[SOLVED] A PSU (?) riddle

[jjmckay]

For months now my custom build has been glitching. Intermittent crackle over the speakers, green pixelated lines when playing videos or games, and the worst problem: I can no longer turn my computer off. If I do, it does not like turning back on. I hold my breath whenever I have to reboot it for updates. I can suspend it without a problem, but if it powers off, when I try to power back on, I only get zombie computer: fans and a backup HDD, but no BIOS.

For a while it would power back on after I turned it off and on from its zombie state a few times. No more—the problem is getting worse. I thought it might be a dying CMOS battery, but no joy. I took out a stick of RAM—voilà! It powers on again. Problem solved, I thought. So I tried to reboot. Zombie computer. I unplugged my gaming mouse (which has leds) and boom—it can power on.

Now I'm thinking it's a PSU issue because unplugging components helps it boot up. Plus I'm thinking the crackle and the pixelation are due to voltage fluctuations. Thoughts?

 

[Archaic59]

For months now my custom build has been glitching. Intermittent crackle over the speakers, green pixelated lines when playing videos or games, and the worst problem: I can no longer turn my computer off. If I do, it does not like turning back on. I hold my breath whenever I have to reboot it for updates. I can suspend it without a problem, but if it powers off, when I try to power back on, I only get zombie computer: fans and a backup HDD, but no BIOS.

For a while it would power back on after I turned it off and on from its zombie state a few times. No more—the problem is getting worse. I thought it might be a dying CMOS battery, but no joy. I took out a stick of RAM—voilà! It powers on again. Problem solved, I thought. So I tried to reboot. Zombie computer. I unplugged my gaming mouse (which has leds) and boom—it can power on.

Now I'm thinking it's a PSU issue because unplugging components helps it boot up. Plus I'm thinking the crackle and the pixelation are due to voltage fluctuations. Thoughts?

Let's start with listing your system specs, ok?

 

[jonnyguru]

For months now my custom build has been glitching. Intermittent crackle over the speakers, green pixelated lines when playing videos or games, and the worst problem: I can no longer turn my computer off. If I do, it does not like turning back on. I hold my breath whenever I have to reboot it for updates. I can suspend it without a problem, but if it powers off, when I try to power back on, I only get zombie computer: fans and a backup HDD, but no BIOS.

For a while it would power back on after I turned it off and on from its zombie state a few times. No more—the problem is getting worse. I thought it might be a dying CMOS battery, but no joy. I took out a stick of RAM—voilà! It powers on again. Problem solved, I thought. So I tried to reboot. Zombie computer. I unplugged my gaming mouse (which has leds) and boom—it can power on.

Now I'm thinking it's a PSU issue because unplugging components helps it boot up. Plus I'm thinking the crackle and the pixelation are due to voltage fluctuations. Thoughts?

Sounds like your motherboard has screwed the pooch.

But it would still be good to know the list of your components.

 

[jjmckay]

Let's start with listing your system specs, ok?

Sure, here goes:

Mobo: ASRock FM2A78M-HD+ r2.0
APU: AMD A10-7700k
(No GPU)
PSU: Rosewill 650 watt, 80+ bronze
RAM: 8 GB G.skill Ripjaws
Cooler Master 212 Plus on the APU
HDD 500GB backup and 250GB SSD

Anything else? Build is five years old, so everything but the RAM is out of warranty, I think—maybe the APU too.

OS: Ubuntu 16.04

 

[Archaic59]

Sure, here goes:

Mobo: ASRock FM2A78M-HD+ r2.0
APU: AMD A10-7700k
(No GPU)
PSU: Rosewill 650 watt, 80+ bronze
RAM: 8 GB G.skill Ripjaws
Cooler Master 212 Plus on the APU
HDD 500GB backup and 250GB SSD

Anything else? Build is five years old, so everything but the RAM is out of warranty, I think—maybe the APU too.

I have to agree with @jonnyguru. If removing and adding things to the motherboard changes the condition of your problem, it makes the motherboard highly suspect. What is the model of the Rosewill?

 

[jjmckay]

I have to agree with @jonnyguru. If removing and adding things to the motherboard changes the condition of your problem, it makes the motherboard highly suspect. What is the model of the Rosewill?

ARC 650

 

[Archaic59]

ARC 650

Not a very high quality model and only achieves 585 watts on the +12 volt rail, if working properly. Not the best but not the worst. It could be the problem but the motherboard is still prime suspect but it's only a guess without being able to test it.

 

[Karadjgne]

It could be Windows. In your power plan, advanced, turn off all the wake timers except keyboard. It's not unheard of for windows shutdown to glitch, which keeps the psu in a sort of ready state, waiting for something to start it up. But with the applied voltage, the psu doesn't fully shutdown, so won't start back up again, gets hung up. I'm betting that you pulled the plug out of the psu before removing the individual components like the ram, which reset the psu.

It's common for some USB ports to do this, especially for certain external drives, joysticks etc.

Try unplugging anything USB, see if there's a culprit.

 

[thomas4204]

It could be Windows. In your power plan, advanced, turn off all the wake timers except keyboard. It's not unheard of for windows shutdown to glitch, which keeps the psu in a sort of ready state, waiting for something to start it up. But with the applied voltage, the psu doesn't fully shutdown, so won't start back up again, gets hung up. I'm betting that you pulled the plug out of the psu before removing the individual components like the ram, which reset the psu.

It's common for some USB ports to do this, especially for certain external drives, joysticks etc.

Try unplugging anything USB, see if there's a culprit.

He is using Ubuntu.

 

[jjmckay]

Not a very high quality model and only achieves 585 watts on the +12 volt rail, if working properly. Not the best but not the worst. It could be the problem but the motherboard is still prime suspect but it's only a guess without being able to test it.

Next step would be to test the PSU, I suppose? Is it worth getting a tester?

 

[Archaic59]

Next step would be to test the PSU, I suppose? Is it worth getting a tester?

No. The ARC is a lower quality model and yours is probably out of warranty so it won't hurt to replace it anyways. Besides, the motherboard may be the issue and availability for a replacement board may be problematic. You may be stuck looking on ebay for a used one. If you have a local pc repair shop that can diagnose your problem for cheap you could go that way. Your system is old and out-of-date so I would not spend much money on it. The money would be better invested in a new APU, board and memory, which can be done for relatively low cost now.

 

[jjmckay]

No. The ARC is a lower quality model and yours is probably out of warranty so it won't hurt to replace it anyways. Besides, the motherboard may be the issue and availability for a replacement board may be problematic. You may be stuck looking on ebay for a used one. If you have a local pc repair shop that can diagnose your problem for cheap you could go that way. Your system is old and out-of-date so I would not spend much money on it. The money would be better invested in a new APU, board and memory, which can be done for relatively low cost now.

Well, I bought a new PSU: EVGA Supernova 550 ga. I don't need 650w anyway—I use this computer more for work now, and I don't see myself ever getting a graphics card. Even if it's not the PSU, I'd want to put the new mobo on something new anyway, and the Supernova has a 10yr warranty (!). Will wait and see if that solves the problem and then go from there.

 

[jjmckay]

An update: not the PSU, and after a trip to a local repair shop, it's either the mobo or CPU, as suggested by jonnyguru and Archaic59. I plan on buying new equipment. Two questions: I'm worried that something in my setup caused the problem. Potential problems:

• Heavy cooler mounted vertically. Could it stress the motherboard?
• I discovered that my power connection from PSU to motherboard wasn't seated fully, which must date to install because I haven't touched it since. Could the poor connection could have caused eventual failure?
• The final straw that caused the motherboard failure: I plugged in the monitor after booting with the new PSU. It had booted into BIOS, but I'd forgotten to plug the monitor back in. When I plugged in the HDMI cable, that was it. No more motherboard. Could there be some back-voltage from the monitor that caused the initial problem? This is what I'm most worried about because if there's a fault with the monitor and/or cable, it could fry the new motherboard.

 

[hang-the-9]

An update: not the PSU, and after a trip to a local repair shop, it's either the mobo or CPU, as suggested by jonnyguru and Archaic59. I plan on buying new equipment. Two questions: I'm worried that something in my setup caused the problem. Potential problems:

• Heavy cooler mounted vertically. Could it stress the motherboard?
• I discovered that my power connection from PSU to motherboard wasn't seated fully, which must date to install because I haven't touched it since. Could the poor connection could have caused eventual failure?
• The final straw that caused the motherboard failure: I plugged in the monitor after booting with the new PSU. It had booted into BIOS, but I'd forgotten to plug the monitor back in. When I plugged in the HDMI cable, that was it. No more motherboard. Could there be some back-voltage from the monitor that caused the initial problem? This is what I'm most worried about because if there's a fault with the monitor and/or cable, it could fry the new motherboard.

Yes to all of those, the least likely is the cooler mount if it's done properly. You did not check the connections when you first had the issue to find that loose power supply cable? HDMI cable killing the system is not very likely but plugging it in and getting a static discharge or a short between the connections can fry the motherboard. Often happens with USB ports.

 

[jjmckay]

No, 'fraid not . . . 🙄🙄🙄 Is there any way I can check the monitor and/or hdmi cable for back voltage? I have a multimeter, and I (more or less) know how to use it. Just not sure though what to check for.