Computer powers on but does not post

V

Valkhorn

Gawd
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
955
The system in my signature has a very odd issue that only happened once I upgraded it to an eVGA 8800GTS video card. Since then, every time I power it off it will rarely boot. It does boot and start up properly (although rarely) but I am afraid to even power it off because I'll never get it to boot again unless I'm lucky. Most of the time when it is off the computer's power light will turn on and the hard drives and drives will power on but the computer will never turn the display on or power on the keyboard or mouse (both are USB powered).

I've tested with different keyboards and monitors and it is the same on all of them.

I have experimented by putting in a standard PCI video card and with that in it will post but only half the time. I have checked the Gigabyte P35-C manual and it has given me some troubleshooting steps but there is an issue as the case I'm using does not have a PC Speaker - so any alarm sounds emitted from the motherboard would never be heard.

I'm thinking about buying a cheap PCI-e card to test in case it only boots the graphics from the PCI-e card but I know it has booted fine from a PCI card twice today.

The only thing I could possibly think of is to try to reset the CMOS on the Gigabyte board which I haven't done yet.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'm posting this at work so I'll have to print all of the suggestions tonight and try them when I get home but I can reply to questions now while I'm at work.

Thanks!
 
Unplug as much as you can to get a basic system that will boot.
If that works ok, either one of the things you unplugged has a fault or the PSU cant handle the load.
Booting is one of the most stressful times for a PSU.
I had a similar thing, taking up to 5 attempts to boot with my last PSU which is why I upgraded it.
 
To test the PSU, unplug it from everything inside the computer. Make sure its plugged into the wall, and jumpstart it by shorting the green and any black pin on the Main ATX connector. The PSU should power on instantly and remain on.

Get a multimeter to check the power levels, or a PSU tester.
 
To test the PSU, unplug it from everything inside the computer. Make sure its plugged into the wall, and jumpstart it by shorting the green and any black pin on the Main ATX connector. The PSU should power on instantly and remain on.

Get a multimeter to check the power levels, or a PSU tester.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, what makes you guys think its the PSU?
 
And because the problems started only after adding a power hungry Vidcard.

You can try reseating all the PSU plugs.
Click to expand...

It also happened on a cheap 4 megabite S3 PCI video card too after the first video card.

I'll try to test it some tonight and follow up if it doesn't work.
 
Follow up:

I put the old S3 4MB card in the PCI slot and reset the BIOS. After a few seconds, it booted normally. I tested the card out by powering down and rebooting several times with the card and it was fine.

I then swapped out the 8800GTS. It didn't boot - or so I thought.

The PCI card went back in, the BIOS was reset, and I had another go. I left it running for an hour while I stress-tested everything.

I powered it back down and put both the 8800GTS and the PCI card in. The primary display was on the PCI card and the secondary display was on the GTS. Drivers/settings/ everything was testable except that I didn't have a second monitor to test the second card.

On a hunch I pulled the PCI card out after a full power down. Booted the machine and I'm now back to the old settings with my 8800 working like a champ.

I still don't know what the issue could be but its the damnedest thing I've ever seen.
 
Where you uninstalling the drivers for the original card before installing the new one? Only thing I can think of off hand.
 
Interesting I think I am having the same problem as you are OP. I made a thread (in the wrong forum, doh) about my problems. I have a eVGA 8800 GTS as well.

My topic.
 
Where you uninstalling the drivers for the original card before installing the new one? Only thing I can think of off hand.
Click to expand...

Nope. Since the display is initialized before the OS starts I don't think that is the issue.

Interesting I think I am having the same problem as you are OP. I made a thread (in the wrong forum, doh) about my problems. I have a eVGA 8800 GTS as well.
Click to expand...

Link me to it or post it in this thread? I'm really curious as to what is going on myself and I'm hesitant about turning off my PC now because of it.
 
What kind of video card did you have before the 8800 gts? I'm akin to thinking it could be a power supply issue as well.

Might also be a problem with your case's on and reset buttons. A short somewhere perhaps.
 
aggr1103 said:
What kind of video card did you have before the 8800 gts? I'm akin to thinking it could be a power supply issue as well.

Might also be a problem with your case's on and reset buttons. A short somewhere perhaps.
Click to expand...

I got 620 running a 8800 ultra, q6600 on abit ip35 pro, he has a 750 watt, He has lots of power. If anything is wrong with the PSU its a factory problem and not a problem with power. Sounds like just a bios and video driver problem. I have ran into things like this before, they are weird ass problems, but they happen. Glad to see things are working well.
 
Valkhorn said:
Link me to it or post it in this thread? I'm really curious as to what is going on myself and I'm hesitant about turning off my PC now because of it.
Click to expand...

I already did but here it is again.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1222167

I just recently put together this system (http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/...Number=6505626) and I am having an issue with the PC restarting on a cold boot multiple times. I'll give you a run down on what happens.

1. Turn on PC via power button
2. PC boots for 10-15 seconds and restarts (sometimes I can hear drives being accessed, others times they are not)
3. PC finally boots and I get signal to my monitor
4. Bios settings are unchanged after boot (still overclocked @ 3ghz)

Once it boots successfully its stable in Vista and various games. This problem occurs less when at stock speeds but it still happens. Any thoughts or previous experience in diagnosing this problem? If more information is needed I will supply it.
Click to expand...
 
I'm attributing my bootup woes to my RAIDMAX PSU. While I don't have a spare PSU to back up these claims, some googling reveals that RAIDMAX is not very high quality in the PSU department. Only problem is I will have to wait a few months to be able spare the cash for a quality replacement. In the mean time any suggestions are welcome as what I could replace it with.
 
KamelRed said:
I'm attributing my bootup woes to my RAIDMAX PSU. While I don't have a spare PSU to back up these claims, some googling reveals that RAIDMAX is not very high quality in the PSU department. Only problem is I will have to wait a few months to be able spare the cash for a quality replacement. In the mean time any suggestions are welcome as what I could replace it with.
Click to expand...

If I were you i'd sell that psu here or on ebay and get something back out of it - say $20 or so. You're going to get tons of power supply suggestions now. I have an xclio greatpower 500w modular that I think is excellent. Unfortunately its not in stock at newegg, but they do have the 600w version. If I were buying a new psu right now though I'd go with one made by corsair, either the 520 or 620 versions.
 
I had a lengthy conversation with Gigabyte support today and we tried as much as we could to see what the problem could be. According to them the power supply is fine as it's powering everything else up without a problem (remember, if the eVGA doesn't get enough power there's an alarm).

We removed the RAM, disconnected the video card and used an old one, and did just about everything we could to get it to work and it didn't post once.

The processor shouldn't be the issue as far as I could tell, right? The ram isn't since we tried removing it all and there was no USB/Keyboard power or monitor display and the video cards both work so those aren't either.

I doubt it's a power drain as well since at the bare minimum it still doesn't post. The last thing I can do before returning it (and thats within my budget) is plugging in a mini case speaker and seeing if there are any tell-tale beeps to see what's going on.

The only thing I don't like about this is with the RAID. I haven't had a chance to backup my OS and I worry if I can even plug in the two drives I have now into another MB with the same make/model/raid controller and have it work.

The Gigabyte guy said it was a 50/50 chance but I'll ask the right forum about that specifically.
 
So removing all the ram without a case speaker was to find out what? :confused:

Plug in a case speaker and listen for error beeps. Pull out the RAM and Vidcard. You should hear error beeps. If not, its either the CPU or board.
 
So removing all the ram without a case speaker was to find out what?

Plug in a case speaker and listen for error beeps. Pull out the RAM and Vidcard. You should hear error beeps. If not, its either the CPU or board.
Click to expand...

No beeps at all. It will take about 2-3 weeks to get the board sent to them, tested, and returned, so I'm getting a replacement board of the same brand so I can at least try to get the RAID back up to backup everything.

I hope it isn't the CPU though - it was a pretty amazing little processor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top