Question PC needs two presses of power button to start it when multiple USB devices are connected ?

Oct 20, 2024
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Hey everyone,

I’ve been dealing with a strange power issue with my custom-built PC and wanted to see if anyone here has run into something similar, or has any advice before I try a PSU replacement.

Basically, on a cold boot, the system will power on for about 0.5s and then immediately shut off. If I press the power button again within a short interval, it boots up normally and works fine. The weird thing is, this only happens when I have more than three USB devices connected, if I unplug a few, the initial boot seems okay. It loses power after first press and how I confirmed it is by enabling "AC Power Restore" to "Power On" in BIOS settings which would keep triggering the power on switch automatically until it actually turns on. It was set to Power Off before.

The same kind of cycling happens when I try to wake the PC from sleep, except it’s even more sensitive. Even with just three USB devices plugged in, as soon as I wake it, the system immediately shuts off instead of resuming. Doing a full shutdown and regular startup always works fine. It’s just initial power-on with lots of USBs, and every single time with sleep.

For context, my specs are:
  • AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
  • DeepCool 360mm AIO
  • ASUS ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WiFi (AM5)
  • 64GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5 (2x32GB, 6400MHz)
  • Kingston KC3000 4TB NVMe
  • Gigabyte RTX 4090 Gaming OC
  • FSP Hydro G Pro 1200W PSU (ATX 3.0, PCIe 5.0, 80 Plus Gold)
  • Corsair 5000D Airflow case
This issue has been around since I built the PC about a year ago. At first, it seemed related to my table's RGB USB connector I had plugged in (removing it fixed the double-boot problem on cold start), but even after re-routing and removing it, the sleep issue has persisted. I did not really care at that point because I was able to live without sleep mode, however I have been looking into Wake by LAN features and cannot use it for that purpose because of this specific issue.

I’ve already checked all the cables inside, updated BIOS and drivers, tried BIOS ErP and optimized defaults, disabled wake settings for all USB/network devices, and even run several rounds of system checks. Temperatures and voltages are all within normal range as far as I can see. I also tried running on one ram stick and removing the GPU as well thinking it might be drawing too much power but no luck so far.

At this point, I’m trying to figure out if this points to a PSU problem, a USB power delivery or motherboard hardware fault, or maybe something quirky about sleep states with this AM5 platform. Has anyone had a similar experience, or know if this is a problem with this particular FSP power supply? I’d love a way to properly diagnose before committing to an RMA (especially since I work from home and can’t be without my PC).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Basically, on a cold boot, the system will power on for about 0.5s and then immediately shut off. If I press the power button again within a short interval, it boots up normally and works fine.
JayzTwoCents mentioned this on a video of his, whereby the board partially powers up and in the process charges up it's capacitors. The second time it powers up, it goes into the OS GUI. Now, since this wasn't mentioned, does your system powerup on it's own if you don't press on the front panel power button?

It’s just initial power-on with lots of USBs, and every single time with sleep.
When you say lots of USB's, can you elaborate on what you have plugged into the motherboard's USB ports as well as the case's front panel ports?

ASUS ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WiFi (AM5)
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updated BIOS
For the sake of relevance, please state the BIOS version you're on at this moment of time.

FSP Hydro G Pro 1200W PSU (ATX 3.0, PCIe 5.0, 80 Plus Gold)
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This issue has been around since I built the PC about a year ago.
So this PSU is a year old?

At this point, I’m trying to figure out if this points to a PSU problem
Might want to see if you can source(borrow, not buy) a reliably built 1.5KW PSU from a friend or neighbor and see if that alleviates the issue.

Buying parts to troubleshoot will only leave you with a hole in your wallet, which is why you need a donor system to move your things over there and test it out. Considering the issue is exacerbated when you add USB devices, it's either an USB device causing a short or your motherboard's having trouble managing said devices.