Hard time booting up

[k9bliss]

I have P 3.0 Intell, 800mhz, 2gig mem, sonata II case with stock power sup.Intel MB D945PVS, ATI Radeon x550, Have Maxtor 2oo gig PCI X 2. DVD drive and DVD REC. PREVIEW 19 inch lcd monitor.This was home built about april of this year.

Hi everyone, my problem started about 2 weeks ago. When starting the computer it would start to cycle and then stop about 5-6 sec into booting up. The monitor would show no signal. I would have to hit reset a couple of times to get it to boot up. I had posted a thread a week or so ago and sugguestion was to hold the button in for a couple of sec. It didn't work. I have noticed that sometimes when it does boot the screen will show pink screen or a screen with missing part of the display. Does anyone have any ideas what might be causing this problem. Once it has booted up it seem to be fine. Thanks for any help you can give me. Jim

[DarkPacMan77]

The power supplies used in those units are quality units... but even so, a failure (or imminent future failure) may be upon you. I would try to swap out the power supply with another that will power the system so that you can see if that is the issue... it really sounds like the power supply is starting to get jumpy voltages to your parts.

could also very well be an issue with the Graphics card. just the same, it could be an issue with the power supply not powering the graphics card properly if it needs a power connector to be plugged into it (which i don't think it does).

I would assume it would be fine to rule out the motherboard as the source of the problem, because after it DOES start up, it is fine, correct?

Maybe do a system stress test if you are feeling lucky; that will most likely do one of the following.

1. Harm your system, possibly very badly.
2. Confirm that the PSU is not faulty.

That would be a last choice if i were you. Right now, i would make sure that all of your power connectors are plugged in 100%.

[Cricket]

Did you try the out-of-case-troubleshooter yet?

Do you have a spare compatible video card?

Do you have a spare compatible power supply? I've been noticing that people are having problems with Antec power supplies again.

Cricket

[k9bliss]

Thanks for the quick replys, you know I was thinking the same thing about the power supply. It is still under warrenty so I think I will contact Antec and see what I can find out. Do you have any sugguestions on power supply if this is the problem. Also is there a possibilty that any updates may be causing this problem. I know that the graphics card is a low end card, I was thinking in the near future to upgrade to a better card. Any suguestions would be great also. Thanks I will try these suggestion and see what happens. Jim

[Cricket]

Did you try the out-of-case-troubleshooter yet?

Cricket

[k9bliss]

No I havent' as of yet. I do have a report in Antec support. Waiting to see what happens there and any sugguestion they might have along with you guys. Jim

[flanzig1]

Check the voltages in the BIOS. Look to see if any are reading 5% or more out of range or that is bouncing around.

[k9bliss]

Thanks for the reply, I'll open up Bios and see what happens. I also got e-mail from Antec, theyt said that I neeed a RMA? So I'm trying to figure out what to do or go back to store I bought it from.Jim

[k9bliss]

I have 2 sets of readings. First one is with the computer on all day and the sec is at start up this am.
1. V 12 12.312 to 12.250
V 5.0 5.006 to 4.980
V 3.3 3.302 to 3.285
V 1.5 1.542 steady
Vccp 1.324

2. V 12 12.312 to 12.375
V 5.0 5.006 to 4.980
V 3.3 3.302 to 3.285
V 1.5 1.542
Vccp 1.324 to 1.326
With these flucations in voltage warrent looking for a new power supply or look elsewhere for the problem. Thanks Jim

[glc]

Those readings are well within spec, but that's still not conclusive.

[k9bliss]

Thanks for the reply. what would you recommend for ps in the case I have. Thanks Jim

[k9bliss]

UpDated on ps. Went out and got Antec Smartpower 2.0. 500w ATX12v Got it installed and went to start it up, the screen was pink and part of the screen was missing. Then it went black and a message came up no signal. The power was still on and fans were on and board was lit. So I pushed the reset button and boot screen came up I pressed f2 and went in and checked boot order and hardware monitor. All seems to be in order. So I closed it out and it went into finishing booting up and windows came up. Here I am! So! Does anyone have any idea's what might still be causing the problem, could it be the video card? Should I delete the drivers and reinstall them or get a new card? I was just thinking that I had downloaded update from ATI not to long ago! Any help would be great. Thanks Jim

[chuck4456]

Have you tried major cleanup? Especially the contacts. Be careful with the Vid Card - those are (barely) gold-plated. Just blow them off lightly with an air duster.

[k9bliss]

Thanks, I'll give it a try!

[doubledragon5]

If you can acess the bios I wouldn't think it is a power supply issue.. It could very well be ram.. You want to test the ram if you can get the machine to stay on long enough.. If so down load memtest86..

http://www.memtest86.com/

[Cricket]

I'm beginning to think you have a defective motherboard on your hands.

Cricket

[k9bliss]

Good morning, well I thought I would give it a try this morning after it sat over night and went to start it up, it lasted about 4-5 sec and hung up. Hit restart and intell intro and bio window came up. Then the monitor said no signal. Let it sit for a couple of sec and nothing? Hit reset and it went through normal set up and into windows and here we are!. I'll down load memtest and see if it is memory. Board! I hope not! I got all of the heavy equipment from newegg about 5 mon ago. Let me try memtest and see what happens. Thanks Jim

[k9bliss]

Hi, well I went to memtest 86 site downloaded to a file and unzipped it. I then copied the install file as it said in the instructions to a floppy. Rebooted and nothing came up. It just went into windows. I know I'm doing something wrong, but what. Do I just go to a drive in windows and open it and double click on install? Jim

[k9bliss]

Hi, got memory test running and it all passed.Whats next? Thanks Jim

[doubledragon5]

Lets see you have a new psu, ram tested ok, only thing would be a new mb...

[k9bliss]

Great! I didn't really want to hear that, I got a ticket into intel and also into ATI see if they might have an answer. Any idea why I would have this problem only on start up and no other time. Once it is up and running there isn't any problems at all? Is there test I can do to check my mob? Thamks for the help. Jim

[doubledragon5]

Things like that happen all the time for no reason.. You should also try the out of the box build like Cricket suggested. Just the Basics mb, cpu, one stick of ram video card and see what happens.. Also make sure everything is properly seated like ram. You want to make sure the taps lock in place when inserting the ram into the slots.. And also make sure you are using the proper amount of stand offs you could be grounding out the board on the case.

[k9bliss]

Thanks, I 'll go through and repeat things again. I got RMA from newegg, they are great as for no hassels. If I get a replacement and it isn't the same board can I hook up the hd's and have them still work. I guess they will send the best replacement as possible to what I had bought? Thanks for your help.
Oh, just a small note, I shut down the computer for a while and it booted up with no problems? Weird! Jim

[k9bliss]

Well, got throught everything as sugguested and it starts up fine if it has been on for awhile. But if it sits for awhile hour or so it has the boot up problem and I have to push reset button to get it to boot up!

[k9bliss]

Hi again,
I have a new mobo coming from newegg, P5B-E. Once I get it, I know I'll have to do a XP fix on the os hd, should I leave the sec hd unpluged util I get thing up and running. Do any one have a good thread to follow for the fix XP os? Thanks Jim

[glc]

Yes, leave the secondary hard drive disconnected.

There's a thread in Tips and Tricks covering XP repair, including the IDE controller trick to avoid the reinstall.

[k9bliss]

Thanks glc, good thread, the only thing I didn't do is the IDE controller trick before I sent back the mobo, I didn't know about the trick. I guess that this trick has to be done before the new mobo is installed,correct? Will it make a difference in the install and what can I expect? Thanks Jim

PS. I was reading the thread and the articles recommened and noticed that if the major equipment has been change that I miught need to have the computer re-activated. Will this happen or it depends on the reinstall configuration.

[glc]

XP will most likely require reactivation. The motherboard is a major hardware component.

[k9bliss]

Thanks,
Hope you don't mind but I have another question. I noticed that when anyone reapply's their cpu and fan that they apply thermal paste. When I took the cpu and fan off there was still alot of paste around the edges and a light film on both surfaces. Do you think this will be enough to do the job? If not should I clean off the cpu (with what) and the fan and apply a rice gain size strip in the center of the cpu. Thanks Jim

[newbuilder14]

Clean it off and reapply new thermal compound. I recommend AS5:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100007