PC turns on by itself

[onilink47]

So I just put together my first PC, and everything went smoothly and seems to be working great, except today, 4 or 5 times now, the computer has powered itself on all by itself.

It was not in sleep mode, there's no way I hit the power button by accident, I have gone through BIOS and made sure all things related to waking the computer are disabled, I have gone through device manager and made sure no device has the wake computer option selected.

So at this point I'm assuming it's hardware based. I don't have a super high-quality power strip, but I've never had a problem with it before; I did just change the plug on the power strip that it's plugged into, so I'll see if that makes a difference.

I'm by no means an expert, but I'm thinking the only things left are either the power button on the case (NZXT Phantom) or the motherboard (ASUS P8Z77-V Pro). Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing happening? Have I overlooked something, possibly in the BIOS? Can anyone think of a way to narrow down exactly where the problem is coming from?

Any help would be greatly appreciate. This is a big downer right now, after I was thinking I did a really good job putting this system together.

 

[Johan45]

You say you have checked that the wake on lan/keyboard/mouse is disabled. You wouldn't happen to have a phone modem plugged into it? If so unplug the line and see if it stops.

 

[onilink47]

Yeah the wake on lan/keyboard/mouse are all disabled, and I'm only connected via Wifi, no phone modem.

 

[Johan45]

How long have you been running? Have you verified that it's not malware of some sort?

 

[kmo_9000]

Go into advanced power options and under sleep disable allow wake timers. Also you may need to go into your device manager and disallow certain devices from being allowed to wake the computer. Usually it's the lan port that does this but the USB hub controllers can wake the computer sometimes.

 

[White Runner]

Have you double checked your power/reset cables from your case that plug in your motherboard? Sounds like the power or reset cable is plugged in backwards... almost sounds like a short.... if your power/reset/hdd led leads are plugged in correctly, maybe its a short in the case?

 

[onilink47]

Johan, I've only been running a few days. The only downloading I've done is through Steam and Uplay, so I can't imagine I've got anything bad on the system already. Still I ran a full system scan with avast and nothing came up.

kmo, see my original post.

White Runner, I plugged audio, power, reset, hdd leads into a little adaptor that came with the mobo and then connected this to the mobo. The single pin connectors didn't snap in and hold tight, so maybe that's it. I'll try without the adaptor and see if they fit any better. Is there a backwards for the single pin led leads? Do these all connect writing up or down?

 

[White Runner]

They should be marked with a + sign for positive... not sure if motherboards are different, but on this MSI P67 mobo I have handy, the plugs go in with the positive end facing the rear of the motherboard.

 

[wagex]

sounds like a motherboard problem i had a similar, though not quite the same experience but mine would turn on as soon as i shut it off no matter what i tried lol

only think i can think of is like was said could be a case / power button issue

 

[Tokae]

Do you have the option in the BIOS for 'reboot after power failure' selected?

 

[onilink47]

I've tried all of the above, but no luck. I've just disconnected the power/reset/led leads in hopes that if it doesn't star on it's own, then I've narrowed the problem down.

If it's actually something else, will disconnecting the leads altogether prevent ANYTHING from starting the computer? Or will my experiment successfully narrow it to the mobo/case power button connection?

 

[White Runner]

If you disconnected all of the power/reset stuff and it happens again, then it's not it. If it doesn't happen again, then there may be something wonky with your cables/i/o panel... let us know how it goes!

 

[SPeEdZ70]

Do you have a Cat or a Dog?

I`m sorry I have an Old ASUS board and my cat would jump up on my desk and sometimes turn my computer on It is an Asus p5w dh deluxe and two off the ports on back were hot for the remote I don`t know if this could be it just a guess looks like you are trying everything thought I would add my 2cents

 

[onilink47]

Ha ha no, good suggestion but I've watched it turn on.

I am happy to report that I have figured it out. The Wifi GO! card that came with it would remain powered on after turning the comp off, and this is what would cause it to start up on its own. Of course, the option was hidden in the BIOS, and the reason I missed it in the first place is because the option needs to be ENABLED.

I'm sure there are going to be others looking for an answer on this, so here it is:

If you own an ASUS P8Z77-V Pro (and possibly other ASUS boards with a Wifi Go! card) in the BIOS under the ADVANCED tab and the APM section, you will want to set ErP Ready to ENABLED (It is Disabled by default). This will solve the problem of the Wifi Go! card turning on your computer.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm happy to report that my first build is now running like a dream and I'm loving the DIY way.

 

[White Runner]

Kudos to you for posting the solution, I'm sure others will benefit from it down the road. Glad you got it figured out!!!

 

[Tech Tweaker]

One of the strangest problems I've seen.

Never run into one that involved a problem with the Wifi card.

I figured it was some issue with the motherboard itself or the power supply. Hmm...