The Hidden Forest

Let me start off by saying that I'm not a computer idiot, but I'm no tech expert...

So, I went about my normal slaying of dragons last night, nothing special except for the death of Vulak. I finished my session, and decided it was time to head to bed around 3am. I shut off my system via a soft shutdown, and not the physical power button. I woke up this morning, did my thing, and went to power on my system this morning, but alas, no power. Nothing happens, not even a stir from the fans. Still groggy, I decided I needed more coffee to tackle this problem. I unplugged the unit from the power strip it was plugged into and then plugged the unit directly into the wall. I left without attempting another power on, filled my coffee cup, and came back. I researched a minute on my fiance's laptop, the one I'm using at the moment. I then decided to try another power on. This time, I the lights on the front of the unit turn on, I hear the hard drive spinning, and a VERY loud fan noise, probably the PSU's fan, I'm not sure. My heart skips a beat, then the unit immediately shuts off again, less than 2 seconds after I powered it on. I decided to attempt again. This time, the unit powers on, lights flash, hard drive spins, but only a very quite fan noise, couple beeps, etc (the normal sounds). I let out a sigh of relief, and immediately the system shuts off again, less than a few seconds later. I attempt again, same result. I attempt one more time, same result....

I research HP's support and troubleshooting. I follow all steps, unplugged all devices, even disconnected all connectors from the PSU. I even reset the power switch to ensure it's set to the correct voltage for North America. No dice still. I even plugged in one thing at a time to detect a faulty part (motherboard, dvd drive, even vid card). Nada, not even a startup and shutoff like before. One thing remains the same, the LED on the PSU is always on so long as the PSU is plugged into the wall, however, the fan on the PSU NEVER turns on, not even a whir, click, nothing. Even the LED on the power button behind the front panel on the case stays lit.

I'm unclear as to what the problem may be. If the PSU was bad, wouldn't the LED flash or not turn on at all when plugged in? If the motherboard is bad, I will cry (there's no crying in EQEmu). There's no visible frying of the mobo that I can see. Vid card has been completely removed, can't be that. There was no storm last night, no power surge as far as I can tell. Any ideas you nerdy computer geeks?

Is it under warranty? I hope so.

This is one of those problems I would have told a client to either call and get it fixed under warranty or find a local repair person who could diagnose it hands on. You've followed all the right steps I can think of so there may be something that you could be glossing over and an expert could recognize if he was physically present. Unfortunately, though that means that it would be hard, if not impossible, to fix remotely.

However, I've been out of the computer repair loop for about 6 years now, perhaps someone with a fresher mind may have something they can add. I sure hope so!

Warranty is long expired....

I really want to avoid professional help, no offense to your professionals who do this for a living. I just don't wanna pay someone to figure something out if I have available free resources, know what I mean?

Is the LED on the back of the computer case flashing? If it is, it's more than likely that it's your power supply.

One thing remains the same, the LED on the PSU is always on so long as the PSU is plugged into the wall, however, the fan on the PSU NEVER turns on, not even a whir, click, nothing. Even the LED on the power button behind the front panel on the case stays lit.

I'm unclear as to what the problem may be. If the PSU was bad, wouldn't the LED flash or not turn on at all when plugged in?

No, it's constantly lit while plugged in.

If the computer is not booting at all it is either power supply or motherboard in my experience.

Power supply is significantly cheaper so most people try that first.

I know it's either one or the other... =P

I'm hoping someone can help me narrow down which one it is, though, before I attempt to replace either. I can't just throw money at it until I'm satisfied I know which part exactly to replace.

Get a Power supply if it doesn't work take it back and get a refund, then buy a motherboard. Honestly its trial and error with that, you can't narrow down a will not boot up.

Unless you're getting system beeps at startup but that's pretty old school computer ish.

Depending on what type of computer store is in your area, ie big box like Best Buy or a neighborhood store-front, you may have another option. At our local neighborhood storefront, Zak's, they have a bench in the store where you can bring in your desktop tower and check to see with their equipment if it's the powersupply or not. Especially since they know darn well that if it isn't the powersupply but it IS the motherboard, chances are very good that you will buy your new motherboard from them. They will even go so far to check out your RAM chips if you think you have a bad memory stick.

Hopefully it is the cheaper of the items to replace!

the simpliest way to tell is to use your nose...stick it to your power supply after you try a boot up..if it smells like something is burnt or burning its your power supply if it doesnt smell look at you rmobo and see if any of the nodes *nukular power towers* are burnt at the bottem yes even a node can cause this and if so get a soder gun some soder and lets have a party!