[wellylug] Problem powering off an ATX system

Bret Comstock Waldow bwaldow at woosh.co.nz
Mon Jan 10 23:31:26 NZDT 2005


I'm working on a desktop system for a not-computer-literate friend,
getting a copy of Xandros 2.0 working on it.  The system is a PIII 733,
ATX motherboard with all the usual USB, PS/2, etc. at the back -
ordinary, as far as I can tell.  BIOS is a 1999 copyright AMI.

Neither Windows XP nor Xandros will shut the power off.  With Xandros, I
intermittently get the big blue characters on screen that say it's ok to
shut the power down, but sometimes only a blank screen.

I've reset the BIOS, including to the setup and BIOS defaults, and the
behavior is the same.

I switched power supplies with similar machine and the behavior is the
same, and the similar machine indeed has the same problem with it's
Libranet install - it won't shut either power supply down.

So, two different power supplies, two different motherboards, two
different Linux distros won't shut power off.

Knoppix shuts down to the prompt about removing the CD then pressing
Enter, then shuts off the power.

I don't need to know how to shut off the power - I can press a button. 
I want to know what's wrong with the motherboard, power supply, or
settings, so I can put the system into a known, predictable state.

Any experience with this?

Cheers,
Bret





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