Computer Borked

TinCool

Okay, my desktop PC has stopped working. Simply put, when I push the power button nothing happens. I did have an electrical problem within my house which blew something when I switched it on and since then it has stopped working (electrical short issue has been fixed).

Before all this happened, when the computer is plugged in a green LED can be seen on the motherboard which I suppose indicates that there is power going to it. After the electrics were fixed and I plugged the PC back in, the green LED was not lit. I then changed the fuse in the plug and plugged it back in and the green LED lit up again but when I press the power button no joy.

So I think I've either fried the motherboard or the PSU is bust. I took a look at the motherboard for evidence of any blown chips or the likes and everything looks fine.

I am thinking of replacing the PSU with the exact same model bought off Komplett, failing that I'll have to fork out for a new motherboard.

Any suggestions ?

Cheers,
TC

aidan_walsh

Sounds to me like you might be on the right track, but then it could be something as simple as a blown fuse in the plug as well. Have you tried another device on the socket to ensure that that is working correctly?

Adam

There's always the possibility, small as it may be, that it's just the cases' electronics that are gone i.e. the button isn't working. Try jumping the motherboard by connecting the power pins with the tip of a screwdriver or something similar, and see if you get any reaction out of that.

TinCool

aidan_walsh wrote: »

Sounds to me like you might be on the right track, but then it could be something as simple as a blown fuse in the plug as well. Have you tried another device on the socket to ensure that that is working correctly?

I've tried plugging the computer in to 3 separate sockets in different rooms in the house after replacing the fuse, the green LED is lit up on the motherboard but it doesn't power on. I'll try a different kettle lead altogether when I get home to see if that makes any difference. Failing that i'll bite the bullet and buy a new PSU.

Cheers,
TC

Overheal

PSUs are usually built with a bit of surge protection in them but its still possible the PSU is dead - you might be getting power out of some of the rails but not all of them. If you can find a cheap way to test this (borrow another PSU) then I would.

pdevo

to test the psu have a look at this.
http://www.duxcw.com/faq/ps/ps4.htm

TinCool

Overheal wrote: »

PSUs are usually built with a bit of surge protection in them but its still possible the PSU is dead - you might be getting power out of some of the rails but not all of them. If you can find a cheap way to test this (borrow another PSU) then I would.

I do have a 2nd Desktop PC that I could temporarily take out the PSU from to test it with the PC that isn't working. I didn't get an opportunity last night to troubleshoot further. Thanks for the advice so far. I'll see what I can come up with.

GreenHell

Thats a tough one, I'd start with the PSU. Then the cpu, what kind of machine is it?

TinCool

GreenHell wrote: »

Thats a tough one, I'd start with the PSU. Then the cpu, what kind of machine is it?

It's a custom built one I bought from Komplett last year. It's defo not the CPU as the PSU fan doesn't even switch on when the power button is pushed.

partyatmygaff

Well first thing you could try is a hard reset,
Remove your power lead from the PSU and then open up your PC and remove the CMOS battery on the motherboard(Its a button battery)
Then push the power button on your case for 30 seconds to get rid of all the charge in the pc and then wait 2 mins for the CMOS to clear.

then put the cmos battery back in and plug the power in and try turning it on, no luck then try shorting out the motherboard with a screwdriver to try turn it on so you can bypass the Case's electrics which might of been fooked when the power cut.

TinCool

For those of you who are interested, I got myself a replacement power supply from Komplett and I had a bit of time last night to play around with it. I hooked up the power to the motherboard from the new PSU last night and hey presto, the power button powered up the PC so it was the power supply after all. I breathed a sigh of relief when the blue neons of the case fans lit up along with the CPU fan

I'll continue tonight to actually fitting the new PSU to the case and hooking it up to the various hard drives, graphics card (splashed out on a new 4850 from Komplett as they're soo cheap right now), DVD Drive etc. Fingers crossed nothing else is b0rked.

I'll keep all posted.

Cheers,
TC