Machine wont turn on

Tenchijin

Tenchijin

Tenchijin

Associate
Joined
30 Jun 2010
Posts
24
Hi guys, looking for a bit of assistance as I'm not a hardware bod.
Basically my rig wont switch on, I press the on button and nothing happens at all.
The psu has a rocker switch which has a light on it and this is on.

So its an old alienware case and the power button it a little circuit board, I've tested this with a volt meter and power is getting to the switch. I think the actual physical plastic button part of the button may be broken. So I have tried connecting a power switch from another pc and this does nothing either.

I've also tried touching the two power switch pins with a conductive electricians screw driver and the volt meter and these do nothing also.

It has done this before quite some time ago and to the best of my memory it just started working again after fiddling with all the cables etc but it doesn't seem to be working now.

So I am at a bit of a loss as to what to do now, I have this MOBO http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3097#ov

Which I brought on OCUK a few months back as a replacement when the original one died and had an electronics friend of mine fit it for me.

So where do I go from here? I am pretty sure power is getting through, there's no obvious burnt smells but it just wont switch on

Any constructive ideas are very welcomed

Thanks in advance

Dave
 
geon106 said:
Sounds like a faulty motherboard imo. The power button is working but the motherboard wont power up
Click to expand...

Yeah its possible but dont really want to go through the whole hassle of switch out mobo without a confirmed diagnosis (or at least a closer one).

Is there anything I can do to test this?


Thanks

Dave
 
mp260767 said:
have a google around for "jump starting" a psu, when not connected to a system, case of connecting a couple of points on the psu, should at least get the fan to spin to show the psu is fine.
Click to expand...

Ok can give this a go, however if psu is bust would power be making it to the on / off switch at all? also the lights are lit on the psu.
 
Tenchijin said:
Ok can give this a go, however if psu is bust would power be making it to the on / off switch at all? also the lights are lit on the psu.
Click to expand...

Its possible the PSU is faulty, only giving a low voltage, enough to send to the on/off but not enough to power up the machine.

I know you've probs tried this, but have you checked all the power cables on the motherboard are firmly secure?
 
geon106 said:
Its possible the PSU is faulty, only giving a low voltage, enough to send to the on/off but not enough to power up the machine.

I know you've probs tried this, but have you checked all the power cables on the motherboard are firmly secure?
Click to expand...

Oh ok I see, yeah gonna go through now and reseat everything just to make sure, I'll give the jumpstart thing a whiz and see what happens.


cheers

Dave
 
Unplug all the power leads from the PSU and leave it off for 15 minutes. Some PSU's have a safety feature in that they will shut down to protect themselves for 15 minutes. Also, make sure your connectors to the circuit board are in correctly and if your CPU has a seperate power feed that its also connected firmly. Unplug the power connects and just make sure the contacts are clean. Make sure the PSU is not live when doing this. If yoru CPU is loose and the pins aren't connecting properly then this will also effect the boot up. Try reseating your CPU. Good luck.
 
Basically, as above, unplug the PSU from all its connectors and leave for 15 minutes, then plug in a single fan (or something similar), and do the jumpstart/paper clip trick... Basically take a paper clip, and on the main ATX power supply cable (20 or 24 pin) stick a paper clip into the green wire port and a black wire, and see if it works :)

kd
 
Ok so, tried the paper clip trick and nothing, the two fans on the psu didn't move a inch and the case fan I left connected didn't do anything either.

I tested the green and one black pin with the volt meter and it is kicking out the expected 12V though which is odd

I assume though as the "jumpstart" trick didnt do anything it means the psu is pooched???


cheers

Dave
 
Tenchijin said:
Ok so, tried the paper clip trick and nothing, the two fans on the psu didn't move a inch and the case fan I left connected didn't do anything either.

I tested the green and one black pin with the volt meter and it is kicking out the expected 12V though which is odd

I assume though as the "jumpstart" trick didnt do anything it means the psu is pooched???


cheers

Dave
Click to expand...

Yep, sounds like the PSU is dead if the paperclip trick didn't work.
 
Guys, just got a new psu and we have life again!! yay!

I genuinely mean it when I say you guys are a credit to us geeks, thanks so much for the guidance :D

If any of you ever need database advice drop me a line :)

Cheers again

Dave
 
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