Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with powersupply

What am I doing wrong with my PSU?

battlebison — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:36:45 -0800

PSU was missing from computer. Bought a new one, now it gives me one continuous BIOS beep when I turn it on. What have I done wrong and how do I fix this? From what I understand, one continuous beep means it isn't getting enough power. I have a 450W PSU brand new from NewEgg and this computer is fairly old, so I figured it would have been good enough! I forget the specs exactly, but I think it's a single core 3.8 GHz AMD processor and it has a GeForce 7800 GT as its graphics card. Everything else about it is very pedestrian.

There is the usual ATX power slot on the motherboard as well as what looks like a 4-pin slot near it. It looks like this:
[::]
[::::::::::]
There are two 4-pin connectors coming out of the PSU: one attached the main plug and one that just kind of hangs out on its own separate from any other cable. The computer will only get as far as turning on and beeping at me if I have either the main plug in on its own or it and the loose 4-pin plug. It doesn't do anything at all if I use the 4-pin plug attached to the main plug.

Does it matter that the plug coming from the PSU seems to be missing a pin? [:::::::.::]

Help me revive this old computer!

Thanks for reading this ridiculously long explanation of what is probably an easy problem.

Please don't explode computer.

sepsis — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:38:49 -0800

US visiting UK, do I need an adapter or a converter for my laptop? I just want to double check because I'd really rather not have my laptop explode when I visit the UK next month. The AC adapter for my laptop gives the following specs:

65W, 20V
INPUT: 100-240V~1.5A 50/60Hz
OUTPUT: 20V . . . 3.25A

My understanding is that I would only need an adapter for the plug and not a power converter. Am I correct? Thanks for the help.

Desktop power supply let out the magic smoke. Doomed?

DoubleMark — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:12:01 -0800

My desktop power supply has emitted some blue sparks, and not at all in the nice Mario Kart sort of way. It's pretty clear there's an internal short- is it likely that this fried any of my other components, and are there any defensive measures I should take when replacing it? It is a well-known fact that I emit a powerful hardware-destroying field, causing computers and electronic equipment to fail in all manner of unlikely ways. I just overhauled my desktop with a shiny new Lynnfield i7, and it had been running fine for a week. When I came home last night, I found half my room had no power. I unplugged everything, went downstairs, and reset the circuit breaker. When I plugged the computer back in, there were bright flashes from inside the Antec TruePower PSU, which now smells strongly of magic smoke.

It's clear that the PSU is shot, and I'm not touching it again- what are the odds that it took half the system with it? I have an old PSU that isn't sufficient to power the motherboard, lacking the 8-pin connector, but if I plug in the ATX connector alone the motherboard gets all its happy lights. This gives me some hope. Plus, if there's a short that means it can't emit massive component-baking waves of power behind it... right...?

More importantly, I don't know what brought on the short. It's most likely something terribly wrong in the PSU itself, but my friend who was nearby swears he saw something spark in the front of the case. Is it possible that something internal to a hard drive, etc. could have caused this? I can bring my drives back up one at a time when replacing the PSU, but is there anything I should test first to make sure I don't immediately toast another power supply?

Suggestions for removing electronic hardware-related curses are also welcome.

UNIVERSAL AC ADAPTERS AINT WHAT THEY USED TO BE (a question)

defmute — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:40:01 -0800

How do I buy a universal AC adapter from Radioshack? So I went into a Radioshack today and was all like "Ay, man. Gimme a universal ac adapter," and the lady was all like lookin at me like "Yeah, AAANNND?". Turns out that Radioshack (at least in downtown Philly) only carries universal adapters in two parts: (1) the block that you actually plug into the wall and (2), the little connection piece that goes into the hardware you're powering. At Radioshack, they sell the little connection piece in a variety of sizes of different "letter" types (i.e. "Y" size, "C" size, "G" size). So....

If I want to power a Korg Electribe ES-1, which adapter type (I know it's a 9V, but Radioshack has two different varieties of those) and connection piece type do I need to buy?

P.S. I lost the original adapter so please don't tell me hurtful type things like "I AM A THE NOOBZ"".

THANKS EVERYONE FILTER!

Experiences with bench power supplies?

jwells — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:41:15 -0800

What are your experiences with different brands and types of benchtop/lab power supplies? Do certain ones fail more often than others? Easier to fix? Better power conditioning? I'm a home experimenter. The dinky supply I bought to try to save space died a quick death and I'd like to avoid repeating that. I don't need anything crazy. 0-30V, 0-3 amps, accurate, small, and something that won't die. Are Tektronix (PS281?) worth the money? I have an oscilloscope from them. Instek, Extech, Protek, Velleman? Is there a specific one that is particularly popular and a good deal? Used and new are ok. Cost is a factor ($100USD?).

Why do my computer's power supplies keep dying?

astrochimp — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:45:55 -0800

My desktop computer's power supplies (three thus far) keep overheating and then fail permanently -- but only when they are plugged in through a power strip (i.e., everything is perfectly fine when the computer is plugged directly into a wall outlet). I finally realized that solution, though have no idea as to why it should make a difference. That is, if not plugged directly into an outlet, any power supply (PSU) in my computer will, within a few hours, overheat to the point of failure and, from that point on, will be non-functional for the rest of eternity. This has me befuddled, and so I ask:

Is this (a) a short and/or (b) a grounding issue? Or, more to the point: (c) why would the addition of a power strip [power bar] have such a negative impact, even if it is one of these issues? Do power bars ground things differently (I know nothing about these things)? (Also: this has happened using different power bars, so I'm assuming that it was not those particular power bars per se, but that it has something to do with power bars in general, plus the electrical oddities of my desktop computer.)

Power for my PC

malpractice — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:26:58 -0800

Help me to understand the brain-melting world of computer power supplies, why my new PC is having issues, and what I should be looking for in a new PSU... see within for the usual technical guff. Here's the system that I have:
AMD Phenom X3 8650 cpu
Asus M3N78 motherboard
Single 9800GT 512MB graphics card
4GB RAM
A couple of SATA HDD
Optical drive

Now, I thought that this Enermax 535W PSU would be enough to handle all that, but after plugging it all in and switching it on, I didn't even make it into POST. However, this Thermaltake 480W PSU gets things up and running all the way to Windows (though there are some stability issues as soon as I try to run anything too graphically taxing).

I've pretty much ruled out that either PSU could be faulty, as they both seem to run fine in a similar but lower spec PC.

I've tried looking over all the facts about voltages/amps/watts, and this talk about rails, and I think I've gotten a rough idea of how it all fits together, but my recent experience doesn't make much sense (the electrickery confuses me...)

So, the questions:
1.) Why did the 535W, dual 12V rail PSU not work, when the 480W, single 12V rail PSU did work?
2.) What should I be looking for in a new PSU?

Thanks in advance!

Fixing fan noise and lowering overall computer noise...

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:12:23 -0800

Homebrew PC is making a lot of noise — advice on how I should fix this? My homebrew is making a lot more noise than it usually does.

1. I suspect that it is one or more of the three fans: One fan for the case, one for the power supply, and one for the CPU.

2. In the course of repairing this, I would also like to dampen as much noise as possible — it was making a fair amount of noise before this issue started, and I use this machine as a video jukebox.

I don't have a lot of spare parts, unfortunately, and the nearest parts shop is about a two-hour trip.

Question A. Is there a safe, easy and inexpensive way to figure out where the noise is coming from, without buying one of each part?

(I can't seem to unplug the case and CPU fans without the computer throwing up error messages on boot-up, and I don't know how to disable the power supply fan.)

Question B. Once I replace the bad part, how can I dampen noise coming from the case?

This is a micro-ATX case. If you have a recommendation for a replacement case that is built to reduce noise as much as possible, I'd appreciate your advice there, too.

Using different model power supplies

czechmate — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 06:21:28 -0800

Can I use the power supply of a different type model? We have a SATO CX208TT thermal label printer (spec sheet here) and we can't find the power supply for it, and I've checked all sorts of stores near-by for a replacement or near replacement, and have had no luck. Either they don't have it, like Fry's or they've all been lower amps.
So I looked up the SATO CX200 and there's plenty of replacement power supplies out there, and they seem to have similar spec sheets. Can I buy one of those power supplies and use it for my CX208?
The reason I'm mainly confused is that underneath the machine it says 24V 3.4amp... but the spec sheet says differently?
This is the one I want to get.

Laptop power emergency

dpx.mfx — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:29:56 -0800

Laptop power question. I am away from home and need to power my Lenovo T61 (Nvida graphics card) laptop. I went to radio shack where they sold me an iGo "everywhere 85" adapter. It says it is compatible with the T60, but does not mention the T61. It has a "tip" that is the right size, and when I plug it in, it seems to charge just fine. The iGo website seems to think I need an "everywhere 130" adapter. I can't tell, or don't understand, what the difference is. Am i going to fry my laptop with the everywhere 85?

Weatherproof Power Supply

DU — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:35:19 -0800

A probably-out-of-his-depth n00b asks: Weatherproof, "high" wattage electronics power supply? I've got a solar measurement project I'm working on. Up until now, I've put it outside when I have a few hours to tend it, but I'd like to leave it out unattended and full time. I believe I have the mechanics and some of the electronics all worked out (I have a small model more-or-less working in breadboard mode). I originally thought the main problem here was the weatherproofing. But I think if I use a tightly sealing plastic container, well slathered with sealant and put the entire electrical part under the main body of the tracker, I should be good. Motor shaft will have to poke out somewhere, but it can remain sheltered under the tracker.

The real problem is the power supply. For the sensing part, I could just use a battery and then change it on a weekly basis, say. But the motor to move the solar tracker requires more power than that.

The way I've designed it only requires my stepper motor to take a few steps per day and it shouldn't need to be on and "locked" the rest of the time. The total power draw is low. But in order to move the large bulk for those few steps, the max amperage needs to be much higher than a 9V battery can supply. I haven't measured it exactly, but I think 1.5-2A. It's an ~8Ω motor, so the supply needs to be 12-16V.

One idea is to run an outdoor extension cord to a sheltered spot, plug a modified wall wart into it and then go from there. (The Arduino can take a max of 12V, so I might need some kind of voltage regulator in the mix to step down from 16V....?)

Another idea that I had recently was to repurpose a computer power supply. Run the plug into a sheltered spot and then use various combinations of the voltages available to run both motor and sensors. I even got a power supply to hack for this, but it's going to be some work to remove the spaghetti of extra wires and also build a special connector (I guess) to take the 20 pins and distribute them correctly. Messing around last night I also realized that heat may be a problem, at least from a computer PSU.

Thinking this must already be a solved problem, I did some googling this morning. I found a site that sells all manner of power solutions. For instance. But am I going to be able to plug that into the wall myself? And what about the heat problem?

Or maybe I don't need to be plugged in? (I'd sure be happier if that were the case.) With only momentary currents, maybe I can get by with, say, a dozen 9V batteries in two parallel banks of 6? This may especially be the case if I could get the motor amperage requirements down using mechanical advantage. I bought a few small pulleys but then decided that it was easier to "just increase the power" rather than attach all these pulleys, run the cord around them, waterproof all these mechanics, etc. Now I'm thinking that might be wrong after all.

Dead power supply on a charger - can I replace it?

tomble — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:21:10 -0800

Can I replace a power supply on a cordless drill battery charger with a different voltage power supply? I have a black and decker cordless drill, and three batteries. The power pack for the charger has died, and it seems the charger is the older model, thus rather hard to get.

The existing power supply that plugs into the wall is 14.5V, 200ma.

I have a bunch of 12V power supplies laying about the house, unused.

If I replace the dead power supply with the 12V unit, will I cause any problems, or will it just charge slower?

Need help disassembling POS computer.

The Great Big Mulp — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 09:12:29 -0800

I need to replace a power supply on a FlexPOS 150 (a touchscreen-based point-of-sale computer). However, one ever-looming obstacle towers over me like some malevolent god-beast (with a lot of screws): how the hell do I take this machine apart? So, I'm a bench tech in a computer repair sort-of business. I've tried searching online for service manuals or disassembly instructions, but I've only been able to find the owner's manual, which is decidedly unhelpful for my purposes. If anyone has any experience replacing parts on either the FlexPOS 150 or 120 (I don't know how similar the other models are to the 150), disassembly tips/instructions would be greatly appreciated.

Charge me (and my batteries) up

tip120 — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:58:02 -0800

I am charging at least 20, but up to 30 electronic components. Each will draw 300mA at 5-7VDC. What sort of power supply do I need? I have at least 20 (possibly 30) custom electronic devices that are battery operated. Each object has a 1.1A LiPoly battery and a MAX1555 IC charger. These objects are going to be free roaming during the day, and plugged in at night to charge.

I know the circuit works as expected, and have charged one of them off of usb power (100mA 5VDC).

If all the objects are going to be plugged into one power supply at night, am I correct in thinking that I will need a supply which produces a regulated 9A 5VDC? Where can I go looking for something like this (in Europe preferably). Would an old computer supply work?

power - i dont has it. =(

damnjezebel — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:25:31 -0800

I consider this to be google cheating, but I honestly know nothing of this. Get me a power supply - model #atx-300-12e or the equivalent. Asap. Please. Power supply went kaboom. Actually more like *hush*kaboom*hush* since I didn't actually hear a sound. I need to replace the power supply.

I know the model number is #atx-300-12e. But apparently, I can't find it on the sites I normally check out - I've found it on a few random sites, but right now i don't want to buy from a site I've never heard of. I've never had to buy a power supply before, and I'm totally lost. I won't have the cash to upgrade it for about a month - if that's your suggestion - but until then, I do need power and I need it immediately. Please point me to something that'll work! PLEASE.

piggy back question: hypothetically speaking, how do you get a harddrive unstuck from a slot it's supposed to go in and out of? I mean, with it being unscrewed and everything good to go and all, short of sawing through it with a dremel of some kind?

Diagnose a computer-death, and advise on migrating the dead one to an imac?

gleuschk — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:21:40 -0800

My desktop computer is dead dead dead (I think -- can you help me be sure?). I was going to get a new iMac anyway, so now I'll just move those plans up. I understand there's a utility to migrate all my files from the old Windows machine to the new Mac -- how can I make that happen when the old one won't start? We came back from 2 weeks away to find that the desktop Windows 2000 machine a buddy built for me back in 2001 doesn't boot anymore. Nothing. Push the button, all systems are silent. I suppose that means the power supply is dead. (Maybe we had a lightning strike while we were away? Though the cable modem and wireless hub are fine. Anyway.) Any suggestions for a more accurate diagnosis, short of taking it to some people somewhere?

And as for the switch/migrate process, is my best move going to be buying an enclosure for the hard drive(s)?

Is my PC's power supply possessed?

zackola — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 09:46:23 -0800

When my parents' PC is turned off, the fans on the motherboard (case and cpu) spin. What's the deal? Setup and more info inside... When my parents' PC is turned off, the fans (and lights) on the motherboard (case and cpu) spin. The computer is NOT turned on, but when it is turned on, it works fine (POST, HD spin up, OS boot). What's the deal?

System Setup:
asus a7n8x-e deluxe motherboard and a generic power supply of unknown wattage, plugged in to an APC PowerChute Personal UPS.

This behavior happens whether or not the pc power supply is plugged into the UPS on a battery-backed up outlet, or just the surge protected ones on the UPS. It also happens when the pc power supply is plugged directly into a wall.

This PC is getting a bit long in the tooth, but it hasn't exhibited this behavior before, and has been sitting in the same place in their house for the last couple of years. If it's as simple as picking up a new ATX power supply my parents would appreciate not having to buy an new PC or motherboard or what have you.

I've been building PCs for years, but haven't seen any weirdness like this before. Any ideas?

Yes, I'm taking the plunge

fvox13 — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 09:58:28 -0800

I'll be building a computer in a few months, and I have a few questions about aesthetics, case mods, and power supplies. 1.) Is it possible to find a motherboard with a floppy controller (especially a 5.25 floppy controller)? If not, is there a PCI card or USB adapter that would add this functionality?

2.) What cool stuff, other than this should I add to the front of my case? Do they have analog meters / gauges anywhere, for example? Or devices that aren't generally found in computers, like, say, an EZ-Bake Oven?

3.) Is there a way to elegantly dye things black so that they match? I know you can get optical drives that are already black, but if I realize my dream of having a 5.25 floppy in this ultra-modern gaming rig, I'll want to dye it black, since none of the early-90's drives were black.

4.) How do I decide how big my power supply needs to be? I'm going to have a dual-core intel processor, 2 or 3 NVIDIA 8800 GTXs in SLI configuration, 8GB of ram, 2 Hard Drives, a couple of cold-cathode lights, a couple of extra fans... you get the idea. Do I really need a whole kilowatt of power? Or will 750w cover me?

Powerbook charging troubles

rtha — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:32:20 -0800

Help me diagnose my Powerbook’s power supply woes. I'm running 10.4.11 on a powerbook g4 (1GHz, 768 MB RAM). The trouble started yesterday when I got to work and plugged it in: the light at the site where the cord connects to the laptop doesn't light up, although the indicator in the menu bar says that it's charging. It shows a 95% charge, and that hasn't changed.

When I got home last night, I plugged it in again - I have two different powercords, both the standard Apple-supplied brick kind, one for home and one for work - and the home one does glow (green), but again, the charge doesn't increase. It isn't dropping either, at home or work.

The original battery for this powerbook keeled over in September or October, so it's got a new battery in it. I have googled, but found nothing helpful. So, help?

Power Supply Problem?

partner — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:12:04 -0800

Power supply problem? A few weeks ago, when high winds hit the Oregon coast, my house lost power and my PC shut down. When it was restored, my computer wouldn't restart. So, I toggled my surge protector on and off, tried again, and the computer started. Then I unplugged the surge protector and waited out the storm. No problems until yesterday... ...when I tried to start my computer and it didn't didn't turn on. So, I toggled the surge protector and the computer started when I pressed its switch. All of the other items that draw power from my surge protector had power. This morning, I started up the computer, Windows 2000 loaded, and then it shut down for no apparent reason, and would not restart. Again, I toggled the surge protector on and off, and the computer started when I pressed its switch. Does anyone know what's going on here? Does this pose a danger to my data?

Joystick seeks power supply to allow use of peripheral

trokair — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:48:07 -0800

RandomPowerAdapterFilter: I need a suitable power supply for a Thrustmaster Top Gun Afterburner Force Feedback Joystick. The website has been of little help thus far, and (oddly) there's no power-related information anywhere on the device. Does anyone know what sort of power supply this thing takes?

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.........

Hargrimm — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:52:15 -0800

What is wrong with my surge protector??!! My surge protector/UPS may be malfunctioning. Whenever I turn my computer that is plugged into it on, it gives out a shrill, continuous beep. I think LED flashed, but I was too busy being freaked out and shutting down to observe it well. I looked in the manual for it, and a continuous tone + LED flash means the battery needs to be replaced. However, the UPC is plugged into the wall, so it shouldn't be using the battery, should it? The manual also said that continuous beep + no LED means an overload, which really, really freaks me out.

The most recent thing I've installed are a GeForce 7800GS graphics card and 512MB of RAM, but they were both a number of months ago now. The UPC is an APC Back-UPS ES BE350U, and may be getting somewhat old, but I'm not certain.

So, what can I do? Get a new battery, new UPC? I can't afford to be without my main PC for more than a day or so; please help!

PC won't turn on and it's not the power supply - what else can I try?

gecko12 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:56:30 -0800

My mother's computer won't turn on. I replaced the power supply, which now allows the light on the tower to turn on, but the system still doesn't boot. My mother's computer recently died. One day the light around the power button began flashing very fast; she tried to turn the computer off by holding the button down but it did nothing. Several hours later the light had gone off and the computer wouldn't turn on at all.

I've asked around and most people thought the power supply had gone bad. I bought a new one at Fry's. It's an Antec TruePower Trio, 430W -- the old one was a 250W Bestec #ATX-250-12E.

I plugged the new power supply into the motherboard (both plugs), the hard drive, and the floppy. When I turn the power supply on, the light around the power button on the front of the computer turns on, but nothing shows up on the monitor. No drives spin, the CPU fan doesn't come on, nothing.

So my question is: what else could be wrong? Is there anything else to check besides replacing the motherboard?

The computer is an eMachines T2042, bought in 2002, running Windows XP (or at least it used to).

Thanks...

New home built PC is not running so well.

echolalia67 — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 22:36:04 -0800

Hi, I'm echolalia's husband...and have an...intriguing computer problem I apologize for the length of my tale and any crossposting that may have gone before, but some of this hardware stuff is pretty new. My graphic card blew out the other day and I decided to not only replace it, but waay upgrade (crysis is coming)...so I got a geforce 8800. I did enough research to figure out that that was the hotshit card of the moment, but not enough to see that I needed a PCI express slot.

So, a new motherboard. When I researched it, it LOOKED like it would be compatible with my current processor: not so...

So, a new processor.

When I looked at the docs for both the processor and the new graphics card, it looked like my current power supply (500w) was enough.

It wasn't. Apparently anyway.

Yesterday, when I put it all together, it worked. For awhile. Then it was off and on, then always stalling at some point during the boot up.

So today, I took a trip to Fry's and asked around...ho ya...I needed more power they said. People disagreed with how much exactly, so I went for the gusto and got 1000w.

Thing is, I asked a knowledgeable guy: "so you think i might be killing my stuff slowly by using that 500w?"...nope, yer killing it quickly he said.

So, I buy a new, case as well with lots of fans to make sure its cool and all...then I hightail it back home, worried that I might have fried my brand new hotshit card or my decent new processor. Or both.

I charged up stairs, kissed my wife (echolalia67!) and baby Jack and then set to work.

And work I did...lots of screws, lots of wires later and walla, it worked.

The first time.

The second time, I got an error sound.

The third time booted up, then restarted...I thought that baby jack may have pushed that crazy button, so I paid it not too much nevermind.

The 4th time, it started and I got an error message from windows suggesting some sort of catastrophic software or hardware failure.

The 5th time...nuthing...stalled at boot.

Im going to try the 6th try right now - after some time has gone by.
[So far so good...window bootin']
[Whoops...it rebooted]
[and again, gosharnit...I think I'll lay off until I hear back from peoples]

So, here's my battery of questions:

What the hell is going on and how can I fix it?
Is my processor dead, fried?
Is my graphics card dead, fried?
Is something not getting enough power even though I've got 1000w in there?
The fans all appear to be working...it can't be overheating can it?
I have the most current drivers for my new motherboard. I can't say I have THE most current drivers for the graphics card, but it is a pretty dang new product, so the drivers that it came with can't be to out of date...could they?
Could I have wired the thing all wrong? (and there alot of wires)
The graphics card calls for one six prong plug direct from the power supply...and so it has got that...the power supply even conveniently marks some plugs with "PCI express" so dummies like me cant get it wrong. Or did I?
Should I just take the dang thing to a local computer shop and have them configure it? How much should that cost?

Ok, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Cheers.

Why is a hard drive preventing my computer from turning on?

JulianDay — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 08:50:59 -0800

Why is a hard drive preventing my computer from turning on? My computer (a home built system w/ an Expox mboard / AMD 64 Venice) is having trouble turing on. It was running fine for about an hour this morning, but Acrobat went haywire so I shut it down.

I restarted and it would power up for about 5 sec, then shut off. The fan to the power supply would spin, as would the the fans on the cpu, and the various blue leds would light up. There were no beeps or anything. It's not very hot here today, maybe 70.

I removed all the cables, kvm, etc. that didn't work, then tried reseating everything on the mboard, till finally it seemed that disconcecting the slave drive allowed the computer to boot. I did some more reseating, etc. on that drive but the computer won't start w/ it connected.

I'd like to figure out if it's the drive or my power supply. I have a monitor program by Epox that shows the following numbers:

Vcore: 1.524, +3.3: 3.312, Chipset: 1.536, +5: 5.103, Vdimm: 2.752, Vbat: 3.136, 5VSB: 5.184

I'm going to take the drive home tonight and try to put it in another computer, I do have things on there I'd like to get off... but till then I'd like to know if you think it could be the powersupply (so I can order a new one), and if so can I test to see if it's dying, or have you ever had a drive cause this kind of problem?