Boot / Reboot problem

[August37]

I've recently built a system and it fails to either boot or reboot and bring up the video display. I have pulled (removed) and reseated everything at least three times. With coordinated effort, I will get the system to come up with the display, but it can take several tries of shutting down and cold-booting to obtain system display. A reboot requires a cold boot, with several tries, to obtain a system display.

Mobo: ASROCK K7S8XE
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2000+ (1.67)
RAM: Mushkin PC 2700 DDR 512 MB
Video Card: ASUS V7100 PRO32Pure 32MB MX400 w/updated drivers
Sound: onboard
LAN: onboard
HDD: Western Digital IDE SE 27.3 GB
Monitor: ViewSonic A91f+ 19" w/latest drivers
(All parts are new except the HDD!)
I have used both Win98SE and Win XP Pro OS systems.

Am I dealing with a bad motherboard? If not, then what. I am on a fixed income and having a diagnostics test run (costing $60 USD) is more costly that just replacing or RMAing each part.

[mbossman2]

any beep codes? (during POST a m/b will beep to indicate issues).

[August37]

No codes......... just won't boot the system. Unless I mess with the sequence.

[Mesaeus]

I wouldn't do the diagnostics in any case. While the PCMech crowd cannot guarantee we'll find the solution (like the diagnostics), at least we do it for free In any case, having access to some spare parts you can borrow would be handy to find the problem. You forgot to mention which psu you're using, and that happens to be my prime suspect too. I think your psu has trouble providing enough power to boot. At boot there will be a power spike because every device/component in your system (hard drive/cdrom/dvdrom/video card etc) will be drawing power at the same time. So what psu is in there currently ?

You can check for psu overloading by disconnecting as much devices as possible, I'd try it with only a video card and one stick of memory, no hard drive, no cdrom etc. try it and tell us if that works

[August37]

Brand new 550 watt PSU. (Had a new 350 watter originally!)
I don't have access to other "spare" parts at the moment.
Good suggestion tho and I would have tried them as a process of elimination testing. (cheaper than the diagnostics testing deal!)

[August37]

Brand new 550 watt PSU. (Had a new 350 watter originally!)
I don't have access to other "spare" parts at the moment.
Good suggestion tho and I would have tried them as a process of elimination testing. (cheaper than the diagnostics testing deal!)

[August37]

Well, as time has gone by and I've gone thru every concievable configuration remedy, it seems that there is a construction fubar in the board. I am going to RMA this board.
It has been an uphill battle with ASRock since they insisted that the fault was outside the board.
Not so!

I have a good friend that builds many PC's using ASRock boards and this model in particular. He was amazed that I was having an issue, but we both understand that anything 'man-made' can and most likely will, break. SO, on to the RMA of this board and replacement.

Thanks for the advice presented. We tried to fix it!

[JPMiller]

Well I do hope that fixes the problem... but what brand is the supposedly 500 watt PSU?
that has more to do with it being the problem than the fact that it says its a 500Watt power supply...

[glc]

Doesn't surprise me. Asrock boards are made by PC Chips.

Yes, JP - I know you have good luck with them, but the odds of a bad one are higher than with better brands. Comes with the territory.

[JPMiller]

Actually Ive never used an Asrock board... and only a few PCChips... my main point was people tend to overlook the PSU just because it supposedly "has more than enough power, so that cant be it".
most times people check their rail voltages in the bios.. which is horribly innacurate... your system is running at its lowest while in the bios.. you need to look at the real time voltages while in a Windows environment and during the time your having problems...
And Im not saying it isnt the mobo... just that its easier to test with a different PSU than it is to RMA a board...
and its an easier swap... I believe in ruling out the easy stuff first is all..
there are actually surprisingly few GOOD PSu brands that have an even 500Watt rating, that is why I ask.. there are only 3 brands Im aware of that have that wattage...

[glc]

Good point - and 500 watts is overkill. I've yet to use anything over 420 watts, and that was for a server with eight hard drives (and I used a quality brand - Enlight). All our new desktop systems, with a few exceptions, go out the door with a 300 watt quality brand power supply - we use a 3rd party builder for most of them and their current power supply brand is Fortron.