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Geek Culture / Dead computer, suggestions?

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Plystire
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Posted: 13th Mar 2011 02:14
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So I found my computer off last night (I always leave my computer on) and hitting the power button did nothing.
I checked cables and everything was fine. I looked inside the case and an LED was lit up on my motherboard. I turned off the PSU, waited for the LED to turn off, turned the PSU back on, hit the power button again. This time lights turned on for a split second and the fans twitched, then nothing.

I suspect that my motherboard is dead, but I can't be sure.

Here's the current setup I have right now for testing it.

I removed the MB from the case and it's now sitting on my desk (my desk is wood so non-conductive). I've removed everything from the MB (GPU, HDD, RAM, and even the CPU). The only thing plugged into the MB is the main power cable. It still does what I described above, first time power is supplied and the power button is hit (my MB has an onboard power button) the lights will flash, the fans twitch, and then nothing until I remove power again.

I don't think it's my PSU, since it will turn on and run on it's own. I've also run a multimeter through ever wire coming from the PSU and they all return roughly the correct voltage that they should be returning.

My question for you guys is, what could the problem be? Is this fixable, or do I just need a new MB?


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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 13th Mar 2011 02:25
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depending on your motherboard it might not even turn on without the ram.

So.. put the thing together again the way it should be and clear cmos. check if the power button is connected. also unplug all USB stuff. i had a thing one time when because a usb webcam is plugged in the piece of crap wouldnt turn on, i unplug the webcam and it turns on and works fine.

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Fatal Berserker
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Posted: 13th Mar 2011 02:29
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You forgot to plug the computer into a power source.

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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 13th Mar 2011 02:43
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no the motherboard recieved power it might be cmos or something else.

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Plystire
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Posted: 13th Mar 2011 04:07
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here are the steps I took BEFORE it was stripped down to what it is now (should posted this in the original post):
NOTE: I tested between each bullet
- Reset CMOS
- Unplug all peripheral devices
- Reset CMOS
- Unplug GPU
- Unplug HDD
- Reset CMOS
- Unplugged all fans
- Took out CPU
- Took out RAM

So, now it is just the MB and the PSU.
This is the point in time when I posted this thread.

Steps I've taken since posting:
Again, I tested between each bullet
- Used hairdryer on inside of PSU to warm it up (since capacitors seem to hold a charge better when they're warm)
- Grabbed a very old PSU from a dead Dell upstairs and checked voltage rails on it. Everything checked out, so plugged that into my MB.

The Dell PSU worked! Granted, this PSU is hardly enough to power my fully assembled computer, but it did bring the MB through POST, which tells me that my MB is NOT dead and that I just need a new PSU! Oh, thank goodness it's not the MB....


Thanks for the suggestions, though, guys.


For future reference, if your 12V rails on the PSU are returning less than 9V, get a new PSU. Lol


The one and only,


Only those who sow the seeds of their desires will reap their benefits later.
However, I have seeds of my own to tend to. I don't have time to be someone else's watering can.
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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 13th Mar 2011 06:44
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a good way to check the PSU is take a paperclip and short the green wire with black red or orange wire. while its plugged in. If the psu starts working, if the fan spins its fine, if not then the psu is dead. the green wire is like the on/off switch for the psu, give it some voltage and it will turn on.

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Plystire
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Posted: 13th Mar 2011 07:15
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My PSU turned on, there's not a problem with that, it's just not providing as much power as it should. By itself, it turns on fine (hence why I was able to get voltage readings from it). Also, the PSU doesn't need the paperclip trick, it's robust enough to be able to turn on when it's not plugged into the MB. The Dell's PSU needed that, though, since it doesn't have an on/off switch on the back.


The one and only,


Only those who sow the seeds of their desires will reap their benefits later.
However, I have seeds of my own to tend to. I don't have time to be someone else's watering can.
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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 13th Mar 2011 07:35
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so the psu didnt have enough voltage to power the motherboard huh? thats a very rare case actually. most of the time a psu either works or it dosent.

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Indicium
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Posted: 13th Mar 2011 15:55
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It's funny how something can just die like that. You'd be bewildered if you happened to be using it at the time and it just went off. xD
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Plystire
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Posted: 15th Mar 2011 00:37
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TBH, I seem to go through PSUs a lot more than other people. I've had 4 of them die on me, while my friends and family have never had one quit on them.

Last PSU I had actually blew up (capacitor exploded inside of it... nasty stuff). So whenever a comp dies on me, the PSU is the first thing I suspect.


The one and only,


Only those who sow the seeds of their desires will reap their benefits later.
However, I have seeds of my own to tend to. I don't have time to be someone else's watering can.
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crispex
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Posted: 15th Mar 2011 00:43
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Quote: "depending on your motherboard it might not even turn on without the ram."


No. The motherboard will turn on ALWAYS regardless of RAM. It will simply return an error beepcode.

Anyway, sounds to me like you've simply got a dead motherboard.

I just now realized I've had a typo in my signature for the past 3 years.
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Plystire
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Posted: 15th Mar 2011 01:17
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@crispex:

Quote: "The Dell PSU worked! Granted, this PSU is hardly enough to power my fully assembled computer, but it did bring the MB through POST, which tells me that my MB is NOT dead and that I just need a new PSU! Oh, thank goodness it's not the MB...."


Thanks for the post, anyway.


The one and only,


Only those who sow the seeds of their desires will reap their benefits later.
However, I have seeds of my own to tend to. I don't have time to be someone else's watering can.
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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 15th Mar 2011 04:07
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Quote: "No. The motherboard will turn on ALWAYS regardless of RAM. It will simply return an error beepcode.
"


well i had a case once when the motherboard didnt even turn on as it turns out because of a ram chip. but this motherboard was by a russian company on some weird modified chipset.- the whole board was really weird. Also some companies make these reject cheap motherboards which are weird sometimes (kinda like the russian MB i told you about) and they even change the name of the cheap motherboard to hide its real origin. like i saw this crappy mobo once it was called winsomething or something, some name i havent heard before among mobo manufacturers. turns out it was some reject branch of asus motherboards made for cheap bestbuy computers like e mashines or something

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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