I traded my cousin some really expensive RAM that I happened accross for his old desktop, that he put his graphics card into that he swapped from his newer computer. If I plug the desktop into the wall and try to turn it on nothing happens. If I open it up I can see that the where the wire from the power supply plugs into the motherboard there Is a little light on. So clearly some power is getting somewhere…
How do I go about trouble shooting this, and what tools do I need? I assume at minimum a multi meter? Not really sure what to do, it’s been decades the last time I built a computer.
Do the fans spin up at all?
No, that’s probably what’s so alarming. You expect fan noise, but nothing spins.
Make sure the power button is connected to the board. Use the diagram in this PDF to locate it.
I don’t see a spot for it on diagram or board. Everything is ziptied together, so it’s not easy to trace back right now. The system panel header is plugged in. USB 3_3_4 is plugged. CPU fan connector is plugged.
Chassis Fan connector not plugged. USB 4_5 not plugged. Chassis intrusion and speaker header not plugged. TPM header not plugged.
Where is says panel 1 is the correct place for the connectors to the front of the case. Two of those pins are for the power button. Make sure the connector that says pwr, both + and -, are connected to the pins on the board that are labeled pwr.
That’s just a sanity check to make sure the power button is correctly connected. Something less common could be the power button is broken but we won’t go there just yet.