No power.

[Citizen Bleys]

My computer froze last night, so I shut it off, and now it won't turn back on again.

I can hit the switch, and the computer lights up for a minute, but before the POST even starts, it shuts itself off again.

I don't suppose anybody can tell me where the problem lies? I tried disconnecting everything except the processor, and it still won't stay turned on...although it beeps at me if the video card and/or RAM is disconnected.

EDIT: Please ask all relevant questions at once--I'll only be able to come online and check this thread once per day.

[crono_logical]

My first guess would be a faulty Power Supply Unit, if it switches off just like that, although that wouldn't explain the not switching itself off when freezing.

You really need a 2nd PC here (even old would do) to test all the components in a working box, but mainly test the RAM, Video Card, and CPU (invidually, try at the same time in the other PC afterwards if they work on their own with working components in the other machine) since that's what you need minimum to be able to see something on the screen. Best to leave HDs disconnected, since they won't affect POST from beginning to display, and you don't really want to corrupt them

Or, if you had the other PC, swap the PSU units around to see if that's the cause (might be messy due to the huge amount of wires coming out of the thing).


Other thing you could try (either before or after testing the PSU) is to reset the BIOS configuration to default/safe - you'll probably need your motherboard manual to see which jumpers you need to set on the board to clear/reset the CMOS - since it's possible something is borked in there and is doing something invalid.

[Spuuky]

Your power supply could have been switched from from one power level to the other. Try changing the little switch on it (usually red, between the place where the power cable plugs in and the actual power switch).

[o_O]

[q=Spuuky]Your power supply could have been switched from from one power level to the other. Try changing the little switch on it (usually red, between the place where the power cable plugs in and the actual power switch).[/q]

You may not want to try that unless you are absolutely sure that's what has happened. Using the wrong power units more often than not will blow your power source up (literally) which results in a not very usable computer.

[crono_logical]

That's possible, although not very likely, since it's not an easy thing to flip by accident. It'll only switch between 115 V and 230 V - might explain why the PC turns itself off because if it's flipped, it's expecting 230 V but only getting 115 V so not enough power or something. If I did that to my PC though, since power sockets are 230 V here, it'll probably cause something to blow inside my PC But yes, be careful with that switch

[Citizen Bleys]

I tried the switch, and a technician tried a different power supply.

I think my motherboard is fried, although the machine's in getting that checked by a professional, and my grandfather's offered to pay for the repairs O_O

Since I couldn't get it to POST even with everything (RAM and video card included) disconnected, I'm pretty sure it's either the mobo or the CPU, and the CPU is less than three months old.

*curses again that Compu put me in Network+ first instead of A+*