genusone

Afternoon all,

I need some help, i was on my computer the other day and it just switched off and won't turn back on. I built my PC and have recently added two extra hard drives with Y conntectors to power them. I have also put a PCI RAID card to connect one of the HD's. So my first assumtion was that the power supply couldnt cope with all the extra devices and just gave in, at the time i was burning a CD so thought this strained the PSU and it just gave up. But there is a light on my MOBO which is still on which makes me believe that the PSU is fine. Cannot really think of anything else unless its something to do with the motherboard.

Please help as this is very frustrating for me....

any help would be much appreciated

Thanks

eneles

Hi

The fact that there's a light on the motherboard means it gets power - but not necessarily sufficient power.
See if you can borrow another, preferably better, PSU to test.

Also - clear CMOS:
Get rid of static electricity by touching a radiator or bare metal on the computer case.
Then unplug the computer from the wall outlet and open the case.
Remove the little "coin-like" battery on the motherboard.
Move the "clear CMOS" jumper on the motherboard from pins 1&2 to pins 2&3.
Wait 30 minutes.
Replace the jumper to pins 1&2.
Put the battery back.
Close the case and start the computer.
Enter BIOS and choose "Load setup defaults" (or something similar) - save and exit BIOS.

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genusone

Hey,

Thanks for getting back so quick. I tried your idea, i touched the case against a radiator, opened it up, took the battery out and moved the jumper. I did this for about 10 mins, wasnt sure if time would play a big factor. What does this actually do?? im not an expert really, i did a bit of reading on the subject and came to the conclusion it was related to overclocking, but im not too sure.

Anyway.... no luck when i turn the switch off on the power supply and back on again the LED on the motherboard comes on, then i press the on button to start up the PC the fan jerks slightly and i hear a click sound. Not sure if this is the PSU or the fan itself.

What i did next was to get a multi-meter and test the plugs which go into my HD's etc, and this showed 0 volts!!!! but im not sure i was testing the right pins. But this confuses me as the LED has some power and there's some power jerking the fan.

Next i opened up the power supply and looked for any obvious faults, and..... nothing.

I couldnt get hold of a power supply, so just want to know what you think before shelling out money for no reason.

Sorry to rabbit on but this is pissing me off. Your help is much appreciated

cheers

eneles

If there's 0 Volts on the 4-pin plugs (black + yellow), then your PSU is dead.

What are the system specifications? CPU, video, PSU etc.

The reason for leaving the battery out for at least half an hour is that it takes time for the capacitors on the motherboard to discharge.

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genusone

yes, thats what i thought. But i just dont understand why the led on the mobo is still on??

its and intel pentium D 2.6Ghz, 256mb PCI Express Geforce graphics, 500Gb SATA HD, 160Gb IDE HD, 80Gb IDE HD, sony DVD/RW, another CD/RW, PCI wireless nextwork adaptor and a PCI IDE RAID. This is all on a 300w PSU. so this is probably my problem

ill buy a new one and let you know how it turns out

thanks

eneles

OK. Good luck.

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genusone

all sorted!!! got a new PSU. best £25 i ever spent. cheers for your help

eneles

Good news.

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