I left the cover off a tower PC and walked away while it installed linux (yes, bad idea). The cover had the cpu fan mounted on it but the CPU also had a fan strapped on it. I don’t know if the CPU-mounted fan was running or if the machine was entirely dependent on the cover-mounted fan directly above the cpu.

Someone junked this PC (asus p5b) simply because it’s old (2007). Seems like a high-end gaming machine designed for overclocking. Strangely, when I returned to the machine to find it powered off, I felt the heatsink and it did not feel warm at all. Power supply is apparently fine because a green LED on the motherboard is lit. When I press the power-on button the HDD LED flashes for a split second but nothing happens.

I thought if CPUs get too hot there is a protection mechanism to force a power off. Was that the case in 2007? The manual mentions this:

CPU TM function [Enabled] Allows you to enable or disable the CPU internal thermal control function. In TM mode, the CPU power consumption is reduced. Configuration options: [Disabled] [Enabled]

Would that setting cause a protective shutdown? I don’t know how that was set.

  • aodhsishaj@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    9 months ago

    Pull the CMOS battery. Hold the power button down for 30 seconds, it should try to boot once or twice. You’re clearing the BIOS and hopefully will get it to boot.

    • coffeeClean@infosec.pubOPEnglish
      2·
      9 months ago

      thanks for the tip… i would not have thought CMOS values would cause this but it’s worth a try. Note that there is a CMOS clearing jumper so I guess I’ll try that first.

      UPDATE: I tried your procedure as well as the procedure in the manual and it made no difference. The manual said unplug and remove the battery, then move the jumper for 5-10 secs, then move it back. I guess the jumper is analogous to holding down the power button.