Member Avatar for jamsak

Hi people
I have recently bought a second hand pentium 3 computer and have had some trouble. I cant start it. I press the on button and nothing happens. no post codes, no display, no lights, no fans, NOTHING. When this first started, the hdd light lit up, but now there is nothing. My computer is:
-pentium 3 atx
-1 Ghz
-256 Meg ram
-40 gig hdd
-windows me

Can any one help?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by >shadow<

Dani AI

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As described, the system briefly came to life after a PSU swap and then returned to completely dead; and as pointed out, the power supply is a likely suspect. Intermittent start behavior, though, often means the fault is not just a single bad PSU: it can be a PSU that trips under load, a motherboard short or protective fuse, a flaky power switch or wiring, or failed electrolytic capacitors on the board.

Quick, safe checklist (do these in order and stop if unsure):

  • Visual first: remove the side panel and inspect the motherboard for bulging or leaking electrolytic capacitors, burnt components, or solder bridges around standoffs. Boards from this era commonly show capacitor failures; background on that issue is here: Capacitor plague.

  • Isolate on the bench: remove nonessential drives and cards, leave CPU, one stick of RAM and video if needed, place the board on a nonconductive surface and try to power it with the known-good PSU. This rules out case standoffs or drive shorts.

  • Confirm PSU behavior properly: check that the PSU provides the 5V standby (purple wire) when plugged in and the +5V/+12V rails under load. Use a PSU tester or a multimeter and follow a trusted guide to testing supplies: . The paperclip test only shows a PSU will spin up without load and is not definitive.

  • Rule out front-panel wiring: disconnect the power-switch leads from the motherboard and short the two power-on pins briefly with a screwdriver to simulate the switch (take ESD and safety precautions).

If the board only starts intermittently on the bench or trips a new PSU immediately, the motherboard is likely faulty (bad caps, shorted component, or blown SMD fuse). For an old Pentium III system, weigh the cost of recapping/repair versus replacing the board. If unsure, stop and have a local repair shop do the mains/PSU checks — repeated attempts with a suspected short can damage replacement PSUs.

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Member Avatar for >shadow<

sounds like your power supply is dead
the hdd light that light up once would have been the last sign of power it had...which means that it will need a new psu

Member Avatar for jamsak

i bought a new power supply and hooked it up and it worked perfectly...until i shut it down. the next time i tried to turn it on the same problem occured.


???

Member Avatar for >shadow<

if u unplug it and replug it in and then it works again (test this first)

if it works everytime you do this then it could be sometihng to do with the atx not in right or the power button is not plugged in

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