Question PC with Linux installed suddenly turned itself off and will not turn back on ?

[ragez0r]

I have a computer with an AMD 7680 APU and I believe the motherboard is an Onda A68B+ .
I think the PSU is an Antec 550. I imagine that this wattage is enough as there is no dGPU installed.
It has 16GB of DDR3 RAM.

Recently I was ordered to remove Windows 11 due to security risks because this computer belong to the government of Canada since I am technically military.

I am fully aware the Philippines has interesting form of electricity that might or might not have an abundance of static in the lines and where I reside I do not have a third prong for the power output in the wall.

So to rectify that I have a cable going from the grounding or earthing prong to a steel beam inside my home that is supposedly going down 1.5m into the ground or least connected to something that goes 1.5m on the ground.

On top of that I also use a UPS that has modified sine wave inverter that can handle up to 390 watts peak.

But today when I was installing a lot of things I tried testing Grand Theft Auto V and in the loading sequence the computer shut off.

Assuming that it was the APU overheating I gave it an hour to cool off and unplugged the the power from the PSU and now when I plug the power back into the PSU and I press the power button the CPU fan LED only lights up for a second and then nothing.

What could be happening?

I understand that this is government property but since I also use it for personal things like video games, and all the things that i replaced out value the PC itself (psu,ram and ssd) I have to accept responsibility for anything else.

 

[Lutfij]

I think the power supply unit is an Antec 550
Antec is the brand of the unit while 550 is the advertised wattage of said unit.

where I reside I do not have a third prong for the power output in the wall
You can easily ground your wall outlet by running a grounding wire to a faucet or something that is grounded, as an architect I've had to electrically solve some client's homes that way since running a wire internally was not an option.

So to rectify that I have a cable going from the grounding or earthing prong to a steel beam inside my home that is supposedly going down 1.5m into the ground or least connected to something that goes 1.5m on the ground.
Are you sure on the fact that the beam is grounded and not just superficially?

When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

I understand that this is government property
I would be hesitant to tinker around with such a system, IMHO.

 

[USAFRet]

Recently I was ordered to remove Windows 11 due to security risks because this computer belong to the government of Canada since I am technically military.

What OS are you using now?
What OS did it start with?

I understand that this is government property but since I also use it for personal things like video games, and all the things that i replaced out value the PC itself (psu,ram and ssd) I have to accept responsibility for anything else.

If it is a govt PC, why are you using it for personal things like games?


Just so you know, thee US Dept of Defense is actively upgrading to Win 11.

 

[ragez0r]

I think the power supply unit is an Antec 550
Antec is the brand of the unit while 550 is the advertised wattage of said unit.

where I reside I do not have a third prong for the power output in the wall
You can easily ground your wall outlet by running a grounding wire to a faucet or something that is grounded, as an architect I've had to electrically solve some client's homes that way since running a wire internally was not an option.

So to rectify that I have a cable going from the grounding or earthing prong to a steel beam inside my home that is supposedly going down 1.5m into the ground or least connected to something that goes 1.5m on the ground.
Are you sure on the fact that the beam is grounded and not just superficially?

When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:

Amd 7680 an apu with a Radeon 7 i believe
Mobo onda A68v+

CPU cooler:

CPU cooler is stock that has 4 pins but i tested another CPU cooler with 3 pins and sadly it has led because led makes everything faster 😜

Motherboard:
Ram:

Ram is 16gb 1300 mhz i believe and has hyper-x written on it

SSD/HDD:

Ssd said Kingston but since it was shipped directly from China I have my doubts about the credibility
. 240gb

GPU:

No gpu, just apu

PSU:
Chassis:

Chassis is non existentant, removed before trying to Sherlock Holmes the electrical issues, will receive new steel or aluminum chassis in 5-7 days

OS:
Monitor:

Monitor is 23 inch chi world LCD
And i received the PC from a private seller, came with windows 11 ( pirated of course)
Psu is less than 6 months old
Cannot check bios if i cannot turn PC on but it does NOT look like the stock dos cmos/bios menu.

include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

I understand that this is government property
I would be hesitant to tinker around with such a system, IMHO.

 

[ragez0r]

I did take a video, if you can tolerate a Celine Dion accent and a huge mess I'd be more than happy to share it with you, btw, no burning smells whatsoever

 

[ragez0r]

What OS are you using now?
What OS did it start with?


If it is a govt PC, why are you using it for personal things like games?


Just so you know, thee US Dept of Defense is actively upgrading to Win 11.

Why do i game on my gov PC ? Because PTSD is a pain .. and they allow the PC for personal use... Since i actively live in the philippines, only 22km from a Canadian naval base...i have time to mess around, my psychiatrist suggested to play turn based 4x games to keep my brain from overheating...been 5 years and I haven't freaked out or had a single panic attack.. currently i play birth of the federation (star trek)

And I'm happy that the US military still use windows I'm sorry if you feel that was an insult, but i was IN NORAD when a 12 year old Chinese kid hacked into those systems umm 10-15 years ago

 

[ragez0r]

Amd 7680 an apu with a Radeon 7 i believe
Mobo onda A68v+


CPU cooler is stock that has 4 pins but i tested another CPU cooler with 3 pins and sadly it has led because led makes everything faster 😜

Ram is 16gb 1300 mhz i believe and has hyper-x written on it

Ssd said Kingston but since it was shipped directly from China I have my doubts about the credibility
. 240gb

No gpu, just apu

Chassis is non existentant, removed before trying to Sherlock Holmes the electrical issues, will receive new steel or aluminum chassis in 5-7 days

Monitor is 23 inch chi world LCD
And i received the PC from a private sey, came with windows 11 ( pirated of course)
Psu is less than 6 months old
Cannot check bios if i cannot turn PC on but it does not look like dos

And I'm happy that the US military still use windows I'm sorry if you feel that was an insult, but i was IN NORAD when a 12 year old Chinese kid hacked into those systems umm 10-15 years ago

So yeah windows bad 😏

And i thought about my kitchen sink and although it is 20 meters away, the hose going from the faucet to the wall is PVC or some type of rubber

 

[USAFRet]

Why do i game on my gov PC ? Because PTSD is a pain .. and they allow the PC for personal use... Since i actively live in the philippines, only 22km from a Canadian naval base...i have time to mess around, my psychiatrist suggested to play turn based 4x games to keep my brain from overheating...been 5 years and I haven't freaked out or had a single panic attack.. currently i play birth of the federation (star trek)

And I'm happy that the US military still use windows I'm sorry if you feel that was an insult, but i was IN NORAD when a 12 year old Chinese kid hacked into those systems umm 10-15 years ago

I took no insult.

But "ordered to remove Windows 11" doesn't quite pass the smell test for me.
EDIT: Yes, a pirated Windows 11 WOULD require removal.

And you've still not said what OS is on it now.

 

[ragez0r]

I took no insult.

But "ordered to remove Windows 11" doesn't quite pass the smell test for me.
EDIT: Yes, a pirated Windows 11 WOULD require removal.

And you've still not said what OS is on it now.

My apologies, I use Linux, specifically Pop_OS.

Edit:

Since the CPU fan jolts a little bit when I press the power button or the led light flashes for a second on the 3 pin CPU cooler, my suspicion is that the psu just crapped out... Id like to jump the psu by putting a wire into 2 separate holes in the 24 pin connector and if the psu shows signs of life i will just use a multimeter to see if any power is being delivered...

And no, the PSU fan doesn't spin at all since this entire event started.

Your thoughts please.

 

[USAFRet]

Sounds like a replacement PSU is in order.

It may have died due to the dodgy electricity in your residence.

 

[ragez0r]

Sounds like a replacement PSU is in order.

It may have died due to the dodgy electricity in your residence.

My suspicions exactly, the 2 gents that are expanding the residence up another floor don't exactly look like certified electricians, i this is discouraging sin e id like to have my 1500$cad gaming laptop shipped to me from Montreal to here, and I'm worried about how to power it, before you ask MSI GF65 THINUE.. i have an Intex UPS that is rated at 390 watts but for laptops i believe a modified sine wave inverter is no bueno... I also have 2 12v batteries linked in parallel with 3 or 4 different DC to ac inverters.. none of which are pure sine wave.... The power brick that comes with my msi gaming laptop says it yanks 180 watts to keep the Intel i7 or i9 and the Nvidia 3060 powered .. and to be clear I'm not a Nvidia fanboy... But it does have 64gb of ram and 2 nvme in it.. courtesy of the Trudeau/COVID check... Tbh i have been dying to try out starfield... Shooting aliens... How much fun can that be ???

Sorry forgot to add, the 2 batteries do get a smidge of solar power but nothing above 50 watts.. I used to power it with a Chinese smart charger that kind of pulses power if you keep it on "revive dead battery" mode...but i do see 12v to 14v and amps underneath that on its little LCD screen.. if I am getting at least 15 amps that is easily 12x15.. 180 watts... My only concern is that the charging clamps and inverter clamps are touching.. so I'm not certain that the inverter is giving 100% safe battery power.. if you understand what I'm trying to say

 

[ragez0r]

I took the PSU to a PC store, he put tweezers in 2 pins of the 24-pin connector and the fan spun to life, and he said it is fine... So he advised me to ", clean" the RAM and since I have no idea what cleaning product to use both RAM sticks have been sitting in bleach.. kidding, i just removed both sticks for 1 hour, pressed the power button aaaaaaand... Nothing.
No change, my guess is the Mobo is toast.

 

[USAFRet]

I took the PSU to a PC store, he put tweezers in 2 pins of the 24-pin connector and the fan spun to life, and he said it is fine... So he advised me to ", clean" the RAM and since I have no idea what cleaning product to use both RAM sticks have been sitting in bleach.. kidding, i just removed both sticks for 1 hour, pressed the power button aaaaaaand... Nothing.
No change, my guess is the Mobo is toast.

That does not denote a fully working PSU.

Its like turning the key on in a car, and the dash lights come on, and he proclaims the car runs fine.

 

[ragez0r]

Feel free to tell the technician that and yes I have the exact frame of mind.. spinning psu fan does not indicate a fully functional PSU... What do i do next ? Test my psu via multimeter ??? Worth mentioning that prior to the PC shut down that I saw the CPU temp at 71c and the apu is benchmarked at 75c and I did place a USB fan pointed at the heatsink, and it did drop to 61c, which is why I risked opening grand Theft auto v

 

[ragez0r]

Feel free to tell the technician that and yes I have the exact frame of mind.. spinning psu fan does not indicate a fully functional PSU... What do i do next ? Test my psu via multimeter ??? Worth mentioning that prior to the PC shut down that I saw the CPU temp at 71c and the apu is benchmarked at 75c and I did place a USB fan pointed at the heatsink, and it did drop to 61c, which is why I risked opening grand Theft auto v

So Mobo dead from poopy power or did i melt the apu ??? I'm sorry i simply need to know what has to be replaced so that i can start snooping around online for replacement parts, the closest CAF or RCN base is 20 km away and i need to get there to submit my reports, and all i have for transit is an ebike that only does 32kph and is not very forgiving on my maple syrup flavoured behind.... And yes you may point out that why wont they furnish the repairs, let's just say Canada isn't very charitable with it's budget....

 

[Grobe]

Test my psu via multimeter ???

No - A multimeter is fine to measure the RPM value of alternate current or a relatively stable DC voltage. I.e. those meters I have used is fine to pick up voltage fluctuations at max ~5 pr second, but the regulator frequency on ATX PSU typically lies between 50kHZ - 150kHZ and regulation problems is probably far to brief for any such instrument to pick up.
You'd need a proper oscilloscope and a setup that is suitable to test the PSU under load and also when load is rapidly shifted, i.e. you need a oscilloscope that have the capability of "Single trigger mode" to test this, or data recording.

[Edit]
I know this is off-topic, but just recently made myself a simple atx-psu to busbar interface to perform load-testings of PSU's

 

[ragez0r]

No - A multimeter is fine to measure the RPM value of alternate current or a relatively stable DC voltage. I.e. those meters I have used is fine to pick up voltage fluctuations at max ~5 pr second, but the regulator frequency on ATX PSU typically lies between 50kHZ - 150kHZ and regulation problems is probably far to brief for any such instrument to pick up.
You'd need a proper oscilloscope and a setup that is suitable to test the PSU under load and also when load is rapidly shifted, i.e. you need a oscilloscope that have the capability of "Single trigger mode" to test this, or data recording.

[Edit]
I know this is off-topic, but just recently made myself a simple atx-psu to busbar interface to perform load-testings of PSU's

That looks very impressive, however I'm still curious as to what is damaged in my computer system, Mobo or CPU.... I can take it to a computer store, but the technician will charge me for simply looking at it.. a form of capitalism that I am unfamiliar with...

I'm not trying to bash on your form of government, I'm just familiar a system of gov where all information is provided at zero cost

 

[USAFRet]

That looks very impressive, however I'm still curious as to what is damaged in my computer system, Mobo or CPU.

Given normal consumer tools...it is impossible to actually tell which may be dead. And what caused it.

 

[ragez0r]

Given normal consumer tools...it is impossible to actually tell which may be dead. And what caused it.

Okay I'll try to drag it back to the computer store, maybe he will recognize the symptoms... But tricky since it is rainy season

 

[ragez0r]

Given normal consumer tools...it is impossible to actually tell which may be dead. And what caused it.

If i had been back home in frigid Quebec I'd be able to use the spare parts to rule out what isn't functional, but I'm not i barely have anything, other than a laptop the has been torn open by our friendly Canadian hulk i have no idea to test if a CPU is fried or not, which is why i was so detailed about all the symptoms hoping one of them might give someone a Sherlock Holmes moment..... But all i got is a flash of light from the CPU led fan and an led light inside the mouse.... I wouldn't even know where to stick the multimeter contacts to test the Mobo for life

 

[ragez0r]

Took everything to same PC store, different technician this time and he said he is fairly certain that it is the Mobo that is dead, so i ordered a refurbished Mobo that is fm2+.. I'm certain the apu will slide in(giggidy) but not certain if the 2 dimms of ddr3 1300 mhz ram will work.. oh 16gb total.... Please tell me any additional steps I can take to take in order for this not to reproduce ?? The ground prong of the power cableof both ups and psu are connected via a regular extension cable to a beam inside my apt that are all interconnected to other beams that go 1.5 meters into the ground. I believe I once heard them called earthquake beams.. of course i stripped the plastic coating of each cable to expose the copper and scratched off the paint to expose the metal, I use an INTEX ups.. which has a modified sine wave inverter i will type the model number.... Here IT-725A.. sorry i have a large upper body.. and no not fat... It has a sticker in the back indicatung that it can deliver a maximum of 390 watts.. the only 2 things drawing power from it is the PC and a 5 HDD to USB dock... Which i doubt pulls more than 200 total but once i get the new Mobo i can plunk the ups power input into a watt reader and share that... Is there ANYTHING i can do on top of all that to make certain the PC doesn't commit seppuku (Japanese suicide) in the middle of an intense gaming session ??? Or is this residual damage from my last appartment that had identical issues ???

In the last apt the power killed the ssd, the ram and an external HDD, which is why i began using 2 solar batteries that are linked together parallel and being charged via a smart charger... And from batteries to a DC to ac inverter, and that only saved this PC for a period of 3-4 months, but when i first received it, it came with a case and an AVR but even with the AVR I felt buzzing whenever I touched the PC case or any USB cable connected to well you know and that didn't stop until i began using the "charge the 2 batteries and use inverter on those 2 batteries system"