Broke off ram slot holder and i think it aint working. Slot 1, HPZ440

[fv101]

Hello, so I'm a kid and my parents bought me this z440 in early march of last year,  for the equivalent of 330 dollars i got 32 gigs of ram, 3.5 terabytes of space, an rx 480 and a xeon e5 1650v4. Yesterday, all of my peripherals fell from my desk and I cleaned them up, after that I noticed my pc was freezing and lagging. I hard restarted it and I got the horrible 5 beep error. In a panic I opened the pc up and I started reseating the memory (5 red beeps is a memory error). I've had eperience with errors before. Gpu errors, hard drive errors, even a cmos error. I've been casually watching pc enthusiasts over the last 3-4 years. I've also cleaned my graphics card from the inside.

I made a horrible mistake though, I tried reseating the memory in slot one (I had 4x 8gb 2400 ecc in all the black slots, 1 3 6 and 😎 and I broke off the slot.

Well, how can I get it running again? I unplugged the gpu and tried to boot and I still got 5 beeps, unplugged all the ram and still got 5 beeps, plugged all the ram into the white slots and I still got 5 beeps. Reset the cmos and I still got 5 beeps.

I'm planning to sell the cpu, ram, psu and the dead mobo and case if no fix is found, I think i can recover 65% of what we spent on this. I'm currently hiding this from my parents but I know they'll ask eventually. Please help.  Can it still work, I haven't tried reseating the cpu yet.

[SDH]

Ow...

No fixing that socket. However, the fix will cost you only about $40.00-50.00 USD if you live in the US. Probably a bit more if not. You can buy a used Z440 motherboard off eBay and transplant it in. That takes me about 1/2 hour because I've done it a few times.

Parent speaking here... that took some significant force to do. The plastic is brittle there, however. You'll need to up your gentle quotient to do a transplant. I can give you added info including on having a much faster boot/applications drive using a Z Turbo Drive G2 and a NVMe M.2 SSD later after the fix if you wish.

[fv101]

What's the fix? Is there a memory config which can boot like this? Also, is there any information on the 5 beep thing other than that it's a memory error. In all the configs I see, they use slot 1. I haven't diagnosed the problem yet. Even before it broke off the system wasn't booting due to the 5 beep thing, i tested all the ram sticks and the board still had the error with all of them, they look fine physically. Is reseating the cpu gonna do anything and could this be a problem with the psu, sorry that i'm typing like this, anxious as hell. I think replacing the motherboard could work. I need to get permission from my parents first to buy any electronic stuff so that's why I'm looking for an alternative solution. Having only 4 slots working is fine, as long as it runs in at least dual channel. In my country (not the us), we have huge markets where people sell used pc parts, I don't think replacing the motherboard is going to be that expensive. I would still really appreciate having a solution where no extra money is required. Thanks for your help.

[SDH]

The "fix" I mentioned is replacing the motherboard. I've seen the 5-beeps signal be from bad contacts on the memory sticks, from superficial corrosion/film building up. You could try cleaning them with rubbing alcohol (90% type if possible). 

That memory socket is toast... you'd risk shorting out electrical components on the motherboard by putting a memory stick in it ever again. So, I'd clean the other stick's contacts and try it without that one. Sounds like you've had problems with it before so it might be the time to just junk that motherboard and put in a new (used) one instead.

[fv101]

Ok, i tried putting one ram stick in the slot right next to the broken one and it still had the 5 beep error. I don't even know how this started, how does dropping peripherals do anything to memory? I heard something about load order, can you explain that? Slot 1 is toast. I have 4 ram sticks, 4x 8gb, 2400 ecc. They're mixed but they were working fine for a year.

[SDH · Accepted solution]

Load order:

There is a label on the inside of the case cover that gives the load order. Basically you fill all the black plastic sockets first from outside to inside and then do the same with all the white plastic sockets also from outside to inside. I'd just try one stick of memory in the one black outside socket that is opposite from the very broken one. 

Peripherals causing internal damage:

Short circuits inside the peripheral from trauma that went through the cables into the motherboard and its components.

[DGroves]

even if this damage was caused by a from a fall from a desk, if you look carefully at the picture you will see the socket is damaged at both ends, that being said it no longer matters at this point how the damage was caused "SDH's" comments on the motherboard needing to being replaced and to be gentle when installing tor removing parts from a system is excellent advice

his comment on the cost of motherboard replacement via ebay is also accurate at this point in time as it's well worth the time/cost involved replacing the motherboard just take your time doing this and reat the HP service manual for help on doing this

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/899901/Hp-Z440-Workstation-Series.html

https://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04823811

[fv101]

I MADE A BREAKTHROUGH,  I INSTALLED ONE STICK INTO THE BLACK SLOT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CPU (SLOT 2) and it WORKED. I've put 3 of 4 of my ram sticks into the other black sockets (the one that was damaged is the only unused one) and it still boots. Do you guys have a configuration where I can use all 4 of my sticks in quad channel without the broken slot (slot 1)?  Thanks for your help. I plan on flipping this pc later this year for an am4 one. I think it would decline by 10% in value if one of the ram slots was broken but it had 32 gigs running in quad channel. Is it even possible to run 4 sticks anymore? I know that I'm currently running my ram in single channel because I'm using 3 sticks. Dual channel is still possible as it boots with 2 sticks. 

[SDH]

Well, that is just great news!

That diagram on the inside of your case cover shows the correct sequence of adding RAM. I'd just follow that and add one more stick at a time, reboot, and see how it goes. Make sure to clean the contacts of each RAM stick carefully before adding it.

I cushion the stick for cleaning on a 100% cotton thin towel, wet my cleaning cloth with high % rubbing alcohol, and rub first both sides along the long edge of the stick. You want it damp but not dripping. Then I rub downwards over each side to clean along that direction also. Don't push too hard because you don't want to break a stick now.

Good for you....

[fv101]

Ok, i tried putting 4 sticks in the slots 2, 3, 4, and 5. wouldn't boot . Is this supposed to happen? To anyone else in the future with this same exact problem, just put the memory sticks in the slots with the next number. If slot 1 is dead use slot 2, and so on. System boots fine with 3 sticks in slots 2, 3 ,4. Can I label this issue as solved now, it is booting.