[RESOLVED] PSU or MOBO ?

[wojo629]

HP Pavilion A520N
WXP Home SP2

Strange problem: The indicator light on PSU blinks rapidly. When I disconnect from MOBO, light stays on green.

PC will not boot up, does nothing except for fast blink on PSU.

No hardware changes. Had cleaned interior, using ESD precautions. PC was acting a little strange prior- no internet connection.

Any ideas? Need more info, let me know. I'm stumped.

Thanks.

Battery on MOBO bad/dead?

[jseidel]

Open the case and look on the motherboard to see if any capacitors are bulging or even leaking electrolyte. There was a generation of HP motherboards that were plagued with this problem (Bad Caps) and no boot is a common symptom. See this site for more information:
http://www.badcaps.net/
If you see any caps that are bulging or leaking, probably the motherboard has gone bad. If so you will have to contact HP for replacement as the OEM version of Windows may not boot on a new motherboard as it recognizes a new machine. The recovery program probably will not run either.
J.

[Shinma]

Unfortunately, along with what has been posted already,
It could be the PSU as well,
Since a number of the tier-one manufacturers install just enough for the system and no more...

[jdc2000]

Is the model an a520n or an a1520n? If the it is latter, it should be a relatively new PC, and probably still under warranty. An a1520n should not have any bad capacitors, but a power supply problem is a definite possibility. Sometimes a power supply failure can also take out the motherboard as well.

[SuperSparks]

If you have, or can borrow, a multimeter, here's how to test a power supply:

Testing PSU voltages

Or alternatively you can buy a proper PSU tester, they don't cost much:

PSU Tester

ATX12V PSU Tester

[wojo629]

Thanks for the responses and the tips.

This was solved late last night. MOBO is fine. PSU is fine.

The problem, as strange as it may sound was with the DVD drive. After unplugging various items the blinking stopped. As soon as I plugged power back into DVD, blinking started again. So, with PC powered down and AC supply shut off I opened the DVD drawer using a paper clip, opened all the way out and then closed it. Powered up and everything was fine. Love the easy fixes!

[SuperSparks]

Excellent, I'm glad you got it sorted out That certainly was an unusual fix.