electrical problem?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Matt Garman
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Matt Garman

I posted a while ago about having problems with a hard drive when it was
mounted in a particular drive cage in my case. Moving the hard drive
out of the case, or to another cage made the problems go away.

Since then I've noticed some other phenomenon that make me wonder if
there is a bigger electrical problem in my computer. I've been doing
some network testing, and the max outgoing transfer rate I can achieve
is 1.92 Mbps (on a 100 Mbps network). I've tried three different NICs,
new cables, etc. I don't think it's a software problem.

Occationally, a few minutes after a reboot, the PC speaker will sound
continuously until the system is shutdown/restarted. (It's not my CPU
overheating, all temps check out well within safe range.)

When I shutdown the OS, then hit the power button to actually power-off
the system, it always reboots. I have to hold down the power button to
actually turn the machine off. (I've double-, triple- and
quadruple-checked my motherboard-power switch connection.)

Finally, just tonight, I had the system turned off---note that I did not
unplug it, nor did I flip the switch on the back of the power
supply---and when I put a new NIC card in a PCI slot, the machine turned
on!

With all these unusual circumstances, I'm starting to think I have an
electrical problem somewhere.

Is there any easy way to diagnose this? I'm afraid this is going to be
one of those problems that takes a LONG time to figure out...

Thanks for any thoughts/suggestions,
Matt
 
Finally, just tonight, I had the system turned off---note that I did not
unplug it, nor did I flip the switch on the back of the power
supply---and when I put a new NIC card in a PCI slot, the machine turned
on!

this will happen on ATX mainboards.
if I understand you, that you merely turned off the front power switch and did NOT turn off the rear PSU switch nor unplugged from
the wall.

some network testing, and the max outgoing transfer rate I can achieve
is 1.92 Mbps (on a 100 Mbps network). I've tried three different NICs,
new cables, etc. I don't think it's a software problem.
Click to expand...

What does the bios say about your voltages?
Do you have all the same brand NIC's in the LAN or multiple? Are you using 'auto sensing or set speed to manual?
 
this will happen on ATX mainboards. if I understand you, that you
merely turned off the front power switch and did NOT turn off the rear
PSU switch nor unplugged from the wall.
Click to expand...

Yup, I did exactly that. That's interesting.
What does the bios say about your voltages?
Click to expand...

They are all normal.
Do you have all the same brand NIC's in the LAN or multiple? Are you
using 'auto sensing or set speed to manual?
Click to expand...

No, not all NICs are the same, but I've tried three different ones in
the suspect box. I've tried new cables, by-passing the switch, and both
auto-sensing and manual media settings.

Thanks again,
Matt
 
Do NOT add or remove components from a P4 computer without turning OFF the
switch on the back of the computer (power supply) OR unplugging the
computer. The motherboard is "live" electrically ALL THE TIME in P4
computers. You can do some real motherboard damage otherwise.

And it sounds like you've got a ground fault in your system, that's causing
the strange problems.
 
And it sounds like you've got a ground fault in your system, that's
causing the strange problems.
Click to expand...

Is there any easy method for verifying that my problem is in fact a
ground fault?

Would the power supply be the component most likely to be guilty of
causing a ground fault?

Thanks,
Matt
 
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