PC won't boot

[WowbaggerTIP]

Ok, I've been having some issues with my box (specs in my sig) for a while, so I'll give as quick of a rundown as possible and as much info as I can to help ya'll figure it out. Since I built this system back in February, it has had a weird problem where it would sometimes not boot up after I shutdown or reboot the system. No POST beeps, nothing. The drives spin up, and fans come on, but nothing else happens. Now, if I unplug it and wait for 15 minutes to half an hour or so, it will usually come back up. If I don't unplug it, then it seems to take much longer, if at all. That's just my observation, it could be a red herring. So, sometimes it comes up fast, sometimes it takes a while, but it has always come back up. Until about 2 weeks ago. I shut it down, and it wouldn't come back up no matter what I tried. I've been PC-less ever since (and it's painful ).

So, now on to what I've already tried. The first thing that occurred to me back in February was that it was an overheating problem. I have a pretty good HS/fan on there, but i started running PCProbe to monitor the temp. It was staying between 45 and 50C, so I don't thing that was the problem. Next thing I tried was swapping out the power cord. That didn't help. So I got a brand new power supply from a friend of mine and swapped that out for the brand new one that I was already using. Didn't help. So next I suspected the memory. I swapped it out with a 256 MB stick I had. Problem continued. So I stuck the 512MB stick back in a different slot. Same problem. So by now I was resigned to the fact that I was gonna have some occaisional bootup probs and I decided to live with it until I was able to figure out what the problem was. Now fast-forward to 2 weeks ago.

I powered down my box for a little while and then came back later and tried to bootup. Nothing. So, I did the usual unplug and wait routine. Didn't come back up. So I wait til the next morning. Still nothing. So now I'm worried. I've tried everything I can think of, except replacing the motherboard and CPU. So, since it has been my experience that the MB is more likely to fail than the CPU, I order a new motherboard. Same kind, but newer revision. But, before I receive that board, I get my hands on an older 900MHz Athlon. Still a Socket A proc, so I put it in the old board and give it a try. The system POSTs and tells me that my BIOS settings need to be changed. I'm amazed. So it looks to me like the processor was the problem. Then I get the new MB and give it a try with my processor. It doesn't boot using my processor, so now I'm convinced that the CPU is the problem and I send the new MB back to the dealer. Then I order a new CPU. Same kind. I get it today and put it in. I get everything all hooked up and then hit the power. Everything spins up, but no POST. I power back down and cry softly to myself for a while.

So now, I am asking if anyone has any idea what the problem might be. I'm completely out of ideas and I am frustrated beyond belief. I've built every system I've ever had in the last 10 years, and I have never had a problem like this that I couldn't figure out. Could one of you gurus help me out on this one?

Thanks in advance!

 

[mechBgon]

Ok, first of all, "brand-new" power supplies are one thing, and "high-quality brand-new" might be another What brand and model of unit did you get?

Secondly, if you have any slow-running fans in the system, don't power them from the A7N8X Deluxe's on-board fan headers. Power them from the power supply or unhook them as a temporary measure. Don't take the heatsink off your CPU, of course. But you can run the system for a short period (under 30 seconds) with the CPU fan idle, since the heatsink's mass will absorb the heat temporarily.

If the problems persist, revert to an essential-items-only setup like this. No drives, no extra cards, just the CPU, the heatsink/fan unit, the video card and one memory module. Incidentally, what exact model and revision is your Corsair PC3200? The sticker should say.

 

[Geniere]

I have a similar problem, maybe the same. I?ve not really tried to investigate the problem yet, but I?m getting worried. I have a Soyo Dragon KT600 MB and a 2500+AMD CPU, DVD, CD R/W and WinXP SP2. To re-iterate the problem, the system will not re-boot after a re-start or power off. The only way I can get it to boot is to depress the re-set button continuously for about 10 seconds. This works always after a re-start but sometimes after a power down I need to do it several times. If I only hold the re-set button in for a few seconds it doesn?t boot. There are absolutely no problems at all after a successful boot. I have re-installed Win XP and since added SP2, I did not format or Fdisk prior to new install. I am positive I have no virus or spyware. The problem grew progressively worse, from intermittent to constant over about a month. Right now I try to leave it on 24/7, but I do re-boot a least once a day.

I?d be interested to know if holding the re-set button in for 10 seconds or so helps you.

Good luck

{edit} I put my system together in January, so mine's about the same age as your's. My problem started intermittantly in the beginning of June.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Geniere
I have a similar problem, maybe the same. I?ve not really tried to investigate the problem yet, but I?m getting worried. I have a Soyo Dragon KT600 MB and a 2500+AMD CPU, DVD, CD R/W and WinXP SP2. To re-iterate the problem, the system will not re-boot after a re-start or power off. The only way I can get it to boot is to depress the re-set button continuously for about 10 seconds. This works always after a re-start but sometimes after a power down I need to do it several times. If I only hold the re-set button in for a few seconds it doesn?t boot. There are absolutely no problems at all after a successful boot. I have re-installed Win XP and since added SP2, I did not format or Fdisk prior to new install. I am positive I have no virus or spyware. The problem grew progressively worse, from intermittent to constant over about a month. Right now I try to leave it on 24/7, but I do re-boot a least once a day.

I?d be interested to know if holding the re-set button in for 10 seconds or so helps you.

Good luck

Soyo boards look for a fan RPM signal on their CPU_FAN header, and they want it to be over a certain threshold. Try this: hold down the Insert key before and during power-up, which overrides Soyo's "Fan-Off Control". If that works, go into the BIOS, find the F.O.C. item, and set it to Disabled.

 

[Geniere]

MechBgon ? I think you?re on to something for my problem, but I only had partial success. The Insert key seems to work 3 out of 4 times, but dis-abling the FOC doesn?t help. While in the BIOS setup, the CPU was at 48C(external), and fan was at 4218 RPM.

 

[WowbaggerTIP]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Ok, first of all, "brand-new" power supplies are one thing, and "high-quality brand-new" might be another What brand and model of unit did you get?

Thermaltake Pure Power 480AD

Secondly, if you have any slow-running fans in the system, don't power them from the A7N8X Deluxe's on-board fan headers. Power them from the power supply or unhook them as a temporary measure. Don't take the heatsink off your CPU, of course. But you can run the system for a short period (under 30 seconds) with the CPU fan idle, since the heatsink's mass will absorb the heat temporarily.

Just have the CPU fan powered by MB. Others are powered by PSU. I don't have any cards in my box other than the vid card anyway I even tried taking the vid card out to see if it would complain, but still nothing.

If the problems persist, revert to an essential-items-only setup like this. No drives, no extra cards, just the CPU, the heatsink/fan unit, the video card and one memory module. Incidentally, what exact model and revision is your Corsair PC3200? The sticker should say.

Model # CMX512-3200C2PT (plugged into the socket nearest the CPU)

Tried the benchtest, but still get nothing. The light on the MB is on, and the cpu fan is running. Nothing else is plugged into the Power supply except the MB and vid card. All the drives are disconnected from the MB as well.

 

[WowbaggerTIP]

Still lookin for some help on this one if anyone has any ideas. Thanks!

 

[mechBgon]

How fast does your CPU fan run? At least ~2200rpm?

 

[WowbaggerTIP]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
How fast does your CPU fan run? At least ~2200rpm?

According to the specs, it should be running at 2450 RPM, give or take 10%. It's a Thermaltake Silent Boost HSF.

 

[WowbaggerTIP]

Ok, I got ahold of another AGP vid card and swapped that out for my current card. Still in bench test layout with nothing else attached. Still no POST. I'm open to suggestions again. :disgust:

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: WowbaggerTIP
Ok, I got ahold of another AGP vid card and swapped that out for my current card. Still in bench test layout with nothing else attached. Still no POST. I'm open to suggestions again. :disgust:

I have a whole stack of things to check here (first link there). Also, since that motherboard has speech diagnostics, plug a pair of headphones or powered speakers into the green rear audio jack and see if it has something to say.

 

[WowbaggerTIP]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: WowbaggerTIP
Ok, I got ahold of another AGP vid card and swapped that out for my current card. Still in bench test layout with nothing else attached. Still no POST. I'm open to suggestions again. :disgust:

I have a whole stack of things to check here (first link there). Also, since that motherboard has speech diagnostics, plug a pair of headphones or powered speakers into the green rear audio jack and see if it has something to say.

Yeah, I've been using headphones to see if it gives me any message, but it has been silent the whole time. Thanks for the tip sheet. I ran through it a couple times looking for things I might have missed, but couldn't find anything else that I hadn't tried and that applied in a bench test setup, so I ended up reading the very last section and thinking that I may be kinda screwed.

I just stuck that old 900MHz processor in again in a bench test setup to see if it would still boot up. It works fine. So all I have to do apparently is swap out the processor and it will at least POST. So I now have two 3200XPs and neither of them will boot. Does that make any kind of sense? There's really only one jumper on the board that needs to be changed when I swap out the CPUs, and that's the FSB jumper. I set it to 200MHz for the old processor, and to the faster setting for the newer processors. I even tried running the new ones at the slower speed. No luck. The other jumpers are still set at their defaults, which should be correct as far as I can tell. Only message I get with the old CPU is that the CPU fan failed, which is to be expected since it doesn't plug into the motherboard, but directly into the PSU.

Hmm... one other thing I noticed. When I use the old processor, if I hit the power button, it comes on, and when I hit the button again, it shuts off immediately. When I use the newer processors, I have to hold the button in for 3 seconds or so to get it to shut off. Any idea why that is?

 

[mechBgon]

Regarding the power-button behavior, my guess is that the board cannot initialize for some reason with the 3200+'s in it. I do have one long-shot thing to try: put the 900MHz in there again, and then manually set your memory to 2.5-3-3-7 timings, 2.8 volts, and 100% of CPU bus speed as its frequency, then do a Save & Exit, and let the motherboard re-POST and go all the way through its next POST until it halts. Now turn it off, swap CPUs, set the FSB jumper for the faster CPUs and fire it up.

I suggest that because I remember some A7N8X Deluxe + Corsair XMS 3200C2 issues using early revisions of the 3200C2 modules. That's why I asked about the exact revision number of the modules (1.0, 1.1, whatever). Worth a shot, anyway Good luck!

Edit: now that I think about it a minute... what revision is your motherboard's PCB, and what BIOS version does it have, out of curiosity?

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

Edit: now that I think about it a minute... what revision is your motherboard's PCB, and what BIOS version does it have, out of curiosity?

This board has had problems with certain memory modules. Fortunately, most of the issues have been fixed by flashing the bios. Just be careful flashing the bios. You do it correctly, you'll be ok. You make a mistake ..... you'll have more headaches! Bios flashing is relatively easy and straight forward providing you follow the directions carefully and don't have a power outage during the flash.


Edit: I just read the whole thread.

Its been my experience that sometimes when a part goes, it takes another one with it. For example, several years ago I lost both a motherboard and a cpu. I had a DSL connection at the time but didn't have the phone line running through a surge protector. Our conclusion was a spike in the electrical grid took out the components. To me, this sounded odd because there wasn't any lightning in the area at the time this happened. I talked to a friend of mine who had a bit more knowledge and experience than I. He explained that it didn't matter when the board got zapped, those kind of things always shorten its life. Also, it didn't have to be lightning and it didn't have to be a power surge through the house or power grid. A PSU with fluctuating voltage could take these voltage sensitive components out.

Since you already returned the board, test your questionable processor in a known good board. If its fried, you still have the new and known good cpu and a board change should do the trick. If they are both still good, I guess you either have a spare on the shelf or an "Ebay auction" part. One thing about ASUS boards is they are extremely power hungry. They require a good high quality PSU with the proper wattage rating. Otherwise, you could drain the power rails.

While what I said is true about the A7N8X-Deluxe and certain memory modules, in your case its not the problem. I guess thats what I get when I post without reading the entire thread.

 

[WowbaggerTIP]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Regarding the power-button behavior, my guess is that the board cannot initialize for some reason with the 3200+'s in it. I do have one long-shot thing to try: put the 900MHz in there again, and then manually set your memory to 2.5-3-3-7 timings, 2.8 volts, and 100% of CPU bus speed as its frequency, then do a Save & Exit, and let the motherboard re-POST and go all the way through its next POST until it halts. Now turn it off, swap CPUs, set the FSB jumper for the faster CPUs and fire it up.

I suggest that because I remember some A7N8X Deluxe + Corsair XMS 3200C2 issues using early revisions of the 3200C2 modules. That's why I asked about the exact revision number of the modules (1.0, 1.1, whatever). Worth a shot, anyway Good luck!

Edit: now that I think about it a minute... what revision is your motherboard's PCB, and what BIOS version does it have, out of curiosity?

Ok, I'm not sure exactly which settings I need to change in the BIOS. My BIOS is v6.00PG but I'm not sure where to find the PCB rev. It does say "12/5/2003 A7N8X-EC-00" at the bottom of the POST screen.

 

[mechBgon]

The board's model A7N8X will be silk-screened in white letters under the AGP slot. Below that, in very small white letters, it'll say REV. 1.03 or whatever it is. You're on your second board, so I hope it's a 2.something, but if it IS a 1.xx then you need a certain BIOS revision for them to support your 3200+ because of its 400MHz FSB. Confused yet?!

The Asus BIOS revision would be a four-digit one like 1010 or 1015 or 10something. If you look at the BIOS chip, it should have a sticker right on it that says what it came with.

 

[WowbaggerTIP]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
The board's model A7N8X will be silk-screened in white letters under the AGP slot. Below that, in very small white letters, it'll say REV. 1.03 or whatever it is. You're on your second board, so I hope it's a 2.something, but if it IS a 1.xx then you need a certain BIOS revision for them to support your 3200+ because of its 400MHz FSB. Confused yet?!

The Asus BIOS revision would be a four-digit one like 1010 or 1015 or 10something. If you look at the BIOS chip, it should have a sticker right on it that says what it came with.

Ok, PCB is version 1.01
BIOS looks like version 1008

This is the first board still. I sent the second one back since it didn't seem to make a difference and I thought that a new cpu would fix things at the time.

 

[WowbaggerTIP]

As near as I can tell, I have the latest BIOS rev. I don't see anything later than 1008 on the Asus site, although I don't see any updates for PCB rev 1.01. That seems odd.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: WowbaggerTIP
As near as I can tell, I have the latest BIOS rev. I don't see anything later than 1008 on the Asus site, although I don't see any updates for PCB rev 1.01. That seems odd.

Quick clarification request: do you have an A7N8X Deluxe, or an A7N8X-E Deluxe?

 

[WowbaggerTIP]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: WowbaggerTIP
As near as I can tell, I have the latest BIOS rev. I don't see anything later than 1008 on the Asus site, although I don't see any updates for PCB rev 1.01. That seems odd.

Quick clarification request: do you have an A7N8X Deluxe, or an A7N8X-E Deluxe?

err... the second one

just looked at the board again and it's the -E version..

 

[WowbaggerTIP]

Ok, I downloaded the 1012 BIOS revision for my board. I'll have to flash it tomorrow and see how it turns out. I need to figure out exactly what all my BIOS settings should be, and that may take a little while to figure out.

 

[Ang Cheng Yeow]

Sorry for the interruption.

I find noway to post my message and this is the only way for me to ask by using the reply method.

Could anyone guide me to send my new message in this forum?

Thanks & Regards

 

[Uncle Bob]

click 'new topic'

 

[WowbaggerTIP]

Ok, I flashed the BIOS and it's now showing that it's using the newer version. The only other thing I think I need to take care of is to fix the settings in the BIOS so that it will be set up correctly for my normal processor and memory. I'm not sure where to find information on voltages and timings for the memory or the correct speed and multiplier for the processor. The Corsair site is kinda skimpy on the details and I could find any docs on the site that give that info. Any idea where I should look?

 

[rile0161]

My radeon 9800 pro started doing almost this exact same thing yesterday. I went to bed Wed. night, then yesterday morning the PC would not post. Putting the card in other PCs makes it do the same thing to them. It's like the radeon's internal bios isn't posting. I have the exact same motherboard, the Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe. When it does this it does not play any audible post messages. If I take the card out then I get an AGP failed audible error. The video card fan spins, so the card is at least getting power. Hopefully someone will figure out what is wrong for both of us