[Resolved!]
I traded my cousin some really expensive RAM that I happened accross for his old desktop, that he put his graphics card into that he swapped from his newer computer. If I plug the desktop into the wall and try to turn it on nothing happens. If I open it up I can see that the where the wire from the power supply plugs into the graphics card there Is a little light on. So clearly some power is getting somewhere…
How do I go about trouble shooting this, and what tools do I need? I assume at minimum a multi meter? Not really sure what to do, it’s been decades the last time I built a computer.
Board says “Asrock H110M-HDS”
Edit: Attached a Pic and noticed the light is actually on the graphics card, not motherboard. Added addtl info.
Update: So now all of the sudden the fan spins. I am at a loss as to why it spins now, as I haven’t actually really done anything. I ordered a speaker for the mobo, so waiting for that.
Final update: It works! I apparently had either a bad monitor or bad display port cable. But using another monitor with DVI I was able to finally get it to fully boot!
I am not sure what got the fans to eventually work, maybe just a cable was jostled.
I really appreciate all the advice! I definitely know a lot more and feel better equipped to do things with it now.
The motherboard has an onboard battery that could have been empty and by having it plugged in it charged a little. I’d check if the system just works now.
there are no rechargeable CMOS batteries that I know of. it either powers on or not. could have a switch on the power supply though.