From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Mar 21 13:08:53 2010 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9D70B106566B for ; Sun, 21 Mar 2010 13:08:53 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-questions-local@be-well.ilk.org) Received: from mail2.sea5.speakeasy.net (mail2.sea5.speakeasy.net [69.17.117.4]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 74A878FC17 for ; Sun, 21 Mar 2010 13:08:53 +0000 (UTC) Received: (qmail 31300 invoked from network); 21 Mar 2010 13:08:52 -0000 Received: from dsl092-078-145.bos1.dsl.speakeasy.net (HELO be-well.ilk.org) ([66.92.78.145]) (envelope-sender ) by mail2.sea5.speakeasy.net (qmail-ldap-1.03) with SMTP for ; 21 Mar 2010 13:08:52 -0000 Received: from lowell-desk.lan (lowell-desk.lan [172.30.250.6]) by be-well.ilk.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DD89250832 for ; Sun, 21 Mar 2010 09:08:45 -0400 (EDT) Received: by lowell-desk.lan (Postfix, from userid 1147) id E64811CCE5; Sun, 21 Mar 2010 09:08:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Lowell Gilbert To: FreeBSD Questions References: <20100321101137.GA8202@melon.esperance-linux.co.uk> <4BA601B6.1050807@onetel.com> <20100321122415.GA8495@melon.esperance-linux.co.uk> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 09:08:44 -0400 In-Reply-To: <20100321122415.GA8495@melon.esperance-linux.co.uk> (Frank Shute's message of "Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:24:15 +0000") Message-ID: <441vfdstyb.fsf@lowell-desk.lan> User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.1 (berkeley-unix) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Subject: Re: OT: dead box X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 13:08:53 -0000 Frank Shute writes: > When I hit the power button I get nothing. None of the fans spin up > and there's no sign of life. Well, that's not a *good* sign... ;-) > I'm beginning to think that I might be in for a new motherboard anyway :( I think you can safely conclude it isn't an OS problem, at any rate. Don't try a new motherboard yet, though. If the system is critical and you're really desperate to get it back up ASAP, I'd go with a whole brand-new system. That's to protect against the possibility that the motherboard isn't the source of the problem, in which case you could waste time fixing the wrong thing, and possibly even damage a new motherboard before you recognize the real problem. If you can afford a little more time to isolate the trouble, try disconnecting the power to the motherboard to make sure the power supply starts up (I think someone else suggested this earlier, albeit for a slightly more likely set of symptoms). If not, and if you have a multimeter, make sure that there's voltage across the switch, and that there isn't when the switch closes. > Why do these things strike when you least need them? Damn Murphy and > his stinking law! Murphy never said anything about *when* things go wrong... Sorry if I've gone overboard in following your jocular tone. I realize that you might be feeling desperate by now, particularly if the machine really is critical. -- Lowell Gilbert, embedded/networking software engineer, Boston area http://be-well.ilk.org/~lowell/