How to Fix Red Light Errors on Your Motherboard

It tin beryllium frightening to announcement that location is simply a reddish ray illuminated connected your motherboard while nan strategy itself fails to boot, particularly if your motherboard refuses to bespeak why nan ray appeared.

However, erstwhile you return nan correct steps, troubleshooting nan reddish ray connected your motherboard is amazingly simple.

Why Does nan Motherboard Red Error Light Appear?

The reddish LED connected your motherboard whitethorn illuminate for a fewer reasons. It often appears because cables aren't connected properly, aliases location is an rumor pinch nan hardware configuration. Sometimes, motherboards person aggregate reddish lights seated beside adjuvant labels.

If your motherboard has these labels, troubleshooting is faster but not ever arsenic speedy arsenic you'd think. Otherwise, you should beryllium capable to resoluteness nan rumor done generalized troubleshooting.

How to Fix nan Red Error Light connected a Motherboard

As pinch immoderate different troubleshooting process, nan perfect measurement to commencement is pinch nan simplest steps. You should statesman by checking for a explanation adjacent to nan reddish LED, and that each cables are decently connected—and if each other fails, you tin see steps for illustration replacing nan motherboard aliases PSU.

Check if nan Red Light Has a Label

Before taking immoderate different troubleshooting steps, you should cheque whether nan reddish ray connected your motherboard is labeled. Most modern motherboards person 4 reddish LEDs branded CPU, DRAM, BOOT, and VGA. Depending connected your type of motherboard and what LED is illuminated, you tin constrictive nan imaginable troubleshooting steps required down to a manageable selection.

Image Credit: Mac Coyzkie/YouTube

The LED that astir commonly illuminates is nan CPU light. It will look if POST detects immoderate rumor related to your CPU, including but not constricted to compatibility issues and improper installations. Possible causes of an illuminated CPU ray encompass:

• Your BIOS type is older than your CPU and needs to beryllium updated.
• Your CPU is incompatible pinch your motherboard (check nan motherboard QVL).
• Your CPU wasn't decently installed, aliases nan CPU has bent pins.
• The cables to your CPU aren't decently connected.
• Thermal paste smudged into areas wherever it doesn't belong.
• Your CPU is dormant aliases faulty.

Less commonly, nan DRAM ray illuminates. This ray indicates that there's thing incorrect pinch your RAM. Possible causes of an illuminated DRAM ray include:

• Your RAM sticks aren't decently seated.
• The RAM sticks you're utilizing are incompatible pinch 1 another.
• Your RAM sticks are incompatible pinch your motherboard (check nan motherboard QVL).
• The clamps holding your RAM successful spot didn't decently click into place.
• Your RAM sticks whitethorn beryllium faulty aliases damaged (try testing 1 astatine a time).
• Your CPU pins whitethorn beryllium bent (inexplicably, this tin origin nan DRAM ray to illuminate).

You whitethorn besides find that nan BOOT ray is illuminated connected your motherboard. You tin safely presume that your HDD/SSD is nan origin of this indicator. There are a fewer reasons that nan BOOT ray whitethorn illuminate, including:

• You person nary operating strategy installed.
• The HDD/SSD is not decently seated aliases connected.
• The SATA larboard nan HDD/SSD is connected to is faulty aliases disabled.
• Your PC is attempting to footwear from 1 of your non-bootable HDD/SSDs.
• Your HDD/SSD is dormant aliases corrupted.
• BIOS cannot observe your HDD/SSD.
• Your motherboard does not support your HDD/SSD type aliases interface protocol.

The rarest correction ray to illuminate is nan VGA light. Like nan CPU light, nan VGA ray illuminates erstwhile POST detects a problem pinch your graphics card. Possible reasons that nan VGA ray whitethorn illuminate include:

• The GPU aliases PSU powerfulness cables are improperly connected.
• The PCIe socket latch connected nan GPU didn't click into place.
• The GPU is not installed successful nan correct slot, aliases nan GPU aliases PCIe slot is damaged.

As you tin see, though nan motherboard reddish ray correction is simply a bully starting point, it doesn't ever specify nan motherboard error—so further troubleshooting is required.

Verify That Cables Are Properly Plugged In

If nan erstwhile troubleshooting steps didn't work—or if your motherboard is an older exemplary pinch only 1 unlabeled reddish LED—you'll request to return broader, generalized steps to find what mightiness beryllium wrong. If you haven't already, effort unplugging and reconnecting immoderate cables to nan motherboard aliases its installed components.

Check if Your Hardware Is Compatible

If nan connections weren't nan culprit, nan rumor mightiness beryllium that your hardware is incompatible. Make judge that your motherboard, HDD/SSD, RAM, GPU, CPU, and PSU are each compatible. There are a fewer ways that you tin check your hardware compatibility, but nan easiest method involves utilizing a website for illustration BuildMyPC, PC Part Picker, aliases NewEgg's PC Builder. You tin besides usage your motherboard's QVL to cheque compatibility.

Reset nan Motherboard BIOS

In immoderate cases, faulty configurations tin origin nan motherboard's reddish ray to illuminate. This rumor is peculiarly communal pinch unstable overclocking configurations. If erstwhile troubleshooting methods person failed, you tin effort to revive your motherboard by resetting nan BIOS to its default settings. Boot your machine and deed nan BIOS cardinal (typically F2 aliases F12) until BIOS appears.

Once BIOS loads, navigate done various options until you find nan Factory Default option. Depending connected your BIOS, it whitethorn besides beryllium named thing for illustration Reset to Default or Setup Defaults. Press Enter to load Factory Default, past property Enter again if a punctual appears asking you to confirm. Finally, exit BIOS, prevention your changes, and cheque whether nan reddish ray is still illuminated.

Don't hide that resetting your BIOS will besides region immoderate BIOS updates installed. If your CPU relied connected a BIOS update to usability properly, you'll request to reinstall nan BIOS update earlier your strategy will boot.

Alternatively, you tin reset BIOS by removing and reinstalling your CMOS battery.

Reseat Motherboard Hardware Components

As improper connections tin origin nan reddish ray connected your motherboard to illuminate, it's besides worthy verifying that each hardware connected nan motherboard is seated properly. Release nan tabs and region nan RAM, past reseat it. Connect your PC to powerfulness and cheque whether nan ray is still illuminated. You should besides effort reinstalling nan CPU, HDD/SSD, GPU, and PSU.

Replace nan CMOS Battery

It's rather communal for a depleted CMOS artillery to origin nan reddish ray connected your motherboard to illuminate. In astir cases, you tin quickly replace nan CMOS artillery by ordering and installing a CR2032 battery—but make judge to double-check that this is nan due type. The location of your CMOS artillery depends connected your motherboard's shape factor.

Check if nan Motherboard aliases PSU is Dying

Last but not least, a dying motherboard aliases PSU tin origin nan reddish ray connected your motherboard to illuminate. If you judge nan PSU is nan issue, effort connecting it to different strategy and replacing nan cables. If nary different troubleshooting methods activity and replacing nan PSU doesn't help, you should presume that your motherboard is perchance dormant and activity a replacement.

Take Care of Your PC

It tin beryllium frightening erstwhile your PC won't footwear and nan motherboard displays an correction light, but arsenic agelong arsenic you're consenting to return nan correct troubleshooting steps, there's nary logic to beryllium intimidated. Most motherboards coming make nan origin of nan reddish ray easy identifiable done labels, and moreover if your motherboard is unlabeled, strategies for illustration reseating components and checking connections are often capable to reconstruct your PC to afloat functionality.