I demoted my older desktop computer to a server a short while back and it has always had some sort of problem with powering on after a complete power loss.
For instance, right now it's powered on and running fine. If I power it off, I can easily power it back on without any problems.
However, if I power it off, and then disconnect the power chord, then reconnect and attempt to power it on, anything short of a prayer and a miracle will not make it power on, and I have to keep trying for what seems like ages to get it to power on.
One thing that seems to increase its chance to power on is to disconnect everything except the power chord. USB cables (even for mouse and keyboard), monitor cable, network cable, etc. everything has to go.
Also, the longer I just let the machine sit there, connected to power, but powered off, with nothing else connected, seems to increase the chance of it powering on.
What likely items in the machine can be the problem? I'm assuming it's a problem with the power unit, that it can't manage to deliver enough juice to the rest of the system when everything is connected and probably drawing minute quantities of power from it, but what about the fact that it seems to be easier to power it on the morning after I reconnect the power to it than the same evening? Is there something in there that needs to recharge?
This machine is usually left on 24/7 for home server purposes so it hasn't niggled me all that much, but a couple of nights ago there was a big thunderstorm in the area so I disconnected everything, and I had to reconnect it one day and power it on the next day to get it back in order.
Has anyone else seen this kind of behaviour? I'm loath to begin replacing elements in it since the problem doesn't come up all that often, and I'd hate to start replacing the power unit only to find out that this is a typical problem with the thingamajig connected to whatsitsname on the motherboard.