Power button iffy

3Point5InchFlop

3Point5InchFlop

3Point5InchFlop

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10 Jan 2011
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Scotland
Installed a new graphics card, cooler and psu last week. Machines running great however twice I've had a problem where pressing the power button doesn't start the pc up. Just now I've had to press it about 15 times to get it going. Checked all the connections already so any ideas whats the cause?
Cheers
 
Same problem occur if you jump the pins yourself via the mobo? ie. use the end of a flat head screwdriver to join the PWR pins(basically just doing what the case usually does, but directly at the pins).

If that works fine, then it would indicate a problem with the wire to the power switch..

Another method for testing the same, would be to swap the reset switch and power switch wires over and see if the problem is still present using the reset switch.

In any case, both methods involve you going in there and pulling wires, i'd personally just consider a screwdriver method a lot faster(and just as safe providing you don't go stabbing components, lol)..
 
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okay starts up straight away manually jumping it, so must be a problem with the case?
strange how it never happened until the upgrade, I must have damaged the connector myself?
any more thoughts guys?
 
I've had intermittent startup problems on a couple of computers previously. As suggested swapping the power & reset button eliminates the button being faulty (fixed one of my problem PCs)

I have also had a power supply that wasn't working well, from cold it was failing to start properly and would take several attempts though it worked fine once up and running. This was testable/demonstrable via the paperclip method, with nothing attached to the PSU. You may be able to eliminate the cold start issue by turning your computer off then trying to restart it - if it needs multiple presses even while still warm then it's not this.

From your previous post I see you're saying it's fine jumping it. Is that from cold or only from warm?
 
Depending on the case and whether you like pulling things apart, you may be able to dismantle the case sufficiently to do a direct swap of the reset and power wires, but depends on whether they're glued in place(which can be the case on some cheap cases) and also whether it's possible to get into that part of the case without breaking something(it's not easy on all cases).

It could be the wire has a break(somewhere in the cable, look for obvious signs on both wires) or it could be the connection right up at the switch(maybe not quite making proper contact), but again taking a look at it will be dependant on whether your case provides easy(or any) access for examination(that doesn't involve breaking something glued or not designed to be dismantled).
 
thanks for the replies, yes the screwdriver test was from warm. I'll try again tomorrow morning. Failing that its a nice excuse to buy myself a new case:) this one was cheap like I said but its not the best or anything special to look at.
 
I've broken both power and reset buttons on my case. Perhaps I'll fix them someday.

For the time being, I've taken the wire which broke off one of the buttons, plugged it into the motherboard and left the other end hanging out of an optical bay. I now start my computer by briefly touching the bare ends of the wire together.

I miss the power button and boot-on-mouse-click functionality of my old gigabyte board.
 
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