ARIA Technology Ltd. - FAULTY - no fault found

[darek]

Hi everyone

 

I am looking for some advice.

 

I bought a computer motherboard from Aria Technology a few months ago costing approx. £55 delivered .The product was very 'moody' since the beginning (sometimes the pc did not boot) but recently it became really problematic.I used to fix and build computers, so I am familiar with pc servicing. I disassembled , disconnected everything , checked other components and confirmed that indeed, the problem is definitely caused by motherboard.

 

I contacted Aria and sent the board to service (£6) .They noticed the problem and allegedly fixed it (as they informed me over the phone) but when I received it back, the motherboard still was not working properly, the problem remained. I immediately asked for another RMA number.

 

I sent the part to Aria for a second time (£6) and I just received an email stating that this motherboard has been tested and ...it is absolutely fine - 'no fault has been found' ! Now, in order to get my board back I have to pay testing and return fees (~£17) .

 

I ended up with a faulty motherboard , being left without my pc for almost a month and forced to spend additional £30 . I am more than sure, the components is faulty, it just wasn't properly tested..or was maybe even untested at all. I can't go to Manchester to show them the problem ( I sent them youtube video showing the issue, I do not think they were even bothered to have a look at it ).

 

What would you recommend ?

[edwincluck]

Hi everyone

 

I am looking for some advice.

 

I bought a computer motherboard from Aria Technology a few months ago costing approx. £55 delivered .The product was very 'moody' since the beginning (sometimes the pc did not boot) but recently it became really problematic.I used to fix and build computers, so I am familiar with pc servicing. I disassembled , disconnected everything , checked other components and confirmed that indeed, the problem is definitely caused by motherboard.

You ruled out dodgy or incompatible DRAM? And a failing CPU? You weren't overclocking it, deliberately or otherwise? You used default fail-safe BIOS settings? No signs of IRQ conflicts? A poor quality or dying PSU? All cabling confirmed as good and seated properly?

 

"sometimes did not boot" is too vague. What stage of the bootstrap was failing? Was it getting past the BIOS Pre-Operating System Test (POST). Who made the BIOS? Were there any beep indicators to isolate the fault? Have you tested the board with all known-good components (cpu/ram/video/psu) ?

 

I contacted Aria and sent the board to service (£6) .They noticed the problem and allegedly fixed it (as they informed me over the phone) but when I received it back, the motherboard still was not working properly, the problem remained. I immediately asked for another RMA number.

There are almost no serviceable parts on a modern PC motherboard. Difficult to see how anyone could 'fix it'.

 

I sent the part to Aria for a second time (£6) and I just received an email stating that this motherboard has been tested and ...it is absolutely fine - 'no fault has been found' ! Now, in order to get my board back I have to pay testing and return fees (~£17) .

Hmm... So what was the fault that was purportedly repaired first time?

 

I ended up with a faulty motherboard , being left without my pc for almost a month and forced to spend additional £30 . I am more than sure, the components is faulty, it just wasn't properly tested..or was maybe even untested at all. I can't go to Manchester to show them the problem ( I sent them youtube video showing the issue, I do not think they were even bothered to have a look at it ). What would you recommend ?

IME. Aria have tended to be okay. That said, times is hard. What make and model of m/board is it? Is it known to have 'issues' ?

 

You could get an independent report (at your own cost) to confirm the presence of a m/board fault. That would be a useful bargaining tool. Since the m/board was 'only' £50, the cost of obtaining a report might not warranted.

 

I would be interested to see your youtube video. Have you asked for advice in PC building forums?

 

 

good luck,

edwin

[darek]

Hi Edwin , thanks for your reply

 

It's a pre POST problem, as per video, so it appears even if memory sticks are removed

 

youtube.com/watch?v=QtTd9QBFEnY (can't post proper links yet)

 

I can definitely rule out other components as they all work with another ,cheap motherboard I bought for a temporary use (Asus P8H61-m/USB3 ).There is not a common fault or popular bug with this motherboard . There also shouldn't be any compatibility issues as the bios is the newest, cpu on the market for a long time ( i7-2600) , the memory is on recommended harware list and definitely ok.

I have OCZ SXS2 600W, I also checked the PC with another ,quality power supply as well as tested both (with multimeter ) for stability at 5V and 12V .Nothing was overclocked as the H67 + i7-2600(non K) are not up the job .

 

1st RMA - 'The alleged fix' - I just had Aria service contacting me that the mobo is fixed and they would be sending it back .When I asked how they fixed this : ' bios needed to be re-flashed'.I was a bit surprised since I was updating bios, but it did not matter to me at the time, I just wanted to have my mainboard working.Obviously, when it arrived, the first attempt to boot welcomed me with power cycling ( I am not sure if that's the best description of what is shown on the YT movie).

 

Now, I have given Aria a bit more time to fix it as they contacted me (after posting on their forum) and promised to re-test the mobo.Although, their response time is just awful( I wait two weeks already without any further info) and Aria reserves up to 28 WORKING (!) days for a definitive solution, I bought the temp replacement, thus I can afford to wait a bit longer.If that's not going to get sorted, I will probably have to pay a visit to quality independent service and open a small claims court case in order to claw all these costs back.

 

Yes, I also thought Aria would sort it out quickly.I will let you know how they dealt with this problem, hopefully will not wrote in order to obtain further assistance .

 

(The motherboard MSI H67MA-E35)

Edited February 26, 2012 by darek

[edwincluck]

Thanks for the update. You've obviously spent a lot of your time tracking down the fault. It sounds unlikely that a BIOS update could solve this problem. It's a shame that Aria did not demonstrate the results of its tests. I have bought from Aria in the past, so sincerely hope they sort it out for you...