Weirdness

[Kittish]

This is very weird, and I can't figure out how it's happened.

I moved my computer into a new case a while back, and upgraded several components at the same time. This is the first time I'd ever essentially built a computer. The case itself is a former server case, with multiple fans built into it (that's actually WHY I picked that one, aside from it fitting my new to me motherboard).

Since I had a second computer available while I rebuilt mine, I kept diagrams and instructions for how to wire and connect everything handy, and I must have done it at least mostly right because it does work and pretty well. There's just one thing that's weird. When I shut the computer down, actually turn the whole thing off, it boots back up when I click a mouse button. The mouse is plugged into one of the USB ports on the motherboard, and I'm pretty much certain I plugged the wires for those ports coming off the motherboard into the correct sockets. Why does it boot when I click the mouse is my actual question.

One thing I may have done a bit off is all those tiny little two pin plugs for the case lights, it's possible I may have the polarity reversed on those (I either went based on the assumption that black was negative or that red was positive, can't remember now which colors of wires I actually had to work with), but if I do, it's consistent for all of them, and the case lights seem to work just fine, and actually give the indications they're supposed to.

I'll crack the case actually open and get a pic of how it looks inside tomorrow, if anyone wants, other than that I don't really know what other info to give you.

[TheSHAD0W]

Check your BIOS settings, it might be that you have some wake-up-on-keyboard/mouse function. I can't see any other way clicking a mouse button would trigger a start-up like that.

[crashhelmet]

If it's safe to assume the mouse works properly when it's powered on, then TheShadow is probably right on the money with this. It sounds like you're actually putting the system to sleep instead of shutting it off. You'd need to check your power settings in the BIOS and Windows for that.

If the mouse does not work, you've got the cable plugged into the wrong connectors.

If you can provide us with the make and model of the motherboard, it will help.

[Kittish]

The mouse works properly.

The motherboard is an NForce 4M-A V3.0. My OS is Windows Vista Home Premium, if that makes any difference.

Far as I can see, when I tell the computer to shut down, it does shut all the way way off, even the case fans shut off. When I press the power button or click the mouse, it turns on and boots up, it does not act like it's simply resuming function. The keyboard does not cause it to turn on when it's off.

I glanced at the power options in the BIOS, but didn't see anything that I could make sense of, so I left it all alone (don't you wish all semi-computer literate users were that smart?). I also looked at the power options in the control panel and again, didn't see anything that seemed to say it would let a mouse click power it up.

[barcode]

This is the Elitegroup (ECS) one?
If so, the quick fix:
>Power ON > Delete to enter BIOS > Power Management > Resume By PCI-PME > select "Disabled"
(You may want to set the suspend mode at the top of the screen to disabled (or S5) if you don't use the suspend modes (default is Suspend To RAM (STR), which is okay for a laptop, but useless, IMPO, on a desktop system).

Explanation:

Although you're using a USB mouse, you didn't specify if you're also using a USB keyboard. By default, on this mobo the power on features of the PS/2 ports are set to disabled, but keeps the PCI (which happens to include the USB root hubs) items as enabled. Clicking the USB mouse generates a PCI Power Management Event (PCI-PME), and wakes up the computer. Make sure the PS2 MS (MouSe) and PS2 KB (KeyBoard) are also set to disabled.

Suspend modes are defined as to what "Sleep Mode" they entail. Power OFF is defined as S5, and full-on is S0. I don't recommend STR for desktops because relying on this mode to wake up requires that power be applied to the RAM while sleeping in order to preserve what you were working on. On a laptop, you have a battery that'll tide you over between outlets, but a desktop that faces a power outage when you pop out for dinner or something will lose whatever you were working on. If you need to use a suspend mode for a desktop, use Suspend-To-Disk instead. If the power craps out, at least everything is saved to disk.

On some motherboards (not this ECS), they provide a jumper or two to select where the USB and PS/2 ports get their power. An ATX power supply will provide +5V for running on-board power management features (called "5-volt Standby", or "5Vsb"). If the Keyboard and Mouse are also powered from the 5Vsb, then they are always powered on, unless there's a physical power switch on the back of the PSU, or you unplug or switch off from a power strip. By setting this jumper to "System PWR", you're only giving these devices power when the rest of the system is powered up. In this case, no power to the mouse or keyboard means no wake-up events to send, thus no power-ups.

As for the lights, they happen to be LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes), and a fun fact about LEDs is that if you hook them up backwards, they don't light up. NO damage is done - just no lights. If the LED isn't lighting up, just flip the connector around, and try again. Normal convention usually defines the negative (cathode) lead as that of white or black in color, with the other color determined by function: Red/White is usually Power, Orange-Cream/White is usually HDD activity, etc.
Front panel switches, on the other hand, can blow things out if they're connected to power rails. If everything seems to be working okay, then you shouldn't worry.

barcode

[Kittish]

Wow, thank you barcode. Lots of information here. I'll print this out and go take another look at the BIOS.

[Duncan MacLeod]

Wow, thank you barcode. Lots of information here. I'll print this out and go take another look at the BIOS.

A little off-topic, but have you considered updating to Wndows 7? I just find Vista even with service packs annoying to work with, When transferring large number of files, it does NOT tell you what file is being transferred. I found this up when backing up a machine I was fixing last night, among other Vista annoyances.

[Kittish]

I quite agree, Vista is annoying in a lot of ways and I'd love to upgrade to Windows 7, if I could afford it. At the moment, and for quite a lot of moments yet to come, we have absolutely NO extra money. Such is life.

[Naaman]

Another thing to remember with Vista is the "power" button doesn't power off the PC, it only puts it in a suspended state - which is darned useful once you get used to it.

If you want to power down fully then you need to go two over (the right facing arrow) and pick "Shut Down" from the list that appears.