AAAH borken? power flickering sorta...

[unhappy_mage]

i just turned off my computer to install a pair of hard drives for some video transfers... and when i turned it back on (power switch on back of psu) it goes flicka-flicka-flicka on and off at about 100bpm (not 60hz or anything power-related like that). this system is also conditioned through an ups, so hopefully the power is ok. pressing the power button on the front does (changes) nothing. i recently had problems at my formerly stable oc and had to push back down to stock. potential mobo problem? hardware as follows:
dfi lanparty pro875 rev. a
p4 2.4c at stock
512 corsair ll 3200
thermaltake 430
2 27gb WD's i was plugging in & 120gb seagate & liteon 811s dvd burner
any ideas? i don't want to touch it until i figure this out... i have different hardware to swap for many pieces of it (hdd, psu, mem) but not mobo or proc. this sucks, i just built this a year ago...

 

[Elledan]

Could you elaborate on this issue you're having? What exactly is happening?

 

[unhappy_mage]

well, what was happening was when I turned on the power switch on the rear of the power supply, it would turn on and off very rapidly, so the cpu fan would spin up&down, the led's on the motherboard would turn on and off, and it generally looked and sounded wierd. however, I tried it yesterday and it worked, so this is for curiosity's sake from here on. unless it does it again .

I didn't have to press the front power switch for this to happen, it was just spontaneous.

 

[Canon]

It sounds like what my old P-100 IBM system does when you plug in the power cord. The whole thing powers up for a split second and then powers down again right? I'm guessing it's a small bug in the BIOS or something. I'm not sure though.

 

[D3v1an7]

So, your PS is unstable, switching on and off rapidly and your continuing to use it?

Let me know how that works out for you...

anyone care to speculate what his next thread title is going to be?

 

[Elledan]

well, what was happening was when I turned on the power switch on the rear of the power supply, it would turn on and off very rapidly, so the cpu fan would spin up&down, the led's on the motherboard would turn on and off, and it generally looked and sounded wierd. however, I tried it yesterday and it worked, so this is for curiosity's sake from here on. unless it does it again .

I didn't have to press the front power switch for this to happen, it was just spontaneous.

Might be due to a loose cable, a bad PSU, or a faulty mainboard (signaling the PSU to turn on, then off, then on, ad nauseam, for some fiendish reason). There's also the possibility of 'dirty' power. Do you use an UPS?

 

[unhappy_mage]

canon: it's working now, and it seems to be a cyclical thing rather than one-shot.

blackrino: lol, yeah. looking at a new pcp&c, but they're $200 oh well, start saving.

elledan: i do use a (cheap) ups, the cables are all secure. faulty m/b is currently my guess. dagnabbit, i paid $200 for this only a year ago and it's broken already?

so basically, my plan is to break it to my parents and see if I can go a64 for cheap enough that they'll go for it. new psu and new mobo is prolly not worth it at this point.

 

[Falls Included]

nay.. if you can get an a64 cpu and mobo outa them, go for it... wont be that bad... what PSU do you have now?

 

[unhappy_mage]

aye...?
a thermaltake purepower 430w. it'll probably be $400 or so for the upgrade, but I think it's about that time.

edit: your location is on your boss's desk?

 

[Elledan]

elledan: i do use a (cheap) ups, the cables are all secure. faulty m/b is currently my guess. dagnabbit, i paid $200 for this only a year ago and it's broken already?

Not necessarily. If you can rule out the PSU as being the culprit, then it might be due to a bad CMOS battery, a solar flare, or gremlins

I'd wait and see whether it happens again, but you're free to buy a shiny new system.

 

[paymepunk]

HAHA i think i know... .. one of thos drives is still set to master, confliicting with the other master, and running its OS. make sure your jumpers are correct, all slave or cableselect except for your main HDD you want to boot off off of. Also the alternate hdd might have a funky monitor settig yours cant do. just a guess, check it out....(Thinks to self: please be rigth for once....)

ahhh i think i am wrong..n/m i didnt read the whole post. unplug your cdroms and everything cept the hdd's and see if your PS will work. Mine has its own fuse.....i like my PS