Computer turns on and off at startup-faulty PSU?

[Jon Gerow]

I have had this system for over 2 years and have never faced this problem earlier-and whenever i switch it off i disconnect it from the mains power supply. This issue started only recently-also i have 2 other pcs at home that are even older (one of them having a generic psu, and the other a seasonic s12ii) and are operated in a similar manner, but such issues have never surfaced with any of them.

i never said the problem had anything to do with the PC being old, new, whatever. I said that it's a 50/50 crap shoot. Some boards do it more than others.

I don't think an Atx system is meant to be "kept on" all the time

Then you think wrong. Why do you think there's an always live +5VSB on every ATX PSU? For the heck of it?

I remembered that this issue started last week after i upgraded windows 10 to v 19 03-could it have anything to do with this issue?

Absolutely. Or the BIOS. Either one. But the problem still comes down to your PC trying to support a sleep or standby state when you go to shut down, but then you unplug the power and the PC can no longer support any standby state. So all of the things it wanted to do in standby, it cannot.

Think about the issue. Really think about it and you'll understand why it's not the PSU.....

You turn the PC on. It actually starts to boot. But it doesn't, instead if goes back to the POST screen and tries again. How would that be the PSU?

There's some things you can try: Update the BIOS. Try different sleep state settings in the BIOS. Change power & sleep settings in Window's control panel. Also, make sure "turn on fast startup" is unchecked under "shutdown settings" since a PC that's not in standby can't do "fast startup".

But ultimately, you can prevent the problem altogether by not unplugging your PC. You never did answer my question as to WHY you unplug your PC all the time? Again: ATX PC's aren't meant to be unplugged every 2 hours. They're meant to stay in standby mode.

[ashiekh]

i have 2 other pcs at home that are even older (one of them having a generic psu, and the other a seasonic s12ii)

You told us you don't have another power supply to try...

unfortunately i dont have any spare power supplies to test my system with at the moment.

[ssm002]

You told us you don't have another power supply to try...

As those systems are in active use, i won't be able to use their psus to test the malfunctioning system.

[Batboy88]

You don't need to disconnect it from the wall...but yeah some units were like that..start and immediately shut off...sometimes with smoke too. But yeah does sound like some sleep stuff too...it's trying to shut off later with no real load?...for sure would clr CMOS maybe even try a new battery. Still would try it with another unit though.

[ashiekh]

As those systems are in active use, i won't be able to use their psus to test the malfunctioning system.

It would save you a lot of time.

[Jon Gerow]

...for sure would clr CMOS maybe even try a new battery. Still would try it with another unit though.

That's actually not a bad idea. When the PC is in standby, it doesn't need the battery. But the CMOS battery could be dead so the BIOS has to reconfigure at every power on. Test that CMOS battery! Or just replace it. CR2032 batteries are cheap!

[Jon Gerow]

It would save you a lot of time.

No, it won't because his problem isn't the PSU.

[ssm002]

I understand,but removing the psu from one of those pcs,installing it on the test system and then putting it back in its original system would be too much of a hassle-hence i haven't tried that yet.But circumstances may force me to do so soon.


@batboy:i had already replaced the cmos battery recently,which in turn had reset the bios settings to their default values-so i dont suppose some wrongly configured bios setting is the culprit here.

i also checked the power settings in windows but they all appeared to be normal-could there be any hidden/hard to discover option/value that is actually causing the malfunction and i may have overlooked it?

If the psu is sent for RMA,would i get a replacement unit in return?Or are they likely to test it and return it back to me if they are unable to reproduce the exact problem that i am facing?Do they actually check the faulty units before issuing a replacement?

[ashiekh]

No, it won't because his problem isn't the PSU.

Exactly! and trying another supply would show him that.

[Jon Gerow]

If the psu is sent for RMA,would i get a replacement unit in return?Or are they likely to test it and return it back to me if they are unable to reproduce the exact problem that i am facing?Do they actually check the faulty units before issuing a replacement?

They don't test the returns.

But a replacement PSU is going to do the same thing.

I don't know why you trust me on this. I see this every day.