Whats wrong???

[Psykoh]

Well I dont know exactly which form to post this in but I'll try here first. I just installed a new heatsink (went from a Cooler Master HCC002 (loud ass mofo) to a ThermalTake Volcano 7+ (much quieter)) on my Soyo KT333 Dragon Lite MoBo (AMD). Well after installing the new heatsink, when ever the computer is jostled/shaken or if any cable such a power cable or IDE cables are touched/jiggled, the computer turns on by itself. Just wanted to note that the computer was completely powered down and I nor anything on me touched the power button. I really dont want to unplug and replug everything, I will if i have to, but i was wondering if anyone knew the exact problem to save me all the trouble.

Thanks.

 

[snotling]

looks like a crack on the mobo... OR a less likely defective PSU.

you might have damaged it does the "powered on" system also reboot when you "jiggle" your *somethings* while power is on?

 

[johnoh]

I have no idea, but as a wild guess you might try disabling power-on-lan and power-on-PCI-card in your bios to see what happens. However you do resolve it I would appreciate it if you would post the solution once you find it. Good luck

John A

 

[snotling]

That would have been my first guess too (pwr on lan...) but he didn't mention anything about changing his BIOS settings since he changed his H-Sink...

 

[Psykoh]

I dont think i cracked my mobo. I didnt seem to locate any damaged areas. Addingly i didn't change a thing in my bios. However i managed to find out the powering up thing goes both ways. When the power is off, given a slight jiggle to some random wire (or the entire case), the computer powers up. When the power is on, give a slight jiggle gain to either random wire or case, the computer completely turns off (completely meanings it bypasses the whole windows shutdown). I hope someone out there knows the answer.

 

[Kronos]

You might check the standoffs under your MOBO. It`s possible a key grounding may have become disrupted.

I want to die like my Grandfather...in my sleep...not screaming in terror like his passengers.

 

[johnoh]

Sounds like a weird power problem. Time to hear from an electrician.

John A

 

[snotling]

Did you take the Mobo of the mounting plate to change the heat sink? That may cause a grounding problem if you screwed it back wrong.

If you didn't you may have damaged it when putting the heat sink. this stuff happens, I worked for an electronics company, a board stuffer, for almost 10 years (the kind that makes motherboards, yeah.) and when a board is bent the tracks can break and cause a bad contact. This kind of "cracking" is verry small and almost imposible to see. but it's there.

try eliminating other factors, like "lightly" "jiggling" your cables one by one and not hard enough to budge the mobo. the cables that are carying power or linked to a switch (power, reset...) are the most likely to be the cause.

if only one cable causes the problem then it's probably the cable or the related switch.

If none cause it when the jiggle is soft then its probably your mobo or grounding.

If all cables still cause it, then you're not being carefull enough, go easier on the jiggle.

 

[Psykoh]

I didn't take the MOBO off fromt the mounting plate. And I am quite experienced on replacing heatsinks. I used a copper shim, ASIII, and I never slipped when locking the latch on to the lug of the Heatsink base.

Well, i just took apart my whole computer. Disconnected, all cables, plugs, and connections. The only thing i noticed wrong was that one of the pins on my CD-RW drive was bent. Meaning the IDE drive connecting to the CD-RW drive wasn't touching all the pins (all but one). But i'm sure that can't be the problem. BTW, i bent the pin back and now its snuggly fitted. I blew at all dust and such. Everything seems to be working fine. Either it was that IDE connection, or just a random loose cable. If the problem comes back you'll definitely hear from me again.

Thanks

 

[Psykoh]

AAAHHHHHH!!! DAMN IT!!!!!!!!!

Since I took apart everything and put it back together, the whole system had been working great. But tonight, the computer just turned off on its own. Nothing touched/shooked/jarred/breathed on the computer. IT was just sitting there defragmenting. Could it possibly be a power supply issue??? I don't know if I'm being paranoid now, but i can swear i hear a different sound coming from my computer too. Possibly one of the fans (more paranoia, but it sounds like its coming from the upper part of the case, Power supply fan??). COuld it be the fan from the power supply. Its a soft whirling sound, not like the hum of the case fans or the heat sink fan. Please help me.

 

[snotling]

As much as I hate to blame PSUs this may be one of those times. is it a cheap "comes with the case" PSU? and do you know the rating?

 

[Psykoh]

Okay, well I am about to go crazy. The computer turns on and off when ever it feels like it. It possessed I tell you, POSSSESSED. I dont know if its the PSU or the bent MOBO (someone mentioned this me, Snotling, i think) when I installed the new heatsink. Sometimes when I, myself shutdown/power down, the system it will immediately power back up. I have to resort to flipping the back power switch inorder for the computer to stop powering back up.

I'm having my doubts about the problem being the PSU, cuz I took my old PSU from another computer and hooked it up to just the MOBO and my HDD, and it did the same ghostly/possesed thing of turning on and off. I soo hope it isnt a bent/cracked mobo. If anyone has any idea to solve this enigma please respond. I'm desperate.

Thanks.

 

[lhgpoobaa]

when the system is on, take the side of the computer off. Then firmly smack the PSU.
My bet is taht you have a poor contact somewhere within the PSU's wiring/circutry thats also heat affected.

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[snotling]

could also be an ACPI related issue...

 

[Psykoh]

Okay, i tried giving it a few love taps, then a love smack, then a bitch slap, and nothing works. I even tried to bribe it, and blackmail it but it still wont fix itself. I tried out the computer again today, and it still powers up and powers down at random intervals, sometimes in consecutive turns. Here is one example of a trial run...I flip the power switch in the back and the computer turned on by itself with me touching the cases power button. I proceeded to let it boot itself up, but b4 it could even get to the WINDOWS screen, it shutdown. I was just about the press the power button when it powered backup. This time it fully loaded up, windows and everything. I proceeded to surf a bit (to test it out) then I shutdown. As soon as it was finished shutting down, it turned right back on. This Possessed peice of semiconductors and circuitry is driving me mad. I have checked my BIOS a countless # of times, at there is nothing that will fix it. Does anyone know whats wrong. Does bad PSU or possible a bent motherboard display just a maddening problem??? please help

 

[snotling]

Just bring it to Montreal... I love it when they're POSSESED!

serious, I think we can rule out the PSU because you had the same problem with your old PSU.

bring it to some UGLY, FAT and Smelly Techno-geek in a basement... he'll fix it.

(whait... that could be any of us)

 

[Yahiko81]

Take it out of the case and set it up on a anti static mat (or the back the mobo came in) Maybe it's shorting on something. Are you sure that all of the connections are tight? Have you tried running it with minimal components to see if it still randomly reboots.

"I can't promise perfection but I'll give it a fair shot and hope that it doesn't take away from the sponteneity and good humour of the forum, which I really enjoy." - <b>WingDing</b>

 

[Psykoh]

I think i got the problem licked. Well I went all out this time. I unscrewed the mobo from the case, disconnected all wires, cables, cards and adapters. I went for a complete frest installation (hardware, not software). I even took off the front paneling of my case. After about an hour or two, i found the problem. Before i tell you guys what it is, i have to check my self into an insane asylum first. ANyhow, the stupid problem all had to do with the simple power button. Wasn't a bad pin connection, it wasn't a bad short, or anything. When I took off the front paneling of the case, i noticed that some little peice of whatever was making the connectin between the switch and the button to snug. So the lightest touch of the case would case the button to set off the switch. I tested this theory out, but not pressing the button down, but just jiggling a bit, and wouldn't you know it, the computer powered up/down (depending on the initial powering). I fix the problem with some washers and cleaning the area out. Thanks for all the help. If this doesn't solve it, i'm buying a new fricking computer haha..

THanks again<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by psykoh on 11/08/02 06:36 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[snotling]

haha, reminds me of some stupid problem I had with a brand new box at work... couldn't get it to start, changed the PSU, nothing, took it out of the box... nothing.

changed the powerbar, still nothing.

changed the fan, re-built, unbuilt... still nothing

finaly I sent it back to the vendor... pretext: toasted motherboard.

two days later he called me:

"We fixed your computer, in fact it was not defective at all.
This motherboard has a fuse holder on it for power protection, but for shipping we remove the fuse from the board and we put it with an identical spare in a little cardboard box along with all other loose parts."

The fun thing is that I had shipped the box back without the spare parts, I ended up with 3 fuses instead of one. I still had to place it myself in the fuse-holder when it came back "fixed".

go ahead, Laugh!

 

[lhgpoobaa]

heh! Damn
Good problem solving there mate!
A simple loose on button. *shakes head*

Need to tie up the wire strongly with something

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