P4PE power/boot problem

[jeremyal]

Hi,

Strange and annoying problem here. My system will not boot with any IDE
device hooked up *except* for my primary master (WD 80GB). If I hook my
other HD (Maxtor 80GB) into power, the system will not boot. Same goes with
my CDRW (Sasmsung). Doesn't matter if the IDE cable is hooked up or not,
just having them hooked up to power kills the machine. The system won't
even POST, the fans spin up briefly, then it suddenly powers down.
I thought it was my cheap PSU, but since it works with my Western
Digital HD I assume it's not the problem. Even if I switch the Maxtor to
the primary master and unhook the Western Digital and CDRW it doesn't work.
It does POST fine when all the drives are disconnected.
I have no idea what this could be. Why can the system run perfectly
with the WD, but not with anything else? It seems unlikely that both my
Maxtor and CDRW suffered such critical malfunctions at the same time.
The system with the current drives has been a stable machine for the
~2yrs that I've had it. The problem started gradually a while ago, where
I'd have to try and power it up several times, and then it would work.
Finally it got so bad that it wouldn't boot at all, and thats when I
discovered that it does work as long as the Western Digital is the only IDE
device hooked up to power.
Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

System:
Asus P4PE w/ latest BIOS
Windows XP Home w/ latest patches
Rhycom 450W power supply
P4 2.53 at stock speed with Volcano 7+ fan
512 MB Kingston HyperX PC2700
Western Digital 80GB 7200 RPM (primary master)
Maxtor 80GB 7200RPM (primary slave)
Samsung CDRW 52-24-52(secondary master)
Sapphire Radeon 9000Pro 128MB

 

[Mike]

Hi,

Strange and annoying problem here. My system will not boot with any
IDE device hooked up *except* for my primary master (WD 80GB). If I hook
my other HD (Maxtor 80GB) into power, the system will not boot. Same goes
with my CDRW (Sasmsung). Doesn't matter if the IDE cable is hooked up or
not, just having them hooked up to power kills the machine. The system
won't even POST, the fans spin up briefly, then it suddenly powers down.
I thought it was my cheap PSU, but since it works with my Western
Digital HD I assume it's not the problem. Even if I switch the Maxtor to
the primary master and unhook the Western Digital and CDRW it doesn't
work. It does POST fine when all the drives are disconnected.
I have no idea what this could be. Why can the system run perfectly
with the WD, but not with anything else? It seems unlikely that both my
Maxtor and CDRW suffered such critical malfunctions at the same time.
The system with the current drives has been a stable machine for the
~2yrs that I've had it. The problem started gradually a while ago, where
I'd have to try and power it up several times, and then it would work.
Finally it got so bad that it wouldn't boot at all, and thats when I
discovered that it does work as long as the Western Digital is the only
IDE device hooked up to power.
Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

System:
Asus P4PE w/ latest BIOS
Windows XP Home w/ latest patches
Rhycom 450W power supply
P4 2.53 at stock speed with Volcano 7+ fan
512 MB Kingston HyperX PC2700
Western Digital 80GB 7200 RPM (primary master)
Maxtor 80GB 7200RPM (primary slave)
Samsung CDRW 52-24-52(secondary master)
Sapphire Radeon 9000Pro 128MB

Sounds like it may be a failing power supply. Have you tried another power
supply or at least check the voltages on your present power supply.

 

[jeremyal]

Sounds like it may be a failing power supply. Have you tried another
power supply or at least check the voltages on your present power supply.

I don't have a voltage tester or spare power supply. I just don't think the
PSU is the culprit because it runs 100% stable with the one HD. When this
one is disconnected and another hooked up instead, the system powers off in
less than two seconds after trying to start up. If it was the PSU, I can't
think of why it could supply enough juice to run a Western Digital 80GB
perfectly, but not even start to spin up a Maxtor 80GB or an optical drive.
I'm baffled.

 

[Mike]

I don't have a voltage tester or spare power supply. I just don't think
the PSU is the culprit because it runs 100% stable with the one HD. When
this one is disconnected and another hooked up instead, the system powers
off in less than two seconds after trying to start up. If it was the PSU,
I can't think of why it could supply enough juice to run a Western Digital
80GB perfectly, but not even start to spin up a Maxtor 80GB or an optical
drive. I'm baffled.

Is there any way you can try the Maxtor HDD or the CD in another computer
and see if the cause the same problem?

You can pick up a cheap multimeter at radio shack for about $10 if you need
to check voltages.