Re: [cobalt-developers] RaQ4 power up

["Rick Ewart" <cobalt@xxxxxxxxx>]

Gerald wrote:
> If I power it down, wait 10 - 30 seconds and power up
> It will not come up. and the top line of the LCD is all dots
> and the bottom line blank
>
> I can power up and down several times and it won't come up.
> Now if I disconnect everything, power-cord, RJ45 and let it set for a few
> seconds
I presume you mean few minutes?

> Connect everything bask up, power-up and it works fine
>
> Any ideas???

Hey Gerald.

Well, pardon me if I sound like a simpleton approaching it, but were I
troubleshooting any regular computer, random things that go away after the
machine sits in the off state for a while makes me think its heat related.
Things that don't start up properly (or have random problems) makes me think
power supply - particularly if the machine otherwise runs ok. Put the two
together and I go with a power supply that is overheating and cannot produce
the extra V needed at startup to spinup drives and such.

Assuming you have physical access to the system, rip the box open and stick
a desktop (like your desk - not your PC desktop) fan blowing into it for a
while (the ultimate in cooling fans... :).. Then give it a shot and see if
it still does it. Also, you might want to hook a multimeter up to the 12V
and/or 5V during this to see if it drops down low during the startup... In
my experience, systems get cranky around 11.8V or so, or about 4.9V. Good
power supplies on my desktops tend to sustain 12.5V more or less and don't
drop but maybe .1V when load changes (i.e. drives spin up).

Not very RaQ related, but its how I would troubleshoot a desktop PCs with
similar issues. Well, after I took all extra cards/devices out of the
picture (which isn't an option on a RaQ really).

HTH.
Rick Ewart