Alright so here is where I stand. In the past few weeks my rig has been acting a little finicky... Every now and then when I turn my computer off, and then I go to turn it back on it just doesn't boot up. However, there IS power. The fans are spinning, I can hear the HDDs running, my Roms open and close, and the CPU cooling fan is also running. But the power LED on my motherboard isn't lit. But in the past when it happened I would turn the power off, take out my power cord, flip the power switch on the back of my PSU, give it a few seconds switch it back on and my rig boots up fine. Now yesterday I came home to my parents house and packed my rig to bring home with me so I could do some work while I'm here. Now my computer is giving me the same problem, but I have no idea why or what to do or even how to check where the problem TRULY lies. My only thoughts are that either a) my PSU is faulty in the 24-pin power cord to my mobo, or b) my mobo has crapped the bed... anyone have any ideas on how I might go about testing whats wrong, or anyone have any ideas on how to fix it/heard any problems like this before? many many mannnnyyyyy thanks in advance, sideburns
tbh unless you have spares something like this is fairly difficult to diagnose. maybe buy a very cheap psu just for testing?
i might be able to snag my roommates old PSU but my my two old ones aren't around anymore, one got fried, the other i gave to my buddy for a spare rig he was building. I'll try to track one down though and let you know. One thing I have heard about checking PSU connects to your mobo is that you can connect 2 pins or something? and if the computer starts up you know your good to go. But i might have read it wrong. and i also read it quite awhile ago so i might be remembering wrong
i know there is a way of shorting two pins to turn your rig on without a power button, not sure that would help here though
You have no power issues once it's running though? In that case trying popping in a new CMOS battery, it may just be as simple as that. In any case they only cost pence and it's worth ruling it out. Mid you saying that the fact that you say the mobo LED isn't lit is of a concern as AFAIK that would point me more towards a MOBO or PSU issue.
any idea where I might be able to pick up a CMOS battery? I live in the USA so if that helps so the stores around here are likely to be different from that of the UK id love to rule that out though. I just spent a bunch of money on a new mountain bike so i don't have a ton of extra cash to go buy new gear for my rig, haha. If I have to I certainly will but id rather buy a battery than a new mobo or PSU if you see where I'm coming from Really appreciate the help so far though guys. oh and adidan I agree mate, I don't know what else it could be if it isn't the mobo or PSU. and my thinking on that would be if it was JUST the mobo power 24-pin connector that is the problem. And if that doesn't start my computer I could assume it could be that I need a new PSU and my mobo might be ok. However thinking about it now... if my computer power button works at all it would mean it probably ISNT that. If that makes sense, haha
Thats the type you want and you get 5 of them for just over a buck Hardware stores and chemists sell them over here in the UK so you could try your local shops.
So i just went and picked up a new battery for CMOS and still no luck. If anyone else has any ideas I would really appreciate the input, otherwise I think I'm going to have to try a new PSU and or buy a new mobo. Would have loved to just be able to wait until I can afford to build a whole new rig, but unfortunately that isn't the case oh well, say la vie I suppose. Still open to input though thanks sideburns
Clear Cmos. Having the battery out for just a second to change it probably dfidn't clear it. Suprised a Cmos clear was not suggested before going out to buy a new battery.... Use the jumpers on the board to manualy clear Cmos. Instructions will be found in your mobo manual. If you don't have it you will be able to get it from the motherboard manufacturers site.
just tried to clear the CMOS by doing what my manual said, short across the pins, by putting a jumper across them with no success. Same thing is still happening. whats weird to me is I get no beeps from my motherboard (coded to mean certain things which are dictated in my manual) but other than that everything appears to be working just fine. And once I push the power button everything continues to run as normal accept, well... my mobo doesn't connect all the rest of the hardware. But on the other hand, my GPU cooling fan is spinning which leads me to believe that my mobo IS getting power (because my card is older and runs off PCI express 16x) without any additional power from my PSU. So the only thing I can really think it might be is simply a problem with my mobo, and it might need replacing. again, if anyone still has ideas my ears are wide open
Could be bad RAM then. I remember that my RS400-A had sever imcompatatbilities with everything... Take out 1 stick of RAM and swap for other sticks and such..
Alright great I'll give that a try Elton, thanks for the tip mate. It would be rather nice if it was just a bad stick of memory considering how cheap RAM has become
Also make sure you have the 8 pin cpu power plugged into the board ? Post your full system spec please.
I have family stuff going on tonight so I'll post my spec list tomorrow morning first thing. And believe it or not my 8-pin is one of the few power plugs I don't think I checked so I'll do that before I get in bed tonight and let you know that one tomorrow also. The other thing I didn't mention was about 2 weeks ago I got a message on start up that I had never seen before. It was something like "Please reset CPU frequency and something something something" I restarted my computer all seemed fine so honestly I just kind of thought it was hiccup in my hardware and thought little of it. Think that might point at problems with my CPU?
Yeh that could well be the problem. Cmos clear should have dealt with reseting cpu . You should also try leaving the Cmos battery out overnight while you sleep. I've had a similar situation that was resolved when i left the battery out for a few hours while i slept.
My bad, that is my general rule of thumb. If in doubt, clear the CMOS... Hope you have some joy sixfootsideburns.
haha, no worries mate I was happy for the suggestion. Spending 2 dollars for the sake of possibly saving myself 100+ will always be something I'm willing to do. Unfortunately its starting to look like I need to buy a new mobo, haha. my only regret is that I wish it could have waiting until I had the dough to just build a whole new rig please, if you have any more suggestions in the mean time I'd love to try them
new mobo came yesterday and now all is well. Glad it was the first part that I bought! Many thanks for the help everyone
