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PT Pro: What could I have done?

LaPorta

Well-known member
Hey everyone,

So, tonight I went about installing a new DVD drive and and IDE to SD adapter into my PT Pro. Both of these I hooked up to my ATA cards after physically installing them in the system. So, I hook it all back up, plug it in and....nothing. Can't start by the soft power key, cannot start by the front soft power button. This has never happened before, the machine worked fine. Nothing happens at all: no fans, nothing. Power cable is still firmly seated into the motherboard. What in the heck could be wrong?
 

chelseayr

Well-known member
not too sure about that but would it still boot up after the drives are unplugged and card removed? if so then I mean try plug only the card in, if it posts then try the dvdrom alone. at least that would narrow down the troubleshooting to either the pci card/slot and or one or both drives, if you see where I am going here
 

LaPorta

Well-known member
I do, I just am not sure how having the drives attached would completely stop the unit from powering up at all.
 

chelseayr

Well-known member
laporta well I could be wrong (as they always say) but maybe there is an odd kind of short somewhere that is causing the boot process to not work at all .. and I don't mean just an electrical short alone but it could be a certain data line thats maligned enough to make the board firmware not start up

thats why I had nicely suggested about trying boot with none of these three items and if that worked then mm we're at least trying to get somewhere
 

davidg5678

Well-known member
I also think that the issue you have described is indicative of a short. I would recommend systematically unplugging everything from the motherboard, seeing if the PSU turns on with only the motherboard connected, and then adding peripherals one by one. Once, I bought a faulty DVI to VGA adapter that had a short in it somewhere. I experienced very similar symptoms to what you have described here. Only after replacing the entire expensive PSU, did I realize that a cheap dongle was responsible for bringing the entire computer down. :rolleyes:
 

LaPorta

Well-known member
I appreciate what you fellas are saying, and I will give it a try when I get home tomorrow. I did not realize that something that I would think as being that trivial might do that. I really do appreciate the feedback and help! I was going to test the PSU, but your suggestion makes sense to give a go at first.
 

trag

Well-known member
The PowerTower Pro and related machines will power up even if no CPU card is installed. Basically, if you have a good power supply, keyboard, and CUDA chip, the thing will power up, regardless of how many other components are dead.

However, as others have pointed out, a short would cause safety trips in the power supply to prevent activation.

Also, the PTP uses an ATX power supply, which typically has a rocker power switch on the back. Has it been switched to the off position during the upgrading? I spent a good while trying to diagnose a new build once, when the problem was the switch on the back of the ATX supply was off....

CUDA chip could be dead. I've seen that in some instances, but it seems unlikely.

On the PTP, the problem I've seen most often is that the solder on the PCI bus arbiter chip goes bad/comes loose. Resoldering the arbiter chip fixes that problem. The arbiter chip(s) is a little 20 pin PLCC near the edge of the board along the PCI slots. But that just kills the three associated PCI slots, doesn't kill the whole system.
 

LaPorta

Well-known member
Well, thank you all. Seems I idiotically put the floppy-style power connector on my CF Adapter offset by one pin. Glad the PSU didn't start up! Now it all works. Thanks everyone for the insight to check there.
 

jessenator

Well-known member
Glad it didn't fry your adapter! Also glad it was something relatively simple :) those are the best fixes.
 
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