H
half_pint
I just had freeze using OE a few minutes ago and when I
pressed the off button it refused to die. I took the front
panel off and pressed the microswitch? directly and it
still remainded on. I the end I had to switch it off at the
mains.
I checked the switch and it appeared to be 'stuck in'
ie there appeared to be no movement. Anyway I tried
to pull it out a little but I am unsure if that had any effect or
not.
I put the front cover on and then I switched it on at the mains,
it did not power up straight away as if the switch was still stuck
in so I had to press the power on button to boot up my PC as
normal. I noticed the on button had it's usual 'springyness' which
it lacked when I had earlier tried to switch it off.
Anyway the 'interesting' bit, I was curious as to whether
I would be able to switch my PC off via the switch, so I decieded
to give it a quick press to see if the 'springyness' was still there
knowing that I would have a few to hold it down for 5 seconds
before it would actually power down. ( I didn't actuallly intend
to power it down, just check the 'feel' of the switch.
Much to my surprise the screen immediately went black and
the box issued three short beeps, "beep beep beep", they
all sounded the same lenght to me.
I though it had crashed but I gave the switch another press and
it came back up directly into windows, right back into this
message which I was typing.
I think this may have happened before when I was crouching down
looking at the CPU fan as it booted it (to see it was running free),
I got the same three beeps and I think I *may* have touched the on button
with my knee a moment earlier, but I am not 100% sure.
Anybody got any ideas on this?
It may explain some of my mysterious reboots and perhaps
freezes I have been getting, posted in this thread, although
the freezes tend to happen almost exclusively when I am using
Outlook Express
I had been concerned that my PSU was overloaded (only 90W)
and that that might explain my reboots.
I do appear to have a dodgy power button though, but it might
be more complicated than that. I do not know how they work
but they are more than a simple on/off as there *should* be
a 5 second delay before power down..
A few other points. If my power switch was indeed 'stuck in'
then my machine should have powered down after 5 seconds.
So... it can't have been stuck in? and therefore must have been
'stuck out' (although I tried pressing the switch directly pretty
firmly)
And why did I get three beeps and a black screen when I just
pressed the off button for a moment? Firstly is anything was going
to happen it should not have happened for at least 5 seconds.
Secondly if anything did happen it should have been a power
down, not the three beeps and a black screen, also windows
and everything else was still running ok when I pressed the on
switch again, it didn't have to go through the boot process as I
expected.
So where did the three beeps come from? I thought you only
got these at boot up, when the BIOS is doing it's checks.
(Am not too hot on the BIOS by the way, is it 'running' all the time
so to speak? I presume some of it must be running otherwise my
computer would not work?)
And anyone explain how the on/off button works? Does it
involve an electro-magnetic stitch?
Presumably there is a wire going back into the PSU to
switch off the power there. Mine is an ATX PSU and
micro? ATX case, I understand? that earlier models had a
'live' wire (230 V) coming out to the switch but that that is
not the case with ATX's?
And does any of this rambling point to a faulty/overloaded
PSU?
Thanks for any input, it will be appreciated.
half_pint.
PS When I have posted this I will try pressing the off button
again to see what happens.
pressed the off button it refused to die. I took the front
panel off and pressed the microswitch? directly and it
still remainded on. I the end I had to switch it off at the
mains.
I checked the switch and it appeared to be 'stuck in'
ie there appeared to be no movement. Anyway I tried
to pull it out a little but I am unsure if that had any effect or
not.
I put the front cover on and then I switched it on at the mains,
it did not power up straight away as if the switch was still stuck
in so I had to press the power on button to boot up my PC as
normal. I noticed the on button had it's usual 'springyness' which
it lacked when I had earlier tried to switch it off.
Anyway the 'interesting' bit, I was curious as to whether
I would be able to switch my PC off via the switch, so I decieded
to give it a quick press to see if the 'springyness' was still there
knowing that I would have a few to hold it down for 5 seconds
before it would actually power down. ( I didn't actuallly intend
to power it down, just check the 'feel' of the switch.
Much to my surprise the screen immediately went black and
the box issued three short beeps, "beep beep beep", they
all sounded the same lenght to me.
I though it had crashed but I gave the switch another press and
it came back up directly into windows, right back into this
message which I was typing.
I think this may have happened before when I was crouching down
looking at the CPU fan as it booted it (to see it was running free),
I got the same three beeps and I think I *may* have touched the on button
with my knee a moment earlier, but I am not 100% sure.
Anybody got any ideas on this?
It may explain some of my mysterious reboots and perhaps
freezes I have been getting, posted in this thread, although
the freezes tend to happen almost exclusively when I am using
Outlook Express
I had been concerned that my PSU was overloaded (only 90W)
and that that might explain my reboots.
I do appear to have a dodgy power button though, but it might
be more complicated than that. I do not know how they work
but they are more than a simple on/off as there *should* be
a 5 second delay before power down..
A few other points. If my power switch was indeed 'stuck in'
then my machine should have powered down after 5 seconds.
So... it can't have been stuck in? and therefore must have been
'stuck out' (although I tried pressing the switch directly pretty
firmly)
And why did I get three beeps and a black screen when I just
pressed the off button for a moment? Firstly is anything was going
to happen it should not have happened for at least 5 seconds.
Secondly if anything did happen it should have been a power
down, not the three beeps and a black screen, also windows
and everything else was still running ok when I pressed the on
switch again, it didn't have to go through the boot process as I
expected.
So where did the three beeps come from? I thought you only
got these at boot up, when the BIOS is doing it's checks.
(Am not too hot on the BIOS by the way, is it 'running' all the time
so to speak? I presume some of it must be running otherwise my
computer would not work?)
And anyone explain how the on/off button works? Does it
involve an electro-magnetic stitch?
Presumably there is a wire going back into the PSU to
switch off the power there. Mine is an ATX PSU and
micro? ATX case, I understand? that earlier models had a
'live' wire (230 V) coming out to the switch but that that is
not the case with ATX's?
And does any of this rambling point to a faulty/overloaded
PSU?
Thanks for any input, it will be appreciated.
half_pint.
PS When I have posted this I will try pressing the off button
again to see what happens.