sean.ferguson

My main desktop has just died.

I am getting no response from the power button at all.

I have checked the power cable itself on a dell optiplex system i have lying around, powers that system up fine.
I have plugged a usb light/fan into the troubled desktop and the fan and light both work via USB on the Motherboard, so surely that means that the power supply is fine and the motherboard is fine too right?

Im going to try and find the power switch cables to see if there is any connectors that seem damaged or unseated.
(powerswitch cables appear fine)

Any other suggestions / help would be greatly appreciated.

Motherboard: ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.80GHz (i think)
PSU: Casecom Model: ATX-350W



[edit] Also disconnected the DVD-RW drive and the SATA Harddrive and still nothing

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Xie

First off I would suspect the power supply. The fact that it can power USB fans/lights off mobo doesn't mean that it is feeding the correct voltage/amps off of all the rails. The problem is that Dell uses a proprietary power supply so if you try one one off the shelf you'll fry stuff.


* I'm drunk so I'm of no further assistance.

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LeeJend

Somewhere in here I posted a step by step trouble shooting process. Short form follows:
1) Unplug everything, LAN, Printers, power supply. Wait 30 seconds and reconnect the power supply.
2) Hit the power switch and see what happens.
PSU and CPU Fans Spin - power switch is good and PSU may be good.
-- If fans stop after 10sec or more the CPU heatsink may be loose.
Keyboard lights flash - indicates the CPU and part of MB is good and running self test
Speaker beeps - the beep codes ID the exact fault, google it for your MB/Bios
HD light starts flashing - RAM and MB good, system trying to boot
Monitor pops or crackles and it's power light flashes or is yellow - video card issue
Monitor light comes on steady green - video card probably ok, may be dead monitor

Search for my long form procedure it has much more detail.

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dreamliner77

I'd also suspect the PSU. And don't worry, Dell hasn't used proprietary PSU's in years (unless they recently started again).

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sean.ferguson

hmm, done a few more tests and so far my PSU has crackled, fizzed and popped and now all i can smell is fish :/ looks like i may need to get a new PSU :/

Im going to try and do a more time intensive, and thorough test tonight with my brother-in-laws PSU and check the other components. Thanks for the input guys

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