*STRANGE* Hardware Boot Problem

[foodfightr]

Ok, so I've tested this problem with both vista and XP. What happens is, the computer gets to the black screen with the loading bar and freezes after 2 seconds. Sometimes it will flash the BSOD and reboot. Strange enough, if I reset the CMOS it will boot one time. When I selected restart in windows, the problem begins again.

Motherboard: DFI LanParty Ultra-D (Flash w/ newest bios)
Memory: Tested 3 Different Sticks (Buffalo, G.Skill, OCZ)
Processor: Tested 2 Different Chips (Opeteron 165, 3200)
Graphics Card: Tested 2 Different Cards (Geforce 7950 GT, ATI Radeon 1050)
Hard Drive: Raptor 150GB, CHKDISK passes
Power Supply: OCZ PowerStream 600w (Monitored w/ Multimeter, passes)
CD Drive
Floppy

 

[Blain]

Can you F8 into Safe Mode?

 

[foodfightr]

Originally posted by: Blain
Can you F8 into Safe Mode?

Yes, every time in both Vista and XP.

 

[kurt454]

Maybe try flashing to an older BIOS?

 

[Roguestar]

http://forums.anandtech.com/categories.aspx?catid=32

Also run Memtest, I believe there's a copy of it in the vista install disc.

 

[foodfightr]

Originally posted by: kurt454
Maybe try flashing to an older BIOS?

I had an older BIOS, I just flashed to a newer BIOS.

The BIOS I had was working fine for about a year until this problem started.

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Also run Memtest, I believe there's a copy of it in the vista install disc.

I'm not sure why memtest matters if I run it with three different sticks of memory and a different processor (different memory controller). I did run 5-6 hours of memtest and it was fine.

 

[pcgeek11]

I have seen this occur when the MFT was full.

pcgeek11

 

[limer]

You might try booting a linux live cd of some sort and run that for a couple hours to see if the system will crash in another "clean" OS. Otherwise, it's likely a Windows issue.

 

[foodfightr]

I'm thinking about RMA'ing my motherboard.

Originally posted by: limer
You might try booting a linux live cd of some sort and run that for a couple hours to see if the system will crash in another "clean" OS. Otherwise, it's likely a Windows issue.

The guys on the operating system all believe it is a hardware problem. One thing I noticed is that if I use the Arconis True Image restore disk, it crashes in regular mode but will load in safe mode.

Originally posted by: pcgeek11
I have seen this occur when the MFT was full.

pcgeek11

Hrm?

 

[foodfightr]

--- Double post sorry ---

 

[limer]

Originally posted by: foodfightr
I'm thinking about RMA'ing my motherboard.

Originally posted by: limer
You might try booting a linux live cd of some sort and run that for a couple hours to see if the system will crash in another "clean" OS. Otherwise, it's likely a Windows issue.

The guys on the operating system all believe it is a hardware problem. One thing I noticed is that if I use the Arconis True Image restore disk, it crashes in regular mode but will load in safe mode.

Originally posted by: pcgeek11
I have seen this occur when the MFT was full.

pcgeek11

Hrm?

I see my mistake. I had meant that you could use another OS live cd and it's hardware detection to see whether device drivers for that OS are loaded and without issue. If this is the case, at least you know another OS is supported. I believe it may be hardware issue in the 'driver/detection' sense.

This may not be the ideal answer for you as I'll assume you want or need to run Windows. Nevertheless, it could put you closer to determining what is happening. It seems as though the fact that Windows boots to safe mode also suggests that those drivers which hang Windows in normal mode aren't being loaded.

I just found this and thought it was interesting:

Wikipedia NT Startup Process

I may not be making sense as I've been at work and up all night.

Hope this helps.

 

[crispy2010]

Try disabling all onboard devices, such as lan, sound, raid controllers. Remove any pci devices that are not needed. Then give it a try.

 

[sieistganzfett]

i think you have a virus actually since those also load in normal mode and not safemode. a clean windows install of either xp or vista on a different older hard drive you have probably laying around will answer if a virus, or just corruption is the problem. it sounded like both xp and vista were on the raptor, thats why i say try a clean install on a different hard drive, leave the raptor unplugged when you do this all. also, you probably have a TON of dumpfiles. see exactly what is causing the blue screens under both OS. below is info that you can use to find that stuff out. (since windows crashed so many times, it may lead to corruption, and no matter what you try could lead to the same crashes as well since the OS is corrupt..)

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/...debugging/default.mspx

install Windows Debugger, and using it to check the dump file to find out windows crashed. after installing run !analyze -v and lmv commands to find out what did it.
**** after dbg_x86_6.6.07.5.exe installed, open windbg, set FILE|symbol file path to click "reload" box, then ok.
SRV*c:\local cache*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols

**** then file|open crash dump and run the commands

!analyze -v will tell you the error, click the link on the drive
under Debugging Details:
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID -tells the general category of the failure
IMAGE_NAME -tells what driver is at fault, like if DRIVER_FAULT
click on the driver highlighted under MODULE_NAME it tells info like path to that module

lmv -tells loaded modules in detail, then click edit|find for that driver listed under IMAGE_NAME


****IF
*if driver at fault is ntoskrl.exe (windows core) or win32.sys (driver most responsible for the GUI layer on windows),it is PROBABLY NOT WINDOWS needing to be reinstalled, it is PROBABLY some third-party device driver that called it.
*if the driver at fault is an antivirus driver, it is PROBABLY NOT the anti virus needing to be reinstalled.
*