How to troubleshoot Power Supplies.

[mjk]

After getting all the pieces for a new PC, I seem to have some troubles which are difficult to pin down.

SYMPTOMS

3Ware Escalade occasionally reports loss of power on drives, and "rebuilds" [WinME]
Mandrake Linux 8.1 will sometimes report file errors
Mandrake Linux 8.1 will crash when Harddrake is ran [may be unrelated]
Have had complete corruption of drives, resulting in loss of data.
Intermittent loss of connectivity with HP OfficeJet G85 - known to be working with same USB cable on an older PC [also with ME]. The HP software will simply state that it is unable to communicate with the OJ.


System Specs

Asus CUV4X-E motherboard [w. latest BIOS]
PIII-1GHz
512MB of RAM [known to work properly in another PC]
Asus GForce III [v8200]
3Ware Escalade 6400 EIDE Raid controller [Raid 0+1 configuration]
4x 40GB Western Digital EIDE drives [replaced 4x 20GB Fujitsu's]
SB Live! Value [known to be working properly in another PC]
Pinnacle Studio DV Firewire card [known to be working properly in another PC]
Intel Pro NIC [known to be working properly in another PC]
Adaptec 2930CU SCSI card [known to be working properly in another PC]
Yamaha 6416S CD-RW [known to be working properly in another PC]
300w power supply
big-ass tower http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif


I have downloaded Asus' PC Probe software which can log historical voltage data, but have not had a chance to let it run for any significant length of time where errors have occured. I also question it's accuracy - would a multimeter [got one] be better? Should I be looking at the 5V or the 12V?

I also think that my 300w PS is a bit small. All 5 PCI slots on my mobo are taken, there are 4 drives and a CDRW. Maybe that coupled with the power hungry GForce is the cause of my troubles.

After I have eliminated power out of the picture, my next step is to remove my RAID controller, but that will be a pain as I would have to re-install everything. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif

Looking forward to some feedback from the experts out there!

Regards,

../mk

[mjc]

Five drives...18W to 30W, 5 full PCI slots, 1GHz PIII + cooler, GeForce III (including cooler)....any USB devices?...plusa at least one case fan....I'd say you are probably pushing that 300 and making it cry mercy.

Drive corruption can be caused by inadaquate power,or overclocking...since you didn't say anything about that I'll assume PSU problem. Look for voltage drops on the +12V leg and it can be done with a multimeter...if you need a pin out post back and we'll come up with one...

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[mjk]

Originally posted by mjc:
Five drives...18W to 30W, 5 full PCI slots, 1GHz PIII + cooler, GeForce III (including cooler)....any USB devices?...plusa at least one case fan....I'd say you are probably pushing that 300 and making it cry mercy.

In the name of troubleshooting, I switched my cordless mouse/keyboard back to the PS2 ports. The only remaining USB devices are my HP G85 and my Visor docking thingy [similar to Palm]. I know the G85 is fine as it has worked flawlessly for months before on my old PC on the same USB cable.

Plus, I have another chassis fan to move more air through the tower.


Drive corruption can be caused by inadaquate power,or overclocking...since you didn't say anything about that I'll assume PSU problem. Look for voltage drops on the +12V leg and it can be done with a multimeter...if you need a pin out post back and we'll come up with one...


I was hoping someone would say that! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif I ran the Asus Probe last night for a few hours, but my RAID card did not complain in that time. The lowest I saw the +12V go to was ~11.74V - well within the allowed 10%, but then again, it ran fine for that time. My next question to you then is: what size PS would satisfy my requirements?

As far as using the multimeter, I'll poke around my manual and see if there are any +12V leads hanging around in there.

Thanks for your help mjc,

../mk

[mjc]

If you have a quality supply, then a 350W...some of the supply's may have a decent wattage but be weak in one area (like 12V), I would reccomend hunting down the exact maximum wttage for each of your devices and then add it up and then figure a comfortable margin (25-50W) for some "wiggle" room ...that one more device you need to have...but I'm guessing a 350 is about minimum...

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.