1

My PC was working fine. One day, I plugged in my USB printer and shorted out the PC.

I restarted and it worked until today. Now the PC won't turn on.

I tested the power supply on its own with a PSU tester and seems to work fine. I also installed a brand new power supply and nothing.

I have noticed that when I have the PSU plugged into the tester on its own, it works fine. As soon as I plug in the auxillary 2x2 pin on the MOBO, it shorts out.

Would appreciate any advice.

Improve this question
12
  • 1
    Umm, are you saying you had the PSU's mobo connector plugged into a tester while the 2x2 was plugged into the mobo?! Also, can you describe the problem in more detail? What happens when you press the power button? Do the fans spin?
    – David Schwartz
    Commented Jul 9, 2012 at 22:26
  • If the tester says your psu is fine then it may well be that some of the components on your motherboard are dead. Try removing components such as graphics card and hard drives, leaving just CPU and memory and see if it boots or at least powers up.
    – Mokubai ♦
    Commented Jul 9, 2012 at 22:34
  • Pull the motherboard out of the PC tower and place it on a anti-static sheet, even the foil that the motherboard comes in will work. Plug in the PSU and see what happends
    – Darius
    Commented Jul 9, 2012 at 22:34
  • 2
    @Darius, those antistatic bags are actually conductive. That's how they dissipate any excess charge. They're not very conductive, but putting a motherboard on one and powering it up isn't a good idea.
    – Wyzard
    Commented Jul 9, 2012 at 23:26
  • 1
    The 2x2 should be plugged into the tester, as well as the 20/24 plug at the same. None of those plugs should be plugged into the mobo when you test the PSU.
    – Logman
    Commented Jul 9, 2012 at 23:34

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

as soon as I plug in the auxillary 2x2 pin on the MOBO it shorts out.

This strongly suggests that the power regulation/conditioning circuitry for the CPU (that's what the aux connector is for) is "blown". The same circuitry may sometimes also be used to regulate/route USB power, which may have caused the problem.

Hopefully your CPU/RAM/add-in cards are OK (like PSUs, such circuitry is usually designed to sacrifice itself before letting a short, overcurrent, etc. affect devices downstream.

Unfortunately, yes, you need a new motherboard. (or if under warranty, get this one repaired -- it's a manufacturing defect -- I've had USB shorts happen numerous times when doing embedded device development and while the port may shut down, on a well-designed motherboard a cold reboot will usually bring it back up)

Improve this answer
6
  • thank you, its a brand new mobo, it should still be under the manufac warranty.
    – Mario Garcia
    Commented Jul 9, 2012 at 23:51
  • 1
    @MarioGarcia: Yeah, so long as he doesn't tell them what he did. Partially powering a motherboard is not good for its health.
    – David Schwartz
    Commented Jul 10, 2012 at 0:15
  • @DavidSchwartz: "One day i plugged in my printer on the usb and shorted the pc out" is a manufacturing defect. He can't be blamed for testing things out after his motherboard stopped booting up.
    – ish
    Commented Jul 10, 2012 at 0:44
  • @izx: The computer was working fine after whatever happened with the printer and the USB.
    – David Schwartz
    Commented Jul 10, 2012 at 0:47
  • 1
    And then it just stopped working one fine day...before he tried to troubleshoot it. In any case, all partially powering up a properly-designed motherboard should do is not let it turn on, not blow it up.
    – ish
    Commented Jul 10, 2012 at 0:52

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .