Question Diagnosing PC failure to power on - suspecting the PSU

[cbrough]

Hardware: Dell Inspison 560 (2010) with one SSD and two HDD. Nvidia GeForce 220 graphics card, AMD Phenom II X4, LiteOn PS-5301-08 300W PSU.

Desktop machine, generally on about 12 hours a day, and been fine through the various disk changes over the years.

Last night I swapped the SSD (120GB Crucial) for a larger 1TB Crucial. This is mounted in the 3.5" bay below the optical drive in a bracket. Slightly awkward to get the old one out/new one in past the power cables through the middle of the case to the 2 HDDs mounted in the vertical bays lower left. Physically all cables look properly seated, no obvious strains on the cables/attachments. Power cord to the wall socket was unplugged while the case was open.

Now won't power up at all - no lights, no response to the power button being pressed, absolutely nothing. Power cord has power to the input to the PSU, but nothing beyond that.

I know the obvious answer is "its nearly 10 years old - it owes you nothing - get a new one", but if I can rescue that would be helpful for the cashflow! Suggestions of what to try/how to diagnose. Ta.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Lite-on units are good for OEMs, but definitely could fail with age.

Do you have a multimeter to test if the psu outputs the correct voltages?

Also, make sure the front panel power switch is still connected to the motherboard.

 

[cbrough]

Lite-on makes low quality powersupplies.

Do you have a multimeter to test if the psu outputs the correct voltages?

Also, makw aure the front panel power switch is still connected to the motherboard.

Have both a no-name (well, YBLNTEK) Power Supply Tester specifically for PSU testing, and an Ultrics digital multimeter - got them for another reason, never used them in anger. Would need a step-by-step for where to check...

Front panel switch definitely connected to the motherboard - and well away from where I was squeezing the SSD in/out.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Try the psu tester.

If it passes it doesnt nessisarily mean the psu can deliver the required current to start the pc, it just shows the voltage is right.

 

[jonnyguru]

Lite-on makes low quality powersupplies.

Says who?

 

[jonnyguru]

Last night I swapped the SSD (120GB Crucial) for a larger 1TB Crucial. This is mounted in the 3.5" bay below the optical drive in a bracket. Slightly awkward to get the old one out/new one in past the power cables through the middle of the case to the 2 HDDs mounted in the vertical bays lower left. Physically all cables look properly seated, no obvious strains on the cables/attachments. Power cord to the wall socket was unplugged while the case was open.

Now won't power up at all - no lights, no response to the power button being pressed, absolutely nothing. Power cord has power to the input to the PSU, but nothing beyond that.

And what happens if you unplug the drive?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Says who?

Since you know more than me i'll edit my post to be less misleading.

Here's what my quick research found.

1. No 80+ certification.
2. 25a of +5v and 19a +12v. However, the psu also states "Combined power on 12v and 5v not exceed 268w MAX" So this PSU is really closer to a 275w unit.
3. His video card recommends a 300w min. This psu meets this requirement in theory at least.

So while this psu would have been fine new, It wouldn't be surprising if it fails after these years.

That being said, there is still a great chance that the issue lies elsewhere since it happened when you changed the hardware. Jonnys suggestion above may help in finding a diagnosis

http://www.pc-specs.com/psu/Liteon/Liteon_PS-5301-08HF/1187
https://www.ebay.com/c/649904673

 

[cbrough]

And what happens if you unplug the drive?

I get activity (power light on front panel, fans starting up). That drive was the boot drive (and nothing on the new replacement yet), so it just gets to the GRUB rescue prompt (Linux). Next step will try and swap back in the previously working smaller SSD and see whether that works - if so its the new SSD. Will report shortly - and other suggestions welcome. Thanks!

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Do you have another pc to try the 1tb drive in?

 

[cbrough]

I get activity (power light on front panel, fans starting up). That drive was the boot drive (and nothing on the new replacement yet), so it just gets to the GRUB rescue prompt (Linux). Next step will try and swap back in the previously working smaller SSD and see whether that works - if so its the new SSD. Will report shortly - and other suggestions welcome. Thanks!

With old 120GB SSD it boots just fine. have a couple of USB enclosures I can try the new 1TB drive in....

 

[cbrough]

With old 120GB SSD it boots just fine. have a couple of USB enclosures I can try the new 1TB drive in....

In an Inateck USB enclosure the drive is recognised as a 1TB SATA drive. Its never been formatted, but what 'dmesg' shows looks right for an unformatted drive. Hmmm...

 

[cbrough]

In an Inateck USB enclosure the drive is recognised as a 1TB SATA drive. Its never been formatted, but what 'dmesg' shows looks right for an unformatted drive. Hmmm...

And connecting it back to power and SATA cables in the original PC it is now working (not put it back in the caddy and bolted it in - its dangling out the side at the moment.

Looks like it might have been cable seating when I replaced it - tricky getting it right when in the caddy. Sorry for bothering you - and thanks for the suggestions. Moving on...

 

[jonnyguru]

Since you know more than me i'll edit my post to be less misleading.

Yes. HIS power supply is old and outdated and probably prone to fail soon. Your post said "Lite-On makes low quality PSUs" which is farthest from the truth. A good example of a good Lite-On would be the 80 PLUS Gold certified PA-4501 that Acer uses in the Predator gaming PC.

Lite-On is a tier 1 PSU vendor. Of course, you only get to see their really good stuff in the server sector.