probs with P.O.S.T. & boot in vista 64??

hello,

spent 2 days getting our new self-built computer up n running with i7 920 and vista 64 bit. had probs w/crashes and stuff so we have it running for 8 hours with no problems. I must admit I think vista beats xp all over the place!

However...computer takes multiple tries to get it to POST and boot. (yesterday it booted great then crashed a lot). sometimes if it sits a few minutes eventually it will boot up, other times it boots slowly the first try.

bios boot order is hd first then dvd player, and when it seems to be doing nothing it does excite the dvd player every 15 seconds or so.

have run post/boot with everything unplugged except monitor but still follows the same pattern.

suggestions or links for solutions? This box is just one fix away from perfection (dare I hope)

thanks!

Msongs

msongs said:

hello,

spent 2 days getting our new self-built computer up n running with i7 920 and vista 64 bit. had probs w/crashes and stuff so we have it running for 8 hours with no problems. I must admit I think vista beats xp all over the place!

However...computer takes multiple tries to get it to POST and boot. (yesterday it booted great then crashed a lot). sometimes if it sits a few minutes eventually it will boot up, other times it boots slowly the first try.

bios boot order is hd first then dvd player, and when it seems to be doing nothing it does excite the dvd player every 15 seconds or so.

have run post/boot with everything unplugged except monitor but still follows the same pattern.

suggestions or links for solutions? This box is just one fix away from perfection (dare I hope)

thanks!

Msongs

Click to expand...

The specs (the components you used to build it) of your computer would help in this case.


Until then, I can suggest you look at the following:

1. If you have a SATA hdd, make sure that the SATA controller in the BIOS is set to IDE mode
2. If you have 2 RAM sticks, make sure that they are properly seated in the correct locations to enable dual-channel mode (Refer to the motherboard manual for this)
3. Be sure that all relevant power connectors are correctly seated
4. Is the heatsink/fan properly installed over the CPU?

What error messages (visual or audible) are you getting when POST fails?

msongs, what mobo etc are you using?

hello, happy new year's day to you all :-) here's some info:

intel i7 920 (bios reports temperature 38 degrees after 6 hrs operation)
mobo gigabyte Ex58-DS4
dvd/rw liteon
vid card geforce 9400 gt
PSU enermax modu82 650w
RAM 3 X 2gb corsair ddr3 (Vista memory checkup reports no problems)

here's some stuff I gleaned from bios:
startup order = HD then dvd (during non-boot the dvd player makes noise frequently)
HD is channel 0 master
dvd is channel 4 slave
usb mouse function disabled (I am using a USB mouse btw)
sata controller is set to IDE
"system boot stops for any errors except keyboard"

Once the OS is running, shutdown/restart boots right up no probs.

again symptoms are: power up, boot delay or no boot, sometimes if I let it just sit for 5 minutes eventually it boots. problem occurs even when I disconnect dvd, HD, vid card.

checked system events log and a fair amt of red errors but dont know if any are directed to POST. I don't think so since the OS is not running during this time.

any other areas I can resource for additonal details let me know, and thanks again.

Msongs

I had this on an overclocked machine. I had to disconnection the external power for a minute or so before it would post....

Is 650w enough?...I wonder......definitely reseat all cables inside the box.

hi damocles,

unplugged n replugged everything quite a few times. comp has been running all day with no probs - blue screens, mouse freezes, instant shutdowns. guess I could just never turn it off LOL :D.

got to reread my previous post about the usb mouse so when it post again I will unplug the mouse first and adjust that setting. could it be that simple? hmmm

Msongs

The simplest things can cause the most havoc sometimes.....


Let us know how you get on.

Problem is solved.....evidently.. :-)

well I got the gigabyte chipset install cd out and did a repair on each subcomponent that allowed one (there were 7 or 8) BECAUSE i downloaded a windows update thing that actually killed my LAN internet connection so I had to reinstall the gigabyte LAN driver!

now the computer has posted and booted 4 times in a row. Time from power on to useable desktop was about 50 seconds. Is that an average time? perhaps I can use this forum and decrease the time. I know I can bypass the gigabyte colorful splash screen.

thanks to you all for being helpful and friendly. I like this forum

Re: Problem is solved.....evidently.. :-)

msongs said:

well I got the gigabyte chipset install cd out and did a repair on each subcomponent that allowed one (there were 7 or 8) BECAUSE i downloaded a windows update thing that actually killed my LAN internet connection so I had to reinstall the gigabyte LAN driver!

now the computer has posted and booted 4 times in a row. Time from power on to useable desktop was about 50 seconds. Is that an average time? perhaps I can use this forum and decrease the time. I know I can bypass the gigabyte colorful splash screen.

thanks to you all for being helpful and friendly. I like this forum

Click to expand...

50 Second boot is way above average, as most people record between 60 and 90 seconds. I scored 42 seconds the last time I checked.

As for bypassing the Gigabyte Boot Screen, there should be a setting in the BIOS somewhere that use can use to turn it off. It should be called "Splash Screen", or something similar.

I would also check the ram timings and voltages, I had the DS5 a few weeks ago and the auto detected settings were completely off.

POST problem is back this morning....one time...

multiple reboots last night seemed to work fine. got up this morning to a cold computer and had to try 3X to get post/boot. after that multiple restarts worked fine again. hmm.

boot order set to hard drive then dvd. It seems during the first failed attempt the dvd player gets activation attempts every few seconds or. disconnected the dvd for the second attempt and still no post. third try worked, so shut it down, reconnected dvd, and subsequent repost/boots worked fine.

z3r010 you mention RAM issue - corsair says "Tested together at 1333MHz, Vdimm = 1.5V, at latency settings of 9-9-9-24 on X58-based
motherboards with a Corei7 CPU". So if I wanted to set the ram timings and voltages, the voltage = 1.5 and the timings = ??? I recall seeing settings like that when I was wandering through the bios.

curious about the post failure on a cold machine start, Maybe it wants an electric blanket or something :-)

Msongs

Or maybe your PSU is not putting out appropriate voltage when it is first started up....

I'd get the PSU checked first and foremost, then check all the seating of components, *especially* the heatsink on the CPU and any peripherals you have installed.

I guess it's off to the repair shop for a fix.....

stirpped everything down to components again, reinstalled PSU, cpu/cooler, mobo, all plugs/connections. same result, sits 5 for minutes and then finally POSTS.

all that's left that could be an issue are the plugs that don't seem to go anywhere: on a 3 molex circuit there is a tiny female plug at the end of the circuit. From the CPU bundle along with the main is a 4 plug but there is nowhere to put in on the mobo, and also a tiny little plug on black/white wires that maybe looks like a fan connector but no instructions on where that goes.

it is so wierd that it will sit there and then POST after 5 minutes. It is perfectly useable if I don't mind waiting for it to post , but there is still something wrong.

Otherwise it is time to drag this @#%&%&@$% down to the local mom n pop computer guy to see if he can get the problem solved. Bye bye computer for a week.

The original purchased components yielded a bad HD and vid card (wouldn't work on a backup computer either), so are we gonna add to that list the PSU, mobo, and CPU? aaargh.

Msongs

reset bios?

It could be a failure within the motherboard.

got a speaker and the beeeeps say...

series of continuous very short beeps....too fast to count exactly. that stops for a bit then repeats. like brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

according to the gigabyte handbook that is a power issue best as I can figure but google and find either power or system board. neither one is good

btw then I tried unplugging the 8 pin plug and the cpu fan ran really fast but no beeps, or boot for that matter.

Msongs

dang can the brand new power supply really be defective? doesnt anybody make a quality part?

Re: got a speaker and the beeeeps say...

msongs said:

series of continuous very short beeps....too fast to count exactly. that stops for a bit then repeats. like brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

according to the gigabyte handbook that is a power issue best as I can figure but google and find either power or system board. neither one is good

btw then I tried unplugging the 8 pin plug and the cpu fan ran really fast but no beeps, or boot for that matter.

Msongs

dang can the brand new power supply really be defective? doesnt anybody make a quality part?

Click to expand...

A series of continuous beeps is either PSU or Motherboard. The only way to be certain is to take the PSU an use it in a completely different machine - if you get the same error, it's the PSU. If not, then it's your motherboard.

waited for it to post while the speaker beeped on and on, after the bios splash screen it said disc boot failure. so I stuck in the windows disc and it wants to completely reformat the drive. the drive is the only thing I know for SURE is working and now it wants to overwrite everything on that.

tomorrow I will stick the PSU in our garage computer and see if it beeps there.

shoulda just gone to bestbuy I think. or at least bought the components locally even though it costs less at Newegg. so far 3 of 6 components bought there are junk. A bad PSU will make 4 of 6.

Msongs