I may have fried the system board on an A31p

[tbartold]

I accidentally plugged the power cord into a damaged USB slot (the connectors are bare), when not looking (reaching behind with the cord).

So now the system won't power on. I thought I smelled something as if a chip had burned, so took it apart hoping something minor like a fuse might have blown. Unfortunately, it looks like the SL5YP (the bus? chip on the lower right of the system board) chip may have blown. There's a clear blemish on the surface, and sniffing it reveals that as the source of the odor.

Is this likely to be what blew? Is there any way to replace it? Is there other damage which is likely to have happened that would make replacing it moot?

[rkawakami]

From Googling the SL5YP code, that appears to be the Intel 82801CAM I/O Controller Hub. That makes sense because that's what will control the USB ports. If you have access to the tools and the skills needed to remove this 421 pin BGA package, without causing any additional damage to the surrounding components AND are able to find a known good replacement at a fair price, then you should be in the repair business. There are many people who could send you their T4x or A3x systems to fix their loose graphics chips.

I guess all of this is saying that it's not too cost effective to try to replace this large chip without knowing that there could be some other components that have been damaged. Your best course of action would be to get a replacement motherboard (known working and guaranteed).

You could try sending out the board to a good surface mount repair shop but I'd guess that the cost to R&R the chip would be a significant portion, if not more, than a whole motherboard. And again, there's no guarantee that the 82801CAM is the only thing that blew out.

[ajkula66]

The problem here (agreeing with everything Ray has said) is that for amounts people want for a working A31p board, you can buy a whole machine...upwards of $250...

Good luck, you'll need it.

[tbartold]

Thank you both for the advice. A new system board it is then... or perhaps a stripped "for repair" box off ebay. I see now that the extra pc board the chip is on is just a ruse.