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Author Topic: Power Supply, Motherboard, both?  (Read 2567 times)

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MegamanXZOBMV

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    Power Supply, Motherboard, both?
    « on: September 09, 2011, 05:07:28 PM »
    Hi all.

    My 7+ year old Sony Vaio just died the other day, pretty much for good. The HDD was failing and it lasted a good long while.. but it's finally all gone.
    Instead of immediately buying a new HDD for it, or a new computer in general, I decided to try and fix my father's Gateway so we could have a desktop PC to use again.

    The Gateway went out while my father was using it during a lightning storm.. in which we have the classic ''Lightning Strikes, Computer dies'' scenario. Everyone he talked to said to just get a new power supply and it should work just fine. Well, we got the power supply, I stuck it in..

    ..It doesn't work.

    The first time I put the new PS in and tried turning the computer on, all I heard was the fan of the power supply starting up. The computer never actually turned on.. nor did the keyboard, mouse, etc. Then, after turning it off and trying it all again.. even the power supply isn't making any noise. It was brought to my attention that in this case, a fried motherboard could possibly be the issue.

    So what gives? First the power supply works, but not anything else, and now the PS isn't even working. Does anyone know definitively what the problem is?

    I don't have the Gateway specs on hand, though if required I can search for them. I know the PS was set to the right voltage, or at least I didn't alter it (115, I believe). Anything else concerning the motherboard or PS I'd have to look for, but I was under the impression that people more knowledgable in this area than myself might be able to figure out what's wrong by the symptoms (and I don't know where half of this information is)

    Thank you all for your time, sorry to bother you and I apologize if this subject has been covered already. I didn't see it.

    Computer_Commando



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    Re: Power Supply, Motherboard, both?
    « Reply #1 on: September 09, 2011, 05:37:23 PM »
    PSU won't turn on unless motherboard tells it to by"connecting" pin-14 to ground.  PSU is never really off unless you disconnect it from the AC power.  Just like your TV, press remote control power on, TV comes on.  Needs power to receive the signal from the remote.  Only way to have no power to the TV is to unplug it.

    MegamanXZOBMV

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      Re: Power Supply, Motherboard, both?
      « Reply #2 on: September 09, 2011, 07:56:42 PM »
      Motherboard then, Thanks a bundle Commando.

      Guess I'll either order a new one or attempt to swap HDDs.

      Thanks again! =)

      quaxo



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      Re: Power Supply, Motherboard, both?
      « Reply #3 on: September 09, 2011, 11:11:24 PM »
      Some power supplies won't "turn on" unless there's something connected to it (ex. motherboard, drives). Double check all your connects and make sure it's all hooked up right and tight. If it all looks right and it still won't come on at all, likely the motherboard is dead.

      Also consider that the damage may not have stopped there. Other components may have also been damaged, such as the video card, drives, fans, RAM, etc. Before rushing out to buy a motherboard, check your other components in another computer (perhaps a friend's if you've only got the one desktop) to make sure they're still functional or you could be spending more than you'd like and could probably get a new computer for the same or not much more.