Is my M2-ATX dead or what ?!?!

jeep642 · 05-22-2008, 07:40 PM

I have an M2-ATX that I used with my VIA motherboard without problems.

The motherboard fried... (I guess the fans were not big enough to keep it cool in its box)

Now I want to use the M2-ATX to power all the things that I use in my carpc (Sirius, USB hub etc, etc...) and to power up the laptop I'm using now thanks to the ingenuous turn on module from Webmaster.

Therefore it means I'm only using the M2 as an "intelligent" power supply without being connected to a motherboard.

My problem is... it doesn't work... at all !!!.

When I plug it to Ground, +12v, +12v IGN I don't get anything from any rails.

Is it because it could be dead or because it's waiting from some sort of signal from the motherboard it should be connected to?
If so, how to work around it?

I searched the forums as well as the M2-ATX manual (let me rephrase that... leaflet.) and could'nt find anything remotely related to this kind of issue (which makes me sadly think that my M2 is fried as well !!!!!!!!!)

cheers

2k1Toaster · 05-22-2008, 07:46 PM

Have you shorted pin 14 of the atx cable to ground to fool it into thinking there is an alive mobo there?

jeep642 · 05-22-2008, 07:47 PM

gonna try right now BRB

2k1Toaster · 05-22-2008, 07:51 PM

And by ground I mean a ground on the atx wire... shouldnt really matter at all, but it is cleaner this way since you can just use a paper clip

jeep642 · 05-22-2008, 07:55 PM

Yep!!!

That was it!

Thanks very much for the tip.

jeep642 · 05-22-2008, 08:04 PM

Actually if you re still around I have a vaguely related question (barely....)

The laptop I'm using needs 15v 5A.
I tried (as I read on a thread) to power it with 12v off the ATX... which, as I expected, didn't work.

On the other hand i measured that my battery delivers almost 14v.

Do you think it's worth trying or there s a chance i'm gonna melt the laptop. (to be honest I'm rather good at this!!! I painfully learned that you HAVE to unplug and remove the battery before any surgery wit a laptop... LOL)

2k1Toaster · 05-22-2008, 08:14 PM

if you send unregulated car power to your laptop, it wont work when the car is off, and will melt it when on.

Remember though 15v can be made with a 12v signal and a -3v signal. I dont know how many amps are on the -3.3v rail of the M2 though, or if it even has a -3v rail.

jeep642 · 05-22-2008, 08:27 PM

Good points...

will investigate...

thanks for the advice

jeep642 · 05-22-2008, 10:32 PM

I checked.

I do have 12v (obviously) and also 3v available on the M2.

Now I need to figure out how to add both to make it 15v.

I know when it comes to batteries you need to mount them in series to add the voltage.

But how do you do this with a M2?!?!?!?!?

2k1Toaster · 05-22-2008, 10:33 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by jeep642

I checked.

I do have 12v (obviously) and also 3v available on the M2.

Now I need to figure out how to add both to make it 15v.

I know when it comes to batteries you need to mount them in series to add the voltage.

But how do you do this with a M2?!?!?!?!?

Not 3v.

-3v

jeep642 · 05-22-2008, 10:41 PM

i know!!!

But when I tested it, the multimeter gave me 12.30 or so for the 12 v rail and 3.XX for the 3 v rail with no "-".

I was expecting the "-" like you said but didn't show up.

In both case (12 and 3) I used the multimeter with the black to the ground and the red to the yellow(12) and orange (3) wires.

weird unh?!

What'd did I do wrong?

2k1Toaster · 05-22-2008, 10:48 PM

I just looked at the M2 specs, and there is no -3.3v. Only negative signal is -12 which you could theoretically use with the +3v, but it only takes 0.15A, so that is a no go.

So no you cannot power your laptop with the M2.

jeep642 · 05-22-2008, 11:09 PM

Crap!!!

I'm gonna have to buy one of these $150.00 freakin pack-o-brick travel power adapter...

Actually, one more thing and i get a brain:

I do have a travel power adapter that I got for my old Laptop(19v, 6A -you could power half of LA with that!!!), and the adapter says the output is 14-20 volts or something... but underneath this, there's a sticker with little cases in which you can read 14,15,16,17,18,18,19,20, and there s a black dot on top of 19.

I guess it means it delivers 19v BUT does it reeeeeaaalllllyyyyy delivers 19 or might I be able to power my 15v laptop with it (I know, I'm cheap...)?

Actually I'm gonna go test it right now and see how much it delivers... I guess it'll take me one step closer to the answer.

2k1Toaster · 05-22-2008, 11:12 PM

If you attach that supply you will destroy your laptop.

You need a real power supply made for that.

jeep642 · 05-23-2008, 12:07 AM

I'll go with the pack-o-brick then!