Where there is freedom, there is light everywhere.
I received the power supply for the computer case I bought the day before yesterday. I went to pick it up before lunch.
After lunch, I started to replace the power supply. I had previously replaced the motherboard myself, so I thought I was quite experienced with changing the power supply.
Changing the power supply is simple; first, unplug the hard drive power cable. There are two types of cables on the hard drive: a power cable and a data cable; just unplug the power cable connector.
Next, unplug the CPU cable, which is the four-pin type. Finally, unplug the 24-pin motherboard cable. Basically, there are only these three types of cables.
I bought a second-hand power supply, the Full Han Blue Sea 400 power supply, 300W. Upon careful inspection, the power supply showed over 320W.
I wanted to test it without the front and back covers.
As a result, I smelled something burning. I quickly unplugged the power supply. I checked again. I felt the CPU connector cable was connected incorrectly, so I unplugged it and reinserted it.
At this point, I wondered if something had burned out. However, my assumption was too simple. The following experience proved that nothing had burned out.
I didn’t know why there was a burning smell. It might be because the computer hadn’t been turned on for over 30 days, which caused this smell. When I first powered it on, I found that the CPU and GPU fans were not spinning. It could also be that the CPU power cable was connected incorrectly.
However, I felt something was wrong and quickly unplugged the power supply.
On the second attempt to power it on, the classic scene of the day appeared: the CPU and GPU fans were spinning, but the mouse and keyboard lights were off, and the monitor was black with no signal. Additionally, I noticed that the speaker light was actually on. This means that the speakers connected to the computer could turn on normally.
This indicates that the computer has power, but it just won’t light up the keyboard, monitor, and mouse.
At this point, I started to try different things. I wondered if my motherboard was burnt out. Because I smelled something burning earlier. So, I made a wise decision, no, a wrong decision.
I decided to install the old motherboard and see if I could boot up.
At this time, perhaps two hours had passed. But since it was my day off, it didn’t matter. I disassembled all the cables from the motherboard, including the CPU and fan. Luckily, I had previous experience installing the motherboard, so everything went relatively smoothly, and I quickly replaced it with the old motherboard.
When I powered it on again, it might have been another hour or two, maybe even three hours. In short, disassembling and reassembling takes time; although I’m no longer a novice, I’m still in the beginner stage.
But the bad result came: upon powering on, I found the same situation: the CPU and GPU fans were spinning, but the mouse and keyboard lights were off, and the monitor was black with no signal.
I realized it wasn’t a motherboard issue. The motherboard definitely wasn’t burnt out.
At this point, I changed the USB cable of the speaker to another USB port, and the speaker could also light up. This confirmed that the USB connected to the mouse and keyboard had power.
At this moment, I thought, could it be that the power supply I bought has a problem?
So, I switched back to my original power supply. Before switching to the old power supply, I wiped the dust off the surface of this old power supply and gently tapped it.
The miracle happened! After switching to the old power supply, I could actually boot up. However, it was still the same situation: the CPU and GPU fans were spinning, but the mouse and keyboard lights were off, and the monitor was black with no signal.
I understood that the old power supply was not faulty!
At this point, I quickly disassembled the old motherboard and reinstalled the original new motherboard, still with the old power supply; the same result occurred: the CPU and GPU fans were spinning, but the mouse and keyboard lights were off, and the monitor was black with no signal.
At the same time, I further confirmed that the old power supply was not faulty.
At this point, I felt I couldn’t keep messing around. The time had already reached around 7 PM. I searched online and found an article on Bilibili that mentioned only one reason: the memory card was not seated properly. The reason was that the computer’s self-check failed, which caused the mouse and keyboard lights to be off and the monitor to be black with no signal.
What? The memory card has a problem? I quickly turned off the computer. I pulled out the memory card, took a few breaths, and wiped the contacts several times with tissue. There are four memory slots on the new motherboard; the first time I had it in the outermost slot, I decided to move it to the second slot.
When I powered it on, I found that the display showed something!
My goodness! If I had checked online earlier, I might not have discovered the memory card issue so late.
This shows how important it is to check online for information when encountering problems! I really should have looked for solutions online instead of blindly trying and trying, which ultimately didn’t solve the problem; in the end, I found out what the issue was only by searching online.
On the other hand, if I hadn’t tried various things, I might not have discovered that my old power supply was not faulty.
At this point, there was still one issue: was the second-hand power supply I bought good? If it had functional issues, I might need to return it. So, after listening to a song, I shut down, switched to the second-hand power supply, and powered it on without any issues. At this point, I listened to another song.
This indicates that the second-hand power supply I bought is functional. However, considering that this power supply is 300W while my original power supply is 200W, for energy-saving reasons, I decided to shut it down after listening to a song.
At this point, I switched back to my original 200W power supply. This time, I didn’t test it; I directly plugged in all the interfaces, locked the cover, cleaned each side of the case, and plugged in all the external cables.
I confirmed that it could boot normally, so I quickly went to wash my hands. When I sat down to power it on again, the time displayed was already 8:30 PM.
This day had just passed like that.
In summary, I feel that trying various things isn’t really a problem; the only issue was wasting time. However, isn’t the solution to problems through various attempts? It’s just like conducting a scientific experiment, continuously changing the experimental methods until the best solution to the problem is found.
Continuously trying can also lead to unexpected discoveries, like realizing that my old power supply was not faulty at all.
Outside of such scientific experiments, it is also very important to check information promptly; this can save time and broaden one’s knowledge, using new methods to solve problems.
So, the last question is, why did the original power supply not fail, but the computer still wouldn’t boot? It’s still mentioned in that Bilibili post; it could be due to static electricity.
That is to say, the power supply’s plug was not grounded, causing static electricity to accumulate in the case, ultimately triggering the computer’s self-protection function.
However, the old motherboard didn’t have this issue. So, I suspect it could be a problem with the new motherboard. After all, it’s a gaming motherboard, and it might have more advanced features, which could lead to occasional static protection.
In the past few days, when the computer wouldn’t boot, I opened the case and found that the computer was normal again. At that time, I really didn’t think it was due to excessive static electricity.
Finally, I no longer wrote articles on my phone over the weekend; today I can write much faster on the computer. After not using the computer for over 30 days, I have no regrets; I mainly used it for reading, and compared to last month, I saved 11 degrees of electricity this month.
(Written by Mutiang, September 29, 2024)
——Original article by Mutiang, unauthorized reproduction is prohibited——
As long as there is light, water, and a gap, hope can grow like roses.
References: None
All images in this article are produced or photographed by Mutiang, all rights reserved, unauthorized please do not use commercially
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