Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 mobo takes long to post, sometimes not at all

[CrinkleCut]

Hey guys, first build so sorting out some teething problems.

As above, my mobo sometimes takes really long to post - but I'm inclined to believe it doesn't actually start posting at all. Fans/lights all start up, but the debugger doesn't light up and give me the numbers. Sometimes, the machine will temporarily power down and start up again on its own, and another ~2min to POST properly and start up. If the numbers do show up, it'll move on as per normal.

Most of the time, I have to turn it off by holding the power button, flip the PSU switch, and try again. Only then will it post right and start up properly.

I've tried reseating the ram and made sure my voltages are safe/sufficient. I'm running a Crucial M4 64GB as my boot drive, but I'm pretty sure that isn't the problem.

I've also enabled/disabled the Asrock instantboot utility, no real difference.

All this happens every time I shut down the computer, and leave it sitting for a few hours.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[o1die]

You may have both drives set as boot devices. I would disconnect your secondary drive and try booting up with just the ssd. If the boot up time improves, connect the other drive while windows is running and it will be setup as a backup drive. You may also disconnect other devices one at a time and see if that makes a difference. Other items to check is the bios settings; be sure the lan boot settting is disabled, and reset the bios if all else fails. Please list your complete system specs if you want more advice.

 

[CrinkleCut]

Cool, I'll give that a go.

Specs:
i5-2500k
Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3
Samsung F3 1TB
Crucial M4 64GB
Asus DCUII 560 Ti
G.Skill Ripjaw 4x2GB
CM Storm Enforcer
Antec H20 620

 

[CrinkleCut]

I've just started it up again, and another issue has arisen - not sure if its related. On a fresh boot, system attempts to power up and fans/hdd run. Then, its as if a temporary restart overcomes the system, just for a brief moment (can hear fans powering down ever so slightly, and then resuming normal level). Now, debug code reads EA: S3 Resume Boot Script Error.

I have to hold down the power button to turn it off, start it up again and it works fine.

 

[DelroyMonjo]

Just a shot in the dark here. Check your front panel connections to the power and reset switches on the MB.

 

[CrinkleCut]

Not the problem, unfortunately. Wish it were that simple ):

 

[CrinkleCut]

Bump, anybody with any suggestions?

 

[ko888]

What's the make and model of the power supply unit?

 

[CrinkleCut]

Sorry, forgot to mention this earlier. FSP Aurum Gold 550M.

 

[ko888]

My suspicion is the SSD.

Are you using the latest Crucial m4 SSD firmware version or the old version?

Disconnect the SSD and see if it the POST is quicker. If it's quicker then you've found the problem.

 

[CrinkleCut]

I'll install the new firmware and monitor it over the next few days. Its hard to tell right off the bat, cus POST is quick when I force shut down a failed attempt to boot up. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[ko888]

... cus POST is quick when I force shut down a failed attempt to boot up.

Powering off the PC by turning off the power supply unit's main power switch is usually required to reset the SSD in this situation. This is one of the symptoms of a problem with the SSD. A newer firmware release is suppose to resolve this problem.

 

[CrinkleCut]

... cus POST is quick when I force shut down a failed attempt to boot up.

Powering off the PC by turning off the power supply unit's main power switch is usually required to reset the SSD in this situation. This is one of the symptoms of a problem with the SSD. A newer firmware release is suppose to resolve this problem.

It seems my ssd came out of the box bundled with the new 0009 firmware. I assumed it had the older 0002 one.

 

[ko888]

It seems my ssd came out of the box bundled with the new 0009 firmware. I assumed it had the older 0002 one.

Time to contact Crucial and find out if they have a solution.