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Other PC keeps restarting at BIOS Splash

Discussion in 'Tech Support' started by isaac12345, 10 Sep 2015.

  1. isaac12345

    isaac12345 What's a Dremel?

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    Hi All,

    I have the following rig -

    CPU - Core 2 Duo e4500 2.2Ghz( OCed to 2.6Ghz)
    Motherboard - Gigabyte P35-S3G
    Ram - 2x 2GB Corsair DDR2 800
    GPU - MSI 8800gt 512mb Factory overclocked
    PSU - Corsair VX 450W
    HDD - 1x 320GB Seagate 7200rpm running Linux Mint 17.1 64bit
    1x 1TB Samsung 7200rpm running Windows 7 32 bit and storage
    Case - CoolerMaster RC330 with one case fan plugged into the motherboard
    Keyboard - Basic PS/2 TVS Keyboard
    Mouse - Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 3000 USB, with both the clicks not working properly. The left click has degraded in the past month or so

    After a recent repair of the motherboard(3-4 weeks ago) I am again facing issues of a very similar nature.

    Earlier(before the repair), the system would suddenly restart on its own whether I was simply browsing the web or playing some games. The system would switch off all of a sudden and not restart completely. All that would happen was that the fans(GPU,CPU,PSU and case) would power on and then power off, repeatedly with nothing outputting on the display and no bios beeps. So I called a local repair guy who checked the PSU and then said it was a problem with the motherboard, took it away and got it back repaired. He never told me what exactly he repaired on the motherboard but said that it was at the component level.

    The system seemed to be working fine till a few weeks ago. This time the system would suddenly switch off, BUT fully restart back into either OS. I called the guy up telling him what was happening but he didnt come.

    I then started using the system with the case door open and the restarts stopped happening so frequently.

    Now recently another problem has sprouted up. Day before yesterday, while typing an email, I dragged and dropped a few sentences from the browser to the email client. Oddly, the text, even though it got copied to the email text box, was still there on the screen in its original form. Like an image in the backdrop that wouldn't go away. THinking it was a bug I closed the email client and found to my suprise that the text image was still there on my desktop, on top of my wallpaper. Again, thinking it was probably because of not formatting Windows since I installed it I tried refreshing the desktop but it didnt work. So I restarted the system and now the keyboard's not working properly! Then I restarted the system again, plugging and unplugging the keyboard but in vain. AND then, my system simply refused to go beyond the motherboard splash screen. It kept restarting till the splash screen.

    So to troubleshoot the problem, I unplugged my hard disks and found that the system booted up till the before the OS selection screen. Thinking it was a problem with one of my hard disks, I plugged in the Windows terabyte hard disk back and the system booted up. So I got back to using it as normal to finish some work and again the keyboard stopped working. It started making beeping noises while typing even though I wasn't pressing more than 2 buttons at a time. I restarted the system and lo and behold, it doesn't restart beyond the splash screen. Thinking it was a problem with the hard disks again, I unplugged it, and the system still wouldn't restart which I think rules out that the hard disks are the problem.

    So tired of this voodoo, I left the system switched off and reverted to my laptop. I called the repair guy and showed him the system. The system booted up fine into windows and worked but after a while the keyboard stopped working. He restarted the system a few times and it booted into windows but without the keyboard working. He suggested to take the whole case with him to try it out but I was hesitant as I didnt want to give him access to my hard disks. He then suggested me to use the desktop without the case door and change the extension board that everything was plugged in as it looked quite old.

    About to end soon, so hang in there! :)

    So I got a new extension board with 3 LED lights that light up in certain combinations if there's a problem. I plugged it into my mains wall socket and noticed that the middle yellow LED was dimly flickering EVEN THOUGH THE SWITCH WAS OFF AND NOTHING WAS PLUGGED INTO THE BOARD! So I switched it to another wall socket and when I turned the board on, it showing me a combination of LED lights that says that the live and neutral are reversed. Thinking that maybe the board's being a bit too voodoo, I plugged in the desktop and booted successfully into windows. 10 minutes into using it, the keyboard stopped working again! I restarted it but the keyboard wouldn't work.Thinking it was a keyboard problem I tried a few really old but dodgy ones and even they didnt work. And after a few restarts, the system again fell back into restarting at the motherboard splash screen. I checked it with the hard disks and the keyboard unplugged and plugging both the ram modules one by one into every slot but it didnt fix the problem.

    So, I have given up now on trouble shooting it myself.

    What do you think could be the problem? Could it be something overheating and then not working properly? Could it be that my house's faulty electricals have over time damaged something? How should I go about diagnosing it?

    Also out of curiosity I loosened the heatsink on the motherboard MCH and am not able to tighten its screws back The screws seems to have a spring action . Any advice on that would be much appreciated too.

    Thanks! :)
     
  2. isaac12345

    isaac12345 What's a Dremel?

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  3. isaac12345

    isaac12345 What's a Dremel?

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    Anyone?? :(
     
  4. Teelzebub

    Teelzebub Up yours GOD,Whats best served cold

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    Well first I would not spend money getting a repair guy and would be inclined to replace the motherboard, but given how old the system is it's not going to be easy getting a motherboard so time for a new system really possibly salvage the PSU and GPU and case and replace the rest
     
  5. isaac12345

    isaac12345 What's a Dremel?

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    Where I am right now, repair guy's cheap! Did it last time for 10 quid. I was thinking of buying a new laptop(for 300-400 quid), but I am not sure if any of them still have the capability of an 8800gt and I really cant afford a new gaming rig right now. So got to do with this one.

    Anyway, odd thing happened a few minutes ago. The keyboard stopped working as usual and I kept restarting to see where exactly in the BIOS would the system hang. But it wouldnt and would boot to Windows but without the keyboard working as before. So I kept restarting it manually to see if I could replicate the fault but this time actually see without the splash screen where it would restart. After many restarts till the login window but without the keyboard working,it got to the 'verifying DMI Data' message and in a flash restarted, without completing the verification. But this time the keyboard started working! And is working fine till now. Really odd! Can the keyboard itself be the problem? Its a bog standard ps/2 keyboard.

    P.S.- Your profile pic's scary :S
     
  6. Teelzebub

    Teelzebub Up yours GOD,Whats best served cold

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    You'll never get a gaming laptop for £400 , the repair guy may be cheap but he's not repairing it is he you should at least look for a motherboard, do a wanted on the market place you might get lucky.

    Oh and if I read it right and you have a screw loose on the CPU cooler ? That can cause it to keep shutting down from over heating.

    Don't worry about the Devil he don't bite well not often lol
     
    Last edited: 12 Sep 2015
  7. isaac12345

    isaac12345 What's a Dremel?

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    Not the CPU cooler. The motherboard MCH heatsink. I loosened the screws while trying to diagnose this problem but I'm not sure if I have screwed them back on properly or not.
     
  8. Teelzebub

    Teelzebub Up yours GOD,Whats best served cold

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    I was thinking you would likely be able to get a CPU, Ram and motherboard bundle on the market place here for not much more than a 775 socket motherboard and newer gen as well that would solve your problem and be a vast upgrade in one hit.
     
  9. blackerthanblack

    blackerthanblack Minimodder

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    By the sounds of it, it seems to be running okay now? A few things you could check if the issue appears again:
    Remove all the dust from the system including the GPU, heatsinks, even the PSU if you can (be careful around components though, compressed air can is best).
    Try a different keyboard (have you spilled anything on it).
    Try the system without the GPU to see if the PSU is dying - The Corsair should easily power those components, but the system is a few years old now (including the PSU?) and I know what old systems can throw up.
     
  10. isaac12345

    isaac12345 What's a Dremel?

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    Really??! Although I am not in the UK right now, what are specifications of the bundle you are thinking about? I could look it up here. First hand prices are similar.
     
    Last edited: 14 Sep 2015
  11. isaac12345

    isaac12345 What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks for your reply. Well the issue has appeared again. Instead of cleaning up the whole thing I have given it to a repair guy . The first thing he said upon seeing it was that 'its a windows problem' and would need to format my drive! I know it isn't so just to make him happy, I have given him one of my hard disks to format and see if it works. I'll format it back to linux mint once he's done with it.

    Argh! Forgot about that! There is a lot of dust where I live. Maybe the PSU has some dust inside which is screwing it up. Anyway, I have asked the repair guy not to repair the PSU or the GPU if its a problem there because the warranty may get void if he opens them up. When I visit him next, I'll ask him for some compressed air. Can you please suggest how to clean up a PSU without opening it up? I think its still under warranty.
    Also,the electrics in my house also dont have a proper earth/ground and my extension board does show leaking current. Maybe it affected the PSU slowly and steadily.

    By the way, I suspect it is a PSU problem. While I was trying out different hard disk power cable connectors (coming from the same long cable) one of them wouldn't let me boot into the BIOS. Lets see.

    Forgot to do that too at the shop. I'll give it a go tomorrow when he calls me. Haven't spilled anything on the keyboard.

    Yes the PSU is quite a few years old. I tried it without the GPU but unfortunately, because the CPU doesn't have onboard graphics, nothing shows up on the display and the motherboard makes a continous beeping noise without going into the BIOS.

    Another thing I noticed in the motherboard BIOS, is that even though my RAM is rated to run at 1.8V its shows DDRV value as 1.9 . even when the CPU is running on stock speeds and the voltages are set to auto. Unfortunately, the bios doesn't let me set voltages to lower values. Only lets me increment it.
     
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  12. Teelzebub

    Teelzebub Up yours GOD,Whats best served cold

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    I was actually thinking of 2nd hand from the bit-tech forum market place you must have access to it, you only need CPU, Motherboard and Ram every thing else would fit from your old system assuming it's not faulty.

    Maybe something Ivy bridge quad core even
     
  13. blackerthanblack

    blackerthanblack Minimodder

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    Of course, I was assuming the motherboard would have an video out, which many don't have.

    My S775 system also shows over the 1.8V (Gigabyte board) - I think around 1.86V or 1.9V so I wouldn't worry too much about that unless someone can confirm otherwise.

    For the compressed air just get a can with a plastic extension tube (like a thin straw) - that will let you get right into the components without opening them, like PSU components and heatsink fins.

    As has been hinted, it might be less bother to get newer components, depending on your budget. Even an S775 motherboard and better C2D CPU can be had for not much more than postage here. Although postage depends on where you are if you're not in the UK.
     
  14. isaac12345

    isaac12345 What's a Dremel?

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    Well, I called the repair man and he said he didn't have a PSU that could power the graphics card so he cant check if its the PSU. :/ Maybe he's only useful for simple repairs like monitors.

    Anyway, I either now would have to look for another person or go back to the previous person.

    I also had a look at the iris pro 6200 graphics on broadwell desktop CPUs and was very impressed with their gaming performance considering its on-board graphics. Is it possible to make a cheap system that can play games from till last year at either 720p or 1080p, till I save up for a graphics card? I can salvage my PSU, hard disk, OS,case, keyboard and mouse.
     
  15. modd1uk

    modd1uk Multimodder

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    Where abouts are you in the UK, I imagine you have a bit-techer near by.
     
  16. isaac12345

    isaac12345 What's a Dremel?

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    Not in the UK at the moment. I doubt there's a bit-techer here. There's not even decent water to drink out of the taps! And to think this is 2015!
     
  17. isaac12345

    isaac12345 What's a Dremel?

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    Right. So I gave my motherboard to the first repair guy who after quite a bit of pushing did manage to fix it again. But the problem has returned the day after he returned it to me. The system restarts abruptly at random times. I have done the following to rule out various components -

    1) Hard Disks - I have 2 hard disks. One runs windows 7 and the other linux mint 17.2. Suspecting it could be one of the hard disks, I ran both the operating systems and its happening on both of them. So a hard disk problems seems to be out of the question.

    2) Graphics card - When the computer wasn't even booting past the BIOS splash screen, I checked the graphics card by replacing my 8800gt with an old PCI-only powered ATI card from the repair shop, which uses it to boot up other systems. My system still didn't reboot.

    This leaves out the RAM, the motherboard and the power supply.

    RAM - I will be memtest-ing the ram tonight over night to see if that's the problem. I HAVE THOUGH NOTICED ONE ODD ISSUE HERE. In my bios, a value called DDR18V is being shown as 1.9V. In hardware monitor VIN1 is showing up as 1.936V. My RAM on the other hand is rated for 1.8V . Assuming VIN1 and DDR18V are signifying the ram voltage, could there be a problem here?

    PSU - I haven't tested the PSU myself yet as there is no one I know that has a decent power supply. The repair people very strangely 'dont have a strong enough PSU' to test whether there's a fault with mine. My hypothesis here is that the PSU is damaging the motherboard over time. Is there any way to test the PSU? I can get accces to a multimeter for voltage measurements,etc.

    Motherboard - Either my repair guy is making a fool out of me or he is not diagnosing the fault correctly. He said that this time he changed the BIOS chip but the problem seems to persist. THe only improvement is that the system is fully usable after the abrupt restart. It might be that something on the motherboard is not working properly which is damaging other components. What could that possibly be?

    Any suggestions people? I have already spent 20 quid on repairing this board, but being a greenie, I dont want to simply throw it away. Recycling is pretty crap where I live.

    I have attached an HWMonitor text file in case its helpful. - http://speedy.sh/5b6Bc/AbruptRestart1.txt
     
    Last edited: 4 Oct 2015

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