Power ON - Power OFF

[Technotic]

I am currently trying to diagnose and repair a problem in a friends computer that is proving to be elusively apparent. When the power button is pressed the unit powers up... for about 2 seconds before powering back down! It will do nothing else past that.
We were just playing games with it the night before over my home LAN and it worked just fine! I have removed all but the basic perifial components to limit the possable causes, I have disconnected all but the power switch to rule out them and used a spare power switch to the board to cut that out of the "problem" list. The power supply has been checked with both low-tech(replace with a spare) and high-tech(multimeter) tests to rule it out as a cause.
I am at a standstill on the problem. Worse yet I have a nieghbor that's jonesing for his nightly dose of Ghost Recon hanging out over at my pad and making a pain of himself. Help me anyone before this comes to bloodshed!

[slim]

Hi,

A couple of questions.

1. Have you checked the RAM???

2. Do you get any beeps (normal or unusual)???

Slim

[Whyzman]

unit powers up
Is the heatsink fan spinning?

[YODA74]

Do you know if you/he were using power management or suspend?
some system specs might help

[Budfred]

Also, if your friend fiddled with the BIOS settings, he could have set a parameter that the computer can't meet and it shuts down. You might want to use the jumpers to reset the CMOS or take the battery out for a while to do the same thing.

Budfred

[Whyzman]

Wow...in all this we forgot to give you a hearty...

Welcome tohttp://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif Forums!

[Technotic]

Thanks for the feed back, and to handle it all in one reply...
1)Yes, I have checked the RAM (128 pc100 SDRAM) and found it not to be a problem by trying it out in another machine. It is good.
2)It either has no BIOS code beeps to give or... because it doesn't stay on long enough to do so, I haven't heard any.
3)It has never been equipped with a Heat Sink Fan but it does have quite an elaborate and large Heat Sink itself. As with many other CPU's of it's ilk (Pentium II 300mhz slot) that's the way it was running before it was scavenged off of it's original MoBo, and up till now it's been doing a GREAT job. It runs Ghost Recon which is rated for a 450mhz CPU on the low side.:cool:
4)As far as I am aware of there were no Power Mngmnt. or any unusual suspend options running on the system.
THE SYSTEM - home made with;
ENPC EP-KL21 v1.3 MoBo / 300mhz P2 slot CPU / duel 4g fujitsu HDD / 128mb pc100 SDRAM / ATI 7000 Grfx Card with 64mb onbrd mem / 300watt COMPUSA generic PS / the rest is pretty much common stuff but irelevant in that it's been disconnected until I can track this problem down. Other than the LRG Server style AT case that we modified to hold the ATX style MoBo & Gear.
5)My buddy swears up and down that he's not touched the system adj. including the BIOS but in my circle of friends this particular one is used as a System Tester for newly assembled units - if something can go wrong with a computer it will go wrong when he's opperating it! Sometimes all he seemingly has to do is start talking about a computer and it will start acting up! Bad Compu-Karma or something.:D I will give the BIOS reset a try though, it's unfortunate but this board hasn't a reset jumper so I guess it's battery pullin' time again.
6)Thanks for the welcome and it's cool to see that there is a forum that is on it's game and manners. Unusual these days it seems.
- Any thing else you need to get feedback on just let me know, I'm gonna go pull a CMOS battery.

[Whyzman]

"Dissin'" you that early on is a bit strange...

You might want to consider a barebones fire up if resetting the BIOS defaults doesn't do the trick.

Pull it all except the Monitor, Vid, keyboard, RAM...Add back the floppy first and keep going til' you hit a snag...

And yeppers...best Forum around! :D

[Budfred]

If you are not getting a BIOS beep and still don't get one with the mobo out of the case in a barebones boot, your CPU or mobo is probably dearly departed. The only way I know to test which has bit the big one is to find a compatible system and try the CPU on the other mobo and/or try the mobo with the other CPU.

Good luck,
Budfred

[BigBlue66]

I would suspect a bad power supply in this situation, in addition to the other possiblities already mentioned.

If possible, slap a known good PSU in there and see what happens.

[Technotic]

OKAY, I think in the end that Budfred's analysis is most likly correct. I have sinse my last communication tried resetting the BIOS by removing the battery for a day or so...NO LUCK 8-(. I also swapped the power supply out with another of exactly the same kind and... NO LUCK! SO, there it sits, bare mobo with the basic essentials on a piece of clean cardboard. All that's missing now I guess is a white sheet to pull over it and to call the local paper to place an obituary in it. Thanks for the help though, I now am honor bound to search this forum for a poor soul in trouble and help them out! That and to go mobo shopping with my friend tommorow. Which reminds me to remove my credit card from my wallet before I get to the computer store. I'm sure you ALL now how it is... go to the store for a new mobo come home with a new hard-drive and a printer to boot - and a newly inflated creditcard bill! 8>)

[Budfred]

The tricky thing now is that it could be either the mobo or the CPU that bit the dust. If you buy a new mobo for the CPU, make sure you can return it if it seems to be DOA since the CPU may be what you need to replace.

Budfred

[Technotic]

Yes, I know it's a gamble to assume that the problem is the mobo and to go out and buy one, but, I don't have a way to test another slot CPU and I'm all out of spare CPU's to swap the current one out with to eliminate it as the source.
It's not the worst gamble that I have had to take, at least I'm working with 50/50 odds on this one. 8>) Besides if I talk my buddy into a new mobo I'm gonna talk him into an upgrade (into this decade at least) which will mean a few changes will have to be made anyway including a newer CPU & RAM & HDD & etc... On second thought maybe I should rethink removing the ol' creditcard from my wallet! Hey, even better, maybe my buddy won't go for the whole idea and I will be FORCED to buy myself all the stuff to get a new system going and let him buy my current one! hummmmmmmmmmmmm (ahh the rambling thoughts of a computer-junkie) hehehe

[Budfred]

I know the feeling. I am about to go on a pricing binge with the possibility of building a computer for my sister's brother-in-law. Apparently they are so taken by the one I built for her that they want me to build them one now. I like the idea of spending someone else's money and having fun in the process.

Budfred

[Technotic]

Yes, luckily the realm of computer teching is bound by the same rules of life as is anything. The down side is- a mobo or a CPU is fried... The upside is- a mobo or a CPU is fried! 8>) I'm keeping that board though and will continue to either get it to startup or find out what went wrong with it... knowledge for posterity and all that. If I find out a solution though I will post it here. It may take some time but I can show some patience... sometimes...if I try hard... and use "the patch"... or as in this case - it's become personal! I haven't progressed in my knowledge enough to be able to test individual components and such, but, useing a bit of logical deduction there are many things that can be acertained from "controled" tinkering. I will keep you that are interested, informed of any changes in the patient's condition, but as of last night I declared the situation a "deep coma" with little hope of recovery.
OH, and Budfred, good luck on the system you are going to set up, but , beware the in-law trap. It is a large hole that one is, and near impossable to fill up. I have been bulding systems for in-laws and out-laws for a couple of years now... the part of the equation that seems to never end though is the "free for life" service calls that are an unwritten part of that kind of contract. hehehe
technotic - over and out