Maximum PC

I have a PC case with a prominent power button right near the front USB ports. Sometimes when plugging or unplugging a USB device the power button will be accidentally bumped and the computer shuts down.

Is there not a setting that can change the power button so that it needs to be held for four-five seconds before powering off?
I can't find one in the BIOS, nor in the power management settings. For power management all I see is off, hibernate, sleep and do nothing.

Windows7Pro_64, Intel DX58SO, Intel i920, 6GB RAM

Thanks much,
R

What you describe doesn't sound like anything to do with the power switch or how the board is reacting to a switch press...

So to put your theory to the test, have you removed the power jumper and then powered the machine by shorting the jumpers with something like a screwdriver then plugging in the USB stick? I guess as an alternate, you could power up the machine and the press the power button to see how long it'll take before a shutdown occurs.

The bios may have an option there. Your MB manual would be able to tell you for sure.

Most BIOS' do have a setting between 4 sec and instant (and sleep mode) when held down.

Usually 4 sec. is the default. I too am suspicious this may not be the problem. Furball lays out a pretty good plan to test an repeatable phenomenon.

Hello, I am a new member of this forum, Nice to meet you!

Perhaps I provided confusing initial info.
The USB port is NOT the problem. If I accidentally bump the power switch with my foot, no USB involved, (the PC is on the floor under my desk) the computer will also instantly shut down. This does not happen if the PC case just happens to be bumped which might indicate a loose connection. The power switch seems to be instant on|off, not requiring one to hold it in for four seconds in order to shut down.
I can't seem to find a setting in the DX58SO BIOS that would change the behavior of the switch.

Is anyone else still running a DX58SO board where switching is working properly?

So when sitting at a desktop,and you press and hold the power button, how long before it powers down?

you can set the power button to do nothing instead of shut down, which would require shutting down with the microsoft shutdown routine. that would be under the power options, choose what the power button does. I have not found a setting that controls how long before the system shuts down after hitting the power button, my own waits a few seconds before shutting down.

It's virtually instant.

Same case between builds? [even if not....]

If yes, then as I said furball outlines how to test (not sure what the USB stuff is about, don't care) but pull the power switch off the MB header, briefly short the contacts and let the system power up, bump the shit out of it.

If it fails to shut down then I would spray a lot of contact cleaner into the power switch, and if that fails to resolve the problem then replace the switch.

Table 5 (p. 29 MB manual) lists the system states based on how long the power switch is pressed, depending on how ACPI is configured with an ACPI-aware operating system.

Table 5. Effects of Pressing the Power Switch

If the system is in this
state…On (ACPI G0 – working state)

…and the power switch is
pressed for Less than four seconds

…the system enters this state
Soft-off/Standby (ACPI G1 – sleeping state)

----------

If the system is in this
state…On (ACPI G0 – working state)

…and the power switch is
pressed for More than six seconds

…the system enters this state
Fail safe power-off (ACPI G2/G5 – Soft off)

http://ark.Intel.com/products/36888/Intel-Desktop-Board-DX58SO

Perhaps the switch is bad although it certainly turns the computer on and off. It just turns off the PC too well.
I looked in my mobo manual and on page 29 it describes installing the I/O panel. On page 20 it mentions the ACPI capability but only in very general terms.
In the BIOS I have settings for S1, S3, and S5. The switch instantly turns off the PC regardless of which setting is selected.

I'll fiddle with it a little more and then decide whether or not to live with it or replace the case. I wouldn't know what switch to buy. It's a Micro Center PowerSpec PC.

Wait wait wait...

Isn't there a BIOS setting that determines what pressing the switch does? I have one, I forget what its' called, in mine and the two options are "Instant Off" and "Delayed 4 Sec."

I guess it depends on the motherboard and BIOS layout.
As it turns out, my problem is fixed by changing the setting in the Advanced Power Settings to 'Do Nothing' when the power button is pressed.

In my brain damaged state (2 kids) I completely disregarded that as an option because, of course, I wanted my power button to work, not to not work.