Good Lesson Well Learned

[dusty]

I have had my share of computer crashes and I have had my share of data loses but not this time.

My go to computers is loaded with stuff I do not want to lose but right now it is as good as gone. The power sully ($350 PS) appears to have quit. When I turn the computer on the fans start up and run only momentarily. About the time that the machine should boot, it shuts down. I have not yet trouble shoot it but I think it is PS failure.

Bottom line, however, is that I have all but the most reset stuff on an external hard drive and I have this computer (an inexpensive Compaq) that is working well. Thanks to the backup.

Now all I need to do is determine how to turn that power supply on without a load. I need to do that to know whether my problem is the PS or something in the computer.

[forrestb]

As we get more and more tied to 'technology,' backing up data and programs from your computer is very important.

Not to start an Apple vs. PC war, but I do have a Mac and its built in Time Machine automatically backs up to an external hard drive.

That turned out to be worth its weight in gold (OK, I don't know how much it weighs ) when I decided to revert to a previous operating system since I did not want to participate in the "Cloud." I (not Apple Support ) figured out how to recover all data and programs (except Photoshop Elements - that required Adobe help) based on a previous month.

I am sure that such software is also available for the PC.

Forrest

[lightnin]

I kept two external hard drives with my files stored on them one connected to my computer and one
I plugged in every month or so and backed up. They both went belly up in the same week:mad:

[skou]

I have had my share of computer crashes and I have had my share of data loses but not this time.

My go to computers is loaded with stuff I do not want to lose but right now it is as good as gone. The power sully ($350 PS) appears to have quit. When I turn the computer on the fans start up and run only momentarily. About the time that the machine should boot, it shuts down. I have not yet trouble shoot it but I think it is PS failure.

Bottom line, however, is that I have all but the most reset stuff on an external hard drive and I have this computer (an inexpensive Compaq) that is working well. Thanks to the backup.

Now all I need to do is determine how to turn that power supply on without a load. I need to do that to know whether my problem is the PS or something in the computer.

Dusty, now you're talking stuff I know.

Pull the PSU out of your computer,and put it on your workbench. Get a computer power cord, and a piece of wire, both ends stripped, a couple inches long.

Look at the BIG connector, the one that goes to the motherboard. You will see that ONE of the wires is green, and there are a few black wires. To get the PSU to power up, you need to jumper that green (power up) wire, to any black (ground) wire, with that jumper. The PSU fan should start running, and if there are any lights on the PSU, they (or it) should light up.

This Wikipedia link will give you the right voltages for the colors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_supp ... _(computer)

Oh, every instance of each color, on ANY connector has the same voltage.
(All the yellow wires are 12 volts, all the red wires are 5V, and all the black wires are ground...)

Let me know if this helps.

Yes, grounding out that green wire is perfectly safe! (That is how your computer starts.)
Oh, there is only ONE green wire.

steve

[skou]

Dusty, one more thing.

When you pull out the PSU, pull out the memory,
video card, and any other cards. (Check the PSU now.) Now, put in 1 stick of memory, re-connect the PSU to the motherboard (all motherboard connections) leave the other connections off, and try to power up. If you can power up, (fans stay spinning) power off, and connect up the video card, (and monitor) and try again. If you get running with the video card, hook up some more stuff, one at a time, and try again. Hook up your C: drive (main hard drive) last.

With the hard drive with the operating system, not hooked up, you won't mess up the operating system, so only hook it up, if you can boot into BIOS, or the start-up screen. Even if you see a warning that the computer can't find an operating system or hard drive, don't worry. That is normal, since that hard drive is disconnected.

Oh, if you could, post the motherboard brand and model, and the PSU brand and model.

steve

[dusty]

Thanks for that feedback, Skou. I knew there was a jumper required but my memory said it was gray (not green) but I was not sure. Then I could not find a gray wire.

[skou]

Thanks for that feedback, Skou. I knew there was a jumper required but my memory said it was gray (not green) but I was not sure. Then I could not find a gray wire.

Hey, I had to look it up!

Let me know how everything turns out.

steve

[dusty]

Hey, I had to look it up!

Let me know how everything turns out.

steve

The problem is something other than just the power supply. With the gray wire to ground, the power supply comes on and stays on as long as the jumper is connected. I measured all the proper voltages on all the colored wires (red, orange, blue and yellow).

I did this with all of the hard drives, DVDs, floppies, etc disconnected. I then plugged the connector back onto the motherboard and hit the start button. Same as before - momentary fan operation and then shut down.

It appears to me now that I have something on the motherboard causing a POST failure.

It may be time for a new computer but I hate to part with this big black beast of a gaming computer.

[skou]

The problem is something other than just the power supply. With the gray wire to ground, the power supply comes on and stays on as long as the jumper is connected. I measured all the proper voltages on all the colored wires (red, orange, blue and yellow).

I did this with all of the hard drives, DVDs, floppies, etc disconnected. I then plugged the connector back onto the motherboard and hit the start button. Same as before - momentary fan operation and then shut down.

It appears to me now that I have something on the motherboard causing a POST failure.

It may be time for a new computer but I hate to part with this big black beast of a gaming computer.

Dusty, look for a motherboard that will use the same other components, and just replace the board. Seeing your results, I tend to agree. Replacing the board is going to be MUCH cheaper than replacing the whole thing. (Replacing a mobo {motherboard} is MUCH easier than replacing the motor on a Mark series.)

What CPU, (socket #) and type of memory do you have? And, what kind of video card slot? PCI, AGP or PCI-E?

steve

[dusty]

The Motherboard is an M2N32-SLI Deluxe by ASUS. It has a Socket AM2 (AMD Athlon 64 X2 with the NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Chip Set. It had 4 150GB WD 1500ADFD Hard Drives configured as a Raid 5. I had HD failures and I now have 3 hard disk drives that are questionable (one still in the machine).

I don't recall the memory stick but it was max'd out with all four. The original setup supported four video monitors but I only had two so I pulled one of the graphics cards.

It WAS a nice machine but it was "hot". It was difficult to keep cool and that is possibly why I have problems today.

The mother board is no longer available so if I rebuild this it will have to be from the ground up (sorta). It has one terrific chassis - built like a tank and sometimes noisy like one. Four fans sometimes running simultaneously. Actually six because the graphics cards each had a fan (but they were silent).