Cold Boot Issues

I cleaned my tower of dust the other day, I removed the side panel and disconnected the PSU & device cables from all drives and the motherboard. I marked them all to ensure that I reconnected them back into the right sockets. I did not disconnect the wire connecting to the cold start button from either location (motherboard/switch). After I finished I reconnected all internals as everything was marked, then reconnected all externals to power back up. I pushed the button to start and it didn't do anything at all. I waited for a minute and pushed it again and it still didn't start, I was about to disassemble it again when it finally powered up. It works fine as long as I keep it on (it restarts and comes out of stand-bye), but if I turn it off at night and attempt to boot the next time I use it repeats the delayed boot. Anyone got a suggestion?

 

Could be a misconfiguration. i.e. wrong usb connection. Very easy to make that mistake. or a loose screw, etc. is shorting out the mobo & case.

I'd disconnect everything except monitor & keyb & power it up. If that works, connect one thing at a time to narrow down to the cause.

 

Well now it's running fine, I did as you said and reconnected each of my devices one by one and it started instantly every time. I have a second question as well, is it normal to hear noise through the speakers when I open/close browsers & programs? My computer didn't use to do this but here lately it's become more common.

 

By default, there's no sound when opening/closing apps unless there's a sound theme.

start > control... > sounds & audio... > sounds > sound scheme > no sounds, no, ok

 

my sound scheme is set to default, this is like a static kind of noise. It is constant when I run any kind of cleaner, and all programs/browsers you hear the noise as it opens and closes.

 

Hi. How did you do the cleaning? Did you use air, a brush, vacuum, ? If you used air or something else under pressure, you could have lodged a piece of dirt in the wrong place. You may need to clean some more. If you clean DIP switches, make careful note of their current settings before beginning. Good night and good luck.

 

I used a napkin and air from my lungs to blow the dust out of the crevices, I said that it was working fine but the following day of that post above the delay in booting started again. I put my PC in standbye mode and sometime during the night my computer turned itself off and took about 10 seconds to boot after I pressed the button. What could I use to clean with, duster or something like it? Is there somewhere I could get a diagram of my computer's motherboard and devices so I could make sure I'm reconnected correctly?

 

I'd recommend against blowing onto the pc parts with your mouth. I use air dusters, available at walmart, etc. & q-tips to pick up the dust balls along the bottom edges.

 

I used Duster to take one last shot at cleaning everything out and the problem still persists. Could it be that maybe my PSU is starting to go out? It makes this wretched noise when it comes on (either from cold start or standbye) and the noise subsides after a few minutes of usage.

 

Hi. It is possible you have developed power supply problems. A sticking fan motor could be loading down the supply. Might be a good time to upsize your power supply. Good night and good luck.

 

I believe you were correct sl00py, the fan was sticking and it burned out the power supply. I am using a quick-fix at the moment because I don't have the cash right now for a brand new power supply. I want to make sure there are no serious repercussions of the difference in power supply I am using during the time it takes me to get a new one.

1. HIPRO (Broken)
   • Model: HP-D2537F3R
   • AC INPUT(47-63Hz): 100-127V/6A | 200-240V/4A
   • DC OUTPUT: +5V ---/25A , +12V ---/14A
     +3.3V ---/18A , -12V ---/0.8A
     +5VSB ---/2A
   • +5V & +3.3V SHALL NOT EXCEED 165W
     +5V & +12V SHALL NOT EXCEED 218W
     MAX. OUTPUT POWER: 250W
2. Bestec Power Inc. (Quick-Fix)
   • Model: ATX 100-5
   • 100-120V/3A | 200-240/1.5A
   • 50/60HZ

 

I forgot to add the Max Wattage of each of the PSU units.

• The HIPRO has a 250W Max
• The Bestec has 100W Max

Could this do any permanent damage to any of my drives, hard disk, CPU or Motherboard?

 

Honestly my best advise is shut the unit down till you get the cash to purchase a decent(400 watt) PSU. You will cause nothing but damage running that punny 100w PSU as a "Quick Fix" and it will cost you more in the end. A Vacuum cleaner on suck to get the "Dust Bunnies" out and away, then compressed canned air or vacuum on blow to remove the little critters that you can't suck out. Then 70% isopropyl alcohol and Q-tips to get the stuff that is stuck on the fan blades and other parts. Hope that helps

 

Hi. I agree completely with BC. An undersized supply is bound to fail prematurely, if it doesn't immediately go into current limit and not function at all. And, vacuum is always preferable to applying almost anything under pressure to a piece of electronic gear, as you can inadvertently force a piece of crapola into a place you can't get it out of, and thereby cause another failure.

 

Ok this is a problem I'm having. I had a couple of older computers that a friend had given me a while back that I just pulled from storage. There was an extra PSU that is exactly the same as the one that I was using on my computer (Compenent Pro ATX-250N) that was 250W max output. I took it to CompUSA and had one of the technicians test it to make sure it was fine. There was nothing wrong with the unit at all. I bring it back home and hook it up. It worked fine for about 10 minutes but after a few minutes or so everything on my computer freezes and I have to reboot. When I use the 100W PSU I have no problems with my computer what-so-ever? What could be causing the 250W not to work and the 100W to work fine?