Built a new rig that won't install windows without hanging

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
J

Joel Thomson

Commendable
Jun 13, 2016
9
0
1,510
Hi, I am putting together a rig, and am having an issue.

Specs:
Intel Core I5-6400
Gigabyte G1 Sniper B7 LGA 1151
Kingston HyperX 8GB DDR4
Corsair CX750 80 plus Bronze
Seagate Barracuda 1TB
Windows 10

The machine posts fine, and everything seems in order, except whenever I go to install the OS, I either get BSOD'd, or the thing just hangs indefinitely. I would post crash reports but I am unable to access windows, and the machine also hangs indefinitely when I get BSOD'd, and I end up forcing a shutdown manually, so I am unsure if reports are even being created. The two errors that I have gotten have been, Machine Check Exception, and Clock Watchdog Timeout. Based on my internet sleuthing I'm leaning into thinking that there is something wrong with the CPU.
I have tried changing boot order, removing the UEFI boot from the list of boot options, tried installing windows 8 instead, as well as switched out for another PSU which has worked for years in one of my other machines. These all ended up in the same place, with the machine completely stopping. I don't have another 1151 anything, or DDR4 hanging around that I could investigate better with, so I'm mostly going on definitions I've found for these error codes.
I've already applied for an RMA, and it has been approved, but given the cost of shipping across the continent, I wanted a second opinion as to whether or not I had sussed this out correctly.
Thanks in advance.

EDIT: I should have clarified that the crashes occur within the windows installation process. I am able to enter the product key, set up my drives, and the process generally succeeds at copying all the files and restarting the machine. A lot, but not all of crashes have occurred at the "getting ready" page, but not all of them - regardless I made sure that the UEFI boot was disabled as apparently this can cause an issue.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
BadActor

BadActor

Expert
Ambassador
Oct 31, 2015
8,749
1
54,965
If you haven't already, go through the trouble shooting steps in the link below. Look very closely at the socket pins to see if any are bent. Also make sure to try booting with only one stick of RAM and clearing your CMOS. Check in the Bios that the frequency and timing shown for your RAM matches the what the sticks are advertised at. What kind of CPU temps are you seeing in the Bios?

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems

I know this is for no boot, but things like checking for shorts and reseating the components may help you.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

Joel Thomson

Commendable
Jun 13, 2016
9
0
1,510


Thanks for the suggestions, I took a look through the troubleshooting page.
Clocks are all stock, temperature on the CPU in BIOS is ~29, pins all look good, cleared the CMOS, tried each stick of RAM individually in different sockets, still crashed. Everything else on the troubleshooting page is all in line with what I've done as well.

I should have probably made it more clear as well, that the crash occurs somewhere within the installation process. I'm able to format drives, enter the windows key, and generally the process succeeds at copying all the files. The furthest it has even gotten was asking me for router information, but it hung at that screen. Typically it will get to the "getting ready" page before stopping, this is why I disabled the UEFI boot as was suggested elsewhere, but this is far from the only place it will crash, and the BSOD's along with that make me think that is not the issue.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

Joel Thomson

Commendable
Jun 13, 2016
9
0
1,510


DVD. I don't think it's that though, the installation process seems to get off the DVD, as in it copies all the files to my HDD (or at least it usually does), then will stall out after the computer reboots the first time, or even the second time in one instance.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
BadActor

BadActor

Expert
Ambassador
Oct 31, 2015
8,749
1
54,965
The Watchdog error is commonly caused by drivers or corrupt system files. I really think it would be worth trying to download a new ISO and using the media creation tool, making a new disk or USB.

http://www.howtogeek.com/186775/how-to-download-windows-7-8-and-8.1-installation-media-legally/
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

Joel Thomson

Commendable
Jun 13, 2016
9
0
1,510


That would be very nice if that is all it is, I will give it a try and report back.
Thanks again.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

Joel Thomson

Commendable
Jun 13, 2016
9
0
1,510
I just remembered that I had tried a windows 8 disk that I have laying around, one that has successfully installed before, and that had the exact same issue. I can't imagine creating a new piece of media would sidestep that somehow?

EDIT: Another clock watchdog timeout error on a USB install.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

Joel Thomson

Commendable
Jun 13, 2016
9
0
1,510


I flashed the bios and the same problem came up, so I RMA'd the CPU and bought another. It's still crashing. I'm going to bring the rig into one of the local shops and let them sort it out.
Thanks for the suggestions, and your time.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

Joel Thomson

Commendable
Jun 13, 2016
9
0
1,510
Following up on this, because I know how useful it can be to find your problem in these forums.

I never did bring the machine in because I'm stubborn, so I did some more reading instead and found that several people on another forum were having similar issues, and someone managed to get their machine to work by setting the CPU to only run on one core in the BIOS, realizing that it was likely only one of the cores was malfunctioning. I tried this and it worked: I was able to install windows and use the machine normally, no faults at all (except of course that I was using a fraction of the HP that I had). When I turned all the cores back on, it immediately crashed again after windows booted up, so I packed it up and brought it back, will be getting a replacement tomorrow, and we'll see if this nonsense is finally finished.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

Joel Thomson

Commendable
Jun 13, 2016
9
0
1,510


Alright well... It wasn't the CPU. It was the WIFI adapter. This was something I read all over the place, but it was always a USB wireless adapter that was causing the problem, not a PCIe one, which this one is.
I started to get suspicious when I tried to install drivers for it, and there just aren't any for this particular model past windows 7. The make and model of it is TP-Link, TL-WN851ND. Super bizarre, because everything worked fine while only using one core of the CPU, but the second I added even a second core, it wouldn't get past the welcome screen.

So for anyone reading this, I would urge you to remove any WIFI connectors that you have, whether USB or PCIe, as apparently both can cause problems. I'm going to do some more testing with other adapters that I have working fine on other WIN10 machines, but yeah. Problem solved, kinda.

EDIT: I plugged an Asus pce-n15 11n, and it works perfectly normally
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom