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Tower getting main power - won't turn on

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by 02darkRS, 2007/12/17.

  1. 2007/12/17
    02darkRS

    02darkRS Inactive Thread Starter

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    I have a gateway system that someone gave us. So, I don't know too much about it. I can find more info if needed. I was called to it by my son who said it was frozen. When I got to it, the start menu was up & the Program not Responding window for explorer.exe was up. He said he was trying to get a cdrom game to play. It would not shutdown or do anything. So, I pulled the plug. Now it won't turn on at all.

    I opened the case, the main power light on the mother board is green. Also, the test switch does turn on the power supply & fans when pushed. The system though, will not turn on or boot up. What trouble shooting steps can I take to repair this?

    Thanks in advance!
     
    02darkRS,
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  2. 2007/12/17
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Would help to know which OS is loaded :)
     
    PeteC,
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  4. 2007/12/17
    02darkRS

    02darkRS Inactive Thread Starter

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    Windows XP
     
    02darkRS,
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  5. 2007/12/17
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    I'm not sure what you mean by 'test switch'. As long as the tower is connected to the mains the motherboard has power to it as indicated by the green led.

    When you press the power button on the front of the tower do the HD, optical drives and floppy (if fitted) lights come on? Do the fans fire up - CPU fan plus any others - Northbridge fan (chipset on the motherboard - often has a heat sink rather than a fan), case fan ....

    If they do not I would suspect a faulty PSU (Power Supply Unit) or a faulty power switch .
     
    PeteC,
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  6. 2007/12/17
    02darkRS

    02darkRS Inactive Thread Starter

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    The PSU has a "Test Switch" on it. If i depress it, the fan on the motherboard starts spinning & an LED beside the test switch turns green. It literally says "test switch" on the PSU on a blue sticker with an arrow pointing to a button which has a green LED beside it. This is seperate from the mb's main power LED. Which, is always on when the tower is plugged in.

    The power button on the front of the tower does nothing. No lights turn on, no sounds of booting up, nothing. Everything worked fine until it froze yesterday & I unplugged it.
     
    02darkRS,
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  7. 2007/12/18
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    I have not come across a PSU with a test switch on it before, but I would wonder exactly what it tests.

    Pulling the power coard from the wall should not generally create any problems. The lack of any action when the power button is pressed indicates a power problem either with the PSU or the power switch.

    As routine open the case and remove each power connector in turn from the motherboard and drives and replace, starting with the motherboard connections. I don't think the problem lies there, but worth checking.

    Also check to see if there is a fuse of any sort visible on the back panel of the PSU. If there is an On/Off switch in addition to the Test Switch toggle that a few times. With the tower disconnected from the supply if there is a voltage selector toggle that also being sure to return it to it's original position.

    The only way I know of to readily test the action of the Power Button on the front of the case is to trace the leads from it to the connections on the motherboard, noting their positions, removing them and, with the power connected briefly shorting the two motherboard connectors with a screwdriver. If the computer makes an attempt to power up the power switch is faulty.

    Note - the action described above is not for the inexperienced or faint hearted - one slip and you could fry the motherboard. Very much at your own risk.

    If you have access to a multimeter the power outputs from the PSU can be checked.
     
    PeteC,
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  8. 2007/12/18
    Zander

    Zander Geek Member Alumni

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    Electricity isn't really my thing but, couldn't you use the meter to check the switch too? Disconnect the wires from the power button at the motherboard, then connect the meter to those wires, push the power button and see what the meter reads?
     
    Zander,
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  9. 2007/12/18
    02darkRS

    02darkRS Inactive Thread Starter

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    i'll try to take a pic of the test switch tonight.

    i did toggle the voltage selector first when it happened & it did nothing.
    there unfortunately is no on/off switch.
    i also did go through & unplug & plug back in the connectors. that did nothing.
    i had a multimeter but loaned it out & it never returned...... guess i'll have to get another.

    i wondered about a fuse.... but the mb wouldn't be getting mainpower if a fuse was blown. would it?
     
    02darkRS,
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  10. 2007/12/18
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    The fuse was a long shot - one would expect a fuse to protect the entire PSU, not part of it.
     
    PeteC,
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  11. 2007/12/18
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    I found information on the test switch and tests to run.
    http://support.gateway.com/s/POWER/6500612/650061210.shtml

    Try to isolate any parts that may be defective (I might wonder about the CD drive that was running when it first happened).

    It talks about the power button/switch being defective. The connectors that Pete spoke about:
    http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/MSI/103171/103171mvr14.shtml
    If there is a reset button, you can swap the power switch and reset switch connectors and see if the reset button will act as the power button.

    Try clearing the CMOS:
    http://support.gateway.com/s/Servers/COMPO/MOTHERBD/m00299/m0029914.shtml
    http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/FIC/105553/105553mvr22.shtml

    Try putting different combination of terms into the search engine:
    http://support.gateway.com/support/search/advanced.asp
    They have a very good knowledgebase.

    Matt
     
    Last edited: 2007/12/18
    mattman,
    #10
  12. 2008/01/08
    02darkRS

    02darkRS Inactive Thread Starter

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    now 2 down

    thank you matt!

    i have just not had the time to look any further into it yet. but i really appreciate the links.

    problem now is, my back up PC has now done the exact same thing......:confused: could this be a virus? neither of them will turn on. the power strip is good. other things are running off of it. i also, tried switching out the power cords & plugging direct into the wall outlet. nothing.
     
    02darkRS,
    #11

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