came home today and my unraid server was off. pushing the power button does not start it up.

when machine is plugged in and the ethernet cable is plugged in there are lights on the on-board network adapter.

 

I opened the machine up and two diodes are lit on the motherboard.

When I try to start the machine, no fans spin, nothing happens.

 

When I push the button on the power supply (cosair 850W), and flip it back to on...and then press the power button on the machine, the fans try to spin like two revolutions and then stops dead.

 

I'm thinking it is the power supply? or the motherboard?

 

Thanks in advance. This machine has been pretty stable since I built it in 2/2010. It stays on 24/7.

I was running UnRaid 4.7

 

 

The best way to check is whack another PSU on the mainboard and see what happens.

 

You can try turning on the PSU without the motherboard.

 

 

do that at your own risk, i would recommend completly removing the PSU from the computer incase something goes wrong!

That still won't tell you 100% for sure as there is no load on the PSU.

thank  you for your reply.

If I am buying another power supply and plan to have at most 20 "green" drives on it,

will I reduce some heating issues with a lower watt power supply and still be ok to power all my drives?

 

basically, how big of a power supply do i need and will a lower wattage one be cooler.

 

 

Check your warranty? That corsair might be a 5year warranty.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

See here for advice on sizing your power supply. If you don't have a power supply tester then you could also take your power supply to a local computer shop and ask them to test it for you (but make sure they aren't going to charge much!). But before doing any of this, you should just reseat (unplug and re-plug) all the power supply connections to the motherboard and other components.

Rajahal, yes I just saw your thread on the power supply board.

 

Does it sound like my power supply to u? I did open the case and reseat things. I thought it was the answer when the fans moved for a split second, but no go.

 

 

It sounds more like a bad connection to me, but if you've already reseated everything then possibly the PSU itself is bad.

 

Have you added a new drive or any other new hardware recently?

 

Here's another test to run:

 

1) Disconnect all drives and other components such that only the motherboard is getting power.

2) Try to boot the server.

 

If the PSU is at or near its limits, then reducing the strain on it could bring it back to life. Of course your server won't be usable without any drives connected, this is just a test to see if the PSU is still capable of supporting a low to modest load. If it does work without any drives, then try reconnecting 1-2 drives at a time to find the point at which it fails to boot.

thank  you for your reply.

If I am buying another power supply and plan to have at most 20 "green" drives on it,

will I reduce some heating issues with a lower watt power supply and still be ok to power all my drives?

 

basically, how big of a power supply do i need and will a lower wattage one be cooler.

for 20 green drives you need a single 12 volt rail capable of ( 2 amps * 20 drives ) + 5 amps in capacity.    In other words, at least 45 Amps of capacity on the single 12 volt rail.  Multi-rail supplies usually do NOT work, as ONLY one rail is dedicated to the disks, and the others to the CPU and PCIe video cards.

 

A larger supply is not likely to save or cost much different in energy costs.  They all tend to be between 85 and 90% efficient, and the losses are pretty constant when un-loaded.

What motherboard is it?

 

You could just disconnect the motherboard (20/24-pin and 4/8-pin connector) and hardand trying to switch on the power supply.

 

http://4volt.com/Blog/archive/2009/03/12/howto-hotwire-a-pc-power-supply.aspx

 

It could be either mobo or PSU, my guess would be the PSU.

my motherboard is:

 

SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SBE LGA 775 Intel 3210 ATX Intel Xeon/Core 2/Pentium/Celeron Server Motherboard

Shoot. Replaced power supply and still the same thing. It has to be my motherboard now right?

Hmm, sounds like it. Your only recourse is to reseat everything, again. If you still have no luck, then RMA or replace the motherboard.

Dang it! New mobo did not solve the problem. I'm out of ideas. Please help. I've done all the above suggestions as well.

Dang it! New mobo did not solve the problem. I'm out of ideas. Please help. I've done all the above suggestions as well.

Deep breath...

 

Now. Start with the basics. Unplug EVERYTHING from the motherboard. Inside and out. All I/O cards, etc, even the RAM, but leave the CPU. Unplug everything from the power supply, all drives, fans, backplanes, etc. Plug the PSU back into the motherboard, make sure all motherboard power is plugged in, make sure CPU fan is plugged into the motherboard, then hook up the power switch, turn on the AC on the back of the PSU and hit the power button. You should get power on, and it should stay running. The motherboard should beep the memory error code. If the motherboard doesn't have an onboard speaker (almost all do now) you also need to plug in the speaker. Assuming you get a memory code, power down with the switch on the back of the PSU, and install the memory, plug in your monitor, and try powering back up. You should get the boot splash screen and a no boot device error.

 

Post back with your results.

Dang it! New mobo did not solve the problem. I'm out of ideas. Please help. I've done all the above suggestions as well.

All it would take is one device drawing too much current for the power supply to shut itself down in self protection.

 

It could be a power cable shorting to the case, or a defective fan, memory strip, disk controller card, or even a single disk.  The key now is to isolate everything as described and then add one item at a time.

 

 

okay.

i have a Norco 4220 case.

 

When I remove all connections from the power supply, the computer starts up. ( dont have it connected to a monitor)

 

When I insert the ide? connections from the Norco backplane to the power supply, the computer does not boot.

I have 15 hdd connected and it looks like all the "rows" reproduce the problem when connected to the power supply.

 

so...to me it seems to be the case so far since the problem happens with any set of hdds.

 

now what? call norco for a new backplane?

 

new case?

 

thank you all. making progress and learning.

What happens when you pull the disks? What PSUs are you using now? Do any fans start? Are there fans directly connected to the PSU and do they start?

okay.

i have a Norco 4220 case.

 

When I remove all connections from the power supply, the computer starts up. ( dont have it connected to a monitor)

 

When I insert the ide? connections from the Norco backplane to the power supply, the computer does not boot.

I have 15 hdd connected and it looks like all the "rows" reproduce the problem when connected to the power supply.

 

so...to me it seems to be the case so far since the problem happens with any set of hdds.

 

now what? call norco for a new backplane?

 

new case?

 

thank you all. making progress and learning.

 

How do you know it's booting correctly with no disks? Try attaching a drive directly to the MB or HBA, bypassing the backplane.

The fans start when directly connected to the power supply. I have an entirely new PS installed. Nothing starts when I have the disks/backplanes plugged in the power supply.

 

I will have to try to connect a disk directly to the mobo.

Did you install the same type PSU? Do the motherboard and fans start with only backplanes connected without disks?

I installed a different brand psu. I will try to disconnect the drives and try to start it. Good ideas. But all the backplanes kill it when connected. Lord help me if more than one drive has died.

I pulled all the disk and tried to start it. It will not start if any of the backplanes are connected. Are all 5 backplanes independent or are they connected somehow? I also tested with cables that are know to work (used the one to power the fan assembly). I also tested with the hdd controller cards pulled. It is always when the backplanes are plugged in that the fans and computer will not start up.

Have't got such a case myself. But are you sure the PSU is compatible?

I pulled all the disk and tried to start it. It will not start if any of the backplanes are connected. Are all 5 backplanes independent or are they connected somehow? I also tested with cables that are know to work (used the one to power the fan assembly). I also tested with the hdd controller cards pulled. It is always when the backplanes are plugged in that the fans and computer will not start up.

If the back-planes can be independently plugged in, find out which is preventing the power supply from starting.  (disconnect all but one at a time)

 

Then, once you know which, If the back-planes can be dis-assembled, you might try removing each in turn looking for stray pieces of metal/wire/screws/hardware/washers, etc.  That's all it would take to short out a power bus.    It is possible that vibration caused something to vibrate/move to where it would short out the back of the back-plane.  (or equally possible a stray  two-year-old decided the slots on the top of the server looked exactly like those on their piggy-bank, and started feeding in pennies...  )

 

Joe L.

They can be plugged in independently. The thing is, plugging in *any* of them prevents the fans from spinning. 

 

And I do have a 2 year old.