Desktop PC relucant to switch on!

[#1]

Wonder if it could be a worn out contact on the on/off switch  ? ? ? 

[#2]

@shutter - That's actually quite funny.

[#3]

Postscript...

I managed to waste £43 on a PSU & change all the power cables (a very fraught experience).

The symptoms remain exactly the same.

So @shutter may well be right.

I opened up the old PSU and it was choked with serious dust, but the capacitors weren't obviously exploding.

Why are SATA power cables so difficult?

[#4]

I have the slightly more upmarket version of this motherboard (has a USB3.0 header on the board for front-panel USB3.0 ports), and the one thing I'd recommend is a BIOS update to the latest version, as from experience, that fixed a lot of similar problems with new boards when building systems back when I worked at the computer shop, though I will say mine hasn't had this issue, so don't know what could be causing the problem directly, but, I'd say update the BIOS just to be sure, seeing as nobody else has suggested it...

[#5]

Thanks, but I'd be a bit loathe to do a BIOS update, since I've never knowingly updated firmware on any device, ever.

[#6]

A BIOS update is easy, simple, fast and fixes a lot of bugs that can include reluctance to switch on, it's not difficult, just download the update from Asus, run it, done, or put up with the computer not working properly, I'd choose the fix option myself, but then, I would, cos I know what difference a BIOS update can make...

[#7]

But the BIOS hasn't changed recently, so I would not expect it to have recently become the problem.

[#8]

From experience (building & repairing several thousand PCs over 5 years in a computer shop aswell as a number of home-repairs for friends & family), a BIOS update when these symptoms crop up was what fixed it when all other avenues of reseating and replacing components was exhausted, one simple 2 minute job can save a whole hour (or in this case, 3 weeks) of faffing about with other random suggestions that didn't work...

The last option is paying someone who knows what they're doing to fix it, which is the easiest solution, especially for the person being paid the work...

[#9]

Well, I wonder at what stage the BIOS starts up? I certainly don't get a BIOS modification screen (except on the rare occasions when it starts up normally).

I suspect I will end up paying a local shop to fix it for me, eventually. Something I have never done before.

[#10]

BIOS (or Basic Input/Output System) starts on power up, it controls EVERYTHING from boot checking to order.

[#11]

@VileReynard - If you've survived this long without needing to pay for a PC fix then you don't need to start now. Updating (or flashing) the BIOS is, as noted, a trivial task and with some vendors can even be done via Windows. For all the time it will take to do it has to be worth a try at least. Simply follow the instructions given by your MB manufacturer and you should be done in less than 5 minutes. It could easily save you pounds getting a 'professional' to fix it, and even if it doesn't solve your problem at least you know you've done everything you could.

[#12]

OR you can usuually use a freedos boot disk, assuming you still have
a) a floppy drive
b) a disk!

[#13]

A modern BIOS can read the new BIOS file off a USB stick and do the flashing itself, which is probably slightly more convenient than using a bootable USB stick, for people who aren't running Windows.

[#14]

I would stab at it being a hard drive issue

[#15]

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@VileReynard

@VileReynard wrote:

Well, I wonder at what stage the BIOS starts up? I certainly don't get a BIOS modification screen (except on the rare occasions when it starts up normally).

I suspect I will end up paying a local shop to fix it for me, eventually. Something I have never done before.

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As soon as the screen "lights up".... if you press Fn 10 or Fn 12 key and hold it,... you should get an "options screen"   and just go from there..

it should show the methods of starting i.e. boot from order.. and mention the BIOS somewhere as well.. 

Be brave... Be bold... you can`t make it any worse   ........  Can you  ? ? ?  

(of course, you have everything importan backed up.. and it is a Linux machine... what could possibly go wrong ? )