A week ago, I was messing around with my motherboard trying to fix my RGB lights so that the RGB lights can all be controlled from one controller. I accidentally short-circuited something on the motherboard. The computer kept running to my suprise, but immediately after powering down the system, the computer would no longer power up. I thought I had fried my power supply. Worse, I may have fried the motherboard.

Then I searched online and came across this trick to jump start the power supply. It was worth a try at this point in time. One, it was the cheapeast option. Frankly, I couldn’t tell what was preventing the system from powering up, either the power supply or the motherboard. It’s one or the other. So, the trick calls for getting a small paper clip and then removing the 24 pin connector from the motherboard, powering on the system and then placing the paper clip on pins 4 and 5. Pin 4 is the green wire. Pin 5 is the black wire.

So I gave it a try. Sure enough the power supply turned on like the articles mentioned. The fans and the LED lights turned on. I turned off the power supply and reconnected the 24 pin cable back on the motherboard. There had been no problems ever since. Who knew a paper clip can jump start a power supply. Nice little trick. It saved me a few dollars.