Opus 90w won't power mobo - also M2/M4 wont switch....sorted; was dirty batt terminal

**alshaw** · 08-27-2009, 03:08 PM

My new Opus won't boot my system.

I've tried two mobo's so far, various jumper settings, and trying to short the motherboard power switch manually. Both motherboards work fine with a regular AC-DC PSU.

When connected the Motherboard power LED does not illuminate.

The LED on the Opus PSU board flashes once about every 20-or-so seconds. According to the troubleshooting guide, one flash means that: 'The system voltage is below normal operating range' The normal range is 11.5 VDC to 18 VDC...'

However, I've tested the voltage across the constant '+' and ground (tested directly on the opus board itself where the power cable/plug box connects to the board), and I get over 12 V.

When the ignition is on the voltage there is good too. When the engine is running the voltage jumps to 14.7V on both the switched + and constant + and the problem still remains.

What am I doing wrong?

**bosstone74** · 08-28-2009, 02:02 PM

On my opus 150 there is a green and white pin cable that connects to the motherboard from the PSU. Try switching it so the green is on the other pin and the white is on the pin.

**alshaw** · 08-31-2009, 01:07 PM

I've tried that buddy. To no avail I'm afraid.
Thanks for the reply though!

Anyone else got any ideas? I'm getting pretty cheesed off with it to be honest

I forgot to mention in my first post that I've previously tried an M2-ATX but had the 'no boot but starts the CPU fan' issue that so many people seem to have. The solution to that problem seemed to be 'buy an opus'. Which is what led me here. Does that help any?

**DarquePervert** · 08-31-2009, 09:31 PM

Time to ask...
What motherboard? What CPU? How much RAM? What all do you have connected to that motherboard?
Are you 100% certain that your motherboard/CPU combination doesn't overload the Opus (or the M2ATX, for that matter)?

**alshaw** · 09-01-2009, 03:47 PM

Right, current setup is:

Asus AT3GC-1 mini-ITX mobo
Atom 330 CPU (1.6GHz)
one stick of DDR2 RAM (1Gb)
one SATA 2.5" laptop drive (120Gb)
The only other thing connected is the monitor (video only)
I occasionally put a PS/2 keyboard in

That's it. Can't be much wattage there?

Current situation is:

I've gone back to the M2. With this power supply I can get a boot, but only when shorting the motherboard power pins manually.
I've searched about this a lot and found a few threads describing similar issues, but not yet found a thread with a solution.

After fiddling around today, I've discovered that if the supply has been 'off' for a while (key out the ignition) the mobo tries to boot when ignition turns on, but then goes off.

Now then, here's the interesting bit, if I take the switch cable out of the mobo just after it turns on and tries to boot, it stays on!

So, it's as if the M2 is 'holding' the power switch on. Which would (if I'm not mistaken) confuse the mobo into turning off 'hard' after 4 seconds...

?

I hope that makes sense.

So, presuming this is the case, is there a way of making the 'on' signal temporary?

Sorry for the long-winded post

And thanks for any replies!

**alshaw** · 09-07-2009, 01:54 PM

Right, this is getting silly now. I've just received an m4-atx, thinking that if i spend a little more money on a PSU, I'll get something that works. But no.

It will boot when the mobo pins are shorted manually, but not when the ignition is switched. In any mode.

Considering this is my third type of psu, I must be doing something wrong. Something simple. But what is it?

Please, somebody, tell me you've had this problem and fixed it!

**alshaw** · 09-07-2009, 02:11 PM

OK, so detailed run down of symptoms:

Opus 90W - wont power mobo at all - could be too much power draw (doubt it), could be broken psu.

M2 + M4-ATX - WILL boot mobo, but only when shorting mobo pins manually. However, neither the M2 or the M4 will initiate boot from ignition switching. Nor will they shutdown the mobo when ignition turned off. Not even 'HARDOFF' works!

I've tested the ignition switching - 0v when off 12.8v when on.

I've even flipped the mobo power switch polarity.

They can't all be broken, surely. So what could be going wrong?

anyone?

**PaulF** · 09-07-2009, 04:58 PM

Read the respective manuals for the M2 and M4. There are jumper configurations to enable the automatic booting of the system.

**alshaw** · 09-10-2009, 03:29 PM

Cheers for that PaulF! I had tried most of the jumper settings, that wasn't the issue.

I've sorted it now tho! Turns out the culprit was.....

...wait for it....

...Dirty battery terminals!!

Sounds crazy I know, considering I was getting over 12v at the power supply, and it would boot fine by shorting the mobo 'on' switch pins, but I swear, all I did was clean the terminals and it instantly worked!

Well happy!

Now then, next problem...