"Pete Zahut" <dont@bother> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I built a system for a friend about three months ago (all components brand
>new at that time) and it won't boot up now. When the button is pressed,
>everything "comes to life" as you would expect, ie, ATX PSU fan, CPU fan,
>case fan and hard drive all spin up but two or three seconds later it all
>shuts down. It never even gets as far as POST - it literally is no more
>than two or three seconds before it shuts down.
>
> I've disconnected everything I can - hard drive, DVD drive, case fan,
> keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers and even taken out the RAM (motherboard
> has integrated VGA and sound so can't remove those cards) so that all
> that's left is the PSU feeding the mobo/cpu (and it's fan of course), but
> it still happens. Using one of these ATX PSU testers:
>
> http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/pro...s/x-psu-tester shows
> the following values:
>
> +5V = 5.3, +12V1 = 12.5, +3.3V = 3.3, -12V = 12.0, +12V2 = 12.3, 5VSB =
> 5.1, and PG = 290ms
>
> which all looks OK to me. Interestingly, I can leave the PSU connected to
> the tester for 5 minutes or more and those readings hold steady - it's
> only when I connect the PSU back to the motherboard that it cuts out
> within 2 or 3 seconds.
>
> Given my limited knowledge of these things, I reckon I've proved it to be
> a motherboard problem and I should now send it back to ebuyer.com for a
> replacement under warranty - but am I correct or should I try anything
> else?
>
> Mobo is a Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2
>
> TIA,
>
> Pete


Pete:
It certainly sounds like a defective motherboard from your description of
events.

As a last resort try this...

Power on the PC with *only* the processor/heatsink, RAM, graphics card and
keyboard connected. Nothing else. No sound card, no HDD, no external
devices - nothing else but those basic components. See if the same problem
arises in that the machine shuts down after a few seconds.

If it does, there's a reasonable assumption you're dealing with a defective
motherboard. If the machine is shutting down only within 2 or 3 seconds
after powering up as you indicate, it doesn't sound like an overheating
problem.

If there's no shutdown, let the machine run for at least 1/2 - 1 hour during
which time you can access the BIOS settings and go from one screen to
another and in the process determine all BIOS settings are appropriate to
your system. Check the temps with the BIOS hardware monitor settings to see
all is normal. If no untoward events during this period it should give you
some assurance there's no hardware issue involved here (although this
process is not completely definitive).

And in the meantime check out the HDD with the diagnostic utility that's
usually available from the website of the disk's manufacturer. It surely
doesn't sound like the HDD is implicated here, but check it out anyway.
Anna

Pete:
I neglected to add that in situations like this it's *always* good practice
(if practical) for the user to substitute the installed PSU for a known good
one. While the PSU tester you used indicates no problem with the PSU we've
found over the years that consumer-grade PSU testers are not always
completely reliable in definitively determining whether a PSU is
non-defective. So if you do have another PSU handy try substituting it for
the present one.

"Anna" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Pete Zahut" <dont@bother> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I built a system for a friend about three months ago (all components brand
>>new at that time) and it won't boot up now. When the button is pressed,
>>everything "comes to life" as you would expect, ie, ATX PSU fan, CPU fan,
>>case fan and hard drive all spin up but two or three seconds later it all
>>shuts down. It never even gets as far as POST - it literally is no more
>>than two or three seconds before it shuts down.
>>
>> I've disconnected everything I can - hard drive, DVD drive, case fan,
>> keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers and even taken out the RAM
>> (motherboard has integrated VGA and sound so can't remove those cards) so
>> that all that's left is the PSU feeding the mobo/cpu (and it's fan of
>> course), but it still happens. Using one of these ATX PSU testers:
>>
>> http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/pro...s/x-psu-tester
>> shows the following values:
>>
>> +5V = 5.3, +12V1 = 12.5, +3.3V = 3.3, -12V = 12.0, +12V2 = 12.3, 5VSB =
>> 5.1, and PG = 290ms
>>
>> which all looks OK to me. Interestingly, I can leave the PSU connected to
>> the tester for 5 minutes or more and those readings hold steady - it's
>> only when I connect the PSU back to the motherboard that it cuts out
>> within 2 or 3 seconds.
>>
>> Given my limited knowledge of these things, I reckon I've proved it to be
>> a motherboard problem and I should now send it back to ebuyer.com for a
>> replacement under warranty - but am I correct or should I try anything
>> else?
>>
>> Mobo is a Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2
>>
>> TIA,
>>
>> Pete
>
>
> Pete:
> It certainly sounds like a defective motherboard from your description of
> events.
>
> As a last resort try this...
>
> Power on the PC with *only* the processor/heatsink, RAM, graphics card and
> keyboard connected. Nothing else. No sound card, no HDD, no external
> devices - nothing else but those basic components. See if the same problem
> arises in that the machine shuts down after a few seconds.
>
> If it does, there's a reasonable assumption you're dealing with a
> defective motherboard. If the machine is shutting down only within 2 or 3
> seconds after powering up as you indicate, it doesn't sound like an
> overheating problem.
>
> If there's no shutdown, let the machine run for at least 1/2 - 1 hour
> during which time you can access the BIOS settings and go from one screen
> to another and in the process determine all BIOS settings are appropriate
> to your system. Check the temps with the BIOS hardware monitor settings to
> see all is normal. If no untoward events during this period it should give
> you some assurance there's no hardware issue involved here (although this
> process is not completely definitive).
>
> And in the meantime check out the HDD with the diagnostic utility that's
> usually available from the website of the disk's manufacturer. It surely
> doesn't sound like the HDD is implicated here, but check it out anyway.
> Anna
>
>

"Pete Zahut" <dont@bother> wrote in message
newsPadnWwFdquFKTjUnZ2dnUVZ8j-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Anna wrote:
>> "Pete Zahut" <dont@bother> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> I built a system for a friend about three months ago (all components
>>> brand new at that time) and it won't boot up now. When the button is
>>> pressed, everything "comes to life" as you would expect, ie, ATX PSU
>>> fan, CPU fan, case fan and hard drive all spin up but two or three
>>> seconds later it all shuts down. It never even gets as far as POST -
>>> it literally is no more than two or three seconds before it shuts
>>> down.
>
>
> ***********************************************
>
>>> I've disconnected everything I can - hard drive, DVD drive, case fan,
>>> keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers and even taken out the RAM
>>> (motherboard has integrated VGA and sound so can't remove those
>>> cards) so that all that's left is the PSU feeding the mobo/cpu (and
>>> it's fan of course), but it still happens. Using one of these ATX
>>> PSU testers:
>
> **************************************************
>
>>> http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/pro...s/x-psu-tester
>>> shows the following values:
>>>
>>> +5V = 5.3, +12V1 = 12.5, +3.3V = 3.3, -12V = 12.0, +12V2 = 12.3,
>>> 5VSB = 5.1, and PG = 290ms
>>>
>>> which all looks OK to me. Interestingly, I can leave the PSU
>>> connected to the tester for 5 minutes or more and those readings
>>> hold steady - it's only when I connect the PSU back to the
>>> motherboard that it cuts out within 2 or 3 seconds.
>>>
>>> Given my limited knowledge of these things, I reckon I've proved it
>>> to be a motherboard problem and I should now send it back to
>>> ebuyer.com for a replacement under warranty - but am I correct or
>>> should I try anything else?
>>>
>>> Mobo is a Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2
>>>
>>> TIA,
>>>
>>> Pete
>>
>>
>> Pete:
>> It certainly sounds like a defective motherboard from your
>> description of events.
>>
>> As a last resort try this...
>>
>> Power on the PC with *only* the processor/heatsink, RAM, graphics
>> card and keyboard connected. Nothing else. No sound card, no HDD, no
>> external devices - nothing else but those basic components. See if
>> the same problem arises in that the machine shuts down after a few
>> seconds.
>
> Anna, thanks for your input but see the paragraph in my original post
> (that is now delineated between two rows of ************)
>
>> If it does, there's a reasonable assumption you're dealing with a
>> defective motherboard.
>
> Right, OK.
>
> If the machine is shutting down only within 2
>> or 3 seconds after powering up as you indicate, it doesn't sound like
>> an overheating problem.
>
> Yeah, still shuts down within a couple of seconds.
>
> Have now got hold of a known good PSU and just about to swap it out to see
> what goes on.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Pete.


Pete:
Yes, I had previously noticed your OP re powering-on with only a minimum of
devices connected (a wise strategy given your circumstances), but I was
puzzled by your statement that you had "even taken out the RAM", so I just
wanted to reiterate the basic process.

As I'm sure you know, the problem with the kind of situation you're
experiencing (at least as it involves the end-user) is that when all is said
& done, (with a few exceptions here & there) there's really no definitive
test to determine which, if any, component is the defective one except by
direct substitution on a one-by-one basis.

Anyway, please keep us informed.
Anna