Computer Freezes on BIOS Boot Screen - necro, same problem starts post 15

[gigahertz20]

So here is the problem:

When I first turn on my computer and it displays the BIOS boot screen, it will freeze. I have to power cycle my computer (pushing the power button) a few times to turn it off and on before it finally bypasses the BIOS boot screen. This has been happening for the last few months, and I already tried flashing the BIOS and resetting the BIOS to factory default and that does not do anything.

Once my computer is turned on, I have no problems. I have not had any freezes, resets, blue screens or anything. It works perfectly except for when it freezes on the BIOS boot screen. Also, sometimes my computer will turn on fine on the very first try, other times it takes several times of power cycling.

Of course, I'm assuming my power supply is the problem, but shouldn't I be experiencing resets or some other problems then while using my computer?

Also, I noticed that when my computer does successfully boot up past the BIOS boot screen, my keyboard and mouse will light and stay on when I first turn my computer on. When it freezes, the lights on my mouse and keyboard will turn on for a few seconds then turn off and the BIOS stalls.

 

[NoQuarter]

Well, I'd say probably the PSU. I had one that was going out and it would take me 20 minutes of power cycling my PC to get it to start up then it would be fine all day. This would go on for a few days then have no issues for a month then back to power cycling again. I'd look into RMA'ing your PSU.

 

[gigahertz20]

Well, I'd say probably the PSU. I had one that was going out and it would take me 20 minutes of power cycling my PC to get it to start up then it would be fine all day. This would go on for a few days then have no issues for a month then back to power cycling again. I'd look into RMA'ing your PSU.

Yeah, I'll have to see, I have had my Corsair 520W power supply for probably 3 years now so I'm not sure if the warranty is still good.

Is there a way to test if the PSU is going bad?

 

[Devilpapaya]

Yeah, I'll have to see, I have had my Corsair 520W power supply for probably 3 years now so I'm not sure if the warranty is still good.

Is there a way to test if the PSU is going bad?

You can buy PSU testers for 15-30$ online. Or if you have a spare sitting around somewhere hook that up and see what happens.

 

[gigahertz20]

No spare sitting around, hmmmmm....is there a way to do a test on the motherboard to see if the reason it freezes on the BIOS boot screen is not enough power or some other power related issue?

 

[jaggerwild]

if it was a bad PSU it wouldn't even boot makes no sense, the P35 Gigabyte has multi boises correct? There in lies the problem, got another board around? One you could borrow from a friend? I would contact Gigabyte USA let them know your problem, also make sure you have tried the latest greatest bios for it.
there are tons of hacked Bioses out there, google is your friend too!

 

[Devilpapaya]

if it was a bad PSU it wouldn't even boot makes no sense, the P35 Gigabyte has multi boises correct? There in lies the problem, got another board around? One you could borrow from a friend? I would contact Gigabyte USA let them know your problem, also make sure you have tried the latest greatest bios for it.
there are tons of hacked Bioses out there, google is your friend too!

Right, if the CPU is dead, it wouldn't turn on; but I've seen dying cause some pretty random problems. I'd agree with you though, it doesn't sound much like a PSU problem, but if he has reason to believe it's that a 15$ tester that may help in the future may not be a bad investment.

 

[razel]

No spare sitting around, hmmmmm....is there a way to do a test on the motherboard to see if the reason it freezes on the BIOS boot screen is not enough power or some other power related issue?

If it's a max power issue with the power supply, you could just unplug everything but the bare minimum required to get it to POST. So power supply to motherboarrd, cpu, video card, 1 stick of RAM, keyboard only, no hdd, no cd-rom, no mouse. If it POSTs, turn it off and plug one or a few things back on, repeat until you run into the problem again.

The other way is to stress test your machine. Your CPU or video card probably consumes the most power so run burnp6 or run a 3d benchmark.

 

[gigahertz20]

Alright razel I'll have to try that.

 

[gravator]

Right, if the CPU is dead, it wouldn't turn on; but I've seen dying cause some pretty random problems. I'd agree with you though, it doesn't sound much like a PSU problem, but if he has reason to believe it's that a 15$ tester that may help in the future may not be a bad investment.

Only bad thing is the testers dont test under load!!

 

[daniel49]

any hardware change? if not psu or MB most likely. I would buy a modestly priced PS and try it, as thats the cheapest. Hey if its not the problem, then next time you do have a spare.

 

[Paperlantern]

Id almost bet its keyboard or mouse related. Try a diff keyboard/mouse/both.

 

[Ceromus]

p35 has a long history of power issues. Interestingly enough though I think every case I remember had an ati video card in it. On the other hand I don't remember actually seeing the bios screen show up but I do remember powering off and on and off and on and off and on. My advice is dont turn it off.

 

[Salatheon]

Have you got any parts of your computer overclocked, specifically the CPU or RAM? If so, try removing the overclocks and see if it keeps doing it, if it does it could be mobo or PSU.

 

[Seggaeman]

I'm not so sure if I should be reopening a five year old thread, but it so happens that I'm getting the exact same problem. PC freezing at BIOS screen and I'm having to power cycle to get it running again. I almost invariably have to power cycle if the PC has been off for 8 hours or so.

Right now I'm undecided if I should buy a new motherboard or not. A power supply tester will take some time to get delivered (and the motherboard I feel like getting might get sold by then). I'd be grateful if the OP could say how he fixed the problem.

 

[Ketchup]

After five years, I don't think the OP is coming back.

I would recommend you try a couple of the recommendations further up - unplug all external devices and see if things change. If that doesn't work, unplug all drives and see if things change.

How old is the computer vs. how long have you been having this issue?

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

A PSU tester will tell you weather it powers on or not, which you already know. It does not tell you if it no good, a unit can power on and still be bad. I'll make a crazy guess here and say its an old unit with many many hours on it.
I'm like E.T., post up your FULL system specs if you want help. OR just RMA one item at a time.

 

[ninaholic37]

Does BIOS show the correct date? If not, it might be a dead CMOS battery.

 

[Seggaeman]

Yes the date is correct in BIOS. Here are the specs.

Core i7 2600k, Coolermaster Seidon 120xl water cooler, ASUS P8 H67 M PRO, 24GB DDR3 1333 RAM,EVGA GTX 780 SC, Thermaltake smart SE 730W power supply, Windows 8.1. The processor and motherboard will be 3 years old in August.Power supply and graphics card are both less than one year old.

The processor is not overclocked (has always been running at standard clock in fact). And I have been having another recurrent problem with the motherboard for more than a year. Sometimes I get USB controller errors and my usb mouse and keyboard don't get detected. I have to disable/re-enable the controller in windows 8.1 for it to start working again.

Since the bios freezing issue appeared I almost never get the usb controller errors.

Ok I will try the suggestion to unplug external devices later. One thing I did try earlier was to unplug an old internal IDE hard disk which I felt might be the culprit. It wasn't that (I still got the bios freeze after unplugging that is).

 

[Ketchup]

Thanks for the specs. One other thing I would also try to to take out the video card(use onboard video) and see if things change.

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

Have you updated the motherboard Bios? which USB controller is it? If its a realtek you can visit there site for newer drivers.

 

[Seggaeman]

Have you updated the motherboard Bios? which USB controller is it? If its a realtek you can visit there site for newer drivers.

Yes BIOS is up to date. ASUS last updated the BIOS for this model in July 2013 my BIOS version (3904) is the most recent one they have listed on their support website.

It's an Intel USB Controller. Intel(R) 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller.

It would be surprising if the video card is the cause. It has always run smooth and cool since I have it.

I'll have to wait until I get the problem again. The PC is behaving itself (at least for now).

 

[Seggaeman]

Problem appears to be solved. I reflashed the BIOS using third party tools not certified by ASUS.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1726429

I used those tools to downgrade my BIOS to a previous version and there hasn't been any freezing for the past week. I'm also leaving the BIOS as is since updating it again won't really bring me too many benefits in terms of functionality.

 

[Seggaeman]

Terrible. The problem is back. Now the pc freezes at the windows startup logo; other symptoms are similar as before. Would it be worth ordering a new BIOS chip?

 

[pcgeek11]

Terrible. The problem is back. Now the pc freezes at the windows startup logo; other symptoms are similar as before. Would it be worth ordering a new BIOS chip?

I doubt it.
Is the BIOS Chip even socketed?