Desktop killed by usb memory stick

[holmslaw]

Hi, need some pointers please.

My desktop was on standby, I plugged in a usb memory stick and the desktop stopped, completely dead, and will not restart or give any indication of being supplied with power.

I suspect the psu is kaput, but how could a memory stick cause it to fail?

08.26 update, power lead was fully inserted, unplugged and proved 240 volts, reinserted lead and it restarted without me operating on/off switch.
But, screen came up and cursor [with eggtimer] would'nt move, also led indicating processor activity was off, left it for 10 minutes, still no joy.

Switched off and restarted and now seems ok, but is it on the verge of giving up?

 

[festive]

My initial reaction is the short circuit protection kicked in and killed the machine dead, plugging back in it resumed power maybe recovers in that state from power cut.

Depending on your confidence i would be removing covers and checking there's not a stray peripheral power feed cable touching the chassis somewhere and check the usb socket isn't pushing itself or something else to cause a direct short to the chassis.

What's the history of this desktop, prebuilt self built, model of machine, make of psu, memory stick been used recently? Indeed otherwise could be a sign of psu dying, in my experience i find they either work or just die.

 

[holmslaw]

The desk top is a Fuji Siemens SCALEO P, the MOBO is an ASUS P5GD1-FM, about 4 years old.

But anyway, seem to have solved the problem but an explanation would be good.

Got another usb device plugged in and out 5 or 6 times, no problem.

Plugged in memory stick, everything stopped, only way to restart was by pulling out and replacing mains lead.

Tried memory stick again, this time, no shut down but cursor is frozen.

Seems the memory stick was the culprit, haven't used it for a few months.