Computer Won't Turn On Now

[CrimsonTearz24]

Situation: I recently had my case open for a while to take care of a Harddrive issue (I had to check the connection, but it turned out to be a virus I think). Upon putting wires back in my case and attempting to rearrange them for organizational purposes, my computer restarted. From what I could tell, everything case-related had shut off (fans, lights, etc) but not the front switch. I could turn on and off the PC, but only the motherboard would do it's thing with the PCU fan spinning away.

I've done everything I can to make sure the case is plugged up as it should be. From what I can tell, nothing has been unplugged. For good measure, I checked the leads coming from the case to the motherboard. All are connected well and in the right place. As of now, I can only get the blue light on my motherboard to light up when I turn on the power supply, and the front switch is no longer working. I've heard of people mentioning "shorting out the leads on the mobo" to get it to come on. If I'm told how to do this, I'd give it a shot. That would at least let me know that it's just the case connection somewhere.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Oh... probably important tidbit of information. The computer was still on while I was rearranging cords. I'm fairly confident I didn't touch the mobo, and since the computer restarted fine, I don't think anything shorted. It seemed to restart when I was messing with the 24pin on the motherboard.

 

[CrimsonTearz24]

Okay. Fixed the problem with the help of a friend. While moving the cords around, I must have unplugged the PSU feeding into my case adapters. Thanks to my lack of prior knowledge, I didn't know what to look for, rendering a quick, 5-minute fix a 4 hour adventure.

Not all is lost. That's time well spent on gaining a better understanding of my computer Hope this helps anyone facing similar problems.



To clarify what you should have connected with respect to your case, motherboard, and power supply, here's what I've found:

Your case should have two little wires that create a chain of adapters that lead to your fans. Find a fan and trace these back to them. They should be very easy to see. Those should ultimately be receiving a male-end connector that leads from your power supply (the same connector that feeds into your HDD, DVDrom drive, and other stuff- basically the only thing left coming out of your power supply that isn't SATA or PCI). From that chain of adapters with the red/black wires, it should lead into your case along with a group of other wires that connect to your motherboard (red/white, orange/white, blue/white, green/white).

Also, some motherboards (like mine) have a power and reset button on the actual mobo. I didn't know this. Mine are easy to look over in the jungle of metallic prongs and whatnot popping off the mobo. Look for it to make sure your computer is booting fine, assuring you it's not the mobo or some other hardware issue.

If you have questions regarding similar problems, don't hesitate to email me. I'll do my best to get back with you. I sympathize with you

 

[daship]

Lesson one, never mess around inside while the PC is on.

 

[jsc]

Not a bad general rule.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

YUP! I always turn everything off and pull the plug from the wall outlet (mains) before I open a case.