M2 Problem, Some advice please from those with the 'turn on' issue....

**Mrcat88** · 07-06-2006, 03:37 AM

Hi everyone.

I have been looking around for a while trying to find the problem with my setup. I am having the "motherboard will not turn on with the ignition" problem like so many others.

Here is a quick setup detail: Switched - switch from the deck, red - directly to battery, black - ground. I have the power switch to the M2 and the MB correct...I've checked 30 times.

Here is what I experience. It will NOT work with the ignition....BUT, it will work EVERY TIME without fail as long as I press the reset switch. IE: I turn on the car, the lights - fans - hdd - etc all turn on, but no boot...no POST. I hit reset, and it will then boot.

SO! I tried switching the ATX, which made it work ONCE!! OMFG! Once! yay....then, back to the same ****e. why won't you work for me? I know you want to!! Then I tried the polarity problem (on the M2, I....) switched the M2 to MB connector (reversed it - change polarity)....nothing. Tried the other connector....nothing. Tried switching the two connectors from one to the other...nothing. then I tried it on the MB....switch polarity, nothing. Even with no jumpers, in dumb PSU mode, same thing.

Please note, every time it powers up, but no boot until I press reset.

I don't get it! Why would it work ONCE? Here is my list of possible solutions, and I would like any others to chime in with solutions I may have missed PLEASE!

1. Switch the ATX connector back...(now it is molex on the M2 side, switch back to molex on the MB side)
2. After switching, try polarity of power on connectors again.
3. Isolate the M2 from the case (it is an Morex 3688 case, and I have no little washers on the screws for the M2.) - but I tried ungrounding the CASE (NOT the M2) and nothing. I have a seperate wire grounding the case.
4. Get new RAM....I used cheap ram...someone said that it's timing my be off, and high quality ram doesn't have as much a problem.
5. Power settings in the control panel....set them to "hibernate" instead of "always off".
6. Power settings in BIOS....but I didn't see anything that would make a difference. (I'm a pretty good tech, I know what to look for)
7. scrap the damn thing and get an Opus.

Some key things I want to be clear about:

1. I press the reset button ONCE. EVERY time. not 3 or 4 times, just once, and it works perfectly for my whole drive, or even if the car is off, just ignition....I only press it once, and it works.

2. power/ground/switched is hooked up correctly. The PS work fine, it's the startup and shutdown I am having problems with.

3. I've had the no boot problem before with desktop PC's. It was usually solved by the polarity issue, if I remember correctly.

PLEASE....anyone that has anything else I can try, please mention it. I am not asking for you to hold my hand, just advice on anything else I can try. Maybe this will help others too.

**piabu** · 07-06-2006, 04:13 AM

Remove jumpers on M2-ATX. See if it will boot the ATX correct in dumb PSU mode.

Remove all cards/USBs/fans/HDDs/CDROMs on ATX board. See if the M2-ATX will boot a "bare" board with just CPU and RAM. Could it be a (insufficient) power problem?

**Mrcat88** · 07-06-2006, 05:28 PM

Although i doubt an insuficient power issue, I'll try it. Thanks for the advice, I'll try without jumpers also.

Anything else i can try? What worked for others?

**gaslan** · 07-06-2006, 08:39 PM

Originally Posted by Mrcat88

Hi everyone.
I have been looking around for a while trying to find the problem with my setup. I am having the "motherboard will not turn on with the ignition" problem like so many others.

I'm not sure exactly where I read that but I think is almost a common problem. Seems like the 5v is not fully powered when the POST is sent so no boot occurs. I'm not sure this is the case (I've looked it up about 5-6 months ago) but I went over it by just setting BIOS to boot when there is power. If you want I can check the BIOS setting but it is not so hard to find...

**Wiredwrx** · 07-06-2006, 08:43 PM

Originally Posted by Mrcat88

Hi everyone.

I have been looking around for a while trying to find the problem with my setup. I am having the "motherboard will not turn on with the ignition" problem like so many others.

Here is a quick setup detail: Switched - switch from the deck, red - directly to battery, black - ground. I have the power switch to the M2 and the MB correct...I've checked 30 times.

Here is what I experience. It will NOT work with the ignition....BUT, it will work EVERY TIME without fail as long as I press the reset switch. IE: I turn on the car, the lights - fans - hdd - etc all turn on, but no boot...no POST. I hit reset, and it will then boot.

SO! I tried switching the ATX, which made it work ONCE!! OMFG! Once! yay....then, back to the same ****e. why won't you work for me? I know you want to!! Then I tried the polarity problem (on the M2, I....) switched the M2 to MB connector (reversed it - change polarity)....nothing. Tried the other connector....nothing. Tried switching the two connectors from one to the other...nothing. then I tried it on the MB....switch polarity, nothing. Even with no jumpers, in dumb PSU mode, same thing.

Please note, every time it powers up, but no boot until I press reset.

I don't get it! Why would it work ONCE? Here is my list of possible solutions, and I would like any others to chime in with solutions I may have missed PLEASE!

1. Switch the ATX connector back...(now it is molex on the M2 side, switch back to molex on the MB side)
2. After switching, try polarity of power on connectors again.
3. Isolate the M2 from the case (it is an Morex 3688 case, and I have no little washers on the screws for the M2.) - but I tried ungrounding the CASE (NOT the M2) and nothing. I have a seperate wire grounding the case.
4. Get new RAM....I used cheap ram...someone said that it's timing my be off, and high quality ram doesn't have as much a problem.
5. Power settings in the control panel....set them to "hibernate" instead of "always off".
6. Power settings in BIOS....but I didn't see anything that would make a difference. (I'm a pretty good tech, I know what to look for)
7. scrap the damn thing and get an Opus.

Some key things I want to be clear about:

1. I press the reset button ONCE. EVERY time. not 3 or 4 times, just once, and it works perfectly for my whole drive, or even if the car is off, just ignition....I only press it once, and it works.

2. power/ground/switched is hooked up correctly. The PS work fine, it's the startup and shutdown I am having problems with.

3. I've had the no boot problem before with desktop PC's. It was usually solved by the polarity issue, if I remember correctly.

PLEASE....anyone that has anything else I can try, please mention it. I am not asking for you to hold my hand, just advice on anything else I can try. Maybe this will help others too.

What kind of MB. If it is an Epia, that is the problem. I think there might be a fix for it, but there are some timing issues with the M2 and some EPIAS.

Seach on Epia and M2, and ye shall find.

Michael

**neilhart** · 07-06-2006, 10:26 PM

While reading your post, I thought that if you wired the ATX Power On pins to your Reset Switch and the Reset switch pins were wired to the normal power on circuits; the system would probably act as you describe. Just a thought. It would depend upon what MB you have. Anyway my M2 has worked from day one on the bench and in the car now for about three months.