A Call To Hardware Geeks
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I need ideas. I have a PC - PII Celeron, 810 chipset, µATX form factor - that won't power up at all. The power switch is a momentary contact button that switches to ground; this is working correctly. I removed the power supply and connected the PS_ON pin to ground, and the power promptly came up as it should; that rules out the supply, and the Vsb (standby voltage) is operating correctly as well. I've spent the morning studying Intel's documentation of the 810 chipset, and determined that, although the PS_OK signal from the supply is used, it does not handle the pushbutton-to-PS_ON transition. That must be done by discrete circuitry I haven't located on this tiny board yet. My thought is to add a straight toggle switch between PS_ON and ground, perhaps via about 330 ohms resistance for safety, then disable power management functions in the BIOS and Windows98. The owner is desperate, can't afford a new PC, and has given me permission to experiment come what may. Has anyone tried this setup before, or solved a similar problem in some other unique way? "Your village called -
They're missing their idiot." -
I need ideas. I have a PC - PII Celeron, 810 chipset, µATX form factor - that won't power up at all. The power switch is a momentary contact button that switches to ground; this is working correctly. I removed the power supply and connected the PS_ON pin to ground, and the power promptly came up as it should; that rules out the supply, and the Vsb (standby voltage) is operating correctly as well. I've spent the morning studying Intel's documentation of the 810 chipset, and determined that, although the PS_OK signal from the supply is used, it does not handle the pushbutton-to-PS_ON transition. That must be done by discrete circuitry I haven't located on this tiny board yet. My thought is to add a straight toggle switch between PS_ON and ground, perhaps via about 330 ohms resistance for safety, then disable power management functions in the BIOS and Windows98. The owner is desperate, can't afford a new PC, and has given me permission to experiment come what may. Has anyone tried this setup before, or solved a similar problem in some other unique way? "Your village called -
They're missing their idiot."Didn't we already address this problem? Or am I such a brianac I'm now remembering posts from the future? And dammit, where did I leave my socks?
Todd C. Wilson (meme@nopcode.com) NOPcode.com Skinning Toolkit MP3 Server for Windows And Lots More "The source, it was leaked : therefore, it must be rewritten."
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Didn't we already address this problem? Or am I such a brianac I'm now remembering posts from the future? And dammit, where did I leave my socks?
Todd C. Wilson (meme@nopcode.com) NOPcode.com Skinning Toolkit MP3 Server for Windows And Lots More "The source, it was leaked : therefore, it must be rewritten."
Yeah, sorta. But without a really decent solution short of replacing the MB, which she doesn't want to do. That was my first choice. Now I'm getting creative... Sadly, the days when parts were large enough that it was possible for human beings to get inside and probe around have gone by, and I'm always reluctant to reach in there. It's fun though, when the customer accepts that it may fry everything, but tells you to go ahead and do it.:-D "Your village called -
They're missing their idiot." -
Yeah, sorta. But without a really decent solution short of replacing the MB, which she doesn't want to do. That was my first choice. Now I'm getting creative... Sadly, the days when parts were large enough that it was possible for human beings to get inside and probe around have gone by, and I'm always reluctant to reach in there. It's fun though, when the customer accepts that it may fry everything, but tells you to go ahead and do it.:-D "Your village called -
They're missing their idiot."You still haven't eliminated anything, not even the power supply. Some of these steps I'm assuming you've done, but here goes - do each one, power up, see if it works: 1) Pull all cards but video. Unplug all USB devices. Disconnect all drives, floppy, ide, etc. Only keyboard and video connected. 2) Use a screwdriver and manually short the Power button pins on the mobo (have fun, get a flashlight to see the damn things) 3) Swap video card if not built in. 4) Swap power suppy. 5) Swap memory. 6) Swap CPU. 7) Put memory and cpu in another motherboard. At any point it works, you know more or less what the problem is. If yanking the perhip's fixes it, then try each one seperatly until the problem comes back. It might be the memory. But I'm placing MY money on it being the CPU, because I had the same thing happen a few months ago. If you get to the point where putting the cpu and memory in another works, then it's the orignal mobo. If you can't swap anything out, then you're hosed, and it would be a LOT cheaper and quicker to just get a $200 unit from Wal-Mart.
Todd C. Wilson (meme@nopcode.com) NOPcode.com Skinning Toolkit MP3 Server for Windows And Lots More "The source, it was leaked : therefore, it must be rewritten."
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You still haven't eliminated anything, not even the power supply. Some of these steps I'm assuming you've done, but here goes - do each one, power up, see if it works: 1) Pull all cards but video. Unplug all USB devices. Disconnect all drives, floppy, ide, etc. Only keyboard and video connected. 2) Use a screwdriver and manually short the Power button pins on the mobo (have fun, get a flashlight to see the damn things) 3) Swap video card if not built in. 4) Swap power suppy. 5) Swap memory. 6) Swap CPU. 7) Put memory and cpu in another motherboard. At any point it works, you know more or less what the problem is. If yanking the perhip's fixes it, then try each one seperatly until the problem comes back. It might be the memory. But I'm placing MY money on it being the CPU, because I had the same thing happen a few months ago. If you get to the point where putting the cpu and memory in another works, then it's the orignal mobo. If you can't swap anything out, then you're hosed, and it would be a LOT cheaper and quicker to just get a $200 unit from Wal-Mart.
Todd C. Wilson (meme@nopcode.com) NOPcode.com Skinning Toolkit MP3 Server for Windows And Lots More "The source, it was leaked : therefore, it must be rewritten."
First, try reseating all the cards. (Video, sound, ram, etc). Then reseat the CPU. Then do all that. My son's PC would just not power up now and again. Pushing everything down tight solved the problem. "It takes a minimum of redesign to turn a crucifix into a pogo stick"
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You still haven't eliminated anything, not even the power supply. Some of these steps I'm assuming you've done, but here goes - do each one, power up, see if it works: 1) Pull all cards but video. Unplug all USB devices. Disconnect all drives, floppy, ide, etc. Only keyboard and video connected. 2) Use a screwdriver and manually short the Power button pins on the mobo (have fun, get a flashlight to see the damn things) 3) Swap video card if not built in. 4) Swap power suppy. 5) Swap memory. 6) Swap CPU. 7) Put memory and cpu in another motherboard. At any point it works, you know more or less what the problem is. If yanking the perhip's fixes it, then try each one seperatly until the problem comes back. It might be the memory. But I'm placing MY money on it being the CPU, because I had the same thing happen a few months ago. If you get to the point where putting the cpu and memory in another works, then it's the orignal mobo. If you can't swap anything out, then you're hosed, and it would be a LOT cheaper and quicker to just get a $200 unit from Wal-Mart.
Todd C. Wilson (meme@nopcode.com) NOPcode.com Skinning Toolkit MP3 Server for Windows And Lots More "The source, it was leaked : therefore, it must be rewritten."
Swapping isn't an otion - spares don't exist within 100 miles of here. Pulling and reseating have all been done, that's a given, a step I always take even for less drastic problems. 90% of all hardware problems I've seen have been in a connection. This is beyond that. These cheap, no-name mobos piss me off; everything is integrated into one board, and this beast doesn't even have jumpers to disable them. I assume I'll still be able to do so via the BIOS, but even that's not yet clear. It could well be the CPU, but again, no replacement is available here and she doesn't want to wait for replacements. Believe me, I even offerred to buy her an upgraded µATX board with CPU, but she doesn't want it. Some people are particular, or is that peculiar I'm thinking of?:sigh: "Your village called -
They're missing their idiot." -
Swapping isn't an otion - spares don't exist within 100 miles of here. Pulling and reseating have all been done, that's a given, a step I always take even for less drastic problems. 90% of all hardware problems I've seen have been in a connection. This is beyond that. These cheap, no-name mobos piss me off; everything is integrated into one board, and this beast doesn't even have jumpers to disable them. I assume I'll still be able to do so via the BIOS, but even that's not yet clear. It could well be the CPU, but again, no replacement is available here and she doesn't want to wait for replacements. Believe me, I even offerred to buy her an upgraded µATX board with CPU, but she doesn't want it. Some people are particular, or is that peculiar I'm thinking of?:sigh: "Your village called -
They're missing their idiot."So there isn't even a WORKING system you can vulture parts from for a evening? Surely there are some at work you can borrow. I don't understand, if you can't get it working, what the hell does she expect, Harry Pooter to show up and wave his magic wand over it? Maybe she's worried about loosing all of her data on the drive...
Todd C. Wilson (meme@nopcode.com) NOPcode.com Skinning Toolkit MP3 Server for Windows And Lots More "The source, it was leaked : therefore, it must be rewritten."
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Swapping isn't an otion - spares don't exist within 100 miles of here. Pulling and reseating have all been done, that's a given, a step I always take even for less drastic problems. 90% of all hardware problems I've seen have been in a connection. This is beyond that. These cheap, no-name mobos piss me off; everything is integrated into one board, and this beast doesn't even have jumpers to disable them. I assume I'll still be able to do so via the BIOS, but even that's not yet clear. It could well be the CPU, but again, no replacement is available here and she doesn't want to wait for replacements. Believe me, I even offerred to buy her an upgraded µATX board with CPU, but she doesn't want it. Some people are particular, or is that peculiar I'm thinking of?:sigh: "Your village called -
They're missing their idiot."Roger Wright wrote: I even offerred to buy her an upgraded µATX board with CPU, but she doesn't want it :wtf: what crack is she smoking? Is she afraid to lose HDD data?? Some people's kids! :sigh: :doh: I don't have any advice for you that hasn't already been said. :( The kindest thing you can do for a stupid person, and for the gene pool, is to let him expire of his own dumb choices. [Roger Wright on stupid people] We're like private member functions [John Theal on R&D]
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So there isn't even a WORKING system you can vulture parts from for a evening? Surely there are some at work you can borrow. I don't understand, if you can't get it working, what the hell does she expect, Harry Pooter to show up and wave his magic wand over it? Maybe she's worried about loosing all of her data on the drive...
Todd C. Wilson (meme@nopcode.com) NOPcode.com Skinning Toolkit MP3 Server for Windows And Lots More "The source, it was leaked : therefore, it must be rewritten."
That's "Harry 'puter" to my friends... Nope, I haven't had a job since May 2002, so there's nothing to swap with. On the bright side, I slapped the hard drive into a diskless husk I had out in storage and fired it up just for grins. It came up, quietly found, identified, and installed all the new goodies it found on the motherboard, and is purring along nicely now. I'll let it burn in for 12 hours and see what happens. Jumpering the supply worked like a charm, right up until it was plugged into the MB. Installed on a bare MB it still failed to start with the jumper. I did locate the cause, and it was as I expected - the modem is smoked, probably from lightning as the caps are blown off a couple ICs, and the pulse most likely wormed its way through the whole motherboard on its was to ground. I think I'll have a happy customer tomorrow.:-D "Your village called -
They're missing their idiot." -
That's "Harry 'puter" to my friends... Nope, I haven't had a job since May 2002, so there's nothing to swap with. On the bright side, I slapped the hard drive into a diskless husk I had out in storage and fired it up just for grins. It came up, quietly found, identified, and installed all the new goodies it found on the motherboard, and is purring along nicely now. I'll let it burn in for 12 hours and see what happens. Jumpering the supply worked like a charm, right up until it was plugged into the MB. Installed on a bare MB it still failed to start with the jumper. I did locate the cause, and it was as I expected - the modem is smoked, probably from lightning as the caps are blown off a couple ICs, and the pulse most likely wormed its way through the whole motherboard on its was to ground. I think I'll have a happy customer tomorrow.:-D "Your village called -
They're missing their idiot."Glad to hear you got it solved - now you can up-sell her on a UPS with a modem protecter!.
Todd C. Wilson (meme@nopcode.com) NOPcode.com Skinning Toolkit MP3 Server for Windows And Lots More "The source, it was leaked : therefore, it must be rewritten."