I damaged my motherboard, I'm not sure if I messed it up...
I damaged my motherboard, I'm not sure if I messed it up...
I completed most of the build, but while adjusting the CPU cooler mounts with pliers I accidentally damaged the board. Initially it detected RAM, but later it stopped recognizing it altogether. Was the RAM or motherboard defective, or did I cause the issue?
pliers are useful in this situation. a screwdriver might not be the best choice here. the scratch appears to have cut some of the traces, which supports your observation. since the ram was detected before the issue, it seems likely. you could attempt an RMA, but if they find it hard to accept, it might still be worth trying. it could be a coincidence, but it’s definitely worth considering.
If you made a deep scratch to remove the traces, a repair shop can fix it by scraping off the protective coating and rewiring the connections. It seems you only touched the surface layer, not the actual traces. The traces shouldn’t be connected to memory modules; any memory-related connections are between the socket and the DDR slots. They’re more likely to link to the M.2 port or PCIe slots.
The pliers were meant to secure and tighten the nut that the cooler screws into. I was adjusting it to the back plate mounts, but it came loose. Probably because once I fix all my other issues and it fails, that’s the problem.
Yes, along with restarting it several times, they seem to be moving toward the M.2 port.
They seem to fit into an M.2 port. I’m counting on it functioning again after finishing the other fixes, or at least hoping the RAM didn’t fail. I’ve also heard that re-seating the CPU could help, so I might give that a try too since I’ve already gone through all the RAM troubleshooting steps.
It's hard to judge from the images if the scratch reaches the traces, but rubbing it with a pencil eraser and then cleaning it with a cloth or q-tip should clear the debris, revealing what's underneath. Even if copper is visible but the scratch isn't fully through, it should still work; applying a bit of nail polish afterward can help prevent future oxidation.