[SOLVED] new build: everything works except can't restart

[melloyellow]

SOLVED (thank you postmortemIA) http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2385203

Hi guys, I just upgraded my cpu/mobo/ram/os as discussed in this thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2385350

The important parts include:
MSI H81M-E33
8GB DDR3 1600 Crucial Ballistix
i3-4360
XFX FX-785A-ZDF4 HD7850 1G
Crucial m4 ct128 SSD
antec tp3-430
windows 8.1 pro

Everything seems to be working fine after the install, except the computer cannot perform a restart. If I try rebooting from windows, or pressing the restart button on the case, or save & exit from bios, I always get the same result where the computer shuts down, and then the screen just stays black. The fans are still running, but nothing is on the display and after a few seconds the monitor goes into sleep mode from having no input signal.

When this happens, I have to power off the computer by holding the power button for 5 seconds, and then I can cold start the computer by pressing the power button again and everything boots up just fine. I can also do a shut down from windows to turn off the computer, and the push the power button to cold start just fine. It's only trying to do a restart that does not work.

Before I upgraded the cpu/mobo/ram, restart and everything worked fine. Right after I swapped those out, this restart problem started to happen. So even when I was installing windows, during all those restarts, it would just hang and I would have to manually power down and power back on every restart.

So I think that suggests it's not a windows/driver issue, but it would have to be a hardware/bios issue. I am running pretty much default bios settings, and I couldn't really find anything that seemed like it could be related. I try turning on and off fast boot in the bios and didn't notice any effect. I also upgraded the bios version from 6.0 to 6.4 and it also didn't seem to do anything.

Could it just be a bad mobo? I tried unplugging the power cables and re-plugging them back in. Not sure what else it could be.

Anybody got any ideas? I'd hate to just start swapping parts blindly, but I'm not sure what else to do...

 

[melloyellow]

So to try to isolate the problem, I removed the SSD and the GPU, leaving only PSU, CPU, MOBO, and RAM, and it still has the same restart issue. If I swap the cpu/mobo/ram back to my old AMD64X2 set, it does not have this issue.

So, I think that isolates this issue to cpu, mobo, ram and bios settings...

 

[richaron]

*snip* So I think that suggests it's not a windows/driver issue

I would assume the opposite.

 

[VirtualLarry]

So to try to isolate the problem, I removed the SSD and the GPU, leaving only PSU, CPU, MOBO, and RAM, and it still has the same restart issue. If I swap the cpu/mobo/ram back to my old AMD64X2 set, it does not have this issue.

So, I think that isolates this issue to cpu, mobo, ram and bios settings...

So let me get this straight, you upgraded CPU/mobo/RAM, and simply moved the OS disk over, and didn't do a clean OS install? That's likely your problem.

 

[crashtech]

To remove some strange OS problem from the mix, try using a live OS like Parted Magic. Also, reset your CMOS.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

So let me get this straight, you upgraded CPU/mobo/RAM, and simply moved the OS disk over, and didn't do a clean OS install? That's likely your problem.

Not just likely, its definitely the problem. Always reinstall windows when changing CPU/mainboard.

Graphics cards, you can get away with if you do a proper clean-up, but changing CPU architecture and chipset is a no-go.

(there is a way to do it, but its complicated and not something I'll recommend. Its much easier to do a reinstall. Besides which, since you've already damaged the installation its not an option)

 

[crashtech]

Obviously the OS needs to reloaded, but there could be more than one thing wrong. That's why he needs to boot it with something else besides the borked OS.

 

[JTsyo]

If you can't restart from the BIOS, doesn't that point to the motherboard?

 

[melloyellow]

So let me get this straight, you upgraded CPU/mobo/RAM, and simply moved the OS disk over, and didn't do a clean OS install? That's likely your problem.

no, I did do a fresh win8.1 install after the cpu/mobo/ram upgrade.

this particular test I tried was with the ssd removed, so there are no hard drives, so no OS and no drivers. I was just looking for POST and the message saying there's nothing to boot from. On cold boot, I can get this to show up, but on restart, I get a blank screen - no POST, no BIOS access.

 

[crashtech]

Some of us, including me, need some remedial reading comprehension work. If all the BIOS setting are at their default values, the only thing I can think to do is to try a different memory stick. Try using the integrated graphics, too. Hey, maybe it is booting to the igp...

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Try using the integrated graphics, too. Hey, maybe it is booting to the igp...

That could certainly be it. Perhaps the default configuration for your mainboard is send display output to the IGP only.

Another thing to check is your reset button, it could become short circuited when you press it. Try swapping your power and reset buttons, and see if you can start and restart normally.

 

[VirtualLarry]

no, I did do a fresh win8.1 install after the cpu/mobo/ram upgrade.

this particular test I tried was with the ssd removed, so there are no hard drives, so no OS and no drivers. I was just looking for POST and the message saying there's nothing to boot from. On cold boot, I can get this to show up, but on restart, I get a blank screen - no POST, no BIOS access.

Now that you mention it, I was getting something similar from my Gateway slimline rig, with an NV GT430. On cold boot, generally the NV card would respond, but sometimes, on restart, the IGP would be active instead.

It was the craziest thing. I think the card was flexing in the PCI-E slot. I had the case open when this was happening. Once I bolted the case back together, I don't think that I had the problem anymore.

 

[postmortemIA]

See this thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2385203
did you update intel's ME too when you did BIOS update?

 

[melloyellow]

See this thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2385203
did you update intel's ME too when you did BIOS update?

OMFG that worked! Thank you so much.

I never heard of intel me before, and I previously updated the bios through an MSI utility that ran in windows, and it didn't give any option for updating intel me. After re-doing the update through bios and selecting the option to update both bios and intel me, restart works totally fine now.

 

[mfenn]

See this thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2385203
did you update intel's ME too when you did BIOS update?

OMFG that worked! Thank you so much.

I never heard of intel me before, and I previously updated the bios through an MSI utility that ran in windows, and it didn't give any option for updating intel me. After re-doing the update through bios and selecting the option to update both bios and intel me, restart works totally fine now.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Awesome work!

 

[crashtech]

That's interesting, because the OP stated that the BIOS was upgraded from 6.0 to 6.4, implying that the board was acting up out of the box, in its as-delivered state. This is unlikely, though. The implication then is that the Intel Management Engine software installed during the configuration of Windows is modifying a BIOS setting improperly and automatically.

 

[postmortemIA]

That's interesting, because the OP stated that the BIOS was upgraded from 6.0 to 6.4, implying that the board was acting up out of the box, in its as-delivered state. This is unlikely, though. The implication then is that the Intel Management Engine software installed during the configuration of Windows is modifying a BIOS setting improperly and automatically.

Intel management engine is more than just a software. There's driver so there's hardware device. And finally has its own firmware. Afaik firmware must be upgraded sometimes so it recognizes cpu properly.
For example, cpu temp monitoring via intel desktop utilities didn't work right for me until I forced update of imei.

 

[melloyellow]

Yep, the Intel me firmware was updated just like the bios firmware, and using the same bios update file in fact. It gave me quite a scare because when the bios update got to about 60%, the stsem rebooted, and I was very concerned about potentially having a corrupted bios, but then after the reboot it picked back up at 60% where it left off and started updating the Intel me firmware.