Uh oh... what happened?

[firehawk_1]

er....

my new machine just rebooted all by itself. after tireless configuration and setting it up, finally was done.
All I did was connect my new linksys E4200 router, then connected my main PC to the router then the new machine to it for 1GBPS transfer.
I was in the middle of transferring the file and it rebooted (the new machine). I thought ok, maybe driver issue.

booted into Windows... then it rebooted itself again!

Now at around 6GB (out of 12GB) of memcheck at the POST, it reboots!

WHAT?!?!?!?!

 

[firehawk_1]

switched off the system fully.... waited a few mins and powered it back on just now. it does the POST fine but now I get "overclocking failed! Please enter setup to reconfigure your system"

but I havent overclocked anything... and I dont do overclocking.

this is a new Intel 990x 3.46GHz CPU.

I now left it at that screen for a few seconds and it rebooted itself again.

but all this was working fine before for the past week. left it on 24/7 for 4 days then powered it off. no problems.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

I know this message! I get it on my Asus P8P67 Pro mobo sometimes. Take out the RAM, clean it and put it back in. Make sure it sits nicely. Once you get the message, enter the menu, then save & exit. The message usually pops up after on of the components have been changed (such as RAM, CPU) or due to shutdown because of RAM not being placed properly (weak contacts).

P.S. In the future, it helps to post your full specs...

 

[firehawk_1]

Sure my apologies.

problem is, this is a BRAND NEW system which I had built and the guy at the "shop" put on the CPU. its been running fine with no problems for a week and only just plugged in my new router to it along to my main system.

spec:

ASUS p658XD-E mobo
Intel 990x extreme 3.46GHz
12GB of crucial memory (ballistix)
1x120GB SSD as boot
2x2TB as RAID0
1x2TB as normal SATA
1x3TB as normal SATA
ASUS Geforce graphics card (cannot remember the model but something like 550 Ti?)
1200W PSU

thats all that there is currently. I've still to move the soundcard later when everything is ok.

its been running fine until tonight! when i decide to switch it on after 2 days of power off.

I cannot do what you suggested because at anytime... it reboots.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Yes, you can. I suggested taking out and re-sitting the RAM first.

 

[firehawk_1]

well of course my friend. that is what im going to do but apart from that/after that?

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

As I said, after re-sitting the RAM you'll get the message again... as the message asks, enter the BIOS, save and exit. It should boot with no problem after that.

 

[firehawk_1]

hmm. yes but what im saying is.... it reboots at anytime.... whenever it wants to. even before that message.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Did you already try re-sitting the RAM? If not, then do. A reboot before POST means something is messed up in hardware department, and that means you have to open the case and figure out what. (Also, make sure your Reset button isn't jammed: I had a friend once who had exactly that problem - machine kept rebooting, and all because of Reset button...)

 

[firehawk_1]

thanks. defo not anything else. it was fine before. laying there. doing nothing.
a little worried :-/ hmm. gonna re-seat the RAM one by one and see what happens.

 

[firehawk_1]

just took out all DIMMS. put just 1 DIMM in.
seems to be ok for now but the PC has been off for a good 1 hour.

booted into Windows fine....
should I leave it like this left on? But i think at any point if it does reboot into an endless state it will damage the system. i dont want to just leave it on overnight or all day tomorrow as I would be at work....

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Most likely it will work fine with all DIMMs in, try it. If you're gonna be at work, I don't see why you would leave the PC on, anyway.

 

[firehawk_1]

because in normal circumstances I would RDP to it to do stuff remotely. (I am a dev etc...)

you say it maybe fine with all the DIMMS in but... what if it does what it did today? thats what im saying. it was fine before with all DIMMs but then it did whatever it did today.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Try it! If it does it again (reboots), just keep trying different combinations of DIMMs until it's stable. But most likely the problem is caused by DIMMs not properly seated, so once you reinstall them, all should be fine.

 

[firehawk_1]

ive just put in the 2nd stick of RAM. transferring large files across the network. no hardware reboot yet.

could it be the 3rd stick? it may not be. then what? what if at a later date during operation it reboots (not a Windows reboot....) then... ??

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

I already said, it's most likely BADLY SEATED RAM (all of it or one stick). If you think that one of your DIMMs has a defect, run a memtest86.

 

[firehawk_1]

thanks.
what I dont get though is... why did it not do this for the first 5-6 days? why just out of the blue?

 

[firehawk_1]

it says its for the x86 platform or it at least hints it... does it support 64 bit? (and mem > 3GB?)

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Of course. Memtest86 is a memory test program that checks RAM for errors before you boot the OS. I think it's included on Windows 7 install DVD (I'm not sure).

 

[firehawk_1]

ok. the system is rebooting endlessly again. this is just with 2 sticks of mem even tho memtest said it passed.

 

[firehawk_1]

trying to switch the system on now and shows no output but everything else seems to be running? however there is no "initialisation" on the keyboard (you see the 3 lights of numlock/caps lock/scroll lock flash once as normal)...

:-/

 

[firehawk_1]

After 5 days, they just rang me and said they could not find the problem. they did a memtest, pccheck etc... and says its been running fine and claimed that Windows was giving a stop error at times due to the configuration in the BIOS of the SSD drive being in AHCI mode but I said that its not what the problem was, and never has been.

they said they couldnt find the problem.

damn it! NOW WHAT?!