Weird reboot problem...

C

casefan

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 6, 2005
Messages
64
Ok, I've been using the same setup and it's run great for over a year, until the past few weeks. When I shut the system off for any length of time and go to turn it back on, it won't restart. It will power on, the fans spin up, but when it goes to boot up, it just restarts itself. It will restart over and over again without actually booting. If you pull the plug and manually restart it enough times, you can eventually get it to boot and then it runs great. As long as you don't shut it off, it will run for days without a glitch. In Windows, you can even "Restart" your system and it's fine, but if you "Shutdown" and then manually turn it back on, you're screwed. I haven't added any new hardware to the system in about a year. I tried clearing the CMOS to no avail. Right now, I just leave it running 24/7, but it's driving me nuts. Ideas?

System Specs: Win XP, Abit AI7, Intel P4 3.0 Ghz, 1 GB Corsair DDR, ATI Radeon 9500 PRO, SB Live 5.1, Raptor main HD and a 40 GB Maxtor , Lite-On CD burner and DVD drive in an Antec Sonata case.

Thanks a bunch,

Casefan
 
I have the exact same problem with an Abit board. here is a cut-n-paste from a thread I started and never got a reply on.

I have an Abit-AV8 rev 1.1 which is a great overclocker and does everything I need it to. The weird thing is, EVERY time I shut the system down the only way to turn it back on is to flip the switch off on the PSU. I leave it off for 1 minute and turn it back on then power up the computer and I boot fine.
It doesnt matter what my level of overclocking is, it always does it. Does anyone know of a setting that may be affecting this? The machine itself runs 100% stable in windows and I can run prime95 100% stable. So it's not an over stressed component issue. Any thoughts? I also have the latest bios 21. Thanks
 
Hmmm... Based on the symptoms it appears to be a faulty cap in the system or failed power cicuitry that's not charging the capacitors properly.

Caps as you know store electricity and discharge it completely as necessary. They're used to filter voltages and remove spikes and/or sags in the power to keep it nice and clean. The fact that your system works fine if it's powered on and not turned off indicates to me that the cap (or caps) is charged fully and keeping the electrical signal clean.

When the system is powered off, the caps all discharge completely. Since it takes several times of you reseting before it finally comes up means that something in your system is not charging the caps as it should be and it takes several boots before they charge properly and begin filtering the signals again.

I don't think it's your power supply but it is a place to start. If you have a spare power supply, connect it up in place of your old power supply. Just be sure if it's a small unit take out anything not necessary to boot up to Windows. I think it's a faulty mainboard personally.
 
Sounds like a heat issue to me, could be too much dust has gathered in your PSU and may be preventing the heatsinks from cooling it properly. I'd try blowing some canned air thorough it, and any other part that may need it.
 
I'll check out the caps on the mobo and see if anything is up. I don't think it's a heat issue as it runs fine if you leave it running for a week, but won't boot if it's been off all night. Good idea, though.

thanks,

casefan
 
ncantador said:
Sounds like a heat issue to me, could be too much dust has gathered in your PSU and may be preventing the heatsinks from cooling it properly. I'd try blowing some canned air thorough it, and any other part that may need it.
Click to expand...

No, I don't think that is the problem since it runs fine over time but won't on an initial power up. Heat issues tend to cause prolonged running issues.

Let us know if you find any caps that are leaking.
 
sounds like this one could be a little tricky to diagnose

I would try swapping out the PS. The reason why is that some MB won't boot if the HD isn't up to speed. I doubt that the Raptor is the problem as that is an excellent drive so I would be suspicious that it simply isn't receiving enough power to get up to speed before the MB throws a fit and reboots the computer. This would also explain why you are able to restart the computer without any issue; your HD is already up to speed.

Other than that, it could indeed be faulty caps either inside the PS (which would be fixed by swapping the PS) or on the MB (check for bulging or caps with brown shit on them).

I also doubt this is a heat related issue since this problem happens most often at a cold boot.

Good luck
 
Hmmm. Caps on the mobo don't look bad, so I'll have to pick up an extra PSU and give that a try.

thanks,

casefan
 
Yep, dropped in a new PSU and she runs like a champ again. :)

Good thinkin'

casefan
 
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