Computer Won't Boot. - Tech Support Forums

aje · January 2nd, 2005, 06:51 AM

I've been running slackware linux for a while now, although that is probably irrelavant in this question.

I was leaving my computer on overnight like usual, but in the morning when I woke up it was off. This alone was enough to worry me, but when I went to turn it on nothing happened. I checked the cables from the case to the motherboard for the power switch and reset switch. I made sure my power supply was on and that it was plugged in to the wall and all that. I really don't know what else could stop my computer from doing anything when I push the on button ...

Any suggestions or ideas? I greatly appreciate all comments and replies.

large_nostril · January 2nd, 2005, 07:22 AM

If it's doing absolutely nothing, it's probably the power supply. Try using the good old paperclip trick and see if the power supply works.

Take the power supply out of the case, remove all the leads (disconnect it from motherboard), and find a paperclip. Now, with the power supply unplugged, you need to find 2 connectors on the 20pin ATX interface of the power supply. The first one is the connector leading to the green wire and the second is a connector leading to any black wire (ground). Alright, now bend the paperclip and stick it in those 2 connectors to bridge them. Now, plug in the power supply and switch it on and see if the fan spins up. If no, your power supply is dead. If yes, your motherboard may be touching metal and shorting out among many other possibilities. Let us know.

aje · January 8th, 2005, 07:18 PM

Is it necessary to take the PSU out of the case?

I don't understand ... do I take it out of the case but leave it plugged in to just a fan?

Figgienfen · January 8th, 2005, 07:23 PM

You are going to want to unplug the PSU from EVERYTHING and just listen for the fan that is in the PSU.

Figgienfen · January 8th, 2005, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aje

Is it necessary to take the PSU out of the case?

I don't understand ... do I take it out of the case but leave it plugged in to just a fan?

And you do not even need to take it out of the case just be sure it is unplugged from EVERYTHING....

-edit- And make sure you only put the paperclip in the green and black, any other one will give you a great shock and probably kill you :O fun fun

aje · January 8th, 2005, 07:39 PM

Ah, thanks. I misunderstood the first post. I was thinking case fan, and completely forgot about the fan in the PSU.

I'll post results in approximately 30 - 120 seconds.

aje · January 8th, 2005, 07:43 PM

Okay. It was a success and I didn't die

The PSU fan did start spinning. Does this mean that the PSU is okay and that the problem is elsewhere?

Any suggestions on where else to look as far as problems? I'm completely lost.

computerwanderer · January 8th, 2005, 08:07 PM

Since it DID spin, the PSU is good. Because the PC is doing absolutely nothing, i'd say its the mother board. Unfortunately I'm not quite sure how to test a mother board. Even w/o a processor it would still turn on, same with hard drive, CD, Floppy, so those aren't the problem. You might want to put the PSU back in making sure all connection to the mother board are secure. Also you can do a further test on the PSU by connecting it only to something like a floppy or CD drive and just seeing if it turns on.

aje · January 8th, 2005, 08:14 PM

I didn't take the PSU out, but if I connect it to let's say a floppy, how can I tell if the floppy is on or receiving power?

Or do you mean simply run the motherboard with a single drive? I'll try this and see what happens ....

By the way. I did try having a second case next to the case the computer is in and I took the power switch cable from the second case and tried that on my motherboard. Still no luck.

aje · January 8th, 2005, 08:31 PM

Computer did not boot with just a single drive (floppy) receiving power.