How should I bypass this power switch?

[Chiron]

Since I didn't have anything else pressing, I yanked one of the HDD's and the Graphics card which allowed me to replace the CR2032 battery. Didn't make a difference. Old battery tested at 2.92V while new one was at 3.3V.

Academically speaking <PITA mode ON >, measuring just the open-circuit voltage of a suspicious battery may be deceiving: as the internal resistance increases with the battery age, you might find out that as soon as you try to draw a few µA from it the voltage drops drastically.
Better load it with a decently high resistor (even your moistened fingers would do). <PITA mode OFF>.

After replacing this battery I again tried shorting the Power Switch jumper pins on the Front Panel pin-out.... no joy.

Which definitely rules out the battery as a possible culprit. Well, it was a possibility...

Along the way I noticed something I should have made note of already, there is nothing connected to the 4 pins for "chassis mounted warning speaker". This cheapo nightmare knuckle buster case didn't even include a speaker. Who ever designed this case was obviously a 1st degree white belt idiot who surely never had to actually install components in his monstrosity! I've already run out of foul language just dealing with what should be the most simple diagnostic procedures.

I have discomforting news for you: apart from the lack of a ¢50 speaker (not easily forgiven), the sardine can in your photos lies right in the middle of the Gaussian curve - in other words the affordable ones are all more or less like that: roughly stamped anodized sheet iron, sharp edges, minimal care for the ease of assembly, usually one screw or three missing... economy tourist, so to speak. The first class ones (provided that they're still available) come at outrageous prices - and once the coffin is closed no one will ever notice the difference.

 

[ImWolf]

I have discomforting news for you: apart from the lack of a ¢50 speaker (not easily forgiven), the sardine can in your photos lies right in the middle of the Gaussian curve

You don't say.... LOL

My main office PC is (and has been through several mod's) inside an Enerpac full tower modular case I bought about 30 years ago. I'll never let it go!!!

Almost exactly like this one....

Vintage Chieftec Dragon all aluminum full tower case - Silver/black - FREE SHIP | eBay

All three fan mounts are included. Front one is missing one mounting peg (pictured). Included ALL the drive mounting rails as well as a bag of hardware. Bottom feet present. High quality case. Entirely aluminum.

www.ebay.com

KInda sad that I recently packed up a bunch of vintage odd'n'ends and gave them away on CraigsList.... there was surely an old speaker in that collection! Still, even with the lack of some error beeps, it looks to me like there's definately something fracked up with the MB. Otherwise, I would at least see the fans attempt to spin up before the system shut down.

 

[Chiron]

My main office PC is (and has been through several mod's) inside an Enerpac full tower modular case I bought about 30 years ago. I'll never let it go!!!

Almost exactly like this one....

I envy you that luscious Chieftain Dragon!!! All my PC's at home are housed in economy-tourist sardine cans, and I've lost count of how much blood, skin and blasphemy I left in there over the years.

KInda sad that I recently packed up a bunch of vintage odd'n'ends and gave them away on CraigsList.... there was surely an old speaker in that collection!

That's not a problem: if you cannot live without one just go to the nearest junkyard, locate an old PC and rip it off (hope you got a reasonably fresh tetanus shot).

Still, even with the lack of some error beeps, it looks to me like there's definitely something fracked up with the MB. Otherwise, I would at least see the fans attempt to spin up before the system shut down.

Though reluctantly I must agree: the probability that that system boots alright while forced on by a paper clip looks damn scant.
30 years back I'd probably have tried to locate the fault and fix it, but nowadays without a detailed schematic it would be like searching for a lost contact lens in a dark room wearing boxing gloves

Take it easy, such is life...

 

[ImWolf]

Though reluctantly I must agree: the probability that that system boots alright while forced on by a paper clip looks damn scant.

I went through "one last gasp" yesterday after I called ASUS Support (5x), which I would not recommend to anyone. Even though I never studied Chinese as a second language, the kind lady did repeat things often enough so I think I got the general idea of what she was attempting to explain.

Apparently, the Led blinking every 2 seconds signals that either no CPU, or no RAM is detected. Her only recommendation was to try booting with just one stick of RAM, and failing that, re-seat the CPU!

First I disconnected everything that was still plugged into the MB except 2 fans. No boot. Then I flipped DIMM's for several minutes trying each of the 4 in the first slot, and eventually in every other slot. No boot. So I finally pulled off the heat sink, and of course, the ancient thermal grease had turned to glue and took the CPU up with it. Once again, I didn't lose any pins. :b

I used a spare matching CPU at this point to just check if the SB_PWR Led would still blink.... it did. And no boot.

That spare CPU came off an old MSI MB I kept from a previous upgrade. That MB looks great and has barely all the outputs I would need to grab the data off the HDD's. But b4 I perform the boardectomy, I'm trying to research how to safely bench test it off the PSU currently still installed in case. If successful, this will finally tell me that the PSU is still fine, and the MSI board also boots up. (As I recall it came out of a working system.)

I could bring a monitor out to the shop, but that would be a small PITA, so I'm thinking that maybe I can just put the MSI board on the bench next to the case close enough to give it power, hook up a fan or two, and then with one stick of RAM and the CPU (no heat sink) fire it up.

Sound about right?

 

[Chiron]

. . .

That spare CPU came off an old MSI MB I kept from a previous upgrade. That MB looks great and has barely all the outputs I would need to grab the data off the HDD's. But b4 I perform the boardectomy, I'm trying to research how to safely bench test it off the PSU currently still installed in case. If successful, this will finally tell me that the PSU is still fine, and the MSI board also boots up. (As I recall it came out of a working system.)

You already checked the PSU thoroughly: voltages OK, fans spinning, LEDs blinking. So what are you waiting for?

I could bring a monitor out to the shop, but that would be a small PITA, so I'm thinking that maybe I can just put the MSI board on the bench next to the case close enough to give it power, hook up a fan or two, and then with one stick of RAM and the CPU (no heat sink) fire it up.

Sound about right?

Almost: even with the motherboard naked on the bench the CPU fan must be hooked on it and spinning, lest the poor thing kicks the bucket in less than a minute. All the rest (chassis fan, auxiliary fans etc.) you may merrily ignore, but that one definitely NOT (I learned my lesson the hard way).
As for the switches (power on and reset), a paper clip or a screwdriver momentarily applied to the right pins will do fine.

Good luck!

Edit: And don't forget a tiny layer of fresh thermal paste between CPU and heat sink, of course. To remove the old crusty one a bit of alcohol should work OK.

 

[ImWolf]

You already checked the PSU thoroughly: voltages OK, fans spinning, LEDs blinking. So what are you waiting for?

As for the switches (power on and reset), a paper clip or a screwdriver momentarily applied to the right pins will do fine.

The only fan I've seen spinning recently is the PSU fan, if that's what you're referring to. And yes, I did have a heat sink / fan unit pressed down on the CPU, with the fan connected, while I attempted to boot the MSI MB. I tried it with, and without RAM.... no joy.

After looking at everything, and a few lotta drinks, it occurred to me that this MSI board just looks too damn nice. It's not like me to simply yank working hardware and replace it unless needed. (I'm not into optimizing things that are working fine as is.) So it could very well be that this MSI board is dead as well, and I just kept it around for the spare CPU and cooling fan.

At this point, I'm over it. All I wanted to do in the first place is grab some files that might be on those 3 HDD's, and I've wasted enough time towards that end. There's one Sata drive, and two older IDE drives. I've never hooked up an external drive to my other machine, but it probably isn't such a big chore that I need to buy hardware to do this?

 

[Chiron]

At this point, I'm over it. All I wanted to do in the first place is grab some files that might be on those 3 HDD's, and I've wasted enough time towards that end. There's one Sata drive, and two older IDE drives. I've never hooked up an external drive to my other machine, but it probably isn't such a big chore that I need to buy hardware to do this?

That depends on what you call "external". There are two options I know of:
1 - You connect the new drive as a standard SATA (or IDE, if the MB has a spare IDE connector), leave it outside the case hanging on its cables and hope that the system recognizes it - most of the times it does. Trying won't hurt. *)
2 - You part with those $20 and buy an universal SATA/IDE-to-USB adapter. Slightly more expensive, slightly slower but way safer.

*) There's a (not recommended) variant: a sort of drawer (e.g. "Icy Box") that you connect as if it were a hard drive, where you insert whatever SATA disk you like. For all I know there's no IDE option available anymore, and occasionally I had bad experiences with them (probably some unsafe contact(s) on the drawer-disk connector).

 

[ImWolf]

1 - You connect the new drive as a standard SATA (or IDE, if the MB has a spare IDE connector), leave it outside the case hanging on its cables and hope that the system recognizes it - most of the times it does. Trying won't hurt. *)
2 - You part with those $20 and buy an universal SATA/IDE-to-USB adapter. Slightly more expensive, slightly slower but way safer.

I'll try option #1 when I get around to it. I know I have the connections available in my office system, and even for the older IDE drives it's just a matter of setting the correct Master/Slave jumper. What I couldn't find info on so far has to do with required grounding. I'm not sure if the HDD chassis needs to be somehow attached to the case.

I looked at a lot of IDE/SATA to USB devices on Amazon yesterday, mostly for the reviews, which are terrible. Too many people complaining that the devices which don't have a power supply wouldn't detect any HDD, or did detect the drive and then screwed it up. And as far as devices that do have a power supply, too many reports of voltage surges that smoked the device and even their machines in the process. Some of these were pretty funny reading.

Thanks for all the input Chiron, I'll let you know what happened.

 

[Chiron]

I'll try option #1 when I get around to it. I know I have the connections available in my office system, and even for the older IDE drives it's just a matter of setting the correct Master/Slave jumper. What I couldn't find info on so far has to do with required grounding. I'm not sure if the HDD chassis needs to be somehow attached to the case.

No need, the grounding is provided through the cables. For some old HDD there may be thermal reasons - they need to dissipate heat through the case - but trouble may arise only when the HDD stays connected for hours on end.

I looked at a lot of IDE/SATA to USB devices on Amazon yesterday, mostly for the reviews, which are terrible. Too many people complaining that the devices which don't have a power supply wouldn't detect any HDD, or did detect the drive and then screwed it up. And as far as devices that do have a power supply, too many reports of voltage surges that smoked the device and even their machines in the process. Some of these were pretty funny reading.

Mine never left me high and dry, and I've been using it quite a lot for several years. And my new second one - just a cable with a bit of electronics before the disk connector - never gave me trouble since I bought it 7 months ago. Of course I cannot vouch for them all, but keep in mind that there are some people out there that write livid reviews just because they didn't manage to plug the data connector into a 230 VAC outlet... like it or not, idiocracy rules

 

[ImWolf]

It occurred to me that while I'm hooking up HDD's to my office system for data extraction, I might also be able to test that ASUS MB off of a known good PSU before I finally declare it 100% toast. What would that entail? Can I just move the 24 & 4 pin power over, or do I need to disconnect power cables from drives as well?

 

[Chiron]

It occurred to me that while I'm hooking up HDD's to my office system for data extraction, I might also be able to test that ASUS MB off of a known good PSU before I finally declare it 100% toast. What would that entail? Can I just move the 24 & 4 pin power over, or do I need to disconnect power cables from drives as well?

I know it's a PITA but you'll better disconnect the power from the drives of the donor system (the one you'll borrow the PSU from). In principle they might stay powered even if the MB is down, but better safe than sorry. Besides, in order to milk the data from your HDD you'll have to power them from somewhere, right?
I suggest that you borrow temporarily also the speaker, as it might provide some precious beep-info during the boot.
Bonne chance!

 

[ImWolf]

BTW, yesterday I had resolved that one thing I was sure of is that I hate this case, so I began yanking everything salvageable from it. After I removed the MB I was surprised to see that the "Computer Tech" who built this system and sold it to me had used different sizes of stand-offs. Of the 9 fastening holes, 6 of them had 3/8" stand-offs, and the last row (less than 3" away) had 1/4" stand-offs. He basically put a 1/8" bend in the MB in the worst scenario possible.

 

[Chiron]

BTW, yesterday I had resolved that one thing I was sure of is that I hate this case, so I began yanking everything salvageable from it. After I removed the MB I was surprised to see that the "Computer Tech" who built this system and sold it to me had used different sizes of stand-offs. Of the 9 fastening holes, 6 of them had 3/8" stand-offs, and the last row (less than 3" away) had 1/4" stand-offs. He basically put a 1/8" bend in the MB in the worst scenario possible.

Next time you'll better appoint a five year old, some of them are smarter than you think...