Short Story
This motherboard has a short circuit on it. Can you find it?
No? OK, here's a hint, the USB port doesn't work. Let me get a little closer for you.
Still need help? How about TWO MOTHER FUCKING MAGNIFYING GLASSES!?
I think I see it!
I feel really accomplished that I was able to figure that out. I took that safety pin that you see in the bottom right corner of the first picture and used it to scrape away at the solder blob and was able to turn that short circuit into a long circuit. I should mention, that motherboard was a new one that I had just bought from eBay. It was $114.50, sure beats HP's $459.99 price tag, but still a lot of money to the likes of me. I was so excited when it arrived in the mail. I couldn't wait to install it. I was also excited when the computer actually turned on! I wasn't positive the problem was the motherboard, I only guessed, and took the financial risk, very unlike me. The next day I was greatly disappointed when I discovered that it had a broken USB port. That's why I hate dealing with eBay, you never know what you're going to get. The seller has been alright about it. They offered me the choice of an exchange, or a $20 partial refund, seeing as it's not a critical part, there are three other ports after all, a tempting offer to a poor guy like me. After some deliberation, I decided to exchange it. I wanted to have a fully functional motherboard, rather than be constantly reminded that I bought a busted piece of crap. As it turned out, shipping it back would cost me $10-$15 on top of not getting the $20 refund. So I decided to take a second, closer look, then two closer looks, and finally a twice closer look. I found and fixed the problem. Since then, I've decided to opt for the $20 refund instead. I felt guilty at first, for asking for the refund, meanwhile not mentioning that the motherboard is working fine. But I decided to consider the refund to be payment for fixing their broken USB port. Having to disassemble the laptop a second time, the day after reassembling it, that took a lot of time, so yeah, I earned that 20 bucks!
No? OK, here's a hint, the USB port doesn't work. Let me get a little closer for you.
Still need help? How about TWO MOTHER FUCKING MAGNIFYING GLASSES!?
I think I see it!
I feel really accomplished that I was able to figure that out. I took that safety pin that you see in the bottom right corner of the first picture and used it to scrape away at the solder blob and was able to turn that short circuit into a long circuit. I should mention, that motherboard was a new one that I had just bought from eBay. It was $114.50, sure beats HP's $459.99 price tag, but still a lot of money to the likes of me. I was so excited when it arrived in the mail. I couldn't wait to install it. I was also excited when the computer actually turned on! I wasn't positive the problem was the motherboard, I only guessed, and took the financial risk, very unlike me. The next day I was greatly disappointed when I discovered that it had a broken USB port. That's why I hate dealing with eBay, you never know what you're going to get. The seller has been alright about it. They offered me the choice of an exchange, or a $20 partial refund, seeing as it's not a critical part, there are three other ports after all, a tempting offer to a poor guy like me. After some deliberation, I decided to exchange it. I wanted to have a fully functional motherboard, rather than be constantly reminded that I bought a busted piece of crap. As it turned out, shipping it back would cost me $10-$15 on top of not getting the $20 refund. So I decided to take a second, closer look, then two closer looks, and finally a twice closer look. I found and fixed the problem. Since then, I've decided to opt for the $20 refund instead. I felt guilty at first, for asking for the refund, meanwhile not mentioning that the motherboard is working fine. But I decided to consider the refund to be payment for fixing their broken USB port. Having to disassemble the laptop a second time, the day after reassembling it, that took a lot of time, so yeah, I earned that 20 bucks!