Power Supply Failure

Power
comes
on?
Boot
Screen?
Select proper
voltage on rear of
power supply.
s
110/220 V
set?
Boot on
2nd try?
Use live outlet.
Premature
power_ok
signal. Try
different power
supply.
Hear any
beeps?
New
hardware
installed?
Remove
latest addition
and retry. Test,
replace power
supply.
nstalled
motherboard
lead?
Check manual
and motherboard
silkscreen. Connect
lead from front panel
switch.
Power
switch
fail?
Power
supply
connections to
motherboard
correct?
Remake
motherboard power
supply connections.
Replace switch
or substitute front
panel reset switch,
if available.
Hard
drive spin
up?
Bad
adapter on
bus?
Spin
up on other
lead?
Try drive in
test PC.
Defective
power supply
lead or
connector.
Strip system down
to video adapter only.
See Box A, on Conflict
Resolution chart.
Powers
motherboard
on bench?
Replace power
supply.
Good
power
source?
No Yes
Yes No
No Yes
Yes No
Yes
No
No Yes
Yes No
No
Yes
Yes No
No Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Either you
have a short
circuit in the case
or a geometry
problem placing an
unacceptable
stress on the
motherboard. t's
also possible that
the video adapter
was never seated,
due the bracket
position.
Anything
on screen?
Monitor
power on?
Yes No
Check monitor
power source. Make
sure a detachable
power cord is fully
seated in the
monitor socket.
No
Controls
in middle of
range?
Yes
Adjust brightness
and contrast.
No
Hear
a string of
beeps?
Yes
Get
blinking
cursor
only?
Yes
"No Signal
displayed?
No
Video
cable
secure?
Yes
No
Adapter
seated?
Yes
Connect video
cable.
Freezes
on BOS
Screen?
No
Cable
damaged, pins
bent?
Yes Yes
Any
other adapters
installed?
Repair or replace
video cable.
No
Yes
No
Yes
Live video
with adapters
removed?
Yes
No
No
Live with
new video
adapter?
No
Yes Yes
No
Video
Failure
No
Reseat video
adapter, secure.
RAM
seated?
Yes
Reseat
RAM on
Motherboard.
No
DE Drive
Failure BOS
register
drive?
Set
Master/
Slave?
CD or
DVD
drive?
Drive
cycles up,
down?
Swap power
lead, try isolating
on DE cable,
check power
management.
Set
cable select
(CS)?
Cables
seated,
new?
No
Yes No
Yes
Select Master/Slave or
CS. CS requires 80
conductor DE cable or
custom 40 wire cable.
No
Reseat DE and
power cables.
Replace DE cables
if in doubt.
Yes
No
No
Mode,
X-fer speed
correct?
Yes
New drives
require 80
conductor cable,
check mode in
CMOS.
No
Does
FDSK see
drive?
No
Yes
Drive
seek, spin
up?
solate drive on
primary DE
controller. f FDSK
still doesn't see
drive, the MBR may
have been trashed
by a virus.
No Yes
Try swapping
cables and try
drive in test
PC before
trashing.
No
DE
ribbon cable
keyed?
Yes
Match pin 1 on
all connectors.
No
Replace DE cable.
f BOS still doesn't
register drive, either
motherboard controller
or drive is bad or
incompatible.
Yes
Note that serial ATA
drives use entirely
different (and generally
higher quality) cables than
older DE drives. The
serial ATA power
connector hadn't been
incorporated into most
ATX power supplies at
publication time, but a
simple and inexpensive
adapter is available.
Yes
Hard Drive
Boot and
Performance
OS
on drive
boots?
No Yes
CMOS
boot order
set?
OS CD
boot?
Yes
Set order to
hard drive first,
or remove other
media.
No
No Yes
Can
hard drive be
read after
boot?
Have
good back
up?
No
No
OS recovery or
reinstall. f that fails,
try delete partition
with FDSK (destroys
all data) and retry.
Yes
f data is critical, try
virus and disk doctor
software or send drive
for data recovery.
Virus or OS
corruption. Back
up critical data.
Try virus doctor
and OS repair.
Yes
Slow,
Noisy?
20% or
more free
space?
No
Cycles
on and
off?
Yes
Check CMOS
and OS power
management,
try in test PC.
Yes
Data
cumulative
errors?
No
Check for
virus. Replace
DE cable,
increase free
space, replace
drive if loss
continues.
Yes
No
Delete files to
make room or add
new drive.
No
Ran
Scandisk and
Defrag?
Yes
Drive
always
noisy?
May last a long
time with rotation
noise, but keep
backups.
Yes
Yes No Run Scandisk and
Defrag. f Defrag keeps
restarting, close all tasks
and try again.
No
nconclusive,
try other
diagnostic
chart.
nconclusive,
try other
diagnostic
chart.
"Noisy here
means a
constant
whining
noise.
Motherboard,
CPU, RAM
Failure
Live
Screen?
No
Video
diagnostic
done?
RAM
matched,
seated?
Reseat RAM,
positive lever
lock. nstall pairs
if required.
CPU
seated
flat?
Fan on
heatsink
active?
Hear
beeps?
Default
motherboard
settings?
Runs on
bench?
CPU
swap
work?
Locate short,
binding, or swap
case.
Bad CPU, watch
voltage and heatsink
on replacement.
Motherboard
bad.
Restore default
motherboard settings
with jumpers or
switches.
Check fan
power point, (fan1),
replace.
Reseat CPU
and heatsink.
Replace RAM
with type listed in
motherboard
documentation.
Power
diagnostic
done?
No Yes
No Yes
Yes No
No Yes
Yes No
Yes No
No Yes
Yes
No
Yes No
Freezes
on boot
screen?
Freezes
bare
bones?
Freezes
on swapped
RAM?
CMOS
settings
default?
Heatsink
active?
nstall new
heatsink, connect
fan. May be too
late for CPU.
Load defaults
from BOS.
Yes
No Yes
Yes
No
Yes No
Yes
No
No Yes
Try old adapter in
other system before
chucking.
Motherboard,
CPU, RAM
Performance
Demands
password?
(not OS)
Find motherboard
manual, it describes the
operation of your "Clear
Password jumper.
Starts OS
load?
Random
reboot?
Clean
power?
Random
freeze?
Ruled
out software,
virus?
Case or
CPU hot?
(check CMOS
reading)
Run latest virus
doctor, limit tasks.
Check resources
drive space, RAM.
Hot case, check
case fans, airflow
blockage outside case
on intake and exhaust.
Hot CPU, replace
heatsink, use proper
thermal grease or
substance. CPU may
simply be failing.
Likely RAM or
power supply. Run
diagnostic software if
available.
Port,
peripheral
failure?
Purchase
UPS for
protection
against brown-
outs and black-
outs.
Check for
virus, replace
power
supply.
Forgets
CMOS, loses
time?
Replace
motherboard battery
with exact match, or
external replacement if
motherboard provides
connector and
jumper.
Ds
installed
hardware
wrong?
Update
motherboard driver
for OS. f BOS Ds
hardware wrong, try
new hardware or
Flash BOS
(risky).
nconclusive,
try other
diagnostic
chart.
Yes No
No Yes
No Yes
No
Yes
Yes No
Yes No
Yes No
Yes No
No
Yes
Yes No
Proceed to
Peripheral
Failure
chart.
CD or
DVD
Playback
Tray
won't
eject?
BOS
register
drive?
Pin
hole on drive
face?
Remove drive,
faceplate, pry and
pray.
Unplug system,
insert straightened
paper-clip, pull tray.
Yes
No Yes
No Yes
Reads
data
discs?
Plays
music
CDs?
Drive
vibrates,
noisy?
CD
and DVD drive
installed?
No
Check audio
patch cable
from drive to
sound card or
motherboard.
Eject and re-
mount. Try another
disc. Check drive
mounted level with
4 screws.
Yes No
No Yes
No Yes
Proceed to
Recording
Problem.
Burner
problem?
Boots
CD?
Change CMOS
boot sequence,
pre-spin drive, try
CD in test PC.
Read
other
discs?
Clean disc with
flannel, check for
scratches.
Device
Manager
problem?
Drive
shares DE
cable?
solate on
secondary DE.
Replace DE cable,
change BOS mode, try
drive in test PC.
Yes No
Yes No
Yes No
Reading
right drive?
Laugh at
self, pick right
drive.
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes No
Yes No
Problem
undetermined.
Try other
diagnostic
chart.
Make sure
you didn't
use any long
mounting
screws.
Yes
Conflict
Resolution
All
adapters
register?
Device
Manager reports
problem?
No
Conflict not
likely, proceed
to "Box A on
this page to
check.
Yes
Any 5V
PC cards?
No
New PC bus
not backwards
compatible
Yes
All cards
seated
evenly?
f in doubt,
reseat and
anchor with
screw.
No
No
Any legacy
adapters?
Yes
Confirm settings with
original documentation.
f you can't find original
documentation, replace
adapter.
Yes
Red "X?
Device disabled
but eats resources.
Enable, reboot.
Yes
Yes
Black "!?
Device
Manager sees
problem, but
device may
work.
No
Yes No
Blue "i"?
Yes
Resources
have been set
manually, but
device may
work.
Green "?
A compatible,
rather than exact
driver is installed,
but device may
work.
Yes
,
process of
elimination.
Remove all
adapters
except video.
No
No
Live
screen?
No
nstall
next adapter,
system
boot?
nstall
driver, Device
Manager
conflict?
Yes
Yes
No
Adapter bad or
incompatible.
Replace.
No
Make sure the driver is most
recent available for the OS. Try
manually changing the resources
for one or another of the
conflicting adapters.
Yes
Excerpted and compiled from "Computer Repair with Diagnostic Flowcharts SBN 0972380116
Copyright 2003 by Morris Rosenthal, All Rights Reserved
http://www.fonerbooks.com/pcrepair.htm
Version 1.0A
Proceed
to Conflict
Resolution.
Proceed
to Conflict
Resolution.
Proceed to
Power Supply
Failure.
Proceed to
Hard Drive
Performance.
Proceed
to DE Drive
Failure.
Proceed to
Video Failure.
Proceed to
Motherboard
Failure.
Proceed to
DE Drive
Failure
SCS Failure
1 - Red
2 - Green
3 - Blue
4 - Monitor D (Note: pins for D bits often not present)
5 - Ground
6 - Red Return (coax shield)
7 - Green Return (coax shield)
8 - Blue Return (coax shield)
9 - No-Connection
10 - Sync Ground
11 - Monitor D
12 - Monitor D
13 - Horizontal-Sync
14 - Vertical-Sync
15 - Monitor D
Video Pinout
Pin 1 3.3V 3.3V Pin 11
Pin 2 3.3V -12.0VPin 12
Pin 3 GND GND Pin 13
Pin 4 5.0V P_ON Pin 14
Pin 5 GND GND Pin 15
Pin 6 5.0V GND Pin 16
Pin 7 GND GND Pin 17
Pin 8 P_OK -5.0V Pin 18
Pin 9 5VSB 5.0V Pin 19
Pin 10 12.0V 5.0V Pin 20
ATX Version 1.2
20 Pin Power Supply
Motherboard Connector
Black Ground
Orange 3.3V
Red 5.0V
Gray P_OK
Purple 5.0VSB
Yellow 12.0V
Blue -12.0V
White -5.0V
Green P_ON
Standard Color Coding
SCS
adapter
detected?
Tried
in new
slot?
Proceed to
Conflict
Resolution.
Reseat
adapter, try
different slot.
PC
voltage
correct?
New PC slots
don't all support
5V signaling.
BOS
list any SCS
devices?
Bus
terminated both
ends?
f you have both
external and internal
devices, your host adapter
should not be terminated, the
devices on the cable ends
should. There should be no
unused connectors on
cable after last device.
Cable
connectors
seated?
SCS
limits
obeyed?
SCS
device D's
unique?
Assign unique
SCS D's to each
device, adapter D
should be 7
Reseat connectors,
discard cable if any
sign of damage.
Use shorter
cables, don't mix
devices with
cheaters.
Determine problem through
process of elimination. Try connecting
each device to the host adapter by
itself, following proper termination
rules, and determine which one is
spoiling it for the rest.
BOS list
all SCS
devices?
Replaced
cables?
Reseat all
connectors
before
replacing
cable.
Adapter
and single
device
work?
Update driver,
reinstall SCS
software.
SCS
adapter is
probably dead.
Try it in a test
system before
discarding.
No Yes
Yes No
Yes
No
Yes No
Yes No
No
Yes
No Yes
Yes No
Yes No
No Yes
Yes
No
Proceed to
Video
Performance
Proceed to
Video
Performance
Please Read
The author has done his best to provide
accurate and up-to-date information in
this Boot Failure Troubleshooting
Flowchart, but he cannot guarantee that
the information is correct or will fit your
particular situation. This poster is
supplied with the understanding that the
publisher and the author are not engaged
in rendering professional or engineering
services. f expert assistance is required,
the services of a competent professional
should be sought.
Decision
Action or
Suggestion
On Poster
Reference
Off Poster
Reference
Symbol Key
Some brand
name PCs use
proprietary
schemes for
powers supply
connectors.
Some brand name
PCs use
proprietary
schemes for color
coding. This table
is generated from
the ATX 1.2
Standard.
0
1 X
2
3 X
5 X X
6 X
7 X X
8 X
9 X X
10 X
11 X X
12 X X
13 X X X
14 X X
15 X X X
4 X
D D3 D2 D0 D1
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
SCS D's
LST OF FLOWCHARTS FROM BOOK "COMPUTER REPAR
WTH DAGNOSTC FLOWCHARTS NOT APPEARNG ON
POSTER
VDEO PERFORMANCE
CD OR DVD RECORDNG PROBLEM
MODEM FALURE
MODEM PERFORMANCE
SOUND FALURE
SOUND AND GAME CONTROLLER PERFORMANCE
NETWORK FALURE
PERPHERAL FALURE
A note about the book:
The book was not designed to be read from cover to cover. At the core of the book are
seventeen diagnostic flowcharts, and the sole purpose of the text is to expand upon
them. The flowcharts themselves are necessarily written in short-hand form, to fit a
meaningful number of decision points on a page. A linear text is simply not possible due
to the decision tree structure of the flowcharts. The diamond shape for each decision
point in the flowchart is repeated in the outer margin of the pages following the
flowchart. This marks the section of text that explains the action in more detail.