Dead HTPC: Troubleshooting suggestions?

[Zarathustra[H]]

Hey all,

It's been a LONG time since I had a rig just up and die on me, but that's what happened last night. Midway through an episode of House of Cards on Netflix, my screen suddenly went black, and the CPU fan went to full blast where it stayed.

Power button had no response (even long pressing it) and the fans would not go off until I actually unplugged it. Once plugged back in again, the system will not fire up. Absolutely nothing happens with a power button press.

So, the last time I had a system die like this, I had tons of spare parts kicking around and could easily diagnose by swapping them out. Problem is, I don't anymore. Not unless I want to dismantle my desktop or server in order to find get a power supply to test with, and that's something I'd really rather not do.

I'm thinking its either the integrated PSU in my Silverstone case, or the motherboard

Everything is relatively new and still under warranty. How would you guys proceed with this?

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Never mind.

I just borrowed a PSU from the IT department at work! Now I ahve something to at least start my troubleshooting with!

 

[Armenius]

It's probably the motherboard that died if the power button is not responding. The fact that the fans spun up to 100% when your screen went black also makes me suspect it's the motherboard (power still feeding fans but not being controlled by the motherboard). Unfortunately there is no easy to test except for swapping power supplies.

Never mind.

I just borrowed a PSU from the IT department at work! Now I ahve something to at least start my troubleshooting with!

Okay, you posted that while I was still typing .

 

[fantabulous]

Since this bit me on my last small build (but fortunately before I started buying any replacement parts), try using a screwdriver to bypass the power button on the case to see if that failed.

I suspect power supply issues given the symptoms described, but a bad power button can be frustrating if you're not anticipating it.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Turns out I just pulled a stupid.

Not sure what caused the original hard lock and fans blasting, but the reason it wasn't starting back up again was because I bumped into the power switch on the back enough to jostle it out of the on position, even though it looked on!

Working fine now