Re: Power-up difficulties

[rubywand@aol.com (RUBYWAND)]

In article <4vucag$cdv@news.vanderbilt.edu>, lesherjt@vuse.vanderbilt.edu
(Tilghman Lesher) writes:

>....
>My solution has been to not power down my gs very often, but when
>I do have to powerup, I turn on the computer, wait about 15-20
>minutes, then press Ctrl-OA-Reset.
>
>Question:  by this technique of powerup, am I hurting my gs in
>any way?  (green light on ZipGS is off during warmup).
>....
>

     First, since your GS eventually starts up, it seems unlikely that you
have damaged the computer.

     The green light is an LED in series with a resistor. It is powered
via the +12V line
coming from the power supply and should be ON (lighted) the moment you
flip ON the computer power switch.

     Since the green light is not lighted at first and since it takes time
for your system to "warm up", it looks like something may, for a while, be
putting a heavy load on the +12V line. (Some suspects would include a disk
drive and any Slot card which draws power from the +12V line.)  However,
it is also possible that the +5V line is being over-loaded and that this
shows up as reduced output on the +12V line.

     Another possible problem source is a bad power supply and/or a bad
connection where the PS plugs to the motherboard. (Check/clean your PS
connector.)

    If you can, get a fellow IIgs user to bring over his/her power supply.
Pull yours and substitute your friend's unit. If your GS suddenly comes ON
with no problem, you can be pretty sure that your PS needs to be repaired
or replaced. (But, plug your PS back in and try it. If it suddenly works
okay, the problem may be a loose or fractured motherboard connection which
has been 'jiggled' into contact.) 
 
     Suppose your PS is okay. A way to zero-in on the problem is to pull
cards from Slots 1-7, pull any joysticks, and plug in just one disk drive
(always, naturally, with the computer turned OFF). Then, start adding
items one by one. When something is added and the computer is turned ON,
the green indicator should be lighted. If adding an item makes a
difference in indicator brightness, whatever was added is a good suspect.
          


Rubywand