Strange and varied issues with new Sandy Bridge build...

[MrWind]

Forgive the following story, but this is the weirdest set of computer issues I've ever had.

Okay, so my old computer died and I ended up building a system with the Sandy Bridge 2500k and an Asus P8P67. I also got new RAM, Corsair 6gb, and a new Intel X25-m 80gb SSD.

I used my old power supply, OCZ 700watt, and old vid card, an ATI 4850. I've been waiting for a good sale to upgrade the video card in the next few days.

Right when I put it together, it worked just fine. That was less than a week ago. Now things are really bad.

So, this is what's happening...

1: It will power cycle. Fans will turn on, lights will blink... then it'll power off after a few seconds and start back up again... over and over again. It won't get to bios. I have to keep powering down and trying it over and over again. This will happen until the hard drive light shows up. When the hard drive light shows up, it will do one of two things, it'll boot correctly or it'll give me the video card error beep code. So, I think it may be a video card problem... but wait.

2: Hard drives will disappear. First, one of my old hard drives, which I figured was the most likely to have issues, would disappear after windows started. It would be there when I first started up, but then it would just go away. Subsequent tests revealed that sometimes it would show up in the bios, and sometimes it wouldn't. Sometimes it wouldn't show up in bios and then it would pop up in Windows for no reason. I tried other sata cables and plug numbers, but that didn't do anything.

So now I think that drive hard drive is busted... but wait.

3: Now, other hard drives won't show up in bios. Randomly. My main hard drive (the new SSD) went missing a couple times, and now the other two hard drives are gone sometimes. Unlike the first one that would eventually make it to windows, the new disappearing drives won't make it that far. If they don't show up in bios, they won't show up later on.

So now I think it may be a motherboard problem... but wait.

4: Windows won't start correctly... sometimes. It'll get hung up at that growing windows logo. I tried the startup repair tool and that didn't do anything. But then, after a while, it worked again... but then it didn't.

Motherboard or something wrong with the new SSD hard drive??? Who knows.

So now I'm guessing it's either the motherboard, video card, hard drive, or power supply. I tested all three of the ram modules by using just one at a time, but that didn't do anything.

A faulty power supply could explain the disappearing hard drives and the startup cycling. It could also explain the video card error beep. But I've never heard of a power supply that would sometimes work on some things and sometimes work on other things and sometimes work for everything.

A faulty motherboard could explain everything, I suppose. But it's brand new.

A faulty video card was my number one suspect, but that doesn't explain the strange sata hard drive issues.

One or more of the hard drives could be borked, but that doesn't explain everything.

I know the hard drives aren't causing the issue with the power cycling. I've unplugged all of them and I can get to bios... sometimes. Just like when they were plugged in.

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME! What should I replace first?

 

[jamesmcuk]

But I've never heard of a power supply that would sometimes work on some things and sometimes work on other things and sometimes work for everything.

I have had something like that.

Try reducing the load - so remove all but just one hdd, no opticals etc and see what happens.

Its got to be mobo or PSU but if it was mobo I would expect more consistent results.

 

[MrWind]

I have had something like that.

Try reducing the load - so remove all but just one hdd, no opticals etc and see what happens.

Its got to be mobo or PSU but if it was mobo I would expect more consistent results.

I've done that. I can unplug all hard drives and the dvd drive and it won't get to bios consistently. Sometimes it will. :-/

 

[jamesmcuk]

try a new PSU if you can unless other better answers appear

 

[BoomerD]

IMO, the easiest way to troubleshoot this is to disassemble the components and start again.

"Build & Boot" is (IMO) the best way to build a computer.
Work on a piece of cardboard or wooden table (don't want to short things out)

Start with CPU, HSF, ONE stick of RAM in the A1 or B1 slot, and video card. See if you get the BIOS screen.

If so, add the boot drive. See if that's recognized in BIOS.

If so, add the other stick of RAM in the same channel. (A2 or B2) try again.

If you add all RAM and still get to the BIOS screen, add your optical drive to the mix.

IF that all works, install motherboard into the case and you SHOULD be good to go.

By doing this, it's easy to find a piece of hardware that's causing problems.

Of course, it COULD be a fluxuating PSU, but that's not very common. USUALLY, when they go bad...they just stop working...and if you're lucky, they don't take out any of your components when they go.

 

[src1425]

I'm having some of the same problems with my build. For the cold boot problem, where the power cycles on and off, a solution I found on the ASUS boards is to clear the RTC RAM (CMOS) while the computer is turned off. Move the jumper from 1 and 2 over to the right, to 2 and 3, and then back again. That's it. Turn the computer back on and you should get a message that you need to press F1 to enter the BIOS setup.

Now I just need access to my drives!

Update: try flashing to the 1053 Beta BIOS. ASUS tech said it was more stable, and I'm finally able to boot to Win 7 from my SSD. The optical drive still doesn't work, but I'm whittling away as the problems one by one....

 

[mlc]

yeah.. i would definitely reset your bios , and try running with the optimized defaults.. And if that doesn't work, see if there's a bios update, or perhaps reflash with the current bios if you'r running the most current one already....

You may want to try disabling any of the sleep states (S1, S3) in bios.. as it sounds like its cycling back and forth into and out of those states?

 

[MrWind]

Okay, I'll try the cmos reset. Gotta look up how to update the firmware.

 

[MrWind]

Testing some more... I think it may be the power supply. Sometimes the hard drives will power up, sometimes they won't.

 

[mlc]

read boomerD's reply earlier.. If you have drives erratically showing up, it could be the psu.. but it could also be a bad connection or a short.. I would suggest you follow his advise, and remove the board from the case.. and try posting and booting up with the board outside the case, on a non=conductive surface.. and just try it with a minimal setup plus your hard drive. (i.e. Board w/CPU & HSF, graphics card, and a stick of ram)

 

[MrWind]

Got a new Corsair 650w PSU. Everything is now working perfectly.

I guess now I know PSU's can act all weird like that.

Thanks for the help.