. Then again, removing and reinstalling the board might have just
pushed it over the edge. It will probably never work reliably again (for
varying definitions of "reliably") but might do just well enough?

Just my b,0,02, YMMV, etc.

Arno, DO4NAK

Jonathan Patschke <jp at celestrion.net> wrote:
> On Wed, 28 Feb 2018, Mark Benson wrote:
> > = There's no visible damage to the board underside or topside = Two of
> > the No. 1 CPU heatsink screws were loose (oops)
> >
> > So now I'm stuck again. All I can think of is a CPU has partially
> > croaked (maybe overheated?) and swapping them about might help.
>
> Sounds more to me like the board saw a little too much flex at one point
> and has some cracked traces in one of the inner layers.
>
> --
> Jonathan Patschke
> Austin, TX
> USA