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[Archaix]

My power supply(or, at least what seemed to be the power supply) had been acting wonky. I moved my PC to another room and nloticed there was something rattling around. A screw had apparently come loose, so I put it back in and put the cover back on, and then my computer wouldn't turn on. I bought a new power supply, assuming that it just finally died. Put it in, and now the fans come on, the lights turn on, and the drive begins to do whatever it is that drives do when the PC is turned on, but only for a second or so. Then there is a faint beep and everything shuts off.

So, what the hell did I do to my PC?

 

[tedtropy]

Do you mean that there was a screw rattling inside your case? If the screw came in contact with any of the internal components of your system while it was on, it could cause some very bad things indeed...

 

[Archaix]

Do you mean that there was a screw rattling inside your case? If the screw came in contact with any of the internal components of your system while it was on, it could cause some very bad things indeed...

No, it was off. It started rattling as I moved it, and I made sure the problem was corrected before I turned it back on. I believe it was just loose, but then when I picked it up and walked around with it, the screw fell out.

 

[IJoel]

My power supply(or, at least what seemed to be the power supply) had been acting wonky. I moved my PC to another room and nloticed there was something rattling around. A screw had apparently come loose, so I put it back in and put the cover back on, and then my computer wouldn't turn on. I bought a new power supply, assuming that it just finally died. Put it in, and now the fans come on, the lights turn on, and the drive begins to do whatever it is that drives do when the PC is turned on, but only for a second or so. Then there is a faint beep and everything shuts off.

So, what the hell did I do to my PC?

Are you sure you plugged all the power supply plugs into the mobo? It sounds like you forgot to plug the CPU fan.

 

[Archaix]

Are you sure you plugged all the power supply plugs into the mobo? It sounds like you forgot to plug the CPU fan.

I am only seeing one plug that goes directly into the motherboard. Are there supposed to be more?

 

[tedtropy]

I am only seeing one plug that goes directly into the motherboard. Are there supposed to be more?

Depending on the age of your system, there should be a small cable coming off the fan attached to the heatsink that's on your CPU. This cable will plug into a three-pin power connector on your mobo that's traditionally labled "CPU Fan" or simply "CPU". This is the power connector for the CPU's fan and its connection is essential to the computer running for anything exceeding a few seconds. Also, there should be small connections from the motherboard to the ATX power switch, reset switch, etc.

 

[IJoel]

^^^^

I am only seeing one plug that goes directly into the motherboard. Are there supposed to be more?

Make sure the CPU fans are plugged correctly, and that the power supply is set to 115V (in the back of the power supply, the small red switch).

 

[Archaix]

Oh, those are all plugged in. I thought you were telling me that I was supposed to plug the power supply directly into the CPU fan, which seemed all sorts of wrong.

All of the fans are running(albeit for a very short amount of time), it just blinks on then off.

I also just noticed that it does all of this as soon as I flip the power supply itself to the on position. After that, pressing the power button on my PC does nothing. I've checked all of the connections from it to the motherboard and power supply, and they all seem to be in proper condition.

I'm thinking it's all a lost cause, I'm just hoping for the best.

 

[IJoel]

Oh, those are all plugged in. I thought you were telling me that I was supposed to plug the power supply directly into the CPU fan, which seemed all sorts of wrong.

All of the fans are running(albeit for a very short amount of time), it just blinks on then off.

I also just noticed that it does all of this as soon as I flip the power supply itself to the on position. After that, pressing the power button on my PC does nothing. I've checked all of the connections from it to the motherboard and power supply, and they all seem to be in proper condition.

I'm thinking it's all a lost cause, I'm just hoping for the best.

Something must be either plugged wrong, or the power supply is screwed up. Is the motherboard firmly attached to the case (by means of screws)? This might sound stupid, but, well, it happens.

 

[tedtropy]

It'd probably be worth the time to try hooking up another power supply if you have a spare one or can borrow one from a buddy. Dying power supplies aren't exactly rare in the PC realm and they're pretty inexpensive to replace. (Although cheap power supplies are sometimes the root of alot of PC problems.)

 

[Archaix]

I just bought a new power supply and hooked it up. Before I had done that, the computer wouldn't respond at all to anything. Now I get this sigh of life and then it goes back to being dead again. This is all happening with the new power supply.

As for the motherboard: It's fairly secure. There are one or two screw holes(there's got to be a better word for that phrase...) that aren't in use, but they never have been.

 

[tedtropy]

I just bought a new power supply and hooked it up. Before I had done that, the computer wouldn't respond at all to anything. Now I get this sigh of life and then it goes back to being dead again. This is all happening with the new power supply.

As for the motherboard: It's fairly secure. There are one or two screw holes(there's got to be a better word for that phrase...) that aren't in use, but they never have been.

Verify that none of the risers on the mobo tray are making any contact on the board in an area where there's not a screwhole. I've seen alot of people install a board and ground it out by having a metal riser contact the board in an improper spot.

 

[IJoel]

Try unplugging everything, but the mobo+cpu+fans and the video card. Just try to get the mobo to post.

 

[Archaix]

Try unplugging everything, but the mobo+cpu+fans and the video card. Just try to get the mobo to post.

Yeah, same result I've been having for the past half hour.

 

[IJoel]

Yeah, same result I've been having for the past half hour.

Check the RAM. Is it correctly latched? Otherwise, one of the sticks might be damaged (if you have more than one.) Try using only one.

I'm not sure what else to try besides the RAM. I'd say it's probably a whacked power supply.

 

[Tekky]

Can you tell if it beeps in any pattern? Like long short short or anything like that?