Interesting problem need thoughts please

T

Titancom

New Member
Hi All,

I have a relatives PC around my house with a funny problem that maybe you can give me your thoughts on what might cause this issue.

First when its at his house sometimes when he turns it on it will sit practically at pre post test and do nothing.

System is Asus M2N SLI Deluxe board, Nvidia 8600GT Video, 2Gb DDR2-800 ram, Card reader, floppy drive, 640Gb HDD,AMD x2 4200+, Antec 900 case and Thermaltake 620 watt PSU i think.

But when i bring it over to my place and fire it up it always works perfect?

Any thoughts on why it always works at my house but randomly after using it for maybe months it always seem to do the same thing and look like basically its freezing before it really starts post test.

Side note after sitting for a couple of days it looses its bios setting and yet its only 11 to almost 12 months old for the PC.

Excuse any typo i may do i am little tired after being up for a long time :) thanks in advance guys/girls.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Motherboard
    eVGA 790i Ultra
    Memory
    Corsair DDR3-1333 2 x 2Gb @ 1400mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 x eVGA GTX260 Super Clocked
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 80Gb, WD 640Gb and Ext 400Gb Storage
Hi Titancom,

You don't say if it's a laptop or desktop - But if its a desktop have you checked the RTC battery. Have seen some strange things over the years with batteries which are loose or almost failing.

Other thing could be a "brown out" ie Voltage sag on the supply which is occasional at the "home" location

just throwing out ideas but the loss of BIOS settings would suggest the first scenario and the general hang could be supply voltage dips
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro x64 Latest Release Preview
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer G276HL 27", (DVi) + Samsung 39" HDTV (HDMI)
    Screen Resolution
    2 x 1920x1080 @50Hz
  • Manufacturer/Model
    Real World Computers (Custom by Me)
    CPU
    AMD FX8350 Vishera 8 Core @4GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus M5A78L-M USB3
    Memory
    32GB [4x8GB] DDR3 1600 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Asus nVidia GTX750TI-OC-2GD5 (2GB DDR5)
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xoner DG + SPDIF to 5.1 System + HDMI
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" TV
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Internal
    Crucial CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SSD,
    Seagate ST2000DM001-1CH1 2TB,

    External (USB3)
    Seagate Backup+ Hub BK SCSI Disk 8TB
    2.5/3.5 Hot Swap Cradle, USB3 + eSata (client HDDs)
    NAS 4TB
    PSU
    Aerocool Templarius Imperator 750W 80+ Silver
    Case
    AeroCool X-Warrior Red Devil Tower
    Cooling
    Hyper103 CPU, Rear 120mm, Front 2x120mm, Side 2x120mm
    Internet Speed
    68 MB Down 18.5 MB Up
    Other Info
    Six Sensor Auto / Manual Digital cooling (Fan) control with Touch control Panel
my first suggestion would be check the cmos battery. then make sure its on some sort of surge protection at least, even better a battery backup a ups. line voltages play hell on pcs.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self built
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64x2 6000+ 3.0ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus M4N78 Pro
    Memory
    3Gb PC2-5300 DDR2 @ 667mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX Radeon HD 4770 512mb GDDR5
    Sound Card
    VIA HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual monitors: HP W1907 LCD 19" and Gateway HD Display 19" LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    Barracuda 7200.10 SATA 3.0Gb/s 320 x 2-GB Hard Drive
    PSU
    Antec Earthwatts 80 plus 500 watts
    Case
    Ultra E-Torque ATX Mid tower clear side w/2 120mm fans
    Cooling
    Thermaltake MaxOrb cpu cooler w/120 mm blue led
    Keyboard
    OEM HP
    Mouse
    OEM HP
    Internet Speed
    Download 6885 kb/s upload 367 kb/s
    Other Info
    Optical: Super Muliti DVD burner w/lightscribe, Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1800
Thanks for your response guys, yeah the battery is proberly the only thing to do with loss of bios setting but doesn't explain why it hangs at the start of boot at his house but at mine it works fine :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Motherboard
    eVGA 790i Ultra
    Memory
    Corsair DDR3-1333 2 x 2Gb @ 1400mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 x eVGA GTX260 Super Clocked
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 80Gb, WD 640Gb and Ext 400Gb Storage
hi titancom,

you dont say if your unhooking the machine or laptop and moving it about?, ave just had same prob with my laptop and found the battery to be at fault but later on it did the same. a know its a pain but a restored my system and reinstalled windows from scratch! ever since my laptops worked fine.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    manufacturer-DIXONSXP,model-EI SYSTEMS 207
    CPU
    430@ 1.80GHZ
    Motherboard
    ?????
    Memory
    1.00GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    INTEL 82945G EXPRESS CHIPSET FAMILY
    Sound Card
    ?????
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ?????????????????????
    Screen Resolution
    ?????????????????????//
    Hard Drives
    ?????????///
    PSU
    ????????????????/
    Case
    DESKTOP TOWER
    Cooling
    ???????????
    Keyboard
    ????????????????
    Mouse
    ???????????????????
    Internet Speed
    QUICK?
    Other Info
    NOT 100% COMPUTER LITERATE BUT WILLING TO TRY.
Hi Kev,

Sorry its a desktop, when it gets brought to me it always works fine here but if i take it back to his house it works fine for upto months then hits this issue of sitting at the very start of bios and goes no further.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Motherboard
    eVGA 790i Ultra
    Memory
    Corsair DDR3-1333 2 x 2Gb @ 1400mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 x eVGA GTX260 Super Clocked
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 80Gb, WD 640Gb and Ext 400Gb Storage
Make sure the desktop is on a surge protector at your buddies house. Then get a multimeter and test the voltage at the AC outlet to make sure it is constant. Line voltage sags and spikes will make a PC do strange things. Just curious, whats the distance between you and your buddies house?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self built
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64x2 6000+ 3.0ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus M4N78 Pro
    Memory
    3Gb PC2-5300 DDR2 @ 667mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX Radeon HD 4770 512mb GDDR5
    Sound Card
    VIA HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual monitors: HP W1907 LCD 19" and Gateway HD Display 19" LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    Barracuda 7200.10 SATA 3.0Gb/s 320 x 2-GB Hard Drive
    PSU
    Antec Earthwatts 80 plus 500 watts
    Case
    Ultra E-Torque ATX Mid tower clear side w/2 120mm fans
    Cooling
    Thermaltake MaxOrb cpu cooler w/120 mm blue led
    Keyboard
    OEM HP
    Mouse
    OEM HP
    Internet Speed
    Download 6885 kb/s upload 367 kb/s
    Other Info
    Optical: Super Muliti DVD burner w/lightscribe, Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1800
As an electrical engineer, I would say it is most surely to do with a combination of bad noisy electrical power and a poorly designed power supply. First would be a UPS on the power and run the computer on that (I suggest APC). The other might be to put in a new (and better quality) power supply in the computer. Another thing to consider is the load on the power supply. If a lot of things have been added (extra hard drives, new high performance video card etc.) then you may on the margin of what the power supply can deliver. Then with marginal power line conditions, it tucks under on you.
 

My Computer

System One

Thanks jgrobertson for you imput, i wondered about the power sockets myself. The power supply is a thermaltake 620 watt which is more then ample for what its needs running a AMD 4200+ x2, ASAU m2n-sli deluxe board, 1 HDD, 1 DVDRW, 1 floppy, 1 card reader, 1 ATI radeon 4850 video card, DDR2-800 2Gb ram and a antec 900 case that has standard 3 LED fans. anything else is onboard USB/sound etc etc

Bassfisher my friend lives about 30+ mins away from me further out in the country type area (approx 40+ Km's)and i live in the city outer suburbs.

I did some checks on RAM as a i always do its fine but did find a trojen on his PC that may have stuffed around his OS but that doesn't explain it feezing at the start of post bios test.

Another theory i have is maybe a micro fracture in the mainboard itself that breaks internal rail contact and messes with it at post bios level and that by taking it for a drive it seems to for a while anyway fix itself and work flawlessly for months before reverting back to the same issue? what you think?
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Motherboard
    eVGA 790i Ultra
    Memory
    Corsair DDR3-1333 2 x 2Gb @ 1400mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 x eVGA GTX260 Super Clocked
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 80Gb, WD 640Gb and Ext 400Gb Storage
Hmmm, I still hang onto the idea that the power quality is different between the two places. As far as a crack in the board that somehow manifests itself at one place and not the other goes. Temperature and humidity can cause these kind of things to become an issue.

It there anything different between the environments other than power? Temperature and humidity come to mind first.
 

My Computer

System One

jgrobertson said:
Hmmm, I still hang onto the idea that the power quality is different between the two places. As far as a crack in the board that somehow manifests itself at one place and not the other goes. Temperature and humidity can cause these kind of things to become an issue.

It there anything different between the environments other than power? Temperature and humidity come to mind first.
Click to expand...

Yeah i tend to believe more that its proberly a power thing, enviroment is pretty much the same here as to where he lives.

I have told him he needs to get a good UPS and i will reinstall his OS and then see how that goes.

Power quility could be different but i am not really sure as i believe the south east queensland power grid is proberly not the greatest for brown outs and spikes, i myself run through 3 good surge protectors for all PC's at my house.

When i get a sag in power 2 systems stay at the desktop with no dramas but only my wifes seems to be a little tempremetal to it and reboots.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Motherboard
    eVGA 790i Ultra
    Memory
    Corsair DDR3-1333 2 x 2Gb @ 1400mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 x eVGA GTX260 Super Clocked
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 80Gb, WD 640Gb and Ext 400Gb Storage
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