Odd power problem

[Virgil2U]

Ok here is the story thus far. I had a Gigabyte motherboard with a i3 processor in it and when I wanted to go to a i7 system I needed to purchase a different motherboard and memory and so I decided to just get all new everything. I took the old Gigabyte motherboard with the i3 processor and put it in a different case while I put the new motherboard and system into the old case. When I went to try and start up the old system in the newer case nothing happened so I just put it to that I had bought a cheap case with a bad power supply so about a year later my newer system's power supply got fried or I thought so from a power surge from a bad circuit breaker panel. What I later found out after I had already put the new power supply in the new system was that one of my cats must have hit the toggle switch on the power supply turning it off along with the switch on the surge protector at the same time. So I then put the old power supply into the newer case with the i3 motherboard system and then it would start up with no problem and stayed on. But one problem I did have was that the CPU cooling fan became loose and would no longer stay connected as it should to the motherboard so I purchased a new CPU cooing fan, a Thermaltake CLP0556 which required me to remove the motherboard so that I can then install the back plate for the fan to screw onto. After replacing the motherboard onto the case I connected everything back up and when I went to start it up, the CPU cooling fan will run for a few seconds and then shut down and then will start back up again and run for a few seconds. This will go on forever if I let it. Along with the CPU cooling fan running and shutting down the fan on the power supply will do the same thing as well, run for a few seconds and then shut down and start back up again. Even if I remove the power cord from the power supply it will still start up and cycle through this one more time. I am just wondering if anyone has had this problem or ever heard of anything like it. I have been building and working on computers since 1995 and this is the first time I have ever come across such a problem like this. I have rechecked the power switch connectors and reset switch connectors and other connectors and they are plugged in correctly if what I understand about the arrow on the connectors are supposed to be for the positive side of the switches. But I have read also where other people claim that the arrow points to the negative side of the switch. But the majority says it is positive so I have been going with positive. Any help with this will be greatly appreciated and valued as I am a disabled American Veteran and I am not able to send the computer to a shop for testing.

 

[jpe1701]

I read this earlier and have been trying to think of some help for you. I was hoping someone else would chime in by now. Maybe the board is shorting since you had to take it out? The orientation of the power switch cables shouldn't matter since it only needs to connect the 2 pins for it to start. You can actually just remove the wires and connect the pins with a screwdriver to start it for a test.

 

[Virgil2U]

I read this earlier and have been trying to think of some help for you. I was hoping someone else would chime in by now. Maybe the board is shorting since you had to take it out? The orientation of the power switch cables shouldn't matter since it only needs to connect the 2 pins for it to start. You can actually just remove the wires and connect the pins with a screwdriver to start it for a test.

 

[Virgil2U]

Well what I plan to do today is to take the motherboard back out again and go over the back of it to look for scratches and the like and then reinstall it. I have come across a few times in the past with other builds where after assembling the system it would not start up and after removing the motherboard and reinstalling it again the system would then start up with no problems. I sometimes feel that the cause in the first place was the board might have not been totally square with itself due to one or more of the mounting screws were too tight and caused a warpage in the board, So I am hoping that this will be the same thing again. I had read in other postings as you say that it does not matter with the power switch and reset switch connectors which pins they are connected to. I just wish I knew why the stinking thing still runs when the power cord is plug, it only runs the one time but still it should not start back up with no electricity running to it.

 

[Virgil2U]

I read this earlier and have been trying to think of some help for you. I was hoping someone else would chime in by now. Maybe the board is shorting since you had to take it out? The orientation of the power switch cables shouldn't matter since it only needs to connect the 2 pins for it to start. You can actually just remove the wires and connect the pins with a screwdriver to start it for a test.

 

[Virgil2U]

Well I removed the motherboard again and disconnected all the cables and then reinstalled the motherboard and connections and still have the same problem, I just had a thought earlier that since it is a very cheap case that it is possible that the power switch and reset switch are mislabeled and that could be why it is restarting continually. I was wondering if perhaps anyone would know if this could be a possibility and if it would hurt anything if I switch the current placements of the power switch around with the reset switch connections on the motherboard. I have not tried the thing with a screwdriver touching the pins to try and start it as I am too shaky to try anything like that and I am afraid I might cause a serious short. I am not able to listen for any error beeps as I don't have a speaker connected to the motherboard or a speaker in the case. So if anyone knows for sure this will not damage the motherboard by switching the power switch and reset switch around to test it that way I would be appreciative.

 

[jpe1701]

It would work fine actually since they both use just a basic switch. I really don't think it's a problem with the switches though because they are simple analog devices. Have you tried holding down the power button when it's doing it to see if that shuts it down?

 

[Virgil2U]

It would work fine actually since they both use just a basic switch. I really don't think it's a problem with the switches though because they are simple analog devices. Have you tried holding down the power button when it's doing it to see if that shuts it down?

 

[Virgil2U]

Yes I have held in the power button while it is running and doing the dang restarting stuff. I also removed both the power switch connectors and reset switch connector and used a screwdriver tip to try and start it by touching the two posts on the power switch side. At this rate I am thinking that perhaps this motherboard does not work well with this type of a CPU fan as I had to put a special mounting plate on the back of the motherboard for the fan to screw into unlike the previous cooling fan that just plugged into the holes. That is the only other thing that is different from the previous start up and it stayed on for about five seconds. I did not want to keep it running for more than that as I did not have a cooling fan on the CPU, thankfully it was a INTEL and not AMD, which would have fried immediately with no fan on it. I could remove the backing plate and cpu fan and see if it will start up then without them and if it does and stays running for more than three seconds then I am sure that the problem is that the backing plate was causing a warp in the motherboard and causing the short like that. I also failed to mention that on the board I have four lights, named D1 to D4, I am not sure what they are meant for as Gigabyte has no information for their motherboards on their site. Just generic information for all motherboards in general. I also don't have a graphics card installed in the system, I plan on using the on board HDMI display port as I had before. I know it does not matter in this case if their is a graphics card installed in the system but I thought I would mention it if anyone asked.

 

[Virgil2U]

As a follow up to this today I did the process known as bread boarding where I removed the motherboard from the case and placed it on the bed and then connected the power supply to it and used a screwdriver tip to the power connections on the motherboard to start it up. It did as before and would run and then restart. I then decided to go back to the point before when it did run before I had installed the newer CPU cooling fan and the same thing as previously. I did not have the monitor connected as I don't have that long of a HDMI cable to reach it to the television to see if it displayed anything. I also want to give everyone a warning about leaving your computer hardware laying around and not put up, I had a old power supply laying around in the one room and not put up as I did not have anything to put it in and out of the way and one of my kittens had chewed off some of the power connectors on it. I guess it is my fault for not finding a place to keep it safe and also not having money to purchase cat food for them but as long as we have a democratic congress and keep disabled American Veterans disability pay at less than half o the national poverty level we will not have the means to sufficiently have a decent life.