problems with auto-power on/off

[gwlogue]

Is there a way to disable the automatic power on/off that comes with some systems?

The system I'm working on is having lot's of problems, and never the same 2 problems in a row. The one consistant thing is that when it gets in trouble it hangs in the power on/off process. It starts to power up but never gets to the initial BIOS and configuration information screen. The reset button wakes up the disk for a few seconds but that's it. It won't power off. I have to pull the power plug repeatedly until it finally powers down and I can start the process of trying to isolate the problem again.

Any directions or help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks ...george

[Fatal_Exception]

Are you referring to power management when you use the phrase "automatic power on/off"? If so, you can disable it in bios, or use the power mangement applet in the control panel to change the settings to never go to standby, never turn off hard drive, never turn off monitor, and disable hibernation.

[gwlogue]

I'm not sure but from what I've been able to find going through various forums here it sounds like an ATX power supply. One discussion noted that the power on/off switch on the front panel only sends a signal to the motherboard and it is the motherboard that actually initiates the power on/off sequences.

The problem I'm getting is that when the system hangs I can't get it to power off. I'm trying to powerup again so I can get in to the BIOS to check settings.

If I'm understanding this correctly it sounds like:
--I have an improperly seated card ( I will disconnect all cards with power supply and try to restart the system. If it works, add one card at a time until the problem is resolved or reoccurs)
--a bad motherboard ( I have no idea how to check this one out)

Any other ideas? The system is my neighbours and I don't want to waste too much of their time futzing about going back and forth trying one thing at a time. I'd like to have a plan to isolate the problem and let them know what they need to fix it. They have been having intermittent problems for the past several months and it has been getting steadily worse to the point where the machine can't be used at all.

P.S. Someone suggested it could be virus or virus checking related so I built a clean WIN98-only system on a spare drive I had at home and replaced their drive. Still hangs.

Thanks ...george

[Fatal_Exception]

perhaps you are used to AT power supplies

with an ATX power supply (depending on how power management is configured in BIOS) you have to hold the power button down for 4-6 seconds before the power supply shuts down

[gwlogue]

I've never had an ATX power supply in any of my own systems. I'll try to be more patient. Does my problem resolution process seem sound? ...george

[Fatal_Exception]

well, if it will power off when you hold down the button, then you aren't likely to have a motherboard or power supply problem (at least, to the extent you might have been thinking)

it never hurts to reseat cards, memory, and ide cables

i think you need to find out more about why preceeds a lockup, with emphasis on available resources, initially anyway

[gwlogue]

There is a 4-second delay before poweroff kicks in. As for the intermittent problems I'll open a seperate thread for it.

Thanks...george

[Fatal_Exception]

glad to be of assistance... i owned a computer with ATX power supply for while before i noticed you could modify the power button's behavior via bios settings :)