[Sxefied]

I have a Gateway FX6000series pc currently and i guess last night while i was sleeping it shut off on its own. Now this morning when i went to turn it on it wouldnt start. Iv checked if the problem is with the power cord or the outlet but both of those work fine. Iv checked to make sure everything is hooked up, though i have not opened it to look inside. This has happened to me once before when i was moving from my old house to residence. Turned off the computer, packed it in the original box, brought it to the new place, and then when i hooked everything up it wouldnt start. Last time after several hours it just suddenly started working again when i tried the power button. Unfortunately its already been almost 4 hours now and still wont work.

I'm running Windows Vista, ATI Radeon(though not sure which), Intel core inside i7(this is just what the sticker says on the front). I dont know much else about it since i dont bother myself with those things. I have had it for about a year and a half and these problems started very recently, i think the first time was about 2-3 weeks ago.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and sorry if another forum would be more suiting for this problem. I may be able to provide some more info about the computer if needed.
Thanks

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When you say your pc turned off by itself, dis you have it programmed to do that or it is suppose to stay on and it just closed by itself, did you experience any BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) lately.

When you say it does not start anymore do you mean:

1- nothing happens, no light, no beeps and no fans turning
2- fans turn, light are on but your screen remain black
3- You see the bios post but it does not boot into Windows

If nothing at all is happening when you press the power switch the first thing to check is your power cord (switch it with another if you can) then switch your PSU (power supply unit) with a known working one to see if yours is fried, do you have a burnt smell coming from your PSU.

Other reasons for nothing happening when pressing the power button is a damage motherboard or a burnt Processor or both.

If you do get lights and fan running but nothing else, it could still be your PSU the problem but it is not fried it is just damage. It also could be hardware problem (ram, Video card, HD ect).

Have you made any hardware changes to your computer lately.

Edited by Alzeimer, 14 September 2010 - 12:13 PM.

[Alzeimer]

When you say your pc turned off by itself, dis you have it programmed to do that or it is suppose to stay on and it just closed by itself, did you experience any BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) lately.

When you say it does not start anymore do you mean:

1- nothing happens, no light, no beeps and no fans turning
2- fans turn, light are on but your screen remain black
3- You see the bios post but it does not boot into Windows

If nothing at all is happening when you press the power switch the first thing to check is your power cord (switch it with another if you can) then switch your PSU (power supply unit) with a known working one to see if yours is fried, do you have a burnt smell coming from your PSU.

Other reasons for nothing happening when pressing the power button is a damage motherboard or a burnt Processor or both.

If you do get lights and fan running but nothing else, it could still be your PSU the problem but it is not fried it is just damage. It also could be hardware problem (ram, Video card, HD ect).

Have you made any hardware changes to your computer lately.

Edited by Alzeimer, 14 September 2010 - 12:13 PM.

[Sxefied]

Alzeimer.
I mean that it turned off on its own, i was sleeping so i'm unsure if there was a BSOD, and i have never had a problem a blue screen before. It was not schedualed for any updates or to shutoff, it stays on pretty much forever.

When i say it does not start anymore i mean nothing happens. No lights, no noise, no hint that its trying at all. Though oddly the fan will sometimes make some sound as if its start(just one fan from the sounds of it), this however does not happen when i am trying to start it. It's just sometimes and usually a few minutes after i have pressed the power button.

Im going to swap the power cord to another one that i know works, and even use the current cord on a working machine. If this yields no answers or results ill check my PSU and update here once i know.

Thanks

[Sxefied]

Changing power cords, or power outlets did not do anything. I have everything unplugged but the power and now the amber led on the power button is flashing slowly.

[Alzeimer]

I would suggest resetting your CMOS and booting with the bare minimum (Video card, one stick of RAM) unplug everything else (HD, CD/DVD, unplug any addon card your have)

To reset your CMOS open your case and near your round battery you should have the pins to reset (pin 2 -3 shorted) or normal (pin 1 -2 shorted) unplug your PC and reset your CMOS by leaving the jumper in for about 30 seconds to be sure then replace in its original position.

Plug your power back and try to boot, if it works and you can boot go into your BIOS to set your date and time correctly and any other BIOS setting that you had changed before. Shut down your pc and plug your HD and try to boot and load Windows Vista. If you can then slowly put back one piece at a time back into your computer.

[phillpower2]

My suggestion would be to get yourself a known working psu before you do anything, loan one if you can this way it may be possible to identify your own psu quickly as being the problem.

This has happened to me once before when i was moving from my old house to residence

Does your psu have a voltage switch on the rear which could have possibly been moved slightly from the 110v to 230v position, another possibility is that something has become partially unseated/disconnected inside the case.
As you will need to open your case to check inside remove the power cord from the wall 1st, look for any loose connections from the psu particularly the 4 pin 12v atx power supply and the 20/24 pin mainboard power supply.
If everything looks secure, make notes of where all connections from the present psu go to and only then remove the psu and connect up the spare, use the opportunity to make sure the inside of the case is clean and free of any heat trapping dust, this includes all fans, remove any add on cards, blow out the slots and then reseat the card/s securely then do the same with the Ram.
The information I could find on the Gateway FX6000 series doesn`t tell you much about the psu specs, some are 500W some 750W and one model had a 1000W fitted, no reference to psu brand names, but as it is a Gateway unless the psu has previously been upgraded it may be a poor quality generic one or something like a bestec.
You could 1st try the advice given by Alzeimer regarding clearing the CMOS, and it would be great if it resolved the issue but Im leaning towards a psu/power issue.

[Sxefied]

I have yet to try the cmos suggested to me, but i have gone through and made sure all connections to the psu are secure. The psu is the 450W (500max)FSP Group and the model number i have for it does not even show up on there website. The green light on the motherboard will turn on when i plug the computer in as will the amber light on the power button(this light is only sometimes). In the past this thing has been incredibly loud for several minutes at a time and then go back to being quite for bit. Come to think of it i dont think it has done that since i moved to residence either.

[phillpower2]

The green light illuminating only shows that there is "some" power getting to the MB and
the amber light on the power switch working erratically may suggest the psu is faulty/dead.
The loud noise may have been the fan on the psu failing and with it being left on overnight
it has possibly overheated, as I suggested I would not do any more testing with the FSP psu
attached it is too risky, remove it and try a known good one.
There is no conclusive way of testing a psu without it being under load and without the right
equipment so it is a job best left to a suitably qualified person, you can however test the
psu yourself to see if is at least capable of switching on, you can do this by shorting the
green and a black connections on the 20/24 power connector, do this after you have removed
the psu from the case, I have attached a link to guide you through the procedure;
http://www.smpspower...rs-pinouts.html

Below is the canned text of Digerati regarding psu testing;

To properly and conclusively test a power supply unit (PSU), it must be tested under various realistic "loads" then analyzed for excessive ripple and other anomalies. This is done by a qualified technician using an oscilloscope or power analyzer - sophisticated (and expensive) electronic test equipment requiring special training to operate, and a basic knowledge of electronics theory to understand the results. Therefore, conclusively testing a power supply is done in properly equipped electronic repair facilities.

Fortunately, there are other options that are almost as good. I keep a FrozenCPU Ultimate PSU Tester in my tool bag when I am "in the field" and don't have a good spare power supply to swap in. While not a certain test, they are better than nothing. The advantage of this model is that it has an LCD readout of the voltage. With an actual voltage readout, you have a better chance of detecting a "failing" PSU, or one barely within specified ATX Form Factor Standard tolerances. Lesser models use LEDs to indicate the voltage is just within some "range". These are less informative, considerably cheaper, but still useful for detecting PSUs that have already "failed". Newegg has several testers to choose from. All these testers contain a "dummy load" to fool the PSU into thinking it is connected to a motherboard, and therefore allows the PSU to power on, if able, without being attached to a motherboard - great for testing fans, but again, it is not a true load or suitable for conclusive testing.

Swapping in a known good supply is a tried and trued method of troubleshooting, used for years even by pros. If you have access to a suitably sized, spare power supply, carefully remove the suspect supply and replace it with a known good one and see if the problem goes away.

I do not recommend using a multimeter to test power supplies. To do it properly, that is, under a realistic load, the voltages on all the pins must be measured while the PSU is attached to the motherboard and the computer powered on. This requires poking (with some considerable force) two hard and sharp, highly conductive meter probes into the main power connector, deep in the heart of the computer. One tiny slip can destroy the motherboard, and everything plugged into it. It is not worth the risk considering most multimeters, like plug-in testers, do not measure, or reveal any unwanted and potentially disruptive AC components to the DC voltages.

Note the required voltage tolerance ranges:

And remember, anything that plugs into the wall can kill. Do not open the power supply's case unless you are a qualified electronics technician. There are NO user serviceable parts inside a power supply.

Thanks to Digerati for the above information.