PC turns on, but stuck before BIOS after power outage

[dreydin]

Long story short, all power went off in my grid for about 15 seconds. I foolishly enough don't have a battery backup, so my PC went down like everything else. When the power came back on and I went to boot up the PC, it's been made obvious that something is wrong.

When I go to boot now, it turns on, but it gets stuck on a black screen with "Version 2.02.1205. Copyright (C) 2010 American Megatrends, Inc." at the very top. This is normal, but next it usually goes into BIOS. So it seems the PSU is fine, but I've booted it 5 times now and it won't go into BIOS. I'm going to play around with different ram sticks, but do you guys have any idea what it could be? Any tips on how to troubleshoot what it could be? Also, any tips on how I can avoid this in the future? Is a battery backup the fix?

Thanks.

 

[Virgorising]

Long story short, all power went off in my grid for about 15 seconds. I foolishly enough don't have a battery backup, so my PC went down like everything else. When the power came back on and I went to boot up the PC, it's been made obvious that something is wrong.

When I go to boot now, it turns on, but it gets stuck on a black screen with "Version 2.02.1205. Copyright (C) 2010 American Megatrends, Inc." at the very top. This is normal, but next it usually goes into BIOS. So it seems the PSU is fine, but I've booted it 5 times now and it won't go into BIOS. I'm going to play around with different ram sticks, but do you guys have any idea what it could be? Any tips on how to troubleshoot what it could be? Also, any tips on how I can avoid this in the future? Is a battery backup the fix?

Thanks.

Board?:|

Edit: the shorter the outage, the greater the chance that when the power is restored it will bring bigger voltage surge to the caps on the board.

When U live in Manhattan you learn this stuff.:| Well, should.

 

[Steltek]

What are your system specs? Do you have a motherboard piezo speaker hooked up to the motherboard headers so you can hear any POST beep codes?

Try unplugging all your drives (hard drive/SSD, optical, etc - just keep track of what cable goes where) , then try to post the system to see if it boots to the BIOS without the drives (if it does, add them back one at a time beginning with optical until you find the one causing the issue).

Another thing you might try is unplugging the system from the wall, holding in the power switch for about 30 seconds to drain any residual power, then reset the CMOS memory. If this gets you back in to the BIOS, you'll need to manually reset the BIOS options. You may also have to reset the system boot order if you have multiple storage drives.

I also wouldn't consider the power supply good until you swap it out or check the power output with a multimeter (there are multiple videos on Youtube showing how to do it if you have never done it before).

A decent UPS is always a good investment - I haven't run a computer without one in over 10 years. Just make sure it has enough capacity to run your system and also to research PSU/UPS compatibility - some active PFC power supplies don't play well with the simulated/stepped sine wave output of some UPS units (it is more of a problem these days than it used to be since there are more and more active PFC power supplies on the market). You don't have to pay extra for a pure sine output UPS, but do make sure your chosen power supply doesn't have any known problems with the UPS.

 

[denis280]

Another thing you might try is unplugging the system from the wall, holding in the power switch for about 30 seconds to drain any residual power, then reset the CMOS memory. If this gets you back in to the BIOS, you'll need to manually reset the BIOS options. You may also have to reset the system boot order if you have multiple storage drives.

+1

 

[dreydin]

What are your system specs? Do you have a motherboard piezo speaker hooked up to the motherboard headers so you can hear any POST beep codes?

Try unplugging all your drives (hard drive/SSD, optical, etc - just keep track of what cable goes where) , then try to post the system to see if it boots to the BIOS without the drives (if it does, add them back one at a time beginning with optical until you find the one causing the issue).

Another thing you might try is unplugging the system from the wall, holding in the power switch for about 30 seconds to drain any residual power, then reset the CMOS memory. If this gets you back in to the BIOS, you'll need to manually reset the BIOS options. You may also have to reset the system boot order if you have multiple storage drives.

I also wouldn't consider the power supply good until you swap it out or check the power output with a multimeter (there are multiple videos on Youtube showing how to do it if you have never done it before).

A decent UPS is always a good investment - I haven't run a computer without one in over 10 years. Just make sure it has enough capacity to run your system and also to research PSU/UPS compatibility - some active PFC power supplies don't play well with the simulated/stepped sine wave output of some UPS units (it is more of a problem these days than it used to be since there are more and more active PFC power supplies on the market). You don't have to pay extra for a pure sine output UPS, but do make sure your chosen power supply doesn't have any known problems with the UPS.

Great advice. Exactly what I was looking for, thanks.

My specs are:
ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3
Intel i5 2500k
Patriot Signature 2x4 DDR3 1600
XFX Core PRO550W
X-25M OS HDD

No, I don't have a mobo speaker. Also, how do I reset the CMOS memory?

 

[Steltek]

No, I don't have a mobo speaker. Also, how do I reset the CMOS memory?

I was afraid of that - ASUS is always good about providing them with their motherboards, but a lot of the other manufacturers have stopped. You really do need a mobo speaker to troubleshoot the motherboard, otherwise you can't hear the beep codes it may be producing. If you have an old system laying around, you might be able to steal one from it as they haven't changed in the last 20 years except to get smaller.

Since you didn't say otherwise, I'm presuming the system didn't POST to BIOS with the drives disconnected?

If not, the CMOS memory is cleared by shorting a set of jumpers on the motherboard. If you don't have the manual for your motherboard, you can locate it at the following link in PDF format:

Link

First, never do this procedure with the power on or you can damage something - always unplug the system, then press the power button for about 30 seconds to drain the residual power (the manual instructions don't say to do this, but it is always a good habit).

Page 13 of your motherboard user manual shows you the location of the header pins used to clear CMOS (locate item 25 in the diagram on your actual board. It probably has a jumper across two of the pins.).

Page 27 shows how to clear CMOS - you move the jumper (or you can use a flat screwdriver if the jumper is missing) from pins 1-2 of the CLRCMOS1 jumper to pins 2-3. Leave it for 5-10 seconds, then move it back (this is very important - powering a system with the CMOS header shorted can do seriously nasty things -- if it isn't hosed and you do this, it probably will be for sure when you hit the power button).

After you complete this procedure (and move the CMOS jumper back to pins 1-2 default), hook the power cord up and try to boot the system. If this doesn't work, repeat the procedure again. At the end, before you hook the power back up, pop the CMOS battery out for a little while, then put it back in and try to power the system.

At this point, if the board still isn't responding, I'd say you need either a motherboard speaker (to try and troubleshoot the board) or a new motherboard.

I presume the board is probably well out of warranty? If so and you need a straight replacement (i.e. if you have an OEM Windows install tied to the board), pickings will be slim. There is a new one on eBay at $112 shipped BIN (though you could make a lower offer), but I don't see one anywhere else. Thankfully, though, socket 1155 boards are still plentiful at this time (just not this particular AsRock board).

 

[corkyg]

Your description suggests that the boot cycle is halted at the BIOS chip level. It is also possible that the eprom BIOS chip got hosed. Direct replacement of the chip may be worth a shot. They run about $15. You can probably get one from ASRock. Here is one on e-bay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Bios-Chip-ASRock-Z68-Pro3-Gen3-/170972551066

 

[Virgorising]

I was afraid of that - ASUS is always good about providing them with their motherboards, but a lot of the other manufacturers have stopped. You really do need a mobo speaker to troubleshoot the motherboard, otherwise you can't hear the beep codes it may be producing. If you have an old system laying around, you might be able to steal one from it as they haven't changed in the last 20 years except to get smaller.

Since you didn't say otherwise, I'm presuming the system didn't POST to BIOS with the drives disconnected?

If not, the CMOS memory is cleared by shorting a set of jumpers on the motherboard. If you don't have the manual for your motherboard, you can locate it at the following link in PDF format:

Link

First, never do this procedure with the power on or you can damage something - always unplug the system, then press the power button for about 30 seconds to drain the residual power (the manual instructions don't say to do this, but it is always a good habit).

Page 13 of your motherboard user manual shows you the location of the header pins used to clear CMOS (locate item 25 in the diagram on your actual board. It probably has a jumper across two of the pins.).

Page 27 shows how to clear CMOS - you move the jumper (or you can use a flat screwdriver if the jumper is missing) from pins 1-2 of the CLRCMOS1 jumper to pins 2-3. Leave it for 5-10 seconds, then move it back (this is very important - powering a system with the CMOS header shorted can do seriously nasty things -- if it isn't hosed and you do this, it probably will be for sure when you hit the power button).

After you complete this procedure (and move the CMOS jumper back to pins 1-2 default), hook the power cord up and try to boot the system. If this doesn't work, repeat the procedure again. At the end, before you hook the power back up, pop the CMOS battery out for a little while, then put it back in and try to power the system.

At this point, if the board still isn't responding, I'd say you need either a motherboard speaker (to try and troubleshoot the board) or a new motherboard.

I presume the board is probably well out of warranty? If so and you need a straight replacement (i.e. if you have an OEM Windows install tied to the board), pickings will be slim. There is a new one on eBay at $112 shipped BIN (though you could make a lower offer), but I don't see one anywhere else. Thankfully, though, socket 1155 boards are still plentiful at this time (just not this particular AsRock board).

GENIUS.:biggrin:

 

[Matt1970]

Unplug everything except board, chip and 1 stick of ram. Any failed component can cause a PC to halt at any number of locations, even a bad PSU.

 

[dreydin]

Ummmmm...

I finally made time to work on the PC today and the damndest thing happened. Here is what I did:

1) Disconnected my secondary HDD and kept my primary HDD connected
2) Removed both RAM sticks from DDR3_A2 and DDR3_B2 slots
3) Re-inserted both RAM sticks into DDR3_A1 and DDR3_B1 slots
4) Booted the PC and now it works fine like nothing happened???

HUH? I'm a little happy... but I'm also a little afraid o_o

Can anyone lend their advice or recall from their experience anything like this? I want to fix the problem, but I'm not sure if there is one? Granted I have not reconnected my secondary HDD and the speakers, etc. I'll try that now, but I had to post this here first because I'm a little bewildered. And of course, shocked!

 

[dreydin]

Ok, secondary HDD is plugged back in and it booted up no problem.

Btw, before I changed anything, I tried booting my PC and got stuck at the same pre-BIOS screen with the message "Version 2.02.1205. Copyright (C) 2010 American Megatrends, Inc."

o_o