Re: Upgrade failure

[Chuck Swiger <cswiger%mac.com@localhost>]

On Jan 17, 2011, at 3:35 PM, Paul Goyette wrote:
> However, on the next boot, the box locked up solid.  I mean SOLID!  It 
> doesn't even turn on the fans any more, and it won't even start the power-on 
> self-test.  I pulled the battery and tried to reset the BIOS settings, but 
> that did not work either.
> 
> Does anyone have any clue about how loading the acpixxx modules could have 
> confused the box so thoroughly?  And is there any hope of getting it 
> operational again?  (I've tried complete removal of power, as well as 
> removing the BIOS battery, but no luck.)

The symptoms sound like the PSU isn't asserting PWR_OK, so the motherboard 
never tries to fire up the system-- no CPU or other fans driven from the 3-pin 
MB connectors will spin up, and you won't get POST or BIOS.

That's most commonly a wiring issue (loose 20/24-pin ATX connector or aux 
connector), or possibly the PSU or motherboard failed.  It's unlikely to be 
anything related to the software changes you were making.  Swapping PSUs or 
moving the hard drive you were working on to another machine would be 
reasonable starting points for testing, although if you have an ATX PSU tester 
handy, this would be a good time to try it out.

Regards,
-- 
-Chuck