> > > > A Gentoo desktop of mine won't turn on anymore. I was hoping it was
> > > > the power supply but I've installed a new one which doesn't fix the
> > > > problem. Is there a sure way to know if the motherboard needs
> > > > replacement or if I have two dead power supplies?
> > >
> > > Hi there,
> > >
> > > I work on PCs for a living, mostly peoples' home computers, and in
> > > the case of a "dead pc" the cause is nearly as often something else
> > > as it is a dead PSU.
> > >
> > > Causes such as a duff CD-ROM drive or a damaged USB connector are
> > > surprising but not uncommon, so reset the BIOS (using the method
> > > described by Volker) and if that doesn't work unplug as much as
> > > possible from the motherboard - you'll surely need the CPU & RAM for
> > > it to post, but you may wish to swap out the RAM at some point in
> > > your diagnostics - and unplug most everything else. That means
> > > drives, PCI cards, USB devices, stuff connected to the USB & serial
> > > headers, graphics card if possible. Also don't connect the power
> > > supply to any of the drives, or anything else that you're not
> > > currently using.
> > >
> > > I've seen cheap power supplies take out the motherboard when they go.
> > > Sorry if you find that to be the case.
> >
> > I removed everything from the motherboard and even tried another CPU
> > that used to run on that same motherboard. No luck. I can't test the
> > power supply in my P3 router because the CPU power plug is different.
> >
> > I should have said before that every couple times I try to turn it on,
> > the CPU fan spins about 2% of a full rotation and some of the LEDs
> > along the back light up for a second.
> >
> > Would you guys say it is most likely the motherboard at this point?
> >
> > - Grant
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > gentoo-user@(protected)
> >
> >
>
> I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say this is an Emachines PC. Am I
> right?

Not Emachine actually. I built it about 1.5 years ago with parts from
the lowest bidder.

- Grant

> Emachines, when the PSU goes bad, have a habit of taking out the
> motherboard, too. Hooking the old PSU up to a new motherboard fries the new
> one. I fried 2 motherboards (not Emachines supplied) back in my early days
> doing this (PSU wasn't Emachines, either). So, it can happen with other
> PSU/motherboards. If the motherboard has a status light and it isn't even
> coming on, then the motherboard is dead. Even bad CPUs I've damaged still
> allowed the motherboard, fans, etc. to power up (though nothing came up on
> the screen).

Good info, thanks Mark.

- Grant

> - Mark Shields
--
gentoo-user@(protected)