Computer turns on, then off, then back on again? Replaced CMOS and now I'm out of my depth. Please Help :)

MarkMooreDraw · Jun 2, 2017

Hi,

I built my pc a couple of years ago and had no problems.

I recently moved house and the computer had been running fine but recently when I turned it on it has turned itself off immediately after, this has happened a few times. This particular issue has been very intermittent and has happened twice in the last 4 months...

In the last couple of days however, when I power my computer on after turning it on at the wall the computer will power on for 3-5 seconds, then turn off, then it will power up again automatically but will show the american mega trends screen as ask me to go to the bios. Then I need to select the boot drive and windows will start normally.

When windows boots the time and date is wrong, usually starting at 00:00 in 2009.

If I restart or shutdown and power up again and I haven't turned the pc off at the wall the computer will behave normally.

I did some research and tried removing the CMOS battery for 10 seconds whilst powered off, then replaced the battery and tried again, this didn't work. I have also purchased a brand new CMOS battery and installed it and this yields the same result. I turn it on, then it turns off, then on again.

Is there another step I need to do? Reset the BIOS?

Could this be a faulty power supply or other error?

I built the PC myself and can usually troubleshoot software issues but this may be hardware related?

In any case I am a little out of my depth and would really appreciate any advice anyone can offer.

Thanks a lot!

-Mark

kaptainkuftic · Jun 2, 2017

Looks like a hardware failure, potentially. Did you say you could get into bios? If so, check to see what the time says in there. Also, I would set your bios to fail safe defaults, if you can. That's what pulling CMOS does, but if that didn't work then doing it in bios might change something

If those things don't seem to work, I think you're looking at a muffed up mobo. Do you have a replacement that you could try?

Also, what are you specs?

MarkMooreDraw · Jun 2, 2017

kaptainkuftic :

Thanks for your message,

I can get into the bios, I can check the time in there but I'm pretty sure its wrong too. The time in windows updates to the correct time after using the PC for a while.

I'm not super advanced with using the bios to make changes, how do I set it to fail safe defaults? I haven't changed anything in there ever, even since building the PC.

I don't have a spare mobo.

I can post my specs, whats the best way to generate this? Do I need to type it out?

Thanks.

kaptainkuftic · Jun 2, 2017

MarkMooreDraw :

There should be a messages that says like "F9 to discard changes and load defaults" or something to that effect. You're looking to just revert any changes back to default. I dont have a lot of faith in this, though, since resetting CMOS didn't do anything for you.

If that doesn't work, though, I would consider RMAing the board

you can either type them all out, or link them with something like pcpartpicker.com

MarkMooreDraw · Jun 2, 2017

Thanks, so my spec is:

Windows 8.1
Asus Z-87 PRO
Intel Core i7 4770k
16GB Corsair Vengeance
EVGA GTX 770 SC ACX (Dual Bios)
250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD
2TB Hitachi 7200rpm HDD

That's typed out.

I will restart my pc and try that bios revert point.

I don't know about RMA'ing my mobo, its pretty old, Asus, probably wont have it back?

Could this not be the power supply?

kaptainkuftic · Jun 2, 2017

MarkMooreDraw :

it's worth contacting them to ask about, IMO.

the part that makes me think it's mobo is this bit: "...ask me to go to the bios. Then I need to select the boot drive and windows will start normally. "

Also, hang on a tick. I think I missed this the first time I went though your original post, but did you say that you turn on the PC from the wall? If so, then maybe it is a PSU issue (as well). Do you use a surge protector?

MarkMooreDraw · Jun 2, 2017

kaptainkuftic :

I could contact them about the Mobo...although I'm not an expert on this, I'm still not convinced its the mobo. I do get your point about the american megatrends page asking me to go to the bios though.

I turn the pc on from the "wall", the pc is plugged into this though:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00I0693F4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The pc, monitors and speakers are all plugged into this. This surge protector is plugged in at the wall and thats what I'm turning on before powering the pc up.

This may or may not be worth mentioning: I mentioned I recently move in to this house and never followed up with why I mentioned this... I have had some issues with another device that was plugged into another power outlet in the same office. ( and then this surge protector a couple of weeks later) I have a cintiq drawing tablet tablet that has blown 2 power supplies, I am currently in the process of getting this repared by the manufacturer and although I think this is an internal fault with this device its worth mentioning. I don't want to give you the free pass of " your home wiring needs checking" ... I feel like if there was an issue with my home wiring the pc would have suffered more when my tablet broke? Also, the second time this device died, my pc was plugged into the same surge protector and didn't show any issues.
----This whole part about my home wiring may not be relevant but its something I wanted to mention.

Another point, since I replaced the CMOS battery, the first boot since I replaced it turned on, then off, then on again. But I have turned my pc off for a few minutes, twice, and the issue has not reoccurred, could the replacement battery take one boot to "settle in" ?

I'm going to turn my pc off for 5 mins and see if this reoccurs...

kaptainkuftic · Jun 2, 2017

MarkMooreDraw :

kaptainkuftic :

I could contact them about the Mobo...although I'm not an expert on this, I'm still not convinced its the mobo. I do get your point about the american megatrends page asking me to go to the bios though.

I turn the pc on from the "wall", the pc is plugged into this though:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00I0693F4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The pc, monitors and speakers are all plugged into this. This surge protector is plugged in at the wall and thats what I'm turning on before powering the pc up.

This may or may not be worth mentioning: I mentioned I recently move in to this house and never followed up with why I mentioned this... I have had some issues with another device that was plugged into another power outlet in the same office. ( and then this surge protector a couple of weeks later) I have a cintiq drawing tablet tablet that has blown 2 power supplies, I am currently in the process of getting this repared by the manufacturer and although I think this is an internal fault with this device its worth mentioning. I don't want to give you the free pass of " your home wiring needs checking" ... I feel like if there was an issue with my home wiring the pc would have suffered more when my tablet broke? Also, the second time this device died, my pc was plugged into the same surge protector and didn't show any issues.
----This whole part about my home wiring may not be relevant but its something I wanted to mention.

Another point, since I replaced the CMOS battery, the first boot since I replaced it turned on, then off, then on again. But I have turned my pc off for a few minutes, twice, and the issue has not reoccurred, could the replacement battery take one boot to "settle in" ?

I'm going to turn my pc off for 5 mins and see if this reoccurs...

Maybe? If you can't recreate the problem anymore, you should be fine.

It's possible that it's the PSU, but at least it isn't because of a surge issue. What leads me to think it might be mobo related is the bits about bios. Usually, they can be fixed with resetting CMOS, when they can't, it almost always looks like a shot mobo.

I guess we'll see where you stand on the next boot cycle

MarkMooreDraw · Jun 2, 2017

kaptainkuftic :

MarkMooreDraw :

Maybe? If you can't recreate the problem anymore, you should be fine.

It's possible that it's the PSU, but at least it isn't because of a surge issue. What leads me to think it might be mobo related is the bits about bios. Usually, they can be fixed with resetting CMOS, when they can't, it almost always looks like a shot mobo.

I guess we'll see where you stand on the next boot cycle

OK, so, after unplugging entirely for 5 minutes or so ( ensuring to drain the system of any power ) I have plugged back in and booted up with no issues.

I can only surmise that after installing the new CMOS battery, I needed to boot up once to reset?

I am yet to replicate the problem so fingers crossed the new battery solved it.

What is the reason a CMOS battery should fail? Do they have a shelf life? Its the first one I've ever replaced and I'm 29!

In any case the problem seems to have gone away for now. If it comes back I'll be back on here panicking.

Thanks for the support mate!

( I'm still not convinced its fixed though! )

smorizio · Jun 2, 2017

on the mb check that the clear the cmos jumper on the right pins if it a 3 pin clea/reset. if it a 2 pin clear/reset check the mb guild to see if the jumper has to be on or off. on cmos batteries the (+) side has to be up in the cmos slot. also make sure both battery clips are there and the battier is help down. if the cmos chip is failing try and see if it will reflash with the newest bios.

kaptainkuftic · Jun 2, 2017

Yeah, CMOS batteries have a life span, usually like 5-6 years. Only ever had one fail on me, and it was from a machine that was about 4 at the time.

mjslakeridge · Jun 2, 2017

The CMOS battery is just there to provide a small charge to keep the BIOS settings intact in the event there is no power at all to the PC. When a PC is "off" it is still providing a small amount of power to the motherboard. Since you are turning off the power at the surge protector, the PC is truly off and no power is getting to the motherboard. So the CMOS battery has the job of providing the power to keep the BIOS settings intact. When the battery can no longer do it's job (doesn't have to be completely dead, just low voltage), you will get the issues you described.

Hopefully the new battery will have solved your problem.

MarkMooreDraw · Jun 2, 2017

kaptainkuftic :

MarkMooreDraw :

Maybe? If you can't recreate the problem anymore, you should be fine.

It's possible that it's the PSU, but at least it isn't because of a surge issue. What leads me to think it might be mobo related is the bits about bios. Usually, they can be fixed with resetting CMOS, when they can't, it almost always looks like a shot mobo.

I guess we'll see where you stand on the next boot cycle

smorizio :

Thanks for your message,

This is another avenue I wanted to explore, I don't really understand these CMOS jumper pins, again - I'm a little out of my depth, what exactly do I need to do here to reset? I have Asus Z-87 PRO mobo. Does this have those pins?

MarkMooreDraw · Jun 2, 2017

mjslakeridge :

Thanks for your reply,

The new battery seems to have fixed the issue for now.

Hopefully I won't encounter this problem again!

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