- May 13, 2009
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Hi folks,my homebuilt has bootup problems since a couple of months. Usually, this only happens after it has been standing still over night, and it happens practically every day since a few weeks. I have observed a couple of recurring symptoms:
Scenario 1:
- system turns on, the LED-Fans flare up and then dim, probably because the other components are leeching power
- drives start, some humming and huffing
- no further booting, no beep, nothing, no VGA output, monitors go to standby
Scenario 2
- system turns on as above, after the drive checking sequence, the CHAFans drop out and stop, CPU fand continues,
- no further booting, no beep, no VGA output, monitors go to standby
Scenario 3
Scenario 1 happens, and it seems the video card gets stuck, as the fan keeps turning on and off in an endless loop.
Scenario 4
- System turns on
- The VRAM-Led turns on and stays lit. Stuck.
- I push the MemOK button a couple of seconds and it starts the test, rebooting again a couple of times and then it always started, except for last time, where it got stuck in limbo between the self-tests. I had to switch the PSU off to drain all power and then - the rest follows below.
How I get the machine to run:
Well... I turn it on and off a couple of times, eventually it will start - at some point of intolerable frustration my brain sends strong electromagnetic pulses that scare the crap out the CPU
Sometimes, it boots after it was "running" for a couple of minutes and I switch off & on. Then, it stays on and runs stable.Also, WHENEVER I decide to disassemble everytihng to:
- check for loose parts, dirt etc,
- test with other video cards and PSUs
- swap/remove/reseat/clean RAM
- replace thermal paste
- disconnect HDDs,
this MoFo decides to play nice. No erroneous behaviour AT ALL. Once everything is back in place, all cables connected etc., it boots up happily without any trouble. Until next morning.
Maybe related Windows error log symptoms:
I've had a couple of freeze events. Quite rarely, but still. The errors I mostly get:
- WHEA Logger CPU core error. Cache hierarchy. I think, those are mostly related to freezing. Processor ID varies.
- AMD northbridge error (got that one once only)
Probably irrelevant Windows errors:
- Disk Error for an external drive
- Service Control Manager errors
- lots of Schannel errors on certain days
- volsnap errors
It's not that I haven't done lots of research, but I just can't find fitting symptoms! I suspected the PSU, then the MoBo. RAM has had no errors during testing.
I have 13 fans running in this system (incl.VGA), 4 HDDs, 1 CDRom, my specs are in my profile:
AMD X6 1100T | Thermaright Archon | 16GB Corsair Dominator CMP16GX3M4A1333C9 matched set | Sparkle GeForce 285GTX | ASUS M4N98TD Evo | WDC WD Velociraptor 150, WDC WD 500, Samsung 1000, Seagate 200 | Corsair TX 650 PSU
No OCing! Heat under 40° for CPU and board likewise at all times
The system has been running perfectly since its assembly, so it cannot be hardware compatibility issues, one component, or several, must have degraded over time. Has the PSU become too weak? I only have 2 weaker ones to test..
Maybe you can give me a better testing procedure - I need this machine for work and I need to rely on it switching on! What the...
PLEEEEEEEEAAAAAASE - you know.
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