All of a sudden I can't get past bios.

[TotallyNotDeadInside]

A couple of weeks ago I built a new PC. Everything worked great, it ran great, everything was fine. Last night I accidentally rolled over my headphone's cord and it got pulled out (wireless headphones are next on the list) and when plugging them back in I accidentally hit a button on the front of my case that caused my computer to freeze and then restart. It was not the power button and looking my my case manual I could not find out what the button even is. The computer restarted and loaded Windows just fine but when I tried to log in to Windows it kept saying that the password wasn't right. To get around this I plugged in a new keyboard and that seemed to work (I believe for some reason the shifit keys weren't working on my old keyboard but they worked just fine one Windows was loaded). I proceeded to think nothing of this until a couple of hours later when all of a sudden my PC froze up.

After trying for a couple of minutes to open task manager or really do anything (nothing was responding), I decided to reboot it using the power button on the case.

Once the computer turned back on, Windows would not load and I kept getting stuck in a "preparing automatic repair" boot loop. I can get to the asus bios, but nothing Windows related works. I tried to just reinstall Windows, but when I try to boot from my disc it brings up the windows logo for a minute (nothing else to indicate that anything is happening) and then it turns off and goes back in to a boot loop.


The case in question is a Corsiar Air 540. https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-High-Airflow-Cube/dp/B00D6GINF4

The button that I accidentally pressed is the left most button on the front panel. I think the pressing of this must have been the issue, as nothing else happened during my usage session last night that was any different from any other day.

If you have any ideas, please tell me.

 

[RealBeast]

Use your installer USB stick or DVD and try to run a system repair from that as a first step.

 

[TotallyNotDeadInside]

I tried. Booting from my disc brings up the windows logo for a minute on an otherwise blank screen, then the computer turns off and goes back in to a boot loop.

 

[jossrik]

Faulty boot drive mayhaps? If you cold restarted you might have corrupted it, or maybe it was corrupt before and this just brought the problem to the forefront. As far as the button on the case, depends on where you wired it to.

 

[TotallyNotDeadInside]

Looking through my mobo manual I believe the button I hit was the reset button.

Edit: just noticed the boot device led was on. I looked last night and I don't recall seeing it on, but it is now.

 

[RealBeast]

Check to insure that the button is not stuck in the depressed position or remove its wires from your motherboard attachment briefly.

A reset can cause corruption issues. I would try two things next. First clear the motherboard CMOS (bios) either with the jumper or unplug it from the wall and remove then replace the CMOS battery.

If it still won't boot I would make a Linux Live USB stick using the free utility from HERE and select Mint 17 32 bit. That program will download and build the bootable stick. Boot from that stick, then click on your SSD to mount it. You should the be able to delete the partition on the SSD using partition manager like THIS. After that you should be able to reinstall W10 if the drive is working.

 

[TotallyNotDeadInside]

Alright so I tried each of your suggestions and none of them have worked. I downloaded Mint on to a usb on a friend's computer and put it in, but when I try to boot from it I get to a screen with a few different options for what to do, but regardless of which one I select it just goes right back in to a boot loop.


What's odd is that the first time it booted up, somehow Windows was working. It went to the repair screen and I tried to go in to system restore, but then it crashed and went to the standard Windows login screen but neither my keyboard nor mouse were working so I couldn't do anything.


Edit: after trying a few more times to boot mint, now it doesn't even go to the "loading mint" screen. As soon as I choose to start it the screen goes blank and it crashes.

 

[RealBeast]

No, you must create a *bootable* Linux Mint stick with the tool that I linked and you can boot from that bypassing your drives completely. Details count here.

Did you disconnect the reset button wires to the keyboard?

 

[TotallyNotDeadInside]

Yes I used to Unetbootin tool that you linked and I used it to create the drive with Mint on it. I'll give it another try, maybe I did something wrong. It is worth noting that it does seem to start properly, I get to this screen: http://imgur.com/L7pTT29
and the first time I tried and selected to start Linux mint, it worked and went to a screen that said it was loading Linux Mint, but then the system restarted again, but now regardless of which option I choose it just flickers and then restarts.

 

[RealBeast]

Sorry, your Mint stick is probably fine.

Mint has given us information, it is not just your OS that is the problem. So that now tells me that you probably have a hardware issue causing the problem.

Make sure that all parts are securely seated in the motherboard and all cables are firmly attached at both ends (while the computer is powered down). Then you must check part by part.

To check the HDD unplug it and try the Mint stick again. After that check the memory with the free MEMTEST86 and report any errors. We'll go from there.

 

[TotallyNotDeadInside]

Alright, I went through and checked all of the connections and am fairly sure that all f them are connected adequately. I then tried to boot from the mint stick with no storage in it and I got to this screen http://imgur.com/tzzrWu5 , but when the timer ran out it just froze and stayed like that for several minutes with nothing happening until I powered it down. It doesn't matter off I let the default countdown go off or if I manually select to start Linux mint, it just freezes on that screen. I'll try the memtest now.

 

[TotallyNotDeadInside]

I downloaded the Memtest and ran it on a friend's computer, it took 2 1/2 hours but it completed and everything was ok. Then I tried to use it on my computer, it got to 16% done of the first pass and then the system restarted.

 

[RealBeast]

Can you list all of your parts used in the build?

Did you ever try resetting the CMOS as suggested?

 

[TotallyNotDeadInside]

Yes I removed the battery from the motherboard for a good 4-5 minutes and then replaced it.

Build is:

Case:https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16811139022

Mobo:https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B012NH05UW/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cpu: http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=I7-6700KBX

Cpu cooler:https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16835181103

Ram:https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16820104531

Gpu:https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16814125871

Storage1:https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16820147372

Storage2:https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16822236624

Disk drive:https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16827135204

Sound card:https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16829132053

OS:https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ZSI7Y3U/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[synphul]

What power supply are you using? Looking back through the posts it appears the button you hit was the reset button. It shouldn't have caused all these issue. After what RealBeast suggested and assisted with the mint boot drive from usb, I'd agree it sounds more like a hardware issue. I'm wondering if the motherboard got damaged or possibly the psu from the headphones being yanked out of the audio port.

When you removed the cmos battery did you also happen to unplug the power supply cord at the back? You might try that, I've had instances where removing the cmos battery didn't seem to help. Try powering down the pc, unplug the power supply cord from the back of the unit, remove the cmos battery for around 5-10min. Place the battery back in (make sure it's oriented properly pos/neg), then plug the psu power cord back in and try turning the pc on.

 

[TotallyNotDeadInside]

Psu: https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16817438026


I both turned the power supply off and unplugged it before removing the cmos battery. I'll try again and leave it out for longer.

 

[synphul]

At this point it's hard to tell from across a screen over the net. It might be worth taking it to a shop where they can test the various components, it's sounding like it could be a psu, motherboard issue or something. Replacing them yourself one at a time is a costly way to sort through the problem where a shop should have access to various parts for testing.

It could be a bad case switch, did you unplug the reset switch wires from the motherboard? That would isolate a faulty/stuck switch. Other things you might try, remove the gpu and ram and put them back in just to make sure nothing jarred loose at all when the headphones got pulled out. Double check that everything is properly seated, including cpu 4/8 pin power, the 24 pin motherboard power etc.

 

[TotallyNotDeadInside]

Reset switch has been unplugged ever since I figured out what it was.

I checked all connections, I pretty much took everything except the cpu out and then put it back together.

I guess I'll just have to find a place to take it to.

Update: professional has determined the motherboard is damaged. Whether it was caused by the reset or it was only brought out by it is unknown.