Seeking Guidance on Motherboard Diagnostics

[SarcasticOP]

Hello everyone!

I hope this is the correct place to post this, if not please let me know and I will post in the appropriate location.

I'm venturing into the intricate world of board repair within electronics, and I'm reaching out to this community for some guidance and shared wisdom. I have tried to do some research myself and find this information on my own, but I don't know what I don't know, and that is really starting to become an insurmountable issue that I cannot overcome. The only person I had nearby that I could turn to passed away recently so I do not have anyone local to turn to.

My journey so far has involved a blend of self-teaching and practical experimentation. I started with HDMI repair and since then I've been studying individual components and their troubleshooting, but I'm encountering challenges with diagnosing issues on motherboards that have hundreds to thousands of components. My success has mostly been through lucky discoveries or identifying visibly damaged parts, which is rare.

I'm seeking resources like videos or tutorials that focus on diagnosing and pinpointing less obvious faults on motherboards. My learning style is somewhat specific – I learn best through hands-on experience with immediate feedback. Additionally, detailed instructional videos where each action is explained are incredibly helpful for me, much like the blend of visual and textual explanations found on sites like iFixit. Whatever it is, It should be “Let me teach you how to do this” and not “Watch me do this repair”. That may be a lot to ask for, it is just how I am wired and how I learn.

I am trying to avoid paying for courses since I am the only one working right now while my wife finishes nursing school and we have three children in middle school. If I have to, I will when I get my tax return and pay for these classes, so don't be afraid to throw them out as I can always use them if that is where my journey takes me.

Additionally, I wanted to mention the equipment I have at my disposal, as I was fortunate enough to inherit a comprehensive set of tools:

• Hakko FM-203 Soldering Station with a standard soldering iron and a micro pencil.
• A wide variety of soldering iron tips.
• Atten Hot Air Rework Station.
• Flir One Pro - USB-C for thermal imaging.
• A benchtop power supply for testing.
• Fluke 117 multimeter for electrical measurements.
• ESR Meter
• Parco Microscope, which I've seen used in several instructional videos.

While it's exciting to successfully fix an issue, not being able to identify the problem can be quite disheartening. I'm not looking for someone to hold my hand, just some direction and advice to help me advance in this journey.

Thank you in advance for any pointers, resources, or suggestions you can offer. Your support is greatly appreciated as I continue to navigate this learning path!

[sam_sam_sam]

My advice to you just hang out around here for a little while and you will learn the method of how to go about troubleshooting issues on different types devices and equipment remember that Google search is your best friend in troubleshooting just put in the device information and then look for tear downs on YouTube and pay very close attention to how and the explanation of why something was done and the reason for doing it a certain way

One note not all the things that you see on YouTube are not always correct ways of doing things when you see something done a certain way look at another YouTuber and see if basically they are doing it the same way or not if they are then there is a good chance that this will probably work out for you

I learned a lot from being on this forum and doing what I have suggested to you so I can tell you that it can be done this way it not easy sometimes that is the reason why you ask questions about what you do not understand but it does require you Google search for the information that you do not understanding if you still do not understand something then ask the question here on this forum and provide a website link to information that you have looked at because sometimes when you do that other people like me might learn something that did not know or might not have a good understanding about that particular information about that particular topic