No power, no response to Epia M10000 after two years of working

**entranced** · 03-29-2007, 02:32 AM

Okay, I do work in IT and I've never seen a mobo so thoroughly die. I've been using it for about two years now with an Opus 90W, a couple of 2.5" hard drives, slim CD, etc. I recently pulled it out to finally install GPS. Everything was gravy until a couple days ago. Twice, the PC wasn't starting in response to ignition turn. I also have a switch wired into the remote line to control the PC independent of the ignition. Neither did anything. I eventually pulled the in-line fuse from the power cable to the Opus for about 30 seconds and that brought it back. This morning, same thing, but "resetting" the power didn't help. After work I tore into it and found the Opus was giving me the two-blink indicator that boot up failed. At first I suspected bad wiring or the Opus itself. Eventually, I brought the PC into the house and hooked it up to the PSU I use when I'm doing maintainance/upgrades. Nothing. No fans (CPU or otherwise) spinning, no lights, no beeps. I know the PSU is good. Sometimes, when I connect the ATX to the motherboard, the CPU fan spins for about 1/2 second and stops and back to dead. Keeping in mind that this mobo has been working pretty much flawlessly for 2 years, I don't know that anything has changed. When I try to boot it now, I strip off all components except for speakers/PC speaker (to see if I can at least get some beeps) and the ram. Removing the ram doesn't give me any beeps either. What's going on?? TIA.

**bbalazs** · 03-29-2007, 05:04 AM

Hi

Things usually go wrong on the way like that

) It was working before and did not in the next moment

)

First thing of troubleshooting is to calm down. Then try to check systematically, where the voltage could disappear

)

Firstly, check the cables, memory and anything that is attached to the mobo for contact errors, check the integrity of the connectors (corrosion on pins or missing pin, cable loose or so).

Have you got a multimeter? Connect the PC PS to the mobo. Switch it on (just the PS!). Measure the voltage on the purple line of ATX connector. It must be around +5V in standby. Now, measure the voltage on green line. It must be around +5V, too. Then try to start the mobo (with a metal pincer, according to the pinout of those pins in the manual), meanwhile monitoring the green line voltage. It must be near 0V and must remain 0, while the computer is on. If it is not, force it, by connecting the green pole to the black pole by a wire (you can try it from the other -wires - side). It forces the PS to switch on and providing all voltages.

You also can do it with the separate Opus to decide whether the Opus works properly.

Is there any fuse on the mobo? Check them. Are the top of the electric capacitors flat or sphered?

If these are not help, I think it is better to let a technician to look at it.

**entranced** · 03-29-2007, 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by bbalazs

Hi

Things usually go wrong on the way like that

) It was working before and did not in the next moment

)

First thing of troubleshooting is to calm down. Then try to check systematically, where the voltage could disappear

)

Firstly, check the cables, memory and anything that is attached to the mobo for contact errors, check the integrity of the connectors (corrosion on pins or missing pin, cable loose or so).

Have you got a multimeter? Connect the PC PS to the mobo. Switch it on (just the PS!). Measure the voltage on the purple line of ATX connector. It must be around +5V in standby. Now, measure the voltage on green line. It must be around +5V, too. Then try to start the mobo (with a metal pincer, according to the pinout of those pins in the manual), meanwhile monitoring the green line voltage. It must be near 0V and must remain 0, while the computer is on. If it is not, force it, by connecting the green pole to the black pole by a wire (you can try it from the other -wires - side). It forces the PS to switch on and providing all voltages.

You also can do it with the separate Opus to decide whether the Opus works properly.

Is there any fuse on the mobo? Check them. Are the top of the electric capacitors flat or sphered?

If these are not help, I think it is better to let a technician to look at it.

Thank you for your response; it was most thorough. I have tried to strip down the mobo as much as possible to ensure I'm eliminating as many variables as possible. As mentioned, I brought the PC in and connected it to a good Antec PSU to eliminate the Opus as point of failure. I've actually gone as far as to remove everything but the mobo/CPU, power switch, and ATX connector. I even removed the ram just to try to get any response. I even went without the power switch and tried shorting pins 6-8 with a screwdriver to power on but it still gives nothing.... I'll go with the multimeter next and also try a 'force-on'. I have inspected the capacitors and at least from my vantage point, none appear to be damaged. I tried leaving it disconnected from all power, with the watch battery removed, and shorting the cmos reset pins (and then of course, putting it all back in the morning) to no avail. There has to either be 1) something stupid that I'm overlooking or 2) kaputt motherboard. Thanks again for your suggestions, I'll post after I check it all out.

Thanks!
Dennis

**entranced** · 03-30-2007, 12:56 AM

Okay, so I've been able to get my Epia to boot. It appears that the power-on mechanism is shot on the mobo. I'm not sure of exact terminology, but when I short the power-on pin on the ATX connector (fans, etc. turn on) and THEN his the power button, I'm able to boot. Unfortunately I'm not sure that the board as it is is really practical for car operation. I guess I'd have to wire a switch to the ATX connector and do a two part power on but then the ignition trigger in the Opus is not all that useful. Anyway, just wanted to say that it's been revived .. sorta! Any ideas for additional workarounds?

Thanks!

**bbalazs** · 03-30-2007, 04:37 AM

This type of error suggesting, there is a problem around standby. It seems the standby voltage does not feed the IC you need to switch it on. I do not think it could be a too expensive part...
Unfortunately, this is not the problem that could be solved by e-mail...
It needs an investigation by a technician and the exchange also.