PC won't turn on.

D

Dykstraflex

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Messages
156
Yesterday, while my father was using it, it just shut off all of a sudden, and it can't be restarted. He said he heard a sound like a "small explosion", although it might have just been the normal shutdown sound, as it is quite a loud machine (6 fans altogether), and he doesn't it hear turn off much (it's almost always on).

I checked everything. RAM and video card are seated properly, no scratches or cracks on the CPU, no scratchs or burn marks on the motherboard, all power connections are solid, and there's no burning smell anywhere in the system.

The weirdest thing about this, is that the green LED on the motherboard goes on, so it is drawing power, and the room lights flicker slightly like they always do when I press the power button, so the signal for it to turn on is being sent.

Case is a Cooler Master Praetorian, power supply is an Antec NeoPower 650W, CPU is an AMD 3200+ Barton @ 2.2 Ghz (not oc'd), motherboard is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe.

Please help me if you can.
 
Sounds very much like a power supply problem. Is it possible to try a different PSU in the pc?

ps: are the fans turning at all?
 
I don't have another power supply, unfortunately.

By won't turn on, I mean absolute zero activity. No lights, no fans, nothing.

The last time I had a power supply problem (same machine, different power supply), the capacitors were leaking (I could smell them), and as a result the system would turn on but it clearly struggled (slow fans, flickering lights, never got to POST), like it wasn't getting enough power.

I suspect it's either a loose wire or a hidden short somewhere, but I have no spare parts at all, so it would be helpful if the problem could be tracked down just through describing the problem.
 
Try the PSU Paperclip trick to jumpstart the PSU and see if it can turn on without any load. If so, then disconnect all un-needed fans, HDDs, etc and see if the system will power on. If not, then you need to RMA that PSU.

Also, try clearing your CMOS.
 
^ Will do.

I sure hope it is the PSU, because it's only 2 years into a 5 year warranty. ;)

BTW, I tried clearing the CMOS, replacing the battery, swapping the power/reset switches, and using a different power cord in a different wall socket, all to no avail. :(
 
Ok, I did the paper clip trick. I unplugged all the cables, and connected the green wire and a black wire.

The PSU clicked, drew power for a few seconds (a TV on the same circuit showed interference), then died for good. The fan never turned on, and now the mobo's power LED won't even go on.

I'm just wondering, now. Does this mean it was the power supply all along, or could this trick have possibly killed a perfectly good PSU, and it's actually the mobo that was the problem?

I sure hope it's the first option, but if it's the second, could a bad BIOS chip have anything to do with it (I'm looking for the easiest fix)?
 
it definitely sound like a problem with your power supply. It also sound like your house is not getting enough clean energy supplied to your house (or through that particular fuse). Flickering when you turn on a computer is definitely a sign that you should do something about the electrical wiring of that room.
 
The paperclip trick, unless done incorrectly, would not kill a good PSU. You connected the green wire to ground, which is the same thing a motherboard does -- the only difference is that there was no load on the PSU, unless you had something else plugged in.
 
enginurd said:
The paperclip trick, unless done incorrectly, would not kill a good PSU. You connected the green wire to ground, which is the same thing a motherboard does -- the only difference is that there was no load on the PSU, unless you had something else plugged in.
Click to expand...

Did it matter which black wire I used, or are they all the same?
 
I believe the green LED on the motherboard indicates that standby power is being supplied. Standby power is used for Wake on LAN, Wake on ring, and to power up the power supply when you push the power button on the front of the case. The standby power is separate from the main power supply circuit, the switching power supply part of the power supply. The green led is a reminder/warning that the power supply is not completely shut off. It is possible that the main power section of the power supply was damaged but the standby section still worked. In which case the power supply would try to turn on but if a fault was detected it would just turn off again. This can happen very fast and seem like nothing happened at all. Also, some switching power supplies don't like to be powered up with no load. This is one reason why power supply testers have load resistors in them. It is conceivable that the paper clip trick could have damaged your power supply further. I would think that a quality power supply would have sufficient safe guards that the paper clip trick wouldn't damage it. Generic brands not so much. I personally don't think its a valid test, but thats just my opinion. It does sound like your power supply has died. I had a generic power supply short out on me. It arced to it's case and never worked again. There was a bright flash, and a bang. :eek: There wasn't a whole lot of smoke but there was a distinct burnt smell if you put your noes close to the cooling fan grill. :(
 
enginurd said:
they're all the same, ground.
Click to expand...

Then it's always been the PSU at fault.

@ alphanumeric - If it's got a 5 year warranty, then I would assume it's a quality PSU. Plus, I checked the manual, and it's got quite a few safeguarding features in it.

Thanks for all your help, everyone. :)
 
a warranty doesn't mean shit when it comes to quality, quality comes when the item you're buying is built and manufacter, that's where quality happens. A warranty is just something else you consider when buying an item.

Corsair power supplies are really good high quality. I'd start there if you're looking to replace that PSU.
 
A good warranty may be a good sign that it is a quality power supply but like Fail said I think the brand name is a better indicator of quality. For instance I would probably buy a Corsair over say a Wallmart Sparkomatic, Belchfire series even if they both had the same warranty. ;) :D
 
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