[zotjen]

This morning when I turned on my PC, it wouldn't power up. After making sure everything was connected properly, I noticed that the LED on the back of my PC was flashing. This lead me to believe it could be a power supply issue. Using my company issued laptop (which I'm using as I type this) I found some websites for troubleshooting the problem.

After trying various things to determine the cause, when I unplugged the power supply from the motherboard and then plugged the PC back into the power outlet, the LED was steady which indicated the power supply was fine. The problem then has to be with either something plugged into the motherboard or the motherboard itself.

I then tried unplugging everything from the motherboard one by one but still have the problem. I haven't removed the CPU yet but I figure if that is the problem, I'll need a new PC anyway. The only other things I haven't unplugged are the power cables that plug into my drives (hard drive, DVD, etc.). For some reason I am unable to remove the cables from the drives themselves. They just won't budge. Since these cables are bundled to the main power connection on the motherboard, I'm thinking its possible that one of the drives could be causing the issue but I can't figure out why it's so difficult to unplug them.

Is there an easy way to confirm that the motherboard itself is the problem? Since my PC is 5 years old, finding a replacement may be a hassle. My PC is also and HP and I heard they "tattoo" the motherboards so it's not that easy to just stick a new one in.

 

[insyte]

One way to test if the CPU is still intact is if you place it in another mother board, which is not that easy/practical to do. Have you tried calling HP about this?

 

[zotjen]

Well I didn't try calling HP but I sent them an email via their support page so hopefully I'll have a response within a day or so. Since I'm no longer under warranty, any live technical help will probably cost me $30 a session. I was also finally able remove the power cables from the drives (with pliers, no less) but still have the problem, so at this point I guess it is the motherboard or CPU. I am not thrilled at the prospect of having to by a new PC.

 

[Jubei]

Well, for what it's worth, I experienced failure to boot on one occasion and it turned out that the SATA controller chip was fried for no good reason. Swapped back an IDE hard disk into the PC and it was fine - now I use it as a backup PC running Ubuntu.

I also have experience of wacky SATA cables that sometimes are ok, but sometimes not. Took me forever to figure out what was wrong. Just replaced them with new cables in the end and all was fine.

 

[ka-boom]

Have you recently done any updates, including service pack updates?

If on XP, can you roll back to a previous date?

 

[m0ofassa]

added new hardware or USB devices (That are currently turned on)?

 

[ka-boom]

Also, have you (or maybe you need to) updated your drivers for motherboard and peripherals?

 

[m0ofassa]

Now that I think about it, it could be that your psup has aged and can no longer support the components on your machine. Got a spare psu you can try?

 

[acidbasement]

Does it turn on briefly and then turn off, or does it just do nothing at all? If it turns on and then immediately off, I would suspect your main HDD is buggered, and you could try booting from a Ubuntu live cd to investigate further.

 

[m0ofassa]

acidbasement: similar thing happens when PSU cannot power components properly (depletes capacitor and then turns off)

 

[zotjen]

Thanks for everyone's input. I haven't done any sort of updates or added components for a while now. Friday night when I powered down it was fine. Yesterday morning it wouldn't power up. Nothing happens when I try - no flashing lights, fan noises, etc.

I got an email response from HP and the person pointed me to a troubleshooting page on HP's website. Unfortunately it's the same page I've already been to that lead me to believe it's the motherboard after following the troubleshooting steps. Either the person didn't read my full comments or doesn't realize that the steps I took are already on this page. He also pointed me to where I can get a new power supply even though I specifically asked if I could get a replacement for the motherboard.

I'll be talking with my brother later today who has a more expertise in this area than I do. Hopefully he'll have a little more insight into the problem or at least confirm my suspicions that it is the motherboard.

 

[m0ofassa]

Best of luck fixing this. I'm not particularly a hardware buff, so Im afraid I'd just be ********ting/guessing if i tried to help you more.

 

[zotjen]

Okay, I was thinking about this a little more. Shouldn't the fan in the power supply make a little whirring noise when you first plug in a PC? Mine doesn't so again I have to question what the problem is. I found this test to do to verify if it's the PSU or MB:

Quote:

To verify it is not the motherboard giving the problems, take a paper clip and insert it into the green and black terminals of the power supply plug after it is removed from the motherboard of the computer. Press the power button on the computer, if the fan spins inside the power supply, the motherboard is the problem. If the fan does not spin the power supply is dead.

Is this actually safe to do? I'm a little hesitant to try it but it might at least give me an answer as to where the problem is.

 

[Signal2Noise]

Maybe bring the computer into a local shop to have a look? You know, before you go and electrocute yourself via a paperclip.

 

[Benj]

Quote:

To verify it is not the motherboard giving the problems, take a paper clip and insert it into the green and black terminals of the power supply plug after it is removed from the motherboard of the computer. Press the power button on the computer, if the fan spins inside the power supply, the motherboard is the problem. If the fan does not spin the power supply is dead.

I think theyve got a bit mixed up here as having removed the PSU connector from your motherboard pressing the power button on the case would have no effect at all as its connect to your motherboard.
The technique they were going for was to short the PSU motherboard connector so that it thinks that the motherboard is giving it a 'power on' signal.
I wouldn't recommend using a paperclip though, maybe a spare peice of wire (plastic coated) you have hanging round.
Heres a quick HowTo:
Test ATX Power Supply

Hope this helps