Shut down my PC to swap a drive, will not even POST now

[Cyber Akuma]

Well, this has been giving me stomach cramps. 
 
I have one main desktop so this being down is a huge issue for me. Normally I leave it on all the time as it's always in use, but I needed to replace one of the drives (not even the OS drive) so I shut it down, cloned the drive, and put the new one back in.... and after that the system is utterly dead. 
 
This is what the configuration was like when I built it originally, some of the parts have been upgraded/replaced since (GPU replaced with a single 1070, OS drives upgraded to 1TB ones, and an additional SSD which is what I was replacing), but all the major parts are still the same: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Cyber_Akuma/saved/BBvV3C 
 
Pressing the power button makes all the lights and fans on the system itself come on, but almost none of my USB peripherals light up (such as mouse and keyboard) and there is no display on the screen, nor any POST beeps. Many of the times when I tried turning it on it will turn on like this for about 10 seconds, shut off for about 10, then turn on again. Sometimes it refuses to turn OFF too and keeps coming back on when I try to turn it off. The motherboard has a POST code display, but it usually just says a code for "configuration error" although removing different cards got me different codes sometimes. 
 
I tried removing the new drive, removing the GPU, soundcard, raid card, etc but no difference. I tried holding down the CMOS reset button and even removing the battery, still no difference. 
 
I am not sure what to do at this point, seems like it is either the PSU or the Motherboard, but I have no idea which nor do I really have any tools to test them. If it's the motherboard that is going to be a huge nightmare as not only can I not find any of the same model on eBay that would not cost $500 in shipping from Russia or are from China and sketchy, but I also had a RAID0 run by the motherboard that I am not sure how I would recover (Yes I have backups, but I would like to try to get the most current data if I can) and since the Windows installed on that system was OEM I might have to purchase another key if I have to replace the motherboard. 
 
Any suggestions or ideas on what could be wrong or what I can try to do? This was really bad timing, had several things I wanted to finish on it before December was over.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

Try resetting BIOS battery. This can fix so many problems.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

when you initially swapped the drive, did you physically move the computer? i'm wondering if something shorted. Also, when you swapped the drive, did you unplug the PSU prior to removing the drive?

 

try reseating the RAM, too.

 

at this point, i'd just dismantle the whole thing and plug in the bare minimum to get it to POST. reseat the RAM, the CPU, the cooler, and make sure all the cables are connected tightly.

[Cyber Akuma]

1 hour ago, Mindovermaster said:

Try resetting BIOS battery. This can fix so many problems.

I already tried removing the battery and the CMOS reset button.

 

1 hour ago, Jason S. said:

when you initially swapped the drive, did you physically move the computer? i'm wondering if something shorted. Also, when you swapped the drive, did you unplug the PSU prior to removing the drive?

 

try reseating the RAM, too.

 

at this point, i'd just dismantle the whole thing and plug in the bare minimum to get it to POST. reseat the RAM, the CPU, the cooler, and make sure all the cables are connected tightly.

No, the drive was in a hot-swap bay my case has, but I still shut it down before swapping it. And I didn't unplug the PSU, but my system is set to fully shut down, not hibernate or fastboot on shutdown.

 

The RAM is hard to reach without removing the heatsink, and if I did that I would destroy this special thermal compound I used years ago, so I would like to make having to do anything involving removing the heatsink as a last resort if I can.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

Just now, Cyber Akuma said:

The RAM is hard to reach without removing the heatsink, and if I did that I would destroy this special thermal compound I used years ago, so I would like to make having to do anything involving removing the heatsink as a last resort if I can.

well, then skip that part for now and reseat the rest of the components. just install the bare minimum and see if it POSTs

[+Warwagon MVC]

Also try removing all power from the system and holding down the power button for 30 seconds. Then try powering it back on.

 

I had a system that just like you I left it on 24/7. Then one day I turned it off to dust it out, when I went to go turn it back on.. Nothing, dead! I was like Fuuuuuuuuk, In my case it was the PSU.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Do you have the P8Z77-V as indicated by that pcpartpicker link because....

 

I'm confused by the ...

 

"POST code display, but it usually just says a code for 'configuration error' although removing different cards got me different codes sometimes. "

 

...is that displayed on the monitor, but then you said "no display on the screen"?

 

The P8Z77-V doesn't have a post code display on the board.  It does have post LEDs which will stay lit if the board fails CPU, DRAM, VGA or boot device (refer to page 2-17 of the manual).  Just curious where these post codes are coming from and if any of the post state LEDs stay lit.  No beeps either...is there an onboard speaker hooked up?

 

Have you bypassed the dedicated GPU (GTX 670?) by plugging the monitor directly into the back of the motherboard?

 

As others have said...might just have to go down to the bare minimum, CPU, one stick of memory and that's it....to see if you can at least get into the BIOS.

[Cyber Akuma]

It has a two-digit segmented display on the board itself, you can see it near the bottom-right of the board.

 

And yes there is a speaker hooked up.

 

As said, I have a 1070 now, but I tried disconnecting it but not even my keyboard and mouse are lighting up.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

33 minutes ago, Cyber Akuma said:

It has a two-digit segmented display on the board itself, you can see it near the bottom-right of the board.

 

And yes there is a speaker hooked up.

 

As said, I have a 1070 now, but I tried disconnecting it but not even my keyboard and mouse are lighting up.

argh...my bad.  I was looking at the non-Deluxe version ... that's what I get for trying to help while doing it from the phone.

 

I would say that it is a bad thing if your keyboard/mouse aren't even getting power (leads me to believe mobo and/or PSU).  As mentioned by others ... I would break it down to just the bare bones (mobo, CPU, one stick...everything else disconnected) and see what happens.  Check with everything removed if the Q-Code stops at a particular error or if any other post LEDs stay lit (2-21 of the manual).  

 

Weird that this happened with just a drive swap ... especially in a swappable bay. 

[Joe User]

For laughs, just unplug  everything coming out of the PSU.  Take a coffee break, then plug them all back in. Reset your CMOS. Then try to power it on.

 

While you're unplugging, check the cables for stiffness or wear.

 

[ThaCrip]

Like others already mentioned.... clearing CMOS (and removing CR2032 battery) is probably a good idea along with leaving the computer completely unplugged from the wall for a while (say at least 10min, maybe even longer to help ensure everything is completely good in this regard) as I have heard random things can be occasionally fixed by doing something very simple like this even though this stuff generally does not cross ones mind (in fact, unplugging power cord from the wall for a while and plugging it back in fixed a old TV I had years ago that we thought was pretty much shot).

 

my guess is that's probably not a fix for you but it's best to try something very simple like that to rule it out.

 

do you have another computer near you so you can try that PSU on your main PC's motherboard? ; because that would be a worthwhile test IF you happen to have another desktop computers PSU you can try in it as it will help rule out if the PSU is at fault.

 

p.s. you got a CMOS reset button? ; maybe I am out of date but my motherboard, which I had since May 2012, has a jumper on it to clear the CMOS which you remove and install to another prong temporarily and then switch it back to original position.

[helpifIcan]

PS' love to not come back to life on a 7/24 machine. If you have a meter check all the outputs. If not try a different PS either new with some store that has a liberal return policy or from a friend.

I always keep a cheap PS around just for these kind of situations.

Good luck.

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

 

As @Joe User noted, an internal cable (or card) may have become dislodged while you were working inside of the PC.

Power down, and try very carefully unplugging/re-plugging all of the internal cables, take care to do all of the "non-obvious" ones, like supplemental the PCIe power power cables to the video card, wiring to the power button/reset button/LED activity cluster for the case, and so forth.  If something did get loosened while the system was being worked on, this should fix it.  Make sure all expansion cards and RAM are firmly seated in their slots, too.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

[+Warwagon MVC]

2 hours ago, helpifIcan said:

PS' love to not come back to life on a 7/24 machine. If you have a meter check all the outputs. If not try a different PS either new with some store that has a liberal return policy or from a friend.

I always keep a cheap PS around just for these kind of situations.

Good luck.

Yep, i'm blessed, running a computer repair business and have spare parts coming out my ears in my workshop for troubleshooting. 

[Cyber Akuma]

Going by all the responses so far, I guess my first source of action should be to get another PSU, and possibly a PSU tester as well. I really hope it's the PSU that's the issue and not the Motherboard.

 

28 minutes ago, goretsky said:

As @Joe User noted, an internal cable (or card) may have become dislodged while you were working inside of the PC.

 

I actually didn't go inside the PC or even open it, the drive I replaced was in a hot-swap bay.

[Joe User]

3 hours ago, Cyber Akuma said:

Going by all the responses so far, I guess my first source of action should be to get another PSU, and possibly a PSU tester as well. I really hope it's the PSU that's the issue and not the Motherboard.

 

 

I actually didn't go inside the PC or even open it, the drive I replaced was in a hot-swap bay.

What was your power state when you swapped it? Were you plugged in?

 

[Cyber Akuma]

23 minutes ago, Joe User said:

What was your power state when you swapped it? Were you plugged in?

 

It was plugged in but shot down, the PSU switch was still on (forgot to turn that off) but the SATA port was set to hot-swap and it was in a hot-swap bay.

[Joe User]

2 hours ago, Cyber Akuma said:

It was plugged in but shot down, the PSU switch was still on (forgot to turn that off) but the SATA port was set to hot-swap and it was in a hot-swap bay.

It couldn't hurt to wiggle the cables, but honestly, it sounds like you're out of luck. Most likely power supply or motherboard has issues.

[d.jazzman]

I had a similar problem recently. Replaced battery and even the power supply. The problem ended up being a failure with the case's top usb/sound ports.  Disconnecting them from the motherboard fixed it.

[Cyber Akuma]

  

1 hour ago, d.jazzman said:

I had a similar problem recently. Replaced battery and even the power supply. The problem ended up being a failure with the case's top usb/sound ports.  Disconnecting them from the motherboard fixed it.

 

The motherboard does have it's own power/reset buttons, I could also try disconnecting all the case's ports and see if that works.

[Steven P. Administrators]

When this happened to me, I discovered I plugged the SPDIF connector in the wrong port on my AORUS Z390 Pro Wifi, but yeah in this instance, the case was not opened, so it can only be something that has started failing I think, like the PSU  

[Cyber Akuma]

Yeah, but to be fair I kind of HOPE it's the PSU. If the PSU went bad that's not too much trouble to fix. Yeah, I would have to re-apply about a hundred wires, but at least it will just run like normal again (though I am a little worried about my RAID since I reset my CMOS, hopefully it can still work) but if it's not the PSU then replacing the motherboard is going to be a LOT of work and less likely for my RAID to be safe.