The network is down

I guess I've been looking for excuses to post, but something got in the way. I actually got around to fixing my desktop PC. So instead its because the network at work is down.

It actually worked for quite a while. I mean, back in Australia. Hummed like a chior without a fault. Well anyway, it didn't quite make the trip here unscathed. There were plenty of loose things here and there. I didn't check all of them.

So after a while, I fried the motherboard. There was actually smoke coming out of it somewhere. That was about 2 months ago now. Since I had nothing else to do, I bought another one. Obviously doing what was super quality work, I installed it. The CPU fan didn't fit anymore, so I cut bits off it so it at least had contact with the CPU. Not ideal, but that measn that the motherboard can't go vertical with the case. Therefore it sits on the floor. Also, it doesn't need to be bolted down to the case, so, me being me, didn't bolt it down.

Another mistake.

My new flatmate is moving in with me soon, so I had to move all my stuff out of that room. During the move, something came loose, and kinda went under the motherboard. So after I'd moved it, it wouldn't start again. Usually I like problem solving, in fact, its one of the big things that I miss as part of my old job. But this was a problem I couldn't really find a solution to since there was only really one symptom. The system wasn't powering up.

This was the same symptom I got on my old motherboard, but without the smoke. Normally I'm the one who tells people to RTFM, so I tried to take my own advice. I went to the troubleshooting part of the motherboard manual. 'Check to see whether the motherboard is short circuited'. I checked. 'Unplug everything with only the power supply and see.' I saw. Since I didn't really get any further than that, I naturally assumed I'd done the same thing again, and out I went to buy another motherboard, this time, as cheap as I could find.

Same issue again. No, it couldn't be the motherboard right? Well, what comes before the motherboard? Oh thats right, the knee bone power supply. I took my time getting this one, since I thought I was spending way too much money on this and if I did end up getting it working again, I'd just spend lots more time playing games. However, a friend convinced me to. He needs some help with his MMORPG character.

So back I went and installed this brand spanking new power supply.

It failed =( What could possibly be wrong?!?!

I'm lucky I have a laptop to play around with as well, otherwise I would be totally screwed. So the first thing I thought could be a problem now was the power switch. Maybe I yanked it too hard and it broke.

So I googled atx power switches and so forth. That didn't last long - making a new switch was thrown in the "too hard" basket, and it was a long shot anyway.

Next - testing the power supply. It took a bit more googling to find that some people happen to use the power supply for non-computer purposes. Don't ask me what - I wouldn't know. But they wanted to know how to 'turn on a power supply without a power switch'. Apparently you just short a couple of wires in the ATX power cable thing. Specifically, the green one and any of the black ones. They suggested a paper clip to help with the job.

I didn't have any paperclips, but conviniently remembered that my parents, aunts and uncles told me never to stick cutlery in power points, and in the case of my grandmother, toasters. (What? Sometimes those little toasties get stuck because they pop out at the wrong angle!) 5 minutes later i'm sitting on the floor of my bedroom sticking forks into a power supply in an apartment to which only I have the key in a country where nobody would really notice if I went missing.

Not that the ridiculousness of the situation was on my mind at the time. With the benefit of hindsight, that was probably a bad idea.

It wasn't all that bad though. I've had worse shocks in primary school when kids would deliberately rub their socks on the floor and me around to give an electric shock. It also helped to prove that the power supply was absolutely fine. Both of them. Fan started spinning, and apparently electricity was flowing.

Back to the motherboards then.

Pull out the motherboards from the case, attach it to the power supply, and then short the power switch with a fork. Easy enough right? Yes, actually. The CPU fan starts spinning. Right. So its not the motherboard... back to the switches.

I plugged the switch into the appropriate position on the motherboard while it was still outside the case, lying on the floor of my room.

Whhiiiiirrrrrr....

Seriously considering leaving all the hardware sitting out on the floor while I went back to playing games, I went back on MSN for a break. Who ever thought that shorting your power supply and motherboards with a fork would be so much work?

Later on I found the problem. It was a bit of metal from a SATA cable that fell off when I moved it. It was under the motherboard and was shorting it! Argh.