2 boot retries, then normal boot and operation

[Dessert Tears]

My computer started requiring multiple attempts to boot around 10 days ago. I press the power button once, and the computer retries until it boots. With a few exceptions, it has consistently been two boot retries, then (on the third attempt) POST beep and normal boot. A "retry" is 5 seconds of power on and fans spinning followed by 5 seconds of power off. On a reboot, the computer powers off (failure 1), retries once (failure 2), then boots. After booting, operation seems completely normal.

By removing and swapping parts, I found that the computer would boot immediately if I removed the NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS (max TDP 71W, 6-pin dedicated power). It works with both onboard video and a NVIDIA Quadro FX 380 (max 34W) that I borrowed. The 8600 GTS has the retries with the stock LiteOn 350W and an old but unused COOLER MASTER Real Power RS-450-ACLY 450W (apparently a pretty good PSU for its time).

The computer is a mostly-stock Dell Vostro 400 nearing 4.5 years. Starting a few months ago, I added an SSD, replaced one HDD, and added a Rosewill RC-505 USB 3.0 PCI-E card. I used the USB 3.0 card a few times before seeing the problem. The first time I noticed a problem was also the first time I booted with a Rosewill RX-358 U3C SLV USB3.0 enclosure attached (external power off).

I have two guesses:

1. The 8600 GTS is failing somehow, and the timing is a coincidence.
2. Line of conjecture: The motherboard is failing to power the 8600 GTS on boot, but the lower-power Quadro is okay. I damaged the motherboard by juicing it with the enclosure's external power, turning it on when it was already attached via USB. The USB card and video card are in adjacent slots.

 

[denis280]

since it's 4.5 years old did you look for dust in the video slots.try moving the card in and out to make a good contact.the 450 psu should be fine.so if it still doing it i would try the video card in another pc.

 

[Dessert Tears]

so if it still doing it i would try the video card in another pc.

Thanks for the tips. I don't have compressed air, but I did a quick pass with a mini vacuum attachment. I tried the old video card again, and the boot retries came back. I don't have a spare desktop. In lieu of that, I might be able to borrow a more power-hungry video card to rule out the mobo and PSU more thoroughly.

 

[Dessert Tears]

I did a little more testing:

• I took the 8600 GTS to work and ran it in a disused workstation, which booted fine. It had a 650W PSU.
• I borrowed a compressed-gas duster and blew out everything, focusing on the PCIe slot and the fans (especially dusty). No discernible effect on symptoms.
• I pulled the CMOS battery and let it reset. I did that once before and noticed some odd behavior. I repeated and confirmed it: the first boot is immediate, then the system stops on "CMOS checksum failure". As long as I don't set the BIOS settings, it boots immediately, but as soon as I set them, even to defaults, it goes back to the 3 tries.

I'm running on the onboard Intel G33/G31 and trying to decide how much I want to spend (maybe nothing) on a graphics card to last me another year or two on this computer.

 

[ericloewe]

If you're getting CMOS checksum failures, it might be worth the buck or two to try a fresh CR2032 battery. I can't come up with a coherent reason for an old battery causing the weird boot behavior, but it's what I'd try next.

 

[Dessert Tears]

If you're getting CMOS checksum failures, it might be worth the buck or two to try a fresh CR2032 battery. I can't come up with a coherent reason for an old battery causing the weird boot behavior, but it's what I'd try next.

Thanks for the reply. The CMOS checksum failures are only after I removed the battery and if I deliberately avoided the BIOS setup. The battery seems fine otherwise, and I have four spares that I bought from an Amazon seller. The weird thing is that it fixes the boot retries.