Lan Barnes wrote:
On Sat, Dec 03, 2005 at 10:57:39AM -0800, Michael J McCafferty wrote:
At 10:36 AM 12/3/2005, you wrote:
I've posted about this before. I have a box (to be my MythTV box) that
used to work but gradually stopped turning on. For awhile, tinkering
(removing the power switch jumpers, removing the power cord, stuff like
that) would somehow make it work again, but now it's just not working at
all.
>>
>>Got another power supply laying around ? Maybe one in a working PC
>>somewhere else in the house, or an old PC on the scrap heap. Just use
>>that to test. No need to take the Mobo out of the case... just set
>>the spare PS up outside the case or replace the PS in the case. Your
choice.
>
> Hmm ... how much do I have to attach? Just the main connection to the
> MB? No drives or peripherals?
>
> I wonder what I still have in the garage?
You will have to attach to the motherboard, of course. But you might
also have to attach to at least one HD as well, depending on how much
current the mobo draws. Properly designed ATX power supplies are not
supposed to turn on unless there is a minimum current draw.
Of course, in order to test the PS, you don't need to attach it to the
mobo at all. Just short the green wire with any black (ground) wire at
the mobo connector. This will turn the PS on, if it's good. Note that
this requires a load to work. The tech at PC Power & Cooling told me
that that means at least one, possibly two IDE hard drives, or one SCSI
drive[1].
Of course, if your problem is intermittent, than it's going to be
tougher to determine whether the problem is the mobo or PS. If you can
get consistent on/off cycles with a different PS, you can guess that's
the culprit. But then if the problem comes up at random times, then who
knows.
If you want to do a test which really tests your real world usage,
replace the PS with another - that is, everything plugged into the
current PS gets plugged into the test PS, and you run the rig as usual
till you're satisfied that the problem is or isn't the PS.
I'd say, replace the PS in any case (pun alert!). What you've got is
probably a cheap POS which came with a "Even includes power supply!"
case. Those are usually marginal at best (unless a name brand like
Antec). You have nothing to lose even if the problem is with the
motherboard as you'll still have a known good PS[2].
[1] I bought one of PCP&C's ATX power supply testers (about $10) which
includes the load and and LED which just plugs into the PS's mobo connector.
[2] Well, if it's a new well designed unit - and there aren't many of
those to choose from - my list includes PCP&C and Antec. And only PCP&C
includes a 5-year warranty, and real-tech-on-the-phone support.
--
Best Regards,
~DJA.
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