How to clean mainboard memory socket

[Per Hansson]

Hi, found this Dell Dimension 9150 in the scrapbin at work
First did not boot at all, check the diag lights and Dell said memory error

So I took 2 of 4 memories out, then it tried to post but hung when I tried entering the BIOS

Ripped another one out but it still hung...

Inspected the socket and found what you can see in the attached picture, looks almost like rust for lack of the correct english word (Ärgat?)

How do I clean these contacts?

[washu]

Re: How to clean mainboard memory socket

First check to see if the memory is good at all with Memtest in a known good board.

If they still need a clean with known good RAM, get some electronic contact cleaner. I've used q-tips on older ram sockets but those might be too big so you might have to improvise. Sometimes just the cleaner alone is enough without any scrubbing.

[Per Hansson]

Re: How to clean mainboard memory socket

I bought some Chemically Clean Acetone
It worked quite well to clean the socket, I used one of those cloth for cleaning monitor screens and a flathead screwdriver to push it around in the socket with it soaked in Acetone

They still don't look great but the system boots with all 4 sockets populated and passes a complete run of Memtest86+

The sad part is there is something wrong with the USB ports, no matter which one I plug the keyboard into the Dell says "keyboard error" on bootup...
I tried reflashing the BIOS but that didn't do a thing... (-Nopause) is the switch for the BIOS if anyone needs to know how to flash without having a keyboard attached

[Per Hansson]

Re: How to clean mainboard memory socket

Measured the voltage on the USB ports, they show up as 5.009v
The data lines say zero volts tho...

I noticed a strange 24 pin header on the mobo, turns out it's for a special add on card that gives you PS/2 and serial ports;



So I ordered one for a good price on eBay
Model number is Y9003 that fits the Dimension 9150

I've got it to actually start from a knoppix live cd, it even got an address on my LAN and I could ping it... so that's why I bought it, because the system seems to work really well, and it would be stupid to throw it out over just defective USB ports!