On Tue, 25 Apr 2006 09:31:54 +0100, "Will Hand"
inspired by Deep Thought wrote:

Just to let you all know that I am having big problems with my systems here
in Haytor. Main computer is booked in for repair and I daren't overload my
spare. Power supply went, new one didn't work and I fear a short somewhere.
I'll let you all know when everything is fixed. Forecast should return to
normal this week.

Will (Haytor, Devon)

Yes it certainly sounds like a short buuuut...

It's just possible the motherboard is at fault. I've had more than one
apparently dead new PSU turn out to be a fault in the start-up circuit for the
PSU which is located on the motherboard. I'm sure there was a diagram on the
web somewhere which showed which pins of the 20 or 24 pin ATX plug that goes
from the PSU to the motherboard had to be shorted together to get the PSU to
come out of standby - which is just what the power button of an ATX PSU does...
i.e. momentarily shorts the two pins together. ISTR this is a toggle action:
i.e. you short the pins together to wake the PSU up, and you do the same to shut
it down again. In some bioses there's an option to specify what the power button
does i.e. immediate shutdown or with a 4 second delay.

Keep us posted Will, this is an interesting one!

Nigel

Aagh! Every time I learn something new... it pushes something old out of my brain!

Will Hand wrote:
I understand that Jack but the PC is just 2 years old (Athlon T3900) and
very fast with superb sound/DVD many ports etc. I think there is a short
somewhere and I don't have the kit or knowledge to fix it myself. My spare
is much slower but this experience will force me to make more use of it. I
don't like laptops and I definitely don't like throwing things away simply
because they are broken.

Mine seems to have blown two PCUs in as many days. And this old one has
ben acting very oddly too.

I can't bring myslf to try fixing the newer one. I don't have the
faintest how to go about it. Mine's only 3 or 3 years old too. What a
pity.

"Nigel Morgan" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 25 Apr 2006 09:31:54 +0100, "Will Hand"
inspired by Deep Thought wrote:

Just to let you all know that I am having big problems with my systems here
in Haytor. Main computer is booked in for repair and I daren't overload my
spare. Power supply went, new one didn't work and I fear a short somewhere.
I'll let you all know when everything is fixed. Forecast should return to
normal this week.

Will (Haytor, Devon)

Yes it certainly sounds like a short buuuut...

It's just possible the motherboard is at fault. I've had more than one
apparently dead new PSU turn out to be a fault in the start-up circuit for the
PSU which is located on the motherboard. I'm sure there was a diagram on the
web somewhere which showed which pins of the 20 or 24 pin ATX plug that goes
from the PSU to the motherboard had to be shorted together to get the PSU to
come out of standby - which is just what the power button of an ATX PSU
does...
i.e. momentarily shorts the two pins together. ISTR this is a toggle action:
i.e. you short the pins together to wake the PSU up, and you do the same to
shut
it down again. In some bioses there's an option to specify what the power
button
does i.e. immediate shutdown or with a 4 second delay.

Keep us posted Will, this is an interesting one!


Simple answer. I wired up the new 350 Watt PSU incorrectly. It came with a 20
pin main plug for the motherboard with a 4 pin loosely fastened to the side.
Without proper instructions I affixed the 20 pin and then took off the 4 pin to
fit as required on the other side of the motherboard. This was wrong and spotted
at PC World. Apparently I had to plug in the separate 4 pin. this was done and
it worked! No charge. Overall cost of repair £27 for a new PSU. When I got it
home and rebooted it came up but the fan was very noisy so I took the cover off
again and spun the fan manually. This seemed to cure it, don't ask me why.
Apparently I was lucky that my action of wiring up incorrectly could have fried
the motherboard but the new PSU simply cut out before any damage was done, I
thought that was really clever.

Cheers,

Will.
--

Jon O'Rourke wrote:
"John Taverner" wrote in message
.uk...
.

Yes, this is a throw away world and I doubt that these computers will
last more than a few years.

Well, my mum's still happily using my old Pentium200 running Win95. Infact
the casing, power supply and keyboard date back to the original PC which was
a 25mhz 386 bought in 1992 ! It felt like a Ferrari though at the time when
286s were still common place.

Jon.

Good for her. They do say that as long as the equipment is satisfactory
for what you want to do with it, then why change? And it does seem a
particularly male requirement to have the newest, fastest, biggest
capacity, etc., machine available.