How do I encourage an ATX power supply to power two IDE drives without
involving a motherboard?
Howdy theblackfamily-ga,
First, it appears that doing this for an extended period of time, which
it appears you want to do, might not be a good thing to do. Do this at
your own risk.
I can give absolutely no warranty to the following procedures, and keep
in mind that since this involves a power supply, high voltage will be
involved, and that could mean injury and even death could occur.
This Dux Computer Digest article outlines the basic process. Make sure
that you follow their instructions step by step for safety reasons.
http://www.duxcw.com/faq/ps/ps4.htm
"Unplug the power cord from the power supply, short-out pins 14 and 15
on the power supply main power connector, and plug-in the power cord ..."
The above page has a diagram showing where pins 14 and 15 are located.
It goes on to explain why you might not want to do the above for long.
"The ATX Power Supply Design Guide 0.9 states that the power-on function
should be normally done with TTL (transistor transistor logic) circuitry
which pulls pin 14 low and which should include contact debounce logic."
The following web page speaks to why the above might not be enough.
http://www.jeae.dk/Computere/atx_-_psu.htm
"The ATX supply however is a little more tricky to test, as it uses a
'soft' power switch and requires an external load. In order to start,
the supply must be loaded to at least 20W or (10% rated power), below
this the supply may run, but regulation will be very poor."
The above goes on to address the load issue. Again, you will want to
read it in detail.
One possible work around would be to use a ATX power supply tester. This
also has the possible problem of being a short term solution due to heat
building up. Here are some web addresses, in no particular order, where
you can source a tester.
Cyberguys!
http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?T1=115+3112
Computer Gate
http://www.computergate.com/products/item.cfm?prodcd=XTKPATX
Computer Geeks
http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ATX-PT
The above testers would appear to supply the needed load as well as the
pin 14/15 shorting, but you might want to call one of the above suppliers
to make sure it does the latter.
If you do the second search listed below, you will get more sources, or
you can use the following search on Google's own Froogle shopping service.
Froogle search (sorted by price) on: atx power supply tester
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=atx+power+supply+tester&scoring=p
If you need any clarification, feel free to ask.
Search strategy:
Google search on: atx "power supply" short motherboard pins
://www.google.com/search?q=atx+%22power+supply%22+short+motherboard+pins
Google search on: atx power supply tester
://www.google.com/search?q=atx+%22power+supply%22+tester
Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher Ultra X2 ULT31851 550-Watt Power Supply - ATX, 120mm Fan, SLI Ready ::
Ultra X2 ULT31851 550-Watt Power Supply - ATX, 120mm Fan, SLI Ready, SATA-Ready, 1x 4-Pin Power Cable with Floppy power connector. A Closer Look. Features
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-deNo=2974488&Sku=ULT31851+KHOME |
DTC P0753 [FN4A-EL]::
Short to power supply in wiring harness between ATX terminal A and PCM terminal 1AZ (Z6)/1B (LF) INSPECT ATX CONNECTOR CIRCUIT FOR SHORT TO POWER SUPPLY
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ATX power supply connector wiring 
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