Hey folks, I'm dealing with a quirky problem with my PC and could use some help. Here's what I've figured out so far:
1. **Power Button Behavior**: My power button works just fine for shutting the PC down, and I even checked it with a multimeter, which confirmed it sends a signal. However, it won't turn the PC on from a complete off state. If the PC is shut down and I press it quickly while there's still some standby power, it sometimes turns on. But if it's completely off, nothing happens.
2. **Testing the PSU**: When I short the green wire to black on the 24-pin ATX connector, the PSU and PC start up normally. So, it seems like I have to short those wires first, then hit the power button to get it to work.
3. **My Thoughts**: The power button itself seems fine since it can turn the PC off without issues. I suspect the motherboard isn't sending the PS_ON# signal to the PSU when it's fully off and only does so when there's some residual power left.
4. **What I've Tried**: I double-checked the F_PANEL connections and the button continuity is good. The 8-pin GPU connector is also seated properly, although I noticed the LED1 on my Gigabyte RX 570 does blink white (not sure if that means anything).
5. **Workaround Considered**: I'm thinking about directly wiring the button to the PSU's green and black wires so it functions as a manual switch while still letting the motherboard control shutdown.
**Specs**:
- Motherboard: ASUS A320M-K
- CPU: Ryzen 5 2600X
- GPU: Gigabyte RX 570 4GB
- PSU: Thunder TGS-550W 80+
**Questions**:
- Do you think this is a motherboard issue related to the power-on circuit?
- Is it safe to wire the button directly to the PSU for long-term use, or should I consider replacing the motherboard or PSU instead (which would be pretty pricey for me right now)?
- Is there anything else I should test before making any modifications?
1 Answer
It sounds like you’ve done quite a bit of troubleshooting already! From what you described, it’s definitely worth checking the voltages more closely. Specifically, you should measure the voltage across the various PSU wires when it’s running. It might give you some clues about whether it’s the PSU or the motherboard at fault.
Also, it's great that you tried running just the motherboard with a single stick of RAM and seeing if it would fire up. If that setup works, it could point towards another component causing the issue. Just remember to add components back in one at a time to see what changes things. Good luck!
I measured the voltages as follows: black to yellow - 12.46V, black to red - 5V, black to orange - 3.4V, black to gray - 5.03V, black to purple - 5.1V, and black to green - 3.46V before turning on, which drops to nearly zero when I short it. Any thoughts on these numbers?