{FIXED} - Computer turns on! Oh... and then it turns off by itself without booting at ALL :-(

[Xtremist]

I know this probably should go in the Technical Support forum, which it has. I just have a lingering suspicion that it has something todo with the motherboard. Anyway, this is the original post:

Hey all. Here's the two components that are probably most important for ya:

Abit ZM6
Viper V770 Ultra (TNT2)

This isn't my personal computer, it's my friends, but he's in Dallas for the summer and his mom is having big problems. Just my luck. I went over to see what's up with it and here are the symptoms:

- You push the power button to turn it on.
- It starts to boot up correctly (fans start, HDD spins up, cd-rom initializes (light flashes rather), etc...)
- After about 5-7 seconds (my mind's estimate), it suddenly powers down... like everything.

It's an ATX board and so it's just a push on type of button on the case. It doesn't have an on/off placement, just one click if that makes sense (although I don't see why it wouldn't).

The only other piece of information I can provide is that just as it turns off, the monitor comes on (orange light means standby/no signal, green means it's receiving a signal). Well, just as it turns off (almost simultaneously), the light turns green. Of course it turns orange again after it turns off, but this might help arrange "where" the problem occurs, I'm not sure.

Any help with this will be greatly appreciated, thanx!

BTW, this problem just occured this morning. The previous night, they had simply turned it off. They haven't installed new hardware/software either. It's worked FINE since about mid-January. Just thought I should add that... Cheers!

 

[birddog]

try to clear your CMOS. THere should be a jumper on the MoBo near the battery. From what interpret it is not even posting, correct?

 

[Z_Amon]

I can almost guarantee you that it's your ATX power switch or supply having a misunderstanding ;-)

The AXT spec calls for a 5 second power off if the switch is depressed. Therefore, you boot, but the system believes that the switch is just being held in. It then shuts down. I've seen this happen a number of times, including recently to my sister.

A number of possible solutions are available, depending on what is causing the problem.

First, try unplugging the system's power cable. If it has a switch on the back of the power supply, turn that off, unplug the power supply, and then after a minute or so, plug it back in, turn it on and see if the problem has gone away. It may very well respond to that.

Second, check that the switch is not being held in, either the physical button on the outside of the case or the actual momentary switch inside is being obstructed or held in place.

Third, check the connection of the power switch to the moterboard. It could possibly be shorted, making the board believe that the momentary on switch is actually being held in.

Finally, try the BIOS, but the other things are much, much easier to deal with, IMO.

Z.

 

[Xtremist]

Thanx for the suggestions. I will try them all and letcha know what happens. Really, thanx for the suggestions though!

 

[Xtremist]

Cool. Here's what I did. I took the power switch connector off the motherboard connectors and took a screwdriver and completed the circuit manually. It booted up fine. Sheesh, talk about simple! Anyway, then I had to decide if I could fix the switch. So I took it out of the case and just sprayed some non-conductive liquid stuff my dad had and then sprayed some non-liquid (air) cleaner into it. Works like a charm now! Heh, thanx for all the replies though. At least I better understand another aspect of computers now. Woohoo!