Computer won't turn on :(

Tasocahtfu · 8 May 2007 at 15:04

Hi,

Had a self-build machine running for about 2 years now, and all of a sudden it has refused to turn on. This started a couple of nights ago, pressed the power button and nothing happened, after 6 or 7 tries it sprung into life.
Then last night it took about 30 attempts, now today it just point blank refuses to start.

The case is an Antec Sonata II, which still has the original PSU it came with installed. My dad suggested it might just be the power switch, so we popped that out and he tried connecting the two wires for a second to see if that would fire it up. No joy.

The motherboard still has a light on when the power is turned on at the plug, so does this mean the motherboard itself is kaput, as power is still running from the PSU it would seem? And the switch seemed to break progressively, rather than all of a sudden?

Can anyone help/suggest anything?

Cheers

Tosk · 8 May 2007 at 15:07

sounds like the PSU to me just replace it and it should be fine, but saying that
it could have took the board out. but with it being an antec PSU it shouldn't of
took the board out.

Whitestar · 8 May 2007 at 15:09

You say you tried connecting the two wires.

Did you try taking the switch off of the motherboard and connecting the two power pins with a paper clip of something metal.

Tosk · 8 May 2007 at 15:13

i wouldn't start messing around with the PSu if its dead, if you do there is gonna
be more of a chance of you taking some think out if you do. be it at your
own risk if you do

Tasocahtfu · 8 May 2007 at 15:15

Whitestar said:
You say you tried connecting the two wires.

Did you try taking the switch off of the motherboard and connecting the two power pins with a paper clip of something metal.

No, but have just tried that now and it doesn't work, does that indicate a problem with the motherboard? The board is an Asus Socket 939 A8N-SLi Premium if that helps.

Thanks for the help.

Whitestar · 8 May 2007 at 15:47

Possibly.

When you try and turn it on, does anything happen, e.g. fans moving, lights coming on etc.

If so, i'd say that something is shorting out somewhere.

If not the problem could either be the motherboard or the psu. The only way to tell would be to try another psu with just the motherboard connected.
If it works start adding the extra devices.
If it doesn't, the problem is most deffinatly the motherboard.

Cyber-Mav · 8 May 2007 at 15:49

could be somethig simple like a knackered power switch

Whitestar · 8 May 2007 at 17:35

If you mean on the psu or the wall socket, there is still power going to the motherboard

The motherboard still has a light on when the power is turned on at the plug

If you meant the power button, this is why i suggested jumping the power pins on the motherboard with a paperclip.

Tasocahtfu · 8 May 2007 at 17:40

No, nothing happens at all when I press the power button. I did mean before that when the power is on at the wall socket and the rocker switch on the PSU is on, then there is a light on the motherboard, but that's the only indication of power I can see. That's why I didn't think it could be the PSU, as I figured nothing would come through if it was broken. But my dad says that's not the case, so guess I'll have to try another PSU before anything else.

Tosk · 8 May 2007 at 19:21

50% of the time when PSUs goes there is always a fixed power current powering LEDs or fans. that's the big intercation of how you know your PSU is dead,

as i told you before on my reply im, 100% sure your PSU is dead, and powering up you system could take out more components out every time you do it.

your board should be ok but who can tell, as i don't know how many times you have tried kicking it in. and what ever you do don't try the PSU on another system.

good luck

Firegod · 8 May 2007 at 20:46

Sounds very very similar to when my old PSU went. Would turn on eventually after about 4 or 5 goes and by toggling the power swtich on the back of the PSU. In the end I had enough, and thought well a PSU is easier to purchase and test over a whole motherboard.

So that's what I did. Actually my old PSU was a 450w Antec NeoPower jobby.

Went and put in my new 700w OCZ and result! Powered up first time.

So I'm going to echo other people's thoughts and say the PC is duff.

Oh, if it helps. My board still had it's lights on although when I pressed the power switch they would go bright and then dim. After opening the PSU up (which is apparently dangerous... Lol) I found a fried component. must have been of the fritz for awhile.

Hope that helps!

Tasocahtfu · 8 May 2007 at 22:55

Ok guys, thanks very much for all of your help, much appreciated. I'll take it to work tomorrow and try another PSU in it and see if that works.

Just out of interest, if I do have to get a new one, would a newer Antec one be a safe bet? As the whole idea was to keep noise to a minimum originally, and the PSU that came with the Sonata has a connector that sensed how hot the PC was and only kicked in the fan if it got a bit warm. Or are there better options instead?

Think the PSU in there is a TruePower 450W iirc.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Tasocahtfu · 9 May 2007 at 13:50

Unbelievable. Brought the PC into work today, and just before I try a different PSU I thought I'd give the current one one last rty, and lo and behold it fires up. The PC switched itself off after a few seconds, but second time around it has fired up perfectly, into Windows etc.

Don't understand!

Firegod · 9 May 2007 at 14:30

AshM said:
Unbelievable. Brought the PC into work today, and just before I try a different PSU I thought I'd give the current one one last rty, and lo and behold it fires up. The PC switched itself off after a few seconds, but second time around it has fired up perfectly, into Windows etc.

Don't understand!

I'd still change it though, you probably just got lucky and then you get all the way home and it stops working again.

Tasocahtfu · 9 May 2007 at 14:45

Firegod said:
I'd still change it though, you probably just got lucky and then you get all the way home and it stops working again.

Want to pick some lottery numbers for me?

After about half an hour the thing stopped responding again, fans etc wouldn't so much as even flicker! So your were spot on there mate, I swapped it out for one in another machine here and it works fine, so best get one ordered!

Can you make any suggestions at all, as I mentioned a couple of posts up I was thinking about another Antec PSU to ensure it stays quiet? Basic build consists of a Athlon 64 3700+, 2 GB Corsair XMS RAM, Geforce 7900GTX, 3 separate HDD's and a DVD-RW drive, so one of their 550W ones should be plenty enough shouldn't it?

Thanks for the help

Firegod · 9 May 2007 at 15:41

Lol. Well for me, I like Enermax or OCZ.

I hear the Corsair PSU's are good also. £70-£80 should see you with a nice 500-600w PSU.