Might not be getting enough power to PC, any ideas.

[JFuller]

My first post here, hoping for some other opinions.

I just moved from the US over to Okinawa, Japan. I'm currently living in military barracks. I unpacked my PC last night, hooked it up and tried to boot it up.

The PC turns on, but doesn't boot up. The light on the power button is supposed to be green, but is instead an amber color. The same goes for the LCD monitor, it too, is amber colored instead of green.

A little more background on the issue. A few months ago, I was having an issue of the computer shutting off while I was playing video games on it. Sometimes, just the monitor would go black, with the light on it turning to amber, and other times, the whole computer would freeze. I figured it was the power supply not being able to keep up with my new video card, so I picked up a 400W power supply. I installed the power supply and everything worked fine, up until now.

I've popped open the case and powered up the PC. The video card is getting power, as the fan is moving on it, as is the fan on the motherboard. I also hear the hard drives working, and the CD and DVD drives work also.

I've tried plugging it into other outlets in the room. I've used 3 different surge protectors. I've even tried plugging it directly into the wall without a surge protector.

The room has an air conditioner, a refridgerator, a dehumidfier, and a microwave in it. They all work fine, and I've even tried unplugging all of them to see if the PC would boot fine, but to no avail. All the outlets look like US outlets, being a military base.

Here are my specs, if it will help.

Gateway P4 2.26 GHz 756MB RDRAM
ATI Radeon X800 256MB
Ultra 400W Power Supply

The PC worked perfectly right before I packed it up, and it arrived completely undamaged, as it was bubblewrapped all to hell. I've double checked all the connections to the PC, and all the connections inside of it. For some reason I just think that it's not getting enough power to it.

Any suggestions?

 

[Mr. Switch]

do the japanese have more or less power running through their elecrical lines? if its the same as the US, than its a bad PSU. next PSU you buy, go for something of high quality like an OCZ modstream.

 

[JFuller]

On base it's the same as the US. Last night, I unhooked EVERYTHING and put it back together again, very meticulously. Now, when I plug the cable into the power supply, the green light on my motherboard turns on like it's getting a power current and when I push the power button on the front of my PC, it turns amber colored, but now nothing turns on. No fans from the power supply, no hard drives booting up, no fan for the processor, no video card fan. NOTHING. I've double and triple checked that everything is plugged in to where it needs to be.

The power supply isn't that old, just a few months old. Does this sound like a bad power supply? Very coincedental that it happened as soon as I hooked it up over here. It was working perfectly before being packed up.

 

[Counter-Strike]

Bad PSU. Get a new one, post your specs and Ill recommend a couple.

 

[Zeuskotg]

could it be that the Computer is not getting enough power. Being outside of the US, you might have to change the switch on the PSU from 115v to 230v or whatever it is.

 

[JFuller]

OK, I bought a new PSU today and hooked it up......same problems. The motherboard light turns green when I plug the power cable into the PSU, and when I push the power button on the front of the case, the button turns amber. No fans kick on to anything, even the PSU.

IF the processor isn't seated correctly, will it stop everything from turning on? Even the PSU fan? Everything worked perfectly before moving overseas, I still keep thinking something got jarred around, but I've unhooked and rehooked everything several times.......AAARGH!

 

[Duke C]

hello,
I would try to unhook everything and turn it on. Hook up one thing up at a time. See if that tells you anything. Good luck