Machine boots one day, the next day it won't (is my power supply dying?).
 

Hi folks. I'm using a Core 2 Duo bought like 4 months ago. Last friday, when I was gonna turn it on in the morning, it just did nothing when I pressed the turn on button (no beeps, the light wouldn't turn on; nothing, as if it was disconnected from the energy regulator). So, since I don't know much about hardware, I waited until today to take it to a store near my house where they fix PCs. I thought that, before taking it to the store, it was better to to check if the power supply fan was working (which would indicate a more serious problem); to my surprise, the machine did turn on this time, booted fine and it's working fine now.

I asked a friend about this strange behavior and he told me to check all the internal connections, but they seem to be ok. So, my guess is that maybe the power supply is dying and that's why my PC turns on sometimes, and other times it doesn't? What do you people think might be the problem?

By the way, this power supply is a generic one (brand "Majestic PC") and came with the chassis.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

P.S.: I posted this here because it has nothing to do with the OS (not directly linux-related, I mean), but if a moderator think this fits better in the "Linux-Hardware" section of the forum, he/she can move this thread there.

Regards.

It's cursed :D The next time it won't wake-up, try to unplug and re-plug the the power-plug and see if it works after doing so. If it does...you'll have a workaround.
Did it ever shut down while it was running?
Do you have anything connected between the PC and the wall-plug?
If you aren't able to reproduce the problem the guy at the shop will probably keep the PC for a while and as everything will work he will give it back to you in its original state with a light smile on his face... and the day after it will happen again.

If it powered on and working now, that means your Power Supply is working. They don't just take days off. There was most likely another issue the day it didn't turn on. Perhaps the a problem between the seat and keyboard.. sorry, couldn't resist. ;)

But seriously again, hard to tell at this point since we're not sitting in front of it and don't have any more details of your setup. I mean, for all I know, you could have it plugged in to a socket that's controlled by a switch on the wall.. ;)

Well, I forgot to say this, but I've been noticing the energy regulator is making strange electrical noises (and it was more noticeable today after I turned the machine on); happens sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't. But the weird thing is, the friday, when I tried to turn the machine on and it didn't, I checked the connections with the energy regulator and they were ok; then I changed the plugs from sockets, and the monitor did turn on (as well as the speakers), but the PC didn't. So, now I'm thinking it might be related to the energy regulator. (I don't know the english name; I mean, the box between the PC energy cable and the wall socket (like an UPS, but without a battery inside)). I think I'll buy a good UPS today, since I don't want my brand new machine toasted :-/

Thanks for your answers, people.

Sorry, but I didn't understand what this "energy regulator" is. Do you have a link to the product (or a similar one)? What's its usage?

yes Your powersupply is the culprit.

I think the english name is "surge protector" or "power strip". If it's making noises that can't be good and you really should get rid of it. Replacing it with a UPS is a good idea. Did you try plugging the computer's power cord directly into the wall outlet as a test? If you've upgraded and added components inside the computer it could be that the computer's power supply is inadequate and struggling to provide the amount of power demanded. What comes with most computer cases is pretty low.

Hi again. I bought the UPS, but it's charging now, so I can't use it at the moment (the instructions say I must wait for about 6 - 8 hours to use it). About the "energy regulator", I think it's a surge protector, as dracolich says (something like this). Well it happened again: I turned the surge protector off, but when I turned it on again, the PC didn't start while the monitor did start. (I don't dare to plug the PC directly to the wall outlet, because the current stream here is very unstable). So, maybe the surge protector is broken?

Oh, and to answer Pearlseattle's question, my machine has never shut down suddenly while running.

I guess I have to wait until tomorrow to plug the PC to the UPS, so we know what happens...

Greetings :)

Hi people, sorry for the delay; I was out all day long. Well, I plugged the PC to the UPS today, but it doesn't start (the monitor, plugged to the same UPS does start). So I checked the power supply after having pressed the power on button and the fan is not working, so I guess it's the power supply. The weird thing is, it worked yesterday when it has previously stopped working and it's not working now :S. If it's not, then maybe it's something as stupid as a broken power button? (if it's not one of these options, then I have no idea). Well, I guess I'll take the machine to the store tomorrow morning, so they determine what's wrong with it...

Do you have any USB device connected?
Sometimes an external USB device (external hard disk with power on) can cause problem.

Hi again. I don't have any USB device plugged to the machine. I took the machine to the store two days ago; the guy at the store tunred it on and it worked fine. Then turned it on and off many times without problems. Then disconnected the PC from the wall socket, connected it again and turned it on (fine, again). I took the machine back to my house but it wouldn't power on. So I changed the cable that goes from the PC to the UPS and this time it did work. I guess the cable it had before was broken or something, but the weird thing is it didn't power off while running with that cable (it simply wouldn't power on sometimes). By the way, I'm not completely sure about the cable because I haven't turned the machine off since it worked, like 2 days ago. Guess I'll wait until next monday to test it by turning it off because I don't want to spend this weekend without my PC :D

So, it is perhaps any defective contact or power connector :)

Yes, it seems to be the power cord. I turned the machine off this morning, turned it on again and it worked. I'm lucky it was this silly issue and not something else.

Greetings and thanks for your advices, people.