PC wouldn't power on, solved, BUT...
So my daughter came downstairs and said her PC wouldn't power on. Tested the power supply with the paperclip method (thanks /r-pchelp!) and the fan came on, bugger; I thought. Must be the motherboard I says to myself. Pack it all away and have a sulk for 20 minutes.
Then I get it all back out and start testing components because a broken PC in the house is like an itch that you just cant scratch.
As almost an afterthought, I disconnect the power button and short it with a screwdriver...this pc was a pre-built and the power button and USB go to a little board on the back of the case which I hate, seems overcomplicated to me.
Bam! It powers on! Great, except now because of this weird little board, I have to replace that whole thing? What is this even called?
When I've built pcs in the past I generally just have a bunch of cables going from the motherboard to the USB, Power, rest, ect (amateur here).
I was thinking of just ordering a power button that would connect to the hard drive and Mad Max its way out of the case, but if that weird little board is fried then none of the USB are going to work are they?
So if anyone know what that thing is called and whether or not I should replace it that'd be great.
Posted Dec 1, 2025, 6:56 PM UTC