Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Resolved Question

Computer will not turn on. No power at all.

by Aug 9, 2014 11:24AM PDT

So while I was at work my wife called and said the computer will not turn on. She says that our daughter plugged a usb cable into it in order to charge a PS3 remote. The computer was working at this time. She removed the remote later and used it. Upon trying to use the computer later it would not boot at all. When you press the power button nothing happens. No fans spin, no lights come on... nothing.



I removed and tested the power supply via the safety pin method and it is working. I put a brand new power supply in any ways which was also tested. I next replaced the power switch button (not the full cable) and it still does not come on. I noticed after this that my motherboard has an on/off power button and reset built onto the board. Upon pressing this button nothing happens. I built this PC myself less than three years ago and have not had any hardware problems till his.



Do you think my motherboard has suddenly failed? Do I need to replace it? I don't think it is a grounding issue as the computer has sat in the same spot and worked since I've had it till now.



Motherboard is an ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3



Thanks.

Discussion is locked

brometheus89 has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer
5 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details

Best Answer

- Collapse -
What I think
by Aug 9, 2014 11:54AM PDT

What I think is that you need to ask your wife and/or daughter what actually happened because something doesn't add up with the story so far. You work tech support jobs long enough you come to realize that people lie. Virtually every single time you go to help someone, it's the same "I didn't touch anything" or "It was fine yesterday" story. It doesn't matter how overwhelming the evidence to the contrary is, it's always the innocent victim routine. The difference here is that you don't have to play along because it's your job.

Of course I'm reminded of a bit of advice from one of the hosts of Car Talk who has been married multiple times: You can either choose to be right or you can choose to be happy [in a marriage]. If you want to be right, i.e. figure out exactly what happened, you can challenge the obviously BS story you were given until you get the truth. However, it might mean a few nights on the couch. Or you can choose to chalk it up to one of life's many mysteries and consider the expense of a new motherboard (or other bit of hardware) now and again the price of a happy marriage.

Also, just for future reference, virtually every motherboard has a couple of pins you can short with a flathead screwdriver to power the system on. Some also have switches, but basically all of them will have pins/pads that can be shorted.

- Collapse -
Reply
by brometheus89 Aug 9, 2014 12:58PM PDT

If there is more to the story it probably involves a small child such as one of my nieces and my wife does not know about it. My daughter is five and doesn't ever mess with my computer. I don't see any signs of physical or water damage so I'm not sure what could of happened.

My motherboard has a power switch directly on top of it. It does not power the system.

- Collapse -
Given everything you tried
by Jimmy Greystone Aug 9, 2014 10:52PM PDT

Given everything you tried, which apparently I'm the only one who took the time to read judging from the other responses, if the PSU works and you've tested that it outputs the correct voltage on each rail, break the unit down to just the bare essentials needed for POST and see if that works. Not even a keyboard and mouse. Just the CPU and one RAM module. Maybe even breadboard the whole thing so you can check for any signs of scorching on the case and under side of the motherboard.

If you get signs of life, add components one at a time, making sure to test that it still powers on each time, until either you find the problem component or everything works again. It's mind numbing and tedious, I know, but a systematic trial and error method is the fastest way to do it. Otherwise you're just flailing around in the dark hoping you get lucky. If after breadboarding it and breaking it down to the bare minimum configuration you're still not getting any signs of life, the motherboard is likely dead.

I would still say there's an excellent chance your wife knows more than she's letting on, but clearly you've taken the "happy" route, which I can't fault you for.

If the motherboard is dead, now you need to know whether or not you have a retail or OEM copy of Windows. If it's OEM, you're going to need a new copy of the OS because the license for the one you have now died with that motherboard. If it's retail you're fine. Also consider that at three years there's a decent chance you will have problems finding a motherboard that will accept your CPU and while the RAM will most likely work in a newer CPU, you'll also most likely be holding it back using the old RAM, so you probably want to be budgeting for having to build an entirely new computer. Then depending on what killed the motherboard, it may have taken a few other components down with it. With any luck you can find just a new motherboard, but be prepared for the worst case scenario.

- Collapse -
Answer
did you short the start pins on motherboard?
by Aug 9, 2014 1:35PM PDT

see if it would get to POST? So far all I've heard just implies the power switch on the case isn't working.

- Collapse -
Answer
Check Power Source
by Aug 9, 2014 3:24PM PDT

Just a simple solution here. Have you tried to plug to computer into another power socket? In absence of being there when the problem first arose I try to start out at the source.

Back to Computer Help forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info