OT: dead box
Frank Shute
I came in the other day to find my workstation powered off. Hitting
the power on button had no effect as did using another known working
outlet. I checked all the cables and they seem attached.
I thought my power supply must have died so I got another, screwed it
in and again no joy - no sign of life.
Anybody got any ideas what the problem may be? I'm thinking possibly
the power on switch but that seems a long shot and there seems no easy
way to replace it.
My hardware:
Antec Sonata case.
Gigabyte board.
Core 2 duo
TIA,
Regards,
--
Frank
Contact info: http://www.shute.org.uk/misc/contact.html
Ross Cameron
switch connector from the mobo and briefly short the two pins.
If the machine turns on its ure switch, however that is probably
unlikely - Ive never seen it before at least.
Check ure mobo for popped caps,... remove ure ram and cpu and clean
all relevant connectors with compressed air.
Disconnect everything not needed for the mobo to power up while ure at it.
I had a workstation the other day that had a dead HDD that was
preventing it from powering up, as soon as I removed the HDD the mobo
powered up.
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--
"Opportunity is most often missed by people because it is dressed in
overalls and looks like work."
Thomas Alva Edison
Inventor of 1093 patents, including:
The light bulb, phonogram and motion pictures.
Chris Whitehouse
> Sorry if this is a bit off-topic.
>
> I came in the other day to find my workstation powered off. Hitting
> the power on button had no effect as did using another known working
> outlet. I checked all the cables and they seem attached.
>
> I thought my power supply must have died so I got another, screwed it
> in and again no joy - no sign of life.
>
> Anybody got any ideas what the problem may be? I'm thinking possibly
> the power on switch but that seems a long shot and there seems no easy
> way to replace it.
>
> My hardware:
>
> Antec Sonata case.
> Gigabyte board.
> Core 2 duo
>
> TIA,
>
> Regards,
>
When you press the power button does the cpu fan or the power supply fan
spin for a moment then stop? That's a sign that something on or plugged
in to the motherboard has blown. Unplug things and test again.
Chris
Frank Shute
When I hit the power button I get nothing. None of the fans spin up
and there's no sign of life.
I'm beginning to think that I might be in for a new motherboard anyway :(
Why do these things strike when you least need them? Damn Murphy and
his stinking law!
Mike Jeays
It sounds more like a dead power supply to me, if there is no sign of any
activity at all.
Lowell Gilbert
> When I hit the power button I get nothing. None of the fans spin up
> and there's no sign of life.
Well, that's not a *good* sign... ;-)
> I'm beginning to think that I might be in for a new motherboard anyway :(
I think you can safely conclude it isn't an OS problem, at any rate.
Don't try a new motherboard yet, though.
If the system is critical and you're really desperate to get it back up
ASAP, I'd go with a whole brand-new system. That's to protect against
the possibility that the motherboard isn't the source of the problem,
in which case you could waste time fixing the wrong thing, and possibly
even damage a new motherboard before you recognize the real problem.
If you can afford a little more time to isolate the trouble, try
disconnecting the power to the motherboard to make sure the power supply
starts up (I think someone else suggested this earlier, albeit for a
slightly more likely set of symptoms). If not, and if you have a
multimeter, make sure that there's voltage across the switch, and that
there isn't when the switch closes.
> Why do these things strike when you least need them? Damn Murphy and
> his stinking law!
Murphy never said anything about *when* things go wrong...
Sorry if I've gone overboard in following your jocular tone. I realize
that you might be feeling desperate by now, particularly if the machine
really is critical.
--
Lowell Gilbert, embedded/networking software engineer, Boston area
http://be-well.ilk.org/~lowell/
Alejandro Imass
> Sorry if this is a bit off-topic.
>
> I came in the other day to find my workstation powered off. Hitting
> the power on button had no effect as did using another known working
> outlet. I checked all the cables and they seem attached.
>
> I thought my power supply must have died so I got another, screwed it
> in and again no joy - no sign of life.
>
> Anybody got any ideas what the problem may be? I'm thinking possibly
> the power on switch but that seems a long shot and there seems no easy
> way to replace it.
>
I had this happen recently (BTW it was FBSD server ;-) )! I took
_everything_ appart, and then assembled it little by little checking
at each step. Incredibly it just workd after reseating the CPU, RAM,
and re-connecting every single component. Also, I swapped components
with a similar machine for testing which will help you test the
components on a known-working machine.
Good luck,
Alejandro Imass
> My hardware:
>
> Antec Sonata case.
> Gigabyte board.
> Core 2 duo
>
> TIA,
>
> Regards,
>
> --
>
> Frank
>
>
> Contact info: http://www.shute.org.uk/misc/contact.html
>
Frank Shute
>
> Frank Shute <fr...@shute.org.uk> writes:
>
> > When I hit the power button I get nothing. None of the fans spin up
> > and there's no sign of life.
>
> Well, that's not a *good* sign... ;-)
>
> > I'm beginning to think that I might be in for a new motherboard anyway :(
>
> I think you can safely conclude it isn't an OS problem, at any rate.
Yep. FreeBSD doesn't even have a chance to get going!
>
> Don't try a new motherboard yet, though.
>
> If the system is critical and you're really desperate to get it back up
> ASAP, I'd go with a whole brand-new system. That's to protect against
> the possibility that the motherboard isn't the source of the problem,
> in which case you could waste time fixing the wrong thing, and possibly
> even damage a new motherboard before you recognize the real problem.
No, it's not critical. I run 2 machines nowadays, the other
tentatively a server but I keep X and associated progs on it up to
date for scenarios like the present.
>
> If you can afford a little more time to isolate the trouble, try
> disconnecting the power to the motherboard to make sure the power supply
> starts up (I think someone else suggested this earlier, albeit for a
> slightly more likely set of symptoms). If not, and if you have a
> multimeter, make sure that there's voltage across the switch, and that
> there isn't when the switch closes.
The power supply should be good but the switch is a possibility so
I'll test that.
>
> > Why do these things strike when you least need them? Damn Murphy and
> > his stinking law!
>
> Murphy never said anything about *when* things go wrong...
But the swine said they *would* go wrong...;)
>
> Sorry if I've gone overboard in following your jocular tone. I realize
> that you might be feeling desperate by now, particularly if the machine
> really is critical.
>
As I say, it's not critical but I'd like to get it going. There is
always a bit of data on it which is missing on the server and besides
that it's the machine that's tweaked to my preferences.
Charlie Kester
>On Sun, Mar 21, 2010 at 09:08:44AM -0400, Lowell Gilbert wrote:
>>
>> Murphy never said anything about *when* things go wrong...
>
>But the swine said they *would* go wrong...;)
Hey, don't shoot the messenger!
On second thought, perhaps that would be an object lesson for Mr.
Murphy, to let him know that sometimes things will go unexpectedly and
undeservedly wrong for him too.
;-)
Here's hoping your machine is easily and cheaply recoverable.
Olivier Nicole
> the power on switch but that seems a long shot and there seems no easy
> way to replace it.
Check if teh power on button is not stucked in the pushed position, it
happens on old cases that the plastic get old and dusty and the putton
will not pop out as it should. And I came to some mother board that
would not start is if the power button is pushed while the power cable
is pluged in.
Olivier
Olivier Nicole
> the power on switch but that seems a long shot and there seems no easy
> way to replace it.
In the process of dis-assembling the machine and re-assembling is, you
may want to use a rubber to clean the contacts on the RAM and various
boards. I use one of those white rubbers for pencil, remeber to remove
the dust before you put the card in the machine.
While assembling the CPU do not forget the thermo paste between the
CPU and the heat skin, do not over use it, a thin layer is enough.
You can check the CPU by shorting the light green and light blue wires
from the main connector (that would be 2nd and 4th from one end; but
colour are always light green 2nd and light blue 4th so far I have
seen), see if the fan on the power unit turn on. Be carefull, while
this is only 2 or 3 volts, your are delaing with a unit connected to
the main power. paper clip is a good way to do the test.
Good luck,
Olivier
Jorge Biquez
Alexandre L.
The power supply has exploded capacitors on the mobo (Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe).
The LED on the mobo was lightening up but we can't power up the workstation.
For your problem, I suggest you to see if this LED is lightening up or not.
If not, you can replace it. If yes, you might test with another one. After that, the mobo could have been take a blow.
A CPU or RAM problem is reported by the mobo with a sound (BIP).
I hope this could help you.
Alexandre.
--- En date de : Dim 21.3.10, Frank Shute <fr...@shute.org.uk> a écrit :
Olivier Nicole
> were none, it's most likely a fried motherboard.
>
> Can anyone else confirm this?
Hummm, I think that is the CPU is missing/dead, you would get no beep.
Olivier
Corey John Bukolt
> When you press the power button does the cpu fan or the power supply fan
> spin for a moment then stop? That's a sign that something on or plugged
> in to the motherboard has blown. Unplug things and test again.
>
> Chris
Just a few days ago, I was helping a friend build a system (with all
brand new components, I might add) and we had this very problem. After
sticking in the CPU and RAM and hooking up and turning on the PSU, the
green LED on the motherboard turns on. However, the second the power
button is pressed, everything flashes for a second, then turns back off.
The green LED on the motherboard also remains on. The only way to get
it to flash again is to turn off the PSU, wait, then turn it back on.
We tried re-seating everything, to no avail.
Reading this thread, someone else mentioned beep codes and that if there
were none, it's most likely a fried motherboard.
Can anyone else confirm this?
~Corey
Michael Powell
Beep codes may be available, but the nature will depend upon the
manufacturer and the BIOS. Different manufacturers will produce different
products. In the bad old days the most common beep codes were designed to
indicate a video BIOS did not initialize, and then the main area of codes
indicated something wrong in the memory subsystem. Pretty much if they made
it past these two points the board would boot. And, of course, you need a
speaker hooked up which I commonly don't because I don't want any beeps.
One thing to be aware of with regard to modern day motherboards and power
supplies. I don't recall the exact standards nomenclature, but they are
spelled out in a spec. Modern day motherboards will have a main power
connector with either 20 or 24 pins. Some are wired so that a 20 pin power
supply cable can only go into some of the pins of a 24 pin connector,
leaving 4 open. Some power supplies have a split cable which has a 20 pin
and a 4 pin that can be hooked together and will occupy all 24 pins of a 24
pin connector.
In either case, there is also another second power connector which is
usually fairly close nearby to the CPU socket. With slightly older boards
this will be a 4 pin and newer boards it will be an 8 pin. On older power
supplies there may be only one 4 pin cable designed to plug into this
connector. Newer models will usually have a cable that splits into two 4 pin
plugs, so as to be able to plug both into an 8 pin socket while retaining
backwards compatibility with the older 4 pin boards.
This second connector goes to a high current 12volt rail within the power
supply and drives all those 'multi-phase' regulators near the CPU. One thing
that is consistent is motherboards will not even attempt to boot if this
second power cable is not connected or cannot supply sufficient amps. Some
power supplies may even beep or have an LED that flashes red. Overlook this
and the board will never boot.
-Mike
Corey John Bukolt
I thought this as well, although googling shows that quite a few
motherboard BIOSes will beep if there is a missing or dead CPU. I'll
have to double check this, since I don't know the model number of the
board.
Frank Shute
Did you have a monitor attached? Anything posted to the screen?
My nephew had similar symptoms and it was because his heatsink on his
CPU wasn't seated properly.
The system would boot like yours but then die. He managed to catch on
the screen a message like "CPU temp exceeded" which clued him in.
BTW, your "Reply to:" is different from your "From:" which is
confusing.
Tim Judd
Best way to confirm a dead board in any case is those POST diagnosis
cards. They have a dual-digit LED output that changes depending on
the signal on the wire. If at any time those dual-digit LEDs stay
permanently on anything OTHER THAN 00 is a failed POST. If it fails
before it gets a shot at testing RAM or anything, there may be no beep
codes.
Always good to have one in a toolkit.
Al Plant
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>
If it shuts off as described check for a power supply that tests ok but
is NOT compatible with the motherboard. Many high end mobo's need a
power supply that feeds a steady current. The component detection on the
better mobos will shut the board down if it is not the quality tolerance
it likes.
We just experienced this here two weeks ago with all new components and
the supplier of the components replaced the brand new Power Supply with
a better quality one at their expense and the box works fine now. This
was a mother board that was not cheap. My wife needed to upgrade for
video editing etc. The supplier said they had this problem with several
of the better boards.
~Al Plant - Honolulu, Hawaii - Phone: 808-284-2740
+ http://hawaiidakine.com + http://freebsdinfo.org +
+ http://aloha50.net - Supporting - FreeBSD 7.2 - 8.0 - 9* +
< email: n...@hdk5.net >
"All that's really worth doing is what we do for others."- Lewis Carrol
Corey John Bukolt
> On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 02:05:49AM -0500, Corey John Bukolt wrote:
> >
> > On Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:23:34 +0000 (06:23 CDT) Chris Whitehouse wrote:
> > > When you press the power button does the cpu fan or the power supply fan
> > > spin for a moment then stop? That's a sign that something on or plugged
> > > in to the motherboard has blown. Unplug things and test again.
> > >
> > > Chris
> >
> > Just a few days ago, I was helping a friend build a system (with all
> > brand new components, I might add) and we had this very problem. After
> > sticking in the CPU and RAM and hooking up and turning on the PSU, the
> > green LED on the motherboard turns on. However, the second the power
> > button is pressed, everything flashes for a second, then turns back off.
> > The green LED on the motherboard also remains on. The only way to get
> > it to flash again is to turn off the PSU, wait, then turn it back on.
> > We tried re-seating everything, to no avail.
> >
> > Reading this thread, someone else mentioned beep codes and that if there
> > were none, it's most likely a fried motherboard.
> >
> > Can anyone else confirm this?
> >
>
> Did you have a monitor attached? Anything posted to the screen?
>
We did have a monitor attached, only the system stays running for less
then a second, not even enough time for the monitor to turn on.
> My nephew had similar symptoms and it was because his heatsink on his
> CPU wasn't seated properly.
>
> The system would boot like yours but then die. He managed to catch on
> the screen a message like "CPU temp exceeded" which clued him in.
>
> BTW, your "Reply to:" is different from your "From:" which is
> confusing.
>
"From:" is the address for automated emails from my mailserver and
relaying my personal email (I have a dynamic IP). I don't want any
automated emails directly attached to my personal address in the "Reply
To:", hence multiple accounts.
I blindly assumed that clients/people would just use "Reply To:" and
ignore "From:" but I can see that's not the case. I'll have to fix that
so that there is only one address.
Apologies for the confusion.
Corey John Bukolt
So that's what those damn things were for......I have three rack mounted
servers sitting in my basement and they each have an on board dual digit
readout. I figured they had something to do with the BIOS, but I was
just too lazy to find out. ;) Learn something new everyday.
Thanks for the advice, I'm going shopping for one right now.
Frank Shute
>
> Sorry if this is a bit off-topic.
>
> I came in the other day to find my workstation powered off. Hitting
> the power on button had no effect as did using another known working
> outlet. I checked all the cables and they seem attached.
>
> I thought my power supply must have died so I got another, screwed it
> in and again no joy - no sign of life.
>
> Anybody got any ideas what the problem may be? I'm thinking possibly
> the power on switch but that seems a long shot and there seems no easy
> way to replace it.
>
> My hardware:
>
> Antec Sonata case.
> Gigabyte board.
> Core 2 duo
>
> TIA,
>
Apologies for responding to my own post but I thought I should relate
what the problem was for the archives.
I tried reseating all attachments to the MB but that didn't prove
fruitful. So since I thought it was upgrade time anyway, I bought a
new MB and Intel quad core to go with it aswell as a 40GB Intel SSD. I
repurposed the memory from the old MB to go with the new MB. Assembled
it all and it worked. The old HD was OK too.
So from that I deduce that the problem was either the cpu, MB or some
dodgy attachment that the new assembly bypassed.
The SSD has proved it's worth. Port builds are a lot faster, launching
applications such as Mutt and Firefox are near instantaneous.
locate(1) and find(1) jobs are pretty near instantaneous. So my advice
to anybody still using EM HDs on a workstation is to get an SSD as
your next upgrade if you haven't already.
I suppose I'm fortunate in that my data needs are fairly small:
$ df
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
/dev/ad5s1a 1982798 261090 1563086 14% /
devfs 1 1 0 100% /dev
/dev/ad5s1e 19566 22 17980 0% /tmp
/dev/ad5s1f 29893284 7870578 19631244 29% /usr
/dev/ad5s1d 1982798 69718 1754458 4% /var
I just installed 8.0 and rsynced ~/ over.