My computer is HP Media Center m7250. Today, we experienced power outage. After that, I can not power up the computer. There is a green light on the power module, which is flashing. Then I pulled the power plug off. the green light still flashing, but the flashing slows down and finally dim. When I plug power back, the green light flashing again at a constant pace. Does anyone experience the same problem and know a solution.
BTW, HP costomer support said they can boot my computer remotely if I pay $99 for extended warranty.
During a power outage their is a surge when power come back on the grid (surge can be caused by lighting strikes akso). This surge trips the internal procters inside the power supply to protect the Mother Board, hard drive, processor and fans and any device that pulls wattage from the power supply. Since all these power using devices are trying to pull power at the same time to boot the computer back up one ends up with a loop of surge thrugh the power supply with a protective trip, reset, surge again and trip again. This will continue in this loop as the computer is trying to boot all the devices at one time (Mobo, Hd, processor, cooling fans and other devices). Simoly, more power wattage is being demanded than the protectors will allow at one time causing a protective shutdown followed by a restart followe by a protective shutdown in a continious loop.
The normall sequence for a boot is to boot the board, processor and fans followed by a boot of the hard drive, and other boot devices once the board is energised, NOT all devices at the same time, as this results in an overload and trips the protectors. This protective loop is indicated by the blinking light as the power is turned on and then shut down for protection as the wattage pull is over the demand that the protectors will allow.
Blinking light indictes you are in the protective loop.
SOLUTION: 1. Disconnect the Mother Board connector, with the computer unplugged, this will allow the power supply to reset at maximum wattage upon reboot.
2. Disconnect the Hard Drive power connector and ay boot device power supply cables, this will allow the Mother Board, processors and fans to boot without an overload of the protector inside the power supply.
3. Plug in the computer and the indicator light will be solid green indicating that it is reset and out of the loop.
4. With the computer pluged in and the Power Supply fully energised, plug in the Mother Board. The computer will now boot, and the processor fan will come on and the cooling fans.
5. After computer has rebooted, shut the computer back down and connect the Hard Drive power cable and any other power cablis that were unplugged.
6. Reboot with all cables connected and you are up and running again.
POWER SUPPLIES HAVE AN INDICATOR LIGHT FOR A REASON.
REMBER - BLINKING LIGHT IS AN OVERLOAD OF THE PROTECTORS AND ELLIMINATING THE OVERLOAD SOLVES THE PROBLEM AND THAT THE POWER SUPPLY IS WORKING AND CONVERTING POWER.
NO LIGHT MEANS NO POWER OUTPUT AND THAT INDICATES THE POWER SUPPLY IS NOT FUNCTIONING AND NEEDS REPLACED.
Hope this helps everone with power outages and lightining strikes. It is a rather common problem and can also occure when building a computer and one missmatches the power supply with the board wattage needs. If the board wattage needs are greater than the power supply output you will get stuck in a potective loop eventually. WHEN BUILDING A COMPUTER ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE POWER SUPPLY CAN PRODUCE MORE WATTAGE THAN YOU CAN CONSUME AT THE MAXAMUM LOAD.
Have a great computing experiense.
On Solution 18 - Want to expand on the blinking light.
If the blinking light does not reset and continues to trip in the loop with the motherboard connector and power cables disconnected, then you can heat up the power supply with a hair dryier.
Occasionally the heat protector will stick and cause the continious tripping.
This is indicated when the power supply is energised with it disconnected from any power consumming devices (motherboard, hard drive and other drives, etc) and it will not reset out of the trip loop and continoues to blink indicating power is being produced, but a protector is shutting it down.
The heat protector function basically like any bimetal protector. When overheated heated it shuts off the power. A little heat from a hair dries sometimes will allow it to adjust a nd reset back to specification and bring the power supply back to a solid green light.
If this fails to get the power supply out of the trip loop, a good used supply can be found at that online auction for a little of nothing (under $20.00 shipped)
Hope this helps....
Thanks for this tip. Disconnecting all the loads ( motherboard, hard drives, disc drives, etc.) did not work for me. After three minutes of applying a hair dryer to the side of my power supply, I got a solid green light and it has been good for a week, so far.
I also want to thank you for the hair dryer tip. It worked for me too. An odd note though, when I unplugged the power cord and moved the computer back to it's original location, it went back to blinking again. This time I just disconnected the psu cable from the motherboard and re-connected it (I know that's a no-no while the power cord is plugged in) and the light went back to solid again. And btw it continues to do that if I totally unplug the power cord. I don't get it. Well anyway the dryer tip did work for me. Thanks again.
Patrsnbits20. thank you so much for your solution! We returned from a vacation, plugged the computer in, and it would not power up. The power supply on the back was also blinking, just as others have described. Your explanation of why the power supply comes on was extremely helpful in understanding exactly what was going on with the computer. We followed your instructions to the letter, and the computer booted up perfectly.
Thank you so much for taking the time to post your solution here. My husband works exclusively from home, and needs his computer to work. We were able to solve this problem quickly, and with no additional time or expense. Thank you again!
Thank you for the tip. I tried disconnecting the motherboard, but every time I plugged it back in, the green light would start blinking again. Then I disconnected the hard drive, and when I plugged the motherboard back in, it started up. Thanks again.
@Partsnbits20; A couple of years on and your solution still working great. I went to bother of swapping Power Supply Unit and still had green flashing light. I knew then that the issue had to be independent of the PSU itself. Followed your instructions to the letter and the HP media sprung back to life and working fine since. Thanks for a great post.
Hi Patrsnbits20, I am from Macclesfield, England. I would like to thank you for this very useful solution. I had this situation with my computer, I tried your solution and the computer is now up and running again. many many thanks again. Ivor
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HP Hater,
Pull the plug out and leave it for 1/2 an hour. Most modern power supplies have an overvoltage protector that will trip and only reset if they are unplugged for a while.
Failing that, there is a more detailed set uf steps here: http://tinyurl.com/25efla
Best of luck.
Mark
Thanks for the post on connecting the mother board power connector. I have an HP Pavilian a1120n desktop and had the green flashing light after a power fail / restore. HP Trouble shooting steps told me the Mother Board was but, but not the case.
I was ready to give up on my PC and followed the risky move of attaching the mother board power supply without unplugging the external power cord. It came back to life and seems to work fine now. Not sure why, but somehow this caused a little shock or reset that got the system running again. All seems good.
I had the same problem with the green light flashing.
During the process of moving my CPU from one room to another I unplugged the computer w/o turning it off first. (whoops!) when I plugged it back in I got the notorious flashing green light and nothing else!
I tried plugging in the motherboard with the power plug in. It worked like a champ. Specifically… I unplugged the computer and let the flashing green light slowly die. Then I unplugged the 10x2 pin wire harness power connection from the motherboard. They I plugged the power cord into the wall, then plugged the 10x2 harness back into the motherboard. The computer, fan, etc… came right back on.
The computer didn’t recognize and of my peripherals other than the monitor so once it was booted up I had to force power off and power back on. Now it works fine.
Thanks everyone, you guys are AWESOME!
I had the same problem with green flashing light on the power supply, I unplugged the power supply from back of computer, than unplugged mother board power supply pin, plugged the main power in on back again and waited for a couple minutes ( this was important, when I didn't wait, it did not work) than I plugged in the mother board power supply pin again and it started. No more flashing light. Yeah!
Had the same problem with a Presario S6000NX. First, let me say that disconnecting and especially connecting a live power supply is the second dumbest solution to a problem like this that I ever heard of. But I was desparate and tried it. It didn't work.
However, the absolute dumbest solution I ever heard of, which I read on another thread, is using a blow dryer to warm up the power supply. Well, it worked.
Well I have to agree that is just about the stupidest thing ever, but it worked!!
First time I only had to disconnect mono and do the hotswap. This time that wasn't doing it so I thought, wth, let's try the hairdryer... 3 minutes, bingo... this time I also disconnected the hard drive, and reconnected after mobo replugged)
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My 2003 hp pavilion a350y just had the same issue - no power and green light flashing on the back after it was unplugged for a vacation week. As suggested here, I opened the case and unplugged/replugged the power supply (white with a bunch of different colored wires attached) from/into the mother board and power came on immediately. The green light is now on but not flashing. I have turned the computer on and off a few times and it still powers up. I am still not sure of the cause, maybe previous power surges have damaged something? I am hoping for continued success. HP tech support wouldn't even talk to me on the phone as my computer is too old. This site, viewed easily on my small cell phone screen, and the same solutions previously posted, saved me. Thanks so much everyone for the help!
I am having the same problem with a HP Pavilion a 744x. I tried disconnecting the motherboard and the "hair dryer thing" and neither worked for me. Does that mean my power supply is bad? When I unplug the motherboard and plug power back on the light stays green. But as soon as I plug the motherboard back in, the light flashes green. Help!!!
My computer is a HP MEDIA CENTER M1160n and I just did the unplug of power to the motherboard and got a solid green light and when I repluged the power to the mother board, while the main power cord was still pluged in, the problems was solved just like other have posted solving other models of HP Media Center computers with this problems. Thanks to everyone for comfirming this solution.
My HP media center vs17e did exactly this after I unplugged it from the wall accidentally. Cleaned it up inside real good (overdue) and disconnected the motherboard, then plugged cord into wall, got solid green light, then reconnected mother board. CAUTION: keep your hair and/or necklaces clear, the fan starts right up! Yea, I'm not a tech geek, but a 50 yr old woman with some mad skills. Thanks for posting this ...helped alot, made me feel like a flippin' genius ;)
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This is to confirm that the Hot Swap, or hot-plug-in-the-motherboard solution works for the HP Media Center m1050y as well. I recently had my electrical service interrupted, and when it was re-connected, the computer failed to boot. The only signal was the flashing green light on the power supply. I followed the HP procedures, systematically disconnected every single device, and concluded that my motherboard was fried. You have no idea how happy I was when I found this thread, and ran the hot swap procedure.
One could argue that it is not safe to put your hands in the constrained space, and invariably brush fingers and palms on exposed electical circuits, while forcing that huge plug back into the motherboard while the power supply is activated. My conclusion is that the low voltages make for a low risk. THANKS !!!
So I have followed the above steps whit success until I unplug the computer again. Once it is unplugged and then plugged back in I get the flashing light again. Any one else have this problem as well, and if so....have you fixed it?
So I didn't get any responses about the green flashing light coming back after the need to unplug the computer again........because of that I decided to spend $25 on e-bay for a replacement power supply. Swapped the power supply and now the computer functions like new. I just thought I would add the info incase it helps anyone.
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Hi i have been having problems with my pc for the last few weeks, at first it wouldnt go into windows and had 4 black lines running down the screen and then a space and more black lines and so on. then i finally do disk recovery, worked well for abf out aweek then i started getting a black box of black lines running through my mouse pointer then would freeze, and now the screen just flashes like a neon sign it looks like a vegas sign running down the screen like its moving. can someone plz help
Just had the same problem about the green light flashing, solved it by opening the case, without unplugging the power, disconnected the motherboard wires, and then reconnected them, now the green light is steady. Hope this helps! I know it;s a little dangerous to open the case with power on, but this was the only way to remove the charge in the motherboard that kept the green light flashing
Same problem with a Pavillion a844n. I had to go one step further. With the power cable to the motherboard disconnected, and the power cord plugged in and power to the computer, I held the on-off switch depressed and plugged in the motherboard power supply. It's alive and everything works.
Hp media center 1270 needed the on/off switch depressed exactly as you described.....that extra step saved me from an expensive repair. THANK YOU!!!
THANK YOU! Just a note I also have th 1270 and was having the same issue (blinking green) and first tried the hot swap of the motherboard with the power button depressed and as soon as I plugged the motherboard back in the blinking started up again. I then let the power supply charge for a little longer and tried again to no av dryail. Finally, as i was about to give up home I tried the hair dryer method and the hot swap WITHOUT the power button depressed and suddenly it booted up! The moral is if you are having this issue, try all of these solutions before spending a dime! Such a relief!
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This is Hatehp here again. Glad to see the risky way work for many users.
Recently, my computer experienced power outage again. Then, the same green light flash and unbootable problem happened. With the same risky way (Hot Swap may be better to describe the approach.), my computer is alive again. But, this time I have tried a few of times before I succeeded. There may be some 'waiting period' or certain sequence of steps required. Anyway, it works.
Recommendation: To prevent this happen again, in BIOS, set Power Up option to Off (or Manual On) after power outage, instead of Auto. I think at least this setup has no hurt.
Some posts suggested that the problem may be caused by lacking of power. They have successful stories too with more powerful power supply. I am not sure it is the root cause. But stronger power supply has no hurt either. Truly, I hope it is the real solution, so I can avoid the risky way.
Thanks for reading the message.
My HP a1120n had the flashing problem with power recovery set to OFF in BIOS. This happened when the computer was in Hibernation and main power was removed for a UPS to be installed. (Murphy, lurking, and at work here!) It fully recovered from hibernation. Anyway, being an engineering technician for 30+ years, one is never supposed to hotswap anything not specifically designed to do so. Maybe this MB/PS combination is tolerant? I guess with this PS you need to pray before unplugging the Main AC cord.
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I have a usb mouse and it's working properly in windows, but if i play a Cue Club game the mouse cursor speed is being too slow. Plz give me the solution of this problem
Eric johnson : after a power outage the pc will not start up The green light is flashing on the back
[An agent will be with you shortly.]
[You are now chatting with John .]
John : Welcome to HP Total Care for desktop support. My name is John. Please give me few minutes while I review your issue description.
NOTE: For security reasons, PLEASE DO NOT send credit card information via chat.
John : After reviewing your issue I gather that your computer is not booting up, correct ?
eric johnson : yes John
eric johnson : have tried all the basics
John : The power supply light at the back is also flasing, correct ?
eric johnson : yes
John : Is that computer beside you so that we can try some troubleshooting steps ?
eric johnson : yes
John : First, may I please have the product and serial number of your system? This information will help me pull up the relevant details needed to troubleshoot the issue. Please check the side panel of the tower, you will find a bar coded silver sticker and on that sticker you will find a 10 character alphanumeric code starting with S/N for Serial Number & P/N for Product Number.
eric johnson : product key?
John : No
John : The product and serial number of your system only
eric johnson : SN MXM413OGWO
eric johnson : MXM4130GW0
John : Is that a HP Pavilion a518x Desktop PC ?
eric johnson : yes
John : First please turn off the computer and unplug the power cable.
eric johnson : done
John : Now please slide open the side panel of the tower carefully.
eric johnson : done
John : Now please open the ATX cable from the motherboard of your tower.
It is the largest cable that comes from the power supply and connects in the motherboard. It has a bunch of colorful wires in it (at least 24 wires)
Please unplug it from the motherboard
eric johnson : done
John : Now I will request you to turn on the computer with the ATX cable unplugged and let me know if still the power supply light at the back is flashing or solid green ?
eric johnson : done
eric johnson : flashing green
John : Can you please check and let me know , is the power supply fan spinning ?
eric johnson : no fan running
John : It means that the power supply gone bad and needs to be replaced.
eric johnson : shorted out by a power spike? possibly?
John : Yes. I think so. The sudden power outage caused your computer tu shut it down suddenly. Due to sudden shut down of the power, the power supply has got effected and possible some part of that power supply has gone bad.
John : Because if it was good, the power supply light should not be blinking. It should have been steady green.
eric johnson : if it was steady green what would the next step be?
John : If it was steady green then we should have gone ahead with the troubleshooting steps to check the motherboard is good or not. However, in this case it is clear that the power supply has gone bad.
eric johnson : ok so .. ill go get it serviced by the professionals
John : Yes. Unfortunately the power supply for your computer model is out of stock.
eric johnson : do you have the model #?
eric johnson : part number
John : I am sorry, as your computer is pretty old and as it is out of stock, our database is not giving the part number of the power supply as well.
John : However, if you want to go for a new computer I can certainly assist you in configuring a good computer for you. Because you can get a good computer with Windows 7 operating system in as low as $299.
John : Eric, I have checked the specification of your computer , the system whihc you have is very old is that correct ?
eric johnson : it is an older model yes
John : Let me inform you that the Hardwrae parts which you have in your computer is the Obsolete parts.
John : Even if you purchase and hardware parst from a local store you wil not get the origunal once
John : Eric, dont you wish to have window 7 as the operatig system
eric johnson : well..it was working fine until this happened
John : Correct < today or some other day you had to have the issue with yoru computer.
eric johnson : whats the going price for a fix any idea?
John : It will cost you around $350 for sure if tyou go for the original parts
John : Eric to be practical enoug today you will spend for the power supply , some other day you will have another issue then again you have to spend
eric johnson : ok thanks for the help.I cant afford a new desk top right now
John : That is fine. It was just for your information only.
eric johnson : thnaks again John good day
and then ........I used the hair drier Brilliant!
My friend thought he could stop a virus infection by pulling out the power cord on his HP A700N PC. When he gave it to me to exorcise the Virus the PC would not turn on. Only the green light on the power supply would blink. I read all the hints for this problem on the HP M7250n and the one that suggested removing the main power plug to the Mother Board with the 120-240 V power cable removed then plug the 120-240 V main power cable into the PC followed by the Mother Board power cable solved the problem. The PC turned on and the green light is steady.
Yes i had the same problem with the green flashing light and found it was the motherboard that was the problem. I did it Hatehp's way and everything works fine now so i dont have to replace my motherboard thanks to Hatehp!
Unplugging the computer from AC, opening it, unplugging the motherboard, then plugging the computer back into AC, and finally plugging the motherboard back in WORKED!! I just have to mention that in the 22 years I've had about 15 Macs of various kinds. I've never had a problem that required such a ridiculous solution. This is a PC I bought my dad (Compaq Presario SR5605F), it's about 2 years old. I'd never by such a piece of junk if I had to rely on it for myself.
Thank you SO SO much! I followed the troubleshooting guide, and found the motherboard was to blame too. I have a HP media center m1264n. The motherboard is located behind the media drive box, so I had to cut the drive box tie cable, then remove the motherboard connectors (it's the one with the TON and TON of wires coming from it.) Once I plugged the computer back in, I plugged in the mother board, and then the drive. All is well and right with the computer world!
Same problem as everyone else - power outage, flashing green light, computer won't turn on (HP Pavilion a700n). Opened case found power supply to motherboard (multicolored wires into a white adapter). To disconnect the white power cord adapter, there is a latch, use your thumb to push in on the top and wiggle. Here is a link to a video on how to do it.
http://www.ehow.com/video_4445705_remove-cpu-motherboard.html?pid=1&cp=1
(eHow.com, search "How to Remove a CPU and Motherboard")
There was no electrical shock, and I was able to turn on the computer. Initially the mouse was frozen, but I turned unplugged the computer from the wall, waited a minute, plugged it back in, and it runs well.
I want to kiss you on the mouth. :)
Thought I was going to have to buy new power supply. Wasn't even sure that was going to fix it.
Thanks so much!!!!!
I have a Hp pavillan a532x/ I had the same problem on the flashing light in the bcak of the cpu. I followed the instruction of opening the cpu and disconnecting the big motherboard. I just followed the rear of the adapter and then found this " Motherboard" It was white and had a lot of wire adapter on it. My CPU stopped blinking and became a solid green light. I was able to immediatllly start up my cpu.
Thank you all so much,
JZ Texas
Nice! This worked on a HP pavilion 470a as well, it did take me unplugging everything giving it 5 minutes holding down the power button for a 10 count with no power. I plugged in the power first after that, reconnected the mother board with live power and it powered up like a champ!
Thanks everyone for your great help here.... made my day!
Thank You Hatehp jan 13,1980, by the way I love my HP, anyway I followed his advice and my HP is up and running "I opened the computer box. I was able to identify that disconnecting the power plug to the mother board will stop flashing and the green light is on. But without mother board, it is not a computer any more.
At one point, I pluged the mother board power plug back on without disconnecting the main power supply plug (the green light was steady.) Then the computer start boot up."
If after you've tried disconnecting all power and letting it sit long enough to reset... your power supply has suffered a voltage surge must be replaced. Power surges will toast your power supply. Replacing the power supply is inexpensive and not difficult... Google "replace power supply"... but basically just pay attention to all you disconnect... to reconnect... and then be sure to purchase quality surge protection.
Now tickle me pink! used the blow dryer and it work.
I have an hp and after power interruption the green light kept blinking. i tried the blow drier technique and it worked so that i am now able to post this message. great suggestion and thanks a million for posting it. i suggest that when you blow out the dust take the cpu outside or you will have a lot of dust flying in the room. good luck and lots of thanks.
Thanks to all you guys i got to work nagain
Thats temporary solution. what will happen if you want to sell that computer and when they try to turn on???? blinking light will blink again! Does anyone have a solution whichone will fix problem forever (dont need to replug PSU cable from mainboard to make computer to work)
I solved the same problem today ( August 5, 2011) by the method detailed by Hatehp on Jan 13, 2008. My computer is HP Pavilion a1220b. Thanks Guys for posting this reply. You are indeed helping so many people to save in this bad economy. SSam
I just did the unplug the power to the motherboard thing and it solved this problem. I can't believe it. I would have never thought of that. Thanks!
Thanks a million! I had the green light flashing and tried the unplugging and plugging in the main mobo lead and it worked. Sometimes I have to question if this is by design. I really don't trust HP with anything but corporate end laserjet printers.
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I have resolved the problem with a un expected way. By following the HP online troubleshooting guide, I opened the computer box. I was able to identify that disconnecting the power plug to the mother board will stop flashing and the green light is on. But without mother board, it is not a computer any more.
At one point, I pluged the mother board power plug back on without disconnecting the main power supply plug (the green light was steady.) Then the computer start boot up. So far, the computer work well.
So, what I will recommend is
1. Don't call HP services. They just want to sell me $50 for 14 days unlimited tech supports, or $99 for one year extended warranty. Without paying the moneny the services will not transer me call to tech supports.
2. Go the www.HP.com/support and follow troubleshooting guide. Hopefully, you can resolve your issues.
3. Try my way which is risky for make things worse.
BTW, thanks Mark for your reply.
I returned from a camping trip and was unable to turn on my computer. I discovered that we had some type of power outage. When I pulled out my computer to see if anything was unplugged I noticed the flashing green light. I have unplugged the computer and I am waiting for the half hour to elapse before I plug it in again. Hopefully that will work. It was very strange to me that the green light continued to flash even after the computer was unplugged! (I use a very expensive power strip to plug all of my computer things into.)
I have a home business and luckily my husband also has a computer so that I can get on the internet to see what I can do. I am very grateful for this website and hopefully the tips will correct the problem. My husband's computer was not affected by the power outage. Is it only the HP Media Center m7250n PC Desktop that has this problem?!
Incredible I had a dead Compaq s4500 with the flickering light. Amazingly got fully back working using the same method described. Scary but very effective!
Colin
So I have followed the above steps whit success until I unplug the computer again. Once it is unplugged and then plugged back in I get the flashing light again. Any one else have this problem as well, and if so....have you fixed it?
I am having the exact same problem, power outage, green light, etc; however, I think I will try just replacing the power pack and hopefully that's it. Any advice?
Thanks for your help!
I have an HP Media Center m7060n. Today I turned off the computer (following the proper procedures) so that I could move the desk and computer to a different area.
After setting up the computer I tried to turn it on, but the hard drive will not turn on. There is a green light flashing in the back of the hard drive and it is making a ticking noise.
I am using the same cords and the same power outlet as before. The moniter, printer, speakers, etc. all show that power is getting through.
Does this mean that my hard drive is done? And if so, can I still retrieve my pictures/videos/documents, etc. ??
I do know that I was getting low on disc drive space but had yet to purchase more. Could this also be the problem?
just had the same problem as discribed above tried the solution and it worked a treat thank you for saving me time and money on replacing the power pack which was my first thought when I tried to switch the computer on
It worked! usually we leave our computer on all the time and the one time we decided to turn it off for the night to save a little money.. bang! we got the flashing light and it wouldn't turn on. I did a search and found this page... awesome! I took the side panel off and disconnect all of the power connectors including the mother board power which was a pain to get to... let it sit for a few but it didn't work the first time we tried. I had to also use the hair dryer for about 3 mins then all signs were go! Thanks for saving me a service call and ordering of a part I didn't need.
Thank you. Worked like a charm. Frank
You are a genius! I had a dead pc and came back to life. I panicked at first but in the end evrything worked out fine. Thanks for all your support.
Now tickle me pink! I used the blow dryer suggestion and it work. I went on vacation and the roon got very cold so I guess that was the issue.
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