Update - Not Resolved - PC won't boot - sticks at "Preparing automatic Repair"

Stevarian

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Messages
499
Hello, I have a Velocity Micro PC that is about 18 months old. The motherboard is an ASUS ROG Crossfire VIII Hero, the CPU is an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, with 32 gigs of RAM, a Firecuda 520 NVMe boot drive, along with a Western Digital storage HDD, and a Western Digital Black NVMe SSD. The OS is Windows 10 Professional.

In the last couple of weeks, it would restart on its own and would get stuck right after the BIOS splash screen with the message "Preparing Automatic Repair". I would reset the computer, and the first couple of times it would work fine and go right into Windows.

Then a few days later, when I would shut down the computer, it would restart instead, and end up with the same repair message.

I looked online, and I turned off the restart on error setting, turned off fast boot in BIOS, and ran System File Checker (sfc /scannow) and the first time I ran it, it found some corrupted files and repaired them. I then ran DISM after that in case the windows image needed repairing. I restarted and voila, it seemed to be fixed.

That didn't last long, a day or so later it started sticking at the repair message, with the spinning circle, and even with resetting it would NOT boot into Windows.

When I booted from the Windows DVD, it stuck as well on the screen with the blue "window".

I have not overclocked the system at all. I have not added any hardware in the last year. I do keep drivers and firmware updated. I primarily use it for games, and when it was working, it worked flawlessly.

I have reset CMOS, and restored all BIOS settings to optimal. Fast boot is off.

Today, I pulled out the 4 RAM sticks, and tried them 2 at a time, and that did not help. I also tried a different video card.

I disconnected the storage HDD, and removed the WD Black SSD, leaving only the Firecuda, with the same results. Finally, I removed the boot drive, and booted just from the Windows DVD. It still ends up getting stuck on the blue window screen.

I am at a loss as to what to do next. It is out of warranty.

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
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When attempting to boot with 2 Dimms they were placed in 2nd and 4th slots from the cpu socket? Try all 4 memory modules one at a time in mem slot 2. What code is the debug led stuck at?
 
When attempting to boot with 2 Dimms they were placed in 2nd and 4th slots from the cpu socket? Try all 4 memory modules one at a time in mem slot 2. What code is the debug led stuck at?
Thanks for replying! Yes, I was using the 2nd and 4th slots. I just finished trying the memory modules 1 at a time in the 2nd slot, all with the same result. The debug LED Q-code ends up at AA when it sticks. According to my ASUS manual, AA is reserved for ASL, and under ASL 0xAA says "System has transitioned into ACPI mode. Interrupt controller is in APIC mode."
 
I don't know if your main board supports it or not but some of the higher end boards have Nvme self test in bios under Settings/Advanced/Nvme self test. I always keep a boot able memtest and Linux distro flash drive handy for testing this type issue as well.
 
I don't know if your main board supports it or not but some of the higher end boards have Nvme self test in bios under Settings/Advanced/Nvme self test. I always keep a boot able memtest and Linux distro flash drive handy for testing this type issue as well.
The motherboard does have an NVMe self-test, and I am running the extended test right now. However, I tried booting from the Windows DVD with both NVMe drives removed from the motherboard (one at a time) and it still stuck at the same spot. I don't have memtest on a bootable flash drive right now, but will make one tomorrow.

So far I don't think the drives are bad based on the above. I think there must be something wrong with the motherboard itself.
 
If I were you, I would cut my losses and just do a fresh clean formatted install of win 10 or 11. Should work perfectly after that. Sometimes my time is more valuable than faffing around for days etc we a fresh install in 1 hour solves everything every time . Unless of course, you have faulty hardware.
 
If I were you, I would cut my losses and just do a fresh clean formatted install of win 10 or 11. Should work perfectly after that. Sometimes my time is more valuable than faffing around for days etc we a fresh install in 1 hour solves everything every time . Unless of course, you have faulty hardware.
I would do that if I could get the Windows DVD to boot. The system gets to the same point booting from the DVD. The DVD should give me the option for a reinstall I think, if it would just boot.
 
I would do that if I could get the Windows DVD to boot. The system gets to the same point booting from the DVD. The DVD should give me the option for a reinstall I think, if it would just boot.
When you press delete after restart you can't access the bios?
 
Forget the dvd create a bootable flash drive.
Ok, I will do that tomorrow. I probably was not super clear in my first post....I can set my BIOS to boot from a DVD drive, and it does start to work from the DVD. It will bring up the blue windows logo, and the DVD drive is working. A circle of dots pop up and start to spin, then they freeze, and the DVD drive stops spinning.

That is why I was thinking I have some kind of hardware failure. I will give the bootable flash drive a shot though. Thanks for the responses!
 
Hey, we offer lifetime tech support! Just give us a call on Monday to sort this out. (Ask for Scott) Also, I don't know the specifics, but sometimes we offer a warranty period on the system, but the board maker often carries a longer warranty on their own part - in this case, Asus offers a 3 year warranty on this motherboard. If I were spit-balling, I'd bet the motherboard is going, and second choice would be RAM that may also have a longer warranty period. Yeah, I'd also try a clean install first, before I dug into the hardware too much further.
 
Hey, we offer lifetime tech support! Just give us a call on Monday to sort this out. (Ask for Scott) Also, I don't know the specifics, but sometimes we offer a warranty period on the system, but the board maker often carries a longer warranty on their own part - in this case, Asus offers a 3 year warranty on this motherboard. If I were spit-balling, I'd bet the motherboard is going, and second choice would be RAM that may also have a longer warranty period. Yeah, I'd also try a clean install first, before I dug into the hardware too much further.

Wow, thanks Velocity_Micro!!

I was going to call, but things went way south Thanksgiving day, and I tried some basic troubleshooting Friday morning. By the time I posted here, I had thought about calling but it was already mid-afternoon on a Friday after Thanksgiving! I will give you a call Monday morning.

And just as an update, I am running memtest from USB now, and it is close to the end of pass #2, with no errors. I think I will stop after pass 2 ends, and wait till Monday.

As for doing an install of Windows from USB, I have Windows Pro on the malfunctioning system, and Windows 10 Home on my old PC (the one I am using now). Don't I have to have a Windows Pro iso on a USB drive to restore it? That is why I was hoping I could boot from DVD, but it would not get past the initial screen.
 
If you remove the disc drive with OS from this PC and check it for errors from another PC with adaptor, what do you get-?
 
If you remove the disc drive with OS from this PC and check it for errors from another PC with adaptor, what do you get-?
Unfortunately, my old PC is about 10 years old, and does not have an NVMe slot, and until your question, I didn't even think about there being an adapter. I would have to order one to try.
 
As for doing an install of Windows from USB, I have Windows Pro on the malfunctioning system, and Windows 10 Home on my old PC (the one I am using now). Don't I have to have a Windows Pro iso on a USB drive to restore it? That is why I was hoping I could boot from DVD, but it would not get past the initial screen.

If you use the windows media creation tool to make the flash drive, it will include Home, Pro, and I think a third option. You just need to select the right edition during setup.
 
Hey, we offer lifetime tech support! Just give us a call on Monday to sort this out. (Ask for Scott) Also, I don't know the specifics, but sometimes we offer a warranty period on the system, but the board maker often carries a longer warranty on their own part - in this case, Asus offers a 3 year warranty on this motherboard. If I were spit-balling, I'd bet the motherboard is going, and second choice would be RAM that may also have a longer warranty period. Yeah, I'd also try a clean install first, before I dug into the hardware too much further.
Champion 🏆
 
Unfortunately, my old PC is about 10 years old, and does not have an NVMe slot, and until your question, I didn't even think about there being an adapter. I would have to order one to try.

1-Hi I have used this for similar problem, errors corrected and it worked again. One would thought the disc maybe a problem, but its still going strong. I have a feeling in this case it was with using a certain program, in meantime it was updated, and never experienced the problem again.

I always switch AC off:
2-Another thing. On my Dell PC, I experienced similar thing sometimes on bootup. I then switched it off, switch AC off to PC, ....switch AC on, WAIT 1 minute....Switch PC on, and if I do this I never have this problem, maybe something with motherboard or BIOS or an update it received, or it has to do with my speaker system starting up at the same time when AC is switch on, never happenned again its now longer than 8 months. Maybe power supply influenced when auxillaries start up at same time.

It may seems like work arounds, but in my case its better than having the PC repaired.
I once had a Laptop I7 motherboard failure, and it got worse and worse over time, till I just called it a day on it, scrapped. this Laptop seemed to eat HHD's, I had two replaced under gurantee, and one out of gurantee(WIN-7). THe HDD's developed a situation where it becomes very slow, up to one minute to tranfer files in one direction(Read/Write) instead of milliseconds or faster, you can see from Task Manager Win 7. If USB is used its always fast.
 
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Just an update - I made a USB Windows 10 boot drive this morning, and attempted to start the computer. It does the exact same thing as before, it gets past the BIOS splash screen, and the circle of dots start to spin then it freezes. I am not able to reinstall Windows. I will be calling Velocity Micro tomorrow morning, and go from there. Thanks for all of the help!
 
I wanted to provide an update for those who responded or are following this thread.

I called and spoke to Scott at Velocity Micro today, and he had already read this thread, so he was aware of what I had tried with my system to date. That impressed me right off the bat.

We discussed my PC's issues, and during our discussion we discovered that the motherboard's BIOS was about 4 versions old - dated late January 2021 to be exact. Here I throw myself on my sword and confess that I had not looked at the BIOS version very closely, and I had assumed (and we all know what ASSUME means....ha) that the ASUS Armory Crate app was keeping it updated. I realize now that it was updating motherboard drivers but was not doing anything with the BIOS.

Scott suggested updating the BIOS, and then depending on the results, to then attempt booting from the USB Windows boot drive with all of the hard drives disconnected.

You can probably already see the surprise ending coming a mile away....but I used the EZ BIOS and flashed the motherboard to the newest version, restarted the system, and BOOM it booted into Windows with no glitches. I restarted it a couple of times, and still it worked perfectly. I have since restarted several times, with no issues....it boots right into Windows. So as of right now the problem seems to be resolved.

Color me embarrassed....I honestly did not think an old BIOS could make a system not start at all. This was a good learning experience for sure.

Scott was awesome to talk with, and I really appreciate his help and advice. I also appreciate everyone who responded to this thread.
 
My situation has changed with my PC since my last post, so I thought I would provide an update in case it is of any help to anyone.

The BIOS update I made to my system "fixed" the problem for a few weeks, then the same problem started creeping in again. Finally in January it got to the point where the system would not move past the "Preparing Automatic Repair" screen.

I removed all of the drives, and tried a brand new WD blue NVMe drive to see if I could install Windows on a fresh drive. No luck.

I contacted Velocity Micro, and tried a few other troubleshooting suggestions, with no luck.

I finally shipped my PC to Velocity a couple of weeks ago and am just now waiting to see what they determine to be wrong with the system. The PC is out of warranty, but per my discussions with them, the motherboard and CPU should still be under warranty.

Once I know what Velocity Micro finds out, I will post an update.
 
This might help: I've just come out of spending the last 3 months trying to diagnose and fix my PC crashing under heavy load. I had isolated every component to no avail.

The culprit? I was running my PC power lead through a wattage meter. Removed that, problem resolved! Can't believe I just completely overlooked that, so *stupid* ! :banghead:
 
My situation has changed with my PC since my last post, so I thought I would provide an update in case it is of any help to anyone.

The BIOS update I made to my system "fixed" the problem for a few weeks, then the same problem started creeping in again. Finally in January it got to the point where the system would not move past the "Preparing Automatic Repair" screen.

I removed all of the drives, and tried a brand new WD blue NVMe drive to see if I could install Windows on a fresh drive. No luck.

I contacted Velocity Micro, and tried a few other troubleshooting suggestions, with no luck.

I finally shipped my PC to Velocity a couple of weeks ago and am just now waiting to see what they determine to be wrong with the system. The PC is out of warranty, but per my discussions with them, the motherboard and CPU should still be under warranty.

Once I know what Velocity Micro finds out, I will post an update.
Did you ever get a solution? I have same motherboard and issue. Thanks
 
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