System won't power on - Solved!

[Muse]

I've been troubleshooting a problem with these symptoms:

BSOD's in Windows 2000 SP4

160 GB IDE Seagate Barracuda HD suddenly not recognized or writes to it fail after the system warms up. After a BSOD the drive disappears from Windows and isn't seen in the BIOS (Primary/Slave)

I thought the HD was going bad and I got an RMA number from Seagate but swapping the Seagate for a Western Digital 80 GB drive also caused a BSOD. I pressed the power button to turn off the machine and swapped the IDE cable to test if the cable was at fault. If not, I figured the IDE controller was failing.

After swapping the IDE cable the PC will not respond to a press of the power button. It has an Antec Tru430 PSU. I know the PSU is getting power because I swapped the cord that's powering the box I'm typing on and it still wouldn't power on. What could be wrong?

 

[crossrode]

You might try removing the front of the case and making sure the POWER BUTTON on the case has become dislodged or broken loose.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: crossrode
You might try removing the front of the case and making sure the POWER BUTTON on the case has become dislodged or broken loose.

Yeah, I just did that but the button looks OK, seems to function OK. I guess it could be not functioning suddenly, but it appears alright and the function of pressing it seems normal. Of course, the PSU could have suddenly died or a fuse in it blown. Seems unlikely, but possible.

I'm wondering if the IDE cable not seating correctly could cause this. I can't be certain that the IDE cable seated correctly in its socket at the MB. And, of course, there's no guarantee that the IDE cable is good. To get the IDE cable onto the MB, I had to press on the MB and the MB bent as I pressed on it. It always make me nervous to do that. I'm not sure the MB is correctly supported because it bends so much when I press IDE cables into it.

 

[Roguestar]

Short power connector pins on the motherboard to turn it on, see if that works. A badly placed IDE (PATA) cable will not stop your PC powering on, it'd just stop the drive being detected.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Short power connector pins on the motherboard to turn it on, see if that works. A badly placed IDE (PATA) cable will not stop your PC powering on, it'd just stop the drive being detected.

Cool, thanks for the info on that cable. How can I figure out what to short? I have the manual for the board -- MSI KT3 Ultra2. I guess I might be able to figure it out from that. Do all MB's have power connector pins exposed you can short to start the system up? I haven't heard of that before. Thanks.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

try another known working good psu first ..if nogo ..

MSI KT3 Ultra2

is the likely dead part..gl and you need an upgrade anyway ..even the 27 dollar Sempron w/$40 mobo would do you nicely ..check HD forum ..

 

[Roguestar]

Yeah, the connector pins usually on the bottom right of the motherboard you normally plug the wires to the power button on the case into. It'll usually be a positive and negative pin pair, just touch something metal between them for a second (Screwdriver works fine) to close the connection and that should basically do the same as the button push). In the manual it'll tell you which pins correspond to it, usually MAIN PWR or SYS PWR or something to that effect.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon
try another known working good psu first ..if nogo ..

MSI KT3 Ultra2

is the likely dead part..gl and you need an upgrade anyway ..even the 27 dollar Sempron w/$40 mobo would do you nicely ..check HD forum ..

Yep, I figured my next steps are:

1. Press the power button again. 2-3 years ago I was in the same situation (press of power button did nothing) and the PSU came back to life. I'd accidently shorted one of the PSU plugs and the capacitors had overcharged. Sitting around a while the caps discharged enough where the PSU worked again.

2. If still the same, put the PSU from my other ATX system into the problem system and see if it works. If it doesn't, short that power-on button as described with screwdriver at the MB. That should tell me if the problem is the MB or the button on the case.

Thanks, guys!

 

[Muse]

It was the power button. It finally broke. I got my first PC used, a 486DX33 proprietary local bus system put together by an EE who told me to powerup the PC with a powerstrip and not wear out the power button. Never forgot that but didn't take his advice. I do have power strips all over the room, but I still use that button to power up. Gotta get another. I have an old AT case in the garage. Maybe I can use the switch on that.

Don't you hate it when two things go wrong? Now I still have to figure out why I was getting blue screens...

 

[Muse]

Actually, I doubt it I can use the button off my AT case. I think it's probably one of those toggle switches. Connect/not-connect. ATX case buttons are momentary connection switches.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

You dirty dog. What's with the exact same thread over in Technical Support? :disgust:

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
You dirty dog. What's with the exact same thread over in Technical Support? :disgust:

Sorry, I wasn't getting a response last night so I posted elsewhere. I checked again and again and there was no help. I gave up and went to bed. This morning, people had posted. Anyway, as soon as I got a resolution I was cool enough to indicate so in the thread titles, so I wouldn't unnecessarily ask for help. Is that so uncool?

And it wasn't "the exact same thread." Same subject, different text. When I had the answer, I indicated so in the thread topic. I don't think that's unconscionable.

"Dirty dog"? Ha! It took me a long time to get to sleep because my neighbor's dog was barking continuously. But it wasn't me! Anyway, thanks for the help, y'all.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon
try another known working good psu first ..if nogo ..

MSI KT3 Ultra2

is the likely dead part..gl and you need an upgrade anyway ..even the 27 dollar Sempron w/$40 mobo would do you nicely ..check HD forum ..

Would this be a step up from my MSI KT3 Ultra2 system with it's AMD Athlon 1.7 GHz CPU? The Sempron is only 1.6 GHz. What would be the advantage? I could use a better MB in my other system, which is an EPOX 8K7A. The drag with it is that it doesn't support USB 2.0! Anyway, I'll probably build another system and make my MSI system my 2nd desktop and retire the Epox.

 

[crossrode]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
You dirty dog. What's with the exact same thread over in Technical Support? :disgust:

Next time Muse has a bad PSU/MB/CPU/Vid Card/RAM... He can PM me and I'll lend him my bad switch.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: crossrode

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
You dirty dog. What's with the exact same thread over in Technical Support? :disgust:

Next time Muse has a bad PSU/MB/CPU/Vid Card/RAM... He can PM me and I'll lend him my bad switch.

:roll: Ah, I don't think so.

Why don't you guys lighten up? I've been having BSOS's for almost 2 weeks, apparent HD failure, more headscratching BSOD's and then my system wouldn't power up. I was antsy for help and none was coming, like I said. I updated all thread titles when I got it. Sheesh. :| Some guys just don't get it.