I just moved into a new apartment and sometimes when I press the power
on button on my computer, the button either briefly flashes for a few
milliseconds or successfully turns on for 1-10 seconds before shutting
off again.
I can't seem to isolate the problem. This happened in my first
apartment during winter, never happened once in my second apartment
which was a basement suite and now it's happening again in my new
apartment (non-basement suite.)
Sometimes problem is solved when I try a different outlet but also
starts working on the problematic outlet and sometimes doesn't work on
any outlet in the house. Meanwhile, other appliances work fine in the
same problematic outlet.
Sometimes the problem's solved when I leave the case open and has been
less prevalent now since I've operated my comp without the protective
case but I still had a problem this morning even with the case off.
So yeah, I'm completely lost. I don't know what my first and third
apartments have in common besides both being above the basement level.
In article <7a1e07cb-322e-4ac7-87cb-fd14819c278f@n39g2000yqh.googlegroups.com>, Industrial One <industrial_one@hotmail.com> wrote:
>I just moved into a new apartment and sometimes when I press the power
>on button on my computer, the button either briefly flashes for a few
>milliseconds or successfully turns on for 1-10 seconds before shutting
>off again.
>
>I can't seem to isolate the problem. This happened in my first
>apartment during winter, never happened once in my second apartment
>which was a basement suite and now it's happening again in my new
>apartment (non-basement suite.)
>
>Sometimes problem is solved when I try a different outlet but also
>starts working on the problematic outlet and sometimes doesn't work on
>any outlet in the house. Meanwhile, other appliances work fine in the
>same problematic outlet.
>
>Sometimes the problem's solved when I leave the case open and has been
>less prevalent now since I've operated my comp without the protective
>case but I still had a problem this morning even with the case off.
>
>So yeah, I'm completely lost. I don't know what my first and third
>apartments have in common besides both being above the basement level.
>
>What could be the problem?
I know i am starting to sound like a broken record but look for bulged
capacitors on the motherboard.
"Industrial One" <industrial_one@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:7a1e07cb-322e-4ac7-87cb-fd14819c278f@n39g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
>I just moved into a new apartment and sometimes when I press the power
> on button on my computer, the button either briefly flashes for a few
> milliseconds or successfully turns on for 1-10 seconds before shutting
> off again.
>
> I can't seem to isolate the problem. This happened in my first
> apartment during winter, never happened once in my second apartment
> which was a basement suite and now it's happening again in my new
> apartment (non-basement suite.)
The Power Supply Unit of your PC may be aging and failing.
PSUs are cheap and swiftly replaced, and PC repair shops
often test them without charge. Variations in mains electricity
voltage may exacerbate PSU problems.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
On Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:47:31 -0800 (PST), Industrial One
<industrial_one@hotmail.com> wrote:
>I just moved into a new apartment and sometimes when I press the power
>on button on my computer, the button either briefly flashes for a few
>milliseconds or successfully turns on for 1-10 seconds before shutting
>off again.
>
>I can't seem to isolate the problem. This happened in my first
>apartment during winter, never happened once in my second apartment
>which was a basement suite and now it's happening again in my new
>apartment (non-basement suite.)
>
>Sometimes problem is solved when I try a different outlet but also
>starts working on the problematic outlet and sometimes doesn't work on
>any outlet in the house. Meanwhile, other appliances work fine in the
>same problematic outlet.
>
>Sometimes the problem's solved when I leave the case open and has been
>less prevalent now since I've operated my comp without the protective
>case but I still had a problem this morning even with the case off.
>
>So yeah, I'm completely lost. I don't know what my first and third
>apartments have in common besides both being above the basement level.
>
>What could be the problem?
Maybe a motherboard button battery needs replacing. They're cheap.
I took my old XP machine in recently because of failed startups and it
turned out to be a faulty HDD power connection, and also one of the
RAM elements had a small resistor sloughed off.
On Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:24:16 +1100, Peter Jason <pj@jostle.com> wrote:
>On Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:47:31 -0800 (PST), Industrial One
><industrial_one@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>I just moved into a new apartment and sometimes when I press the power
>>on button on my computer, the button either briefly flashes for a few
>>milliseconds or successfully turns on for 1-10 seconds before shutting
>>off again.
>>
>>I can't seem to isolate the problem. This happened in my first
>>apartment during winter, never happened once in my second apartment
>>which was a basement suite and now it's happening again in my new
>>apartment (non-basement suite.)
>>
>>Sometimes problem is solved when I try a different outlet but also
>>starts working on the problematic outlet and sometimes doesn't work on
>>any outlet in the house. Meanwhile, other appliances work fine in the
>>same problematic outlet.
>>
>>Sometimes the problem's solved when I leave the case open and has been
>>less prevalent now since I've operated my comp without the protective
>>case but I still had a problem this morning even with the case off.
>>
>>So yeah, I'm completely lost. I don't know what my first and third
>>apartments have in common besides both being above the basement level.
>>
>>What could be the problem?
>
>Maybe a motherboard button battery needs replacing. They're cheap.
>
>I took my old XP machine in recently because of failed startups and it
>turned out to be a faulty HDD power connection, and also one of the
>RAM elements had a small resistor sloughed off.
>
>
Even if that battery failed the PC would work but come up with a
message to check the BIOS settings.
On 1/16/2012 1:51 PM, GMAN wrote:
> In article<7a1e07cb-322e-4ac7-87cb-fd14819c278f@n39g2000yqh.googlegroups.com>, Industrial One<industrial_one@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> I just moved into a new apartment and sometimes when I press the power
>> on button on my computer, the button either briefly flashes for a few
>> milliseconds or successfully turns on for 1-10 seconds before shutting
>> off again.
>>
>> I can't seem to isolate the problem. This happened in my first
>> apartment during winter, never happened once in my second apartment
>> which was a basement suite and now it's happening again in my new
>> apartment (non-basement suite.)
>>
>> Sometimes problem is solved when I try a different outlet but also
>> starts working on the problematic outlet and sometimes doesn't work on
>> any outlet in the house. Meanwhile, other appliances work fine in the
>> same problematic outlet.
>>
>> Sometimes the problem's solved when I leave the case open and has been
>> less prevalent now since I've operated my comp without the protective
>> case but I still had a problem this morning even with the case off.
>>
>> So yeah, I'm completely lost. I don't know what my first and third
>> apartments have in common besides both being above the basement level.
>>
>> What could be the problem?
> I know i am starting to sound like a broken record but look for bulged
> capacitors on the motherboard.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague
> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ps-tayeh-4.jpg
I just fixed a Viewsonic LCD monitor that refused to turn on by
replacing 3 caps. That might be worth looking at. The caps in my case
were visibly bulging.
In article <jf85su$nmg$1@dont-email.me>, Mike S <mscir@yahoo.com> wrote:
>On 1/16/2012 1:51 PM, GMAN wrote:
>> In
> article<7a1e07cb-322e-4ac7-87cb-fd14819c278f@n39g2000yqh.googlegroups.com>,
> Industrial One<industrial_one@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>> I just moved into a new apartment and sometimes when I press the power
>>> on button on my computer, the button either briefly flashes for a few
>>> milliseconds or successfully turns on for 1-10 seconds before shutting
>>> off again.
>>>
>>> I can't seem to isolate the problem. This happened in my first
>>> apartment during winter, never happened once in my second apartment
>>> which was a basement suite and now it's happening again in my new
>>> apartment (non-basement suite.)
>>>
>>> Sometimes problem is solved when I try a different outlet but also
>>> starts working on the problematic outlet and sometimes doesn't work on
>>> any outlet in the house. Meanwhile, other appliances work fine in the
>>> same problematic outlet.
>>>
>>> Sometimes the problem's solved when I leave the case open and has been
>>> less prevalent now since I've operated my comp without the protective
>>> case but I still had a problem this morning even with the case off.
>>>
>>> So yeah, I'm completely lost. I don't know what my first and third
>>> apartments have in common besides both being above the basement level.
>>>
>>> What could be the problem?
>> I know i am starting to sound like a broken record but look for bulged
>> capacitors on the motherboard.
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague
>> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ps-tayeh-4.jpg
>
>I just fixed a Viewsonic LCD monitor that refused to turn on by
>replacing 3 caps. That might be worth looking at. The caps in my case
>were visibly bulging.
>
I hope you went ahead and replaced the ones that werent bulging cause they
might go next.
Guys, I have been using my computer without the side case and it works
fine, at least for now. My PSU is only a year old so I doubt it is
failing, but I do hear buzz groans sometimes, especially during
startup. It sounds like a car engine that keeps trying and failing to
start. On my very old P4, it turned out to be the video card, but this
comp's video card isn't the source, so I'm open to the idea that it
might be the PSU, if PSU's make noise.
Why would keeping the case open fix this? I don't get it. :D
Industrial One;1325490 Wrote:
> Guys, I have been using my computer without the side case and it works
> fine, at least for now. My PSU is only a year old so I doubt it is
> failing, but I do hear buzz groans sometimes, especially during
> startup. It sounds like a car engine that keeps trying and failing to
> start. On my very old P4, it turned out to be the video card, but this
> comp's video card isn't the source, so I'm open to the idea that it
> might be the PSU, if PSU's make noise.
>
> Why would keeping the case open fix this? I don't get it. :D
The groaning noise is probably a faulty PSU fan or CPU fan, and the
likely
cause of the 'power-up' problem. PSU and CPU fans are usually connected
to their respective 'pwr' headers on the motherboard, and usually have a
third lead for monitoring fan RPM.
Thus, if the fan does not spin, or the RPM falls below the safe
threshold,
the BIOS would prevent the PC from booting up, or would shut-down the PC
to prevent damage(overheating) to the system.
The intermittent problem you describe could be caused by a fan that
works
normally for a time, then fails to spin up at times, or spins just above
the
safe RPM threshold during boot-up but not high enough to properly cool
the
PC(which is why the PC runs without the side panel).
Computer refusing to start up 
Linear Mode
