Hi, This is very long: I had a VIP Personal Computer (an XT clone) and it had a Seagate 20 MB Twin-Cable type Hard Drive. I just took it out of the attic to get some files off. I'm almost positive something was wrong with the motherboard because it would give me a 301 when I knew FOR SURE the keyboard was good-I even tested it on another XT. Sometimes it would give me a 1701. I would have to reboot it about 4-6 times before it loaded correctly. So, I decided to put the hard drive from the XT into a NEC 286 I had around. I took out the controller card and the HD and made sure everything was connected right. As soon as I hit power, I heard a loud POP and I saw a little white smoke come out of the PS. (I had the cover off the whole time) My question is, do you think its just a coincidence that the PS exploded or could the 8-Bit Controller card have done this. I really don't want to pop another supply. Why do PS's POP anyway? Is it because of age or because there is too much of a load? Thanks for your time

possible short in ps, if you waited this long to retrieve files probably not worth risking another power supply which might be hard to find as i don't think they sell AT power supplies anymore & ATX won't fit, wrong connector david

I shouldn't try to plug in the 286 with the popped PS again should I? I think that will cause more damage. The PS was working flawlessly until I put that card and HD in it.

If the PSU popped and gave off smoke its dead in the water.

that card & drive is either mfm or rll types david

G'day, Have you checked to make sure all the connectors have been placed correctly?? I'm not sure about the power connector on the HD, but if it's in the wrong way around it could cause a problem. Anyway, check for any bad fitting connectors and see if you can spot anything wrong. The PSU is most likely deceased (unless it is fused... most aren't unfortunately) and so you would be better off sourcing a cheap one from an old salvage store and replacing it. I would remove the HD and controller card and fit the spare PSU and try again. If all works, then your HD and/or controller may have caused the problem. This, however, does not rule out the possibility that permanent damage has been done to the motherboard, in which case, you may have to junk it and start again. regards, Elric

It could very well have been a coincidence. POPs from an electronic device normally means that a capacitor exploded. This is a common problem and I have never heard of anything that causes it. It just seems that it's one way capacitors die.