macosten
Well-known member
So, I recently got a Quadra 950 and had it shipped to me. Naturally, it was working, but shipping happened, and it's acting up a bit now.
I've surmised that it has a problem similar to that described in this post. If I let it sit, then try turning it on with soft power immediately after plugging it in, then I can either get it to turn on and boot normally, or I can get it to turn on and then off again right after that. In fact, the symptoms in the third post of that topic are basically identical to those in my machine. The main difference is that I have a very hard time actually getting it to get to that full boot and can't do it reliably - more often than not, I'll hear the speaker come on, and then the power will cut out again.
It's nice knowing that my other components work, since I did get it to boot once or twice, but I'd like it a lot if I could get it to boot consistently (and if I want to put more cards and/or drives into it, I'm going to want a reliable PSU anyway). I imagine it involves a recap of some sort, or I could alternatively replace it with an ATX PSU using Geekdot's method, or some variation of it. Whatever works, honestly.
What do you suggest? If it's a matter of replacing a few caps, which caps need replacing, and what values are they?
Finally, as a list of things I did that didn't change much, and observations about the machine I was able to make while it was booted up:
I cannibalized my CC's known-working PRAM battery, but that didn't fix it (it may have helped, but I can't tell).
I have given the machine a good dusting-off, but I have not reseated absolutely everything (I did reseat some of the VRAM, though, since it came with the full four sticks).
Minimizing the number of cables going towards the board didn't change anything.
The front-facing buttons are not stuck or shorted; they work properly.
I've surmised that it has a problem similar to that described in this post. If I let it sit, then try turning it on with soft power immediately after plugging it in, then I can either get it to turn on and boot normally, or I can get it to turn on and then off again right after that. In fact, the symptoms in the third post of that topic are basically identical to those in my machine. The main difference is that I have a very hard time actually getting it to get to that full boot and can't do it reliably - more often than not, I'll hear the speaker come on, and then the power will cut out again.
It's nice knowing that my other components work, since I did get it to boot once or twice, but I'd like it a lot if I could get it to boot consistently (and if I want to put more cards and/or drives into it, I'm going to want a reliable PSU anyway). I imagine it involves a recap of some sort, or I could alternatively replace it with an ATX PSU using Geekdot's method, or some variation of it. Whatever works, honestly.
What do you suggest? If it's a matter of replacing a few caps, which caps need replacing, and what values are they?
Finally, as a list of things I did that didn't change much, and observations about the machine I was able to make while it was booted up:
I cannibalized my CC's known-working PRAM battery, but that didn't fix it (it may have helped, but I can't tell).
I have given the machine a good dusting-off, but I have not reseated absolutely everything (I did reseat some of the VRAM, though, since it came with the full four sticks).
Minimizing the number of cables going towards the board didn't change anything.
The front-facing buttons are not stuck or shorted; they work properly.