Packard Bell UTOW-SUN imedia 1801

[manadude2]

I have a Packard Bell UTOW-SUN imedia 1801 tower PC which runs Windows XP Home Edition.

A year ago, I left it scanning itself for viruses. When I came back to it, it was off.

I tried to turn it back on, but when I pressed the button, the blue light on the switch came on and then immediately extinguished which only a small "click" coming from the computer.

I opened up the computer and tried again, this time I saw the CPU fan move very slightly when I pressed the power button.

I spoke to a friend who is very good with computers and he said to remove every wire from the motherboard except the power, which I did, and the CPU fan turned on. I then plugged every wire in individually until it wouldn't turn on.

I have now found the problematic wire as shown in this picture:



What does this wire do and how can I resolve this?

I have plugged a screen in, and nothing is displayed. The CPU and power supply fans are both on full blast and there is no HDD activity. Please help.

[truenorth]

manadude2 Welcome to the CH forums. Are you able to determine where the OTHER end of that wire is attached to? Is it a plug in on the other end or is it hardwired to the PSU? Does an option exist that another exactly the same wire combination (even if it is used currently for something else ) exists that can be temporarily used to resupply the affected terminal on the motherboard that you show in the picture? truenorth

[manadude2]

The other end of the wire goes into the power supply and the plug is on the motherboard next to the PSU.

No, there is no other connection either in use or not that will fit that connection.

Also just found out, I can only open one of two of my DVD drives.

[truenorth]

manadude2, Ah Ha! Your detective work has certainly narrowed down the parameters of the problem. There is always the possibility (worst case scenario) that it is something associated with whatever MOBO circuitry connected at that end has caused the failure. However remaining the eternal optimist it could simply be the female connector at the wires end that is at fault. If that is so you could remove the current connector ( ensuring the power to the computer is disconnected 1st ) by cutting it as close to the connector as possible and go to your local computer supply/repair store and purchase and install a replacement. Another thing you can try is to take the connector that goes to your other optical device (at the MOBO end) and temporarily remove it and try to see if it will run when attached to the connection point that is currently not being used (and is possibly defective ) and see if it works. That would indicate if the MOBO connection point is working. That would really narrow it down to the female end of the removed wires. Whatever you decide to do i would most STRONGLY urge that unless you have the knowledge and experience you do NOT open and attempt to do anything inside the PSU where the other end is. You are new to the forums and we would like to keep you around and get to know you better. Goodluck,truenorth

[patio]

Is it a 4 pin plug ? ?
If so MBoard ATX plug is what it is known as.
The board won't run right without it.
If no luck swap in a known working PSU to test...

[manadude2]

truenorth:

I think you might have the wrong idea of what this is. The wire shown in the picture comes out of the power supply (am I right in thinking that this is the PSU?) and is meant to go into the socket shown next to the CPU heat-sink. As far as I can see, it does not go into any optical drive.

patio:

Yes, it is a four pin plug (sorry, the picture is not very clear on this, here's a better one:

And the connector:
)

I shall have to see where I can get a PSU from then as my only other computer is a laptop.

[patio]

Yes that is a 4 pin ATX power plug...
Borrow one from a friend...
Make sure it is the same or greater wattage and it has the 4 pin plug...

[manadude2]

Thanks a lot guys for your help.

I shall post back soon with the status of my findings.

[patio]

That's what we're here for...
Best of Luck.
Bring us good news !

[manadude2]

I have been successful in removing the faulty power supply, now just gotta find a power supply that will fit.

[truenorth]

Somehow i came to the conclusion (obviously misguided) that the only item NOT functioning (as a result of your excellent detective work) was one of your optical drives. Therefore i believed that it was the MOBO connection for that drive. Had i stopped and thought about it i should have realized that the power from an optical drive certainly does NOT come from a source on the MOBO. Also if the optical is an IDE drive it would not have that kind of cable to the MOBO and if it were a SATA drive the cable wouldn't look like that either. I guess the only positive comment i can make at this juncture is that it flushed Patio out of the woodwork and you couldn't be in better hands.goodluck,truenorth

[manadude2]

I think the optical drive failed to operate because of the faulty power supply as it is not connected to the MBoard except through a data ribbon.

[patio]

I think the optical drive failed to operate because of the faulty power supply as it is not connected to the MBoard except through a data ribbon.

This means it had no power and would explain why it wasn't working...