PC Boot Problem / Power Issues

[boothy128]

Hi All

Firstly, my computer
Intel Q6600
ASUS P5N-E SLi (BIOS - 1301)
2GB VData 800MHz RAM
1GB Corsair XMS2 800MHz RAM
EZCool 600W PSU
ASUS V60 Heatsink & Fan
2 x 8800GT in SLI (one BFG OC2 edition, one EVGA OC)
500GB WD HDD (OS & Programs)
1TB WD HDD (Media)
LG Bluray / HDDVD Reader
DVD RW Optical Drive
Vista 32bit Home Prem

PROBLEM:
This problem has been around ever since I got this PC made by Dino PC (Not recommended). It was sent back many times and parts have been changed since purchace to get it going again. Warranty is well over now though so it is up to me....

Recently I have been getting an error whilst booting that is something like
***Boot Load Failure, Reset Setup Defaults in BIOS***
Which I did all the time but it never really helped much because it happend most of the time I turned it on. (but not ALL the time) what the bigger issue was that it would turn itself off without warning at completely random times. Didn't matter what I was doing, it would just turn off (and sometimes reboot, sometimes not)
No error messages, No beeps, No blue screen or anything.
CPU Temp was never higher than 50-60Deg even under strain so heat shouldnt be a factor.

THEN it stopped booting altogether, no pic/audio. Fans would spin but HDD light wouldnt flash.

To solve I formatted my HDD using a firends PC, Reset BIOS using the old remove the battery/change jumper trick and then it would start up! I reinstalled windows and it was working perfectly..for about 3 hours and then it powered down without warning again. Still no error messages.

I am back to the stage where if I turn it on the fans will spin, optical drives will flash etc and HDD will show power and then cut off. The fans stay running but no lights show activity. The HDDs are spinning as I can feel them. No way to get into BIOS or anything.

PLEASE help me...

Boothy128

 

[snow]

Hi Boothy,

Try re-setting the motherboard's CMOS by taking the battery out, waiting for five minutes, and putting it back in again.

Does this let you get into the BIOS?

 

[boothy128]

Hi Boothy,

Try re-setting the motherboard's CMOS by taking the battery out, waiting for five minutes, and putting it back in again.

Does this let you get into the BIOS?

Thanks for replying,
In the last 10mins I turned it on and got the
***Warning: System boot fail*** Your system last boot or POST interrupted. Please enter setup to load default and reboot again. Press F1 to continue, Del to enter setup


I went into BIOS, loaded setup default and then used EZFlash 2 to update BIOS to 1403. It rebooted and I got the exact same message as above. I have reset the CMOS before and this sometimes helps in the short run. But I always end up returning to this same prob.

Upon loading the setup defaults again, it has booted to windows. For now at least. It is unquestionable that it will turn itself off again in the next couple of hours however as this is always the case.

I have been though this same loop several times in the past weeks

Any further suggestions, poss hardware related?

Cheers

P.S. If you want me to go into BIOS and get you any info, no probs (hopefully)

 

[maynardvdm]

Have you tried a new CMOS battery?

 

[boothy128]

Right, just as suspected - the PC turned itself off again after only maybe 15mins. This time during system rating. This is the 2nd time it has turned off during system rating. However, seing as though it is only the first consistancy I've spotted since this started out of dozens of shut downs I'm not getting excited.

Just reset CMOS again to see what happens...

got "CMOS checksum error - loaded defaults"

and it started without the usual ***system boot fail message***.

Then it restarted back to the ASUS logo screen, and turned off....sigh

 

[boothy128]

Have you tried a new CMOS battery?

Hi, thanks for replying

I haven't no, its probs 2yrs old, is this enough time to run out of juice?

I dont have a new one lying around. Will using my housemates work just to test it in the meantime? he will have a different mobo to be, but I imagine the battery will be the same, correct?

Also, is there any risk of shorting out his battery or anything like that? I dont want to mess his PC up!

Cheers

 

[maynardvdm]

Yeah

CMOS checksum error is normally an indication. So try that.

Also how old is the PSU?

 

[boothy128]

Yeah

CMOS checksum error is normally an indication. So try that.

Also how old is the PSU?

Excellent, we're getting somewhere. Ill wait for my housemate to free up his comp and then borrow his battery. In the meantime ill se if the local shops sell them.

Is it possible that this is the root cause of my problems?

The PC was delivered to me in Jan 08 I think, which is how old the PSU will be.

Slightly off topic - I read that my CPU would act as a bottleneck when playing games, considering that I have 2x8800gt in SLi. True? It never runs at 100%, not even when transcoding Vids. Not a real issue atm though, seeing as though I'll need to get it running stably first!

 

[Jelly Bean]

CMOS checksum error

1. Bad or old CMOS battery.
2. BIOS update.
3. Disconnecting power from computer without shutting down computer

Attempt to reboot the computer. If error still occurs after rebooting the computer enter CMOS setup and check all values, this includes verifying the time and date are correct. Once everything has been verified and/or changed make sure you save and exit CMOS setup. If everything appears to be correct and the issue persists try resetting the CMOS values to the defaults and/or Reset Configuration Data.

If the computer was had the power disconnected while it was still running it is possible this could cause the CMOS to become corrupt. Ensure that the computer is ready to be shut off before turning off the computer. If you have a laptop computer ensure that the battery is charged before disconnecting the power connection.


If you've recently ran a BIOS update on the computer the values stored in CMOS may have been reset. Enter CMOS setup and re-enter all the appropriate values.If you're unable to enter the BIOS setup or after running a BIOS update your computer no longer keeps its values the incorrect BIOS update may have been installed for your computer or the version downloaded may be corrupt. We suggest trying to update the BIOS again and/or reverting back to an earlier version.


A local electrical store will sell you a Lithium battery for your replacement BIOS battery.

 

[boothy128]

UPDATE: They sold the battery next door. Bought and inserted it. PC powers up, no HDD lights, no image on screen / beeps or any indication of activity. Fans spin and the HDD are spinning because I can feel them vibrate.
Back to square one I believe

Any other ideas?

 

[Jelly Bean]

Check internal connections and external you may of loosened something while inside.

Beeps?
One single beep on startup or several?

Now reset date time etc in BIOS.

 

[boothy128]

Check internal connections and external you may of loosened something while inside.

Beeps?
One single beep on startup or several?

Now reset date time etc in BIOS.

Thanks for the interest Jelly Bean,
all known connections internal and external are A-OK. I have taken this machine apart and put it back together again numerous times just to make sure. Its also been cleaned of all dust. would any photos of the pc innards or videos of what it does when starting help?

No beeps at all.

In all seriousness, I fix all my friends laptops/pcs on the side. Im stumped here

Another detail which I havent mentioned before is that this has been going on for a while, and that sometimes leaving the system uplugged for several hours/days will mean that it will start first time. (at least for a short while)

Right now though, I'm getting nothing

 

[Jelly Bean]

Your welcome babe.

Resit the RAM,sounds strange but some times RAM can stop displays functining.

Are you sure it is a blank screen and not blinking cursor in the top left corner?

Are you able to restart and repeatedly tap F8 and choose either safe mode or last known good config?

 

[boothy128]

Your welcome babe.

Resit the RAM,sounds strange but some times RAM can stop displays functining.

Are you sure it is a blank screen and not blinking cursor in the top left corner?

Are you able to restart and repeatedly tap F8 and choose either safe mode or last known good config?

Just removed then reinstalled the RAM. PC has turned on, no CMOS message, no ***system boot failure*** message either.

It was definately zero signal. The TV said HDMI which is what it does when no signal is being picked up. The HDD weren't being read either (no HDD light flashing on PC case). I hope this battery does the trick.

I am still weary however because this is what it loves to do sometimes - it starts up fine then will turn off when you start to relax and think "thats fixed it"

Going back to a previous comment, how do I know what my settings in the BIOS are supposed to be? Is there anything that I need to adjust/tweak for better stability. e.g. for SLi, or for using quad core. Anything?


Thanks again for everyone who has contributed thus far

 

[Jelly Bean]

Just load defaults in BIOS and then set date and time.

You may have more of an issue than just battery here.

 

[boothy128]

Just load defaults in BIOS and then set date and time.

You may have more of an issue than just battery here.

Thats exactly how I feel

Quickly, whilst its running - what can I do to detect any probs? any decent prog that detects hardware faults?

Im just about to run a free prog from testmyhardware.com

Any ideas?

UPDATE: this prog actually pretty much tells me whats in my PC.... not very usefull

 

[boothy128]

As a quick note, I am running memtest 86 and it hasnt found any errors as of yet, still on just 74% of pass 1. Anyways, whats notable is that the PC hasn't turned itself off. 42mins in as well.

Would being out of windows have anything to do with it?

 

[JoeK]

Lo m8 Joe here

From what you're saying it may be one of two things, either a faulty power supply or your motherboard has been damaged somehow. If you have any spare psu's lying around or ur mates do try one of those see if that does owt. Otherwise if it's ur motherboard then probably best off upgrading ur entire pc or try a diff board if u have one, although that would require u to re-format etc. The machine powering off sounds like a bad psu which may be corrupting the bios. The fact you have no signal sometimes sounds like a faulty motherboard though, but i would try diff gfx card/monitor just to make sure that it definately is the mboard. good luck

 

[boothy128]

Lo m8 Joe here

From what you're saying it may be one of two things, either a faulty power supply or your motherboard has been damaged somehow. If you have any spare psu's lying around or ur mates do try one of those see if that does owt. Otherwise if it's ur motherboard then probably best off upgrading ur entire pc or try a diff board if u have one, although that would require u to re-format etc. The machine powering off sounds like a bad psu which may be corrupting the bios. The fact you have no signal sometimes sounds like a faulty motherboard though, but i would try diff gfx card/monitor just to make sure that it definately is the mboard. good luck

Hi, thanks for the input. Amazingly, and I'm genuinely surprised here, the battery seems to have done the trick (I'm waiting for it to turn off as I type this now lol).

My housemate has a pretty basic system, its quite a bit older than mine and wouldn't really handle my components very well. I'm not sure if it even has PCI-e! and its PSU certainly couldn't handle 2 graphics cards.

I really want to test it further but I'm pretty limited for resources.

I'm really torn about upgrading my PC....the dilemma is if I get this one stable then there is no point. If I can't get it stable then I wont be able to sell it and fund the upgrade!! However, I do get a bonus at work tomorrow



Just don't tell the missus

 

[Jelly Bean]

Your up and running.

Dont tell the missues?

Were is she?