Boot Problems

[BH2]

Hi guys,
some advice please, have vista installed with all the updates, just recently
everytime I boot my computer up, it does the post phase, then it just stays
on a blank screen. I have to switch it off and then back on again, and it
boots up ok.
I built the computer aroune 3 months ago from new.
Is it possible that this could be a hardware failure such as a dry solder
joint ?.
How can I get it to boot straight up again, it is driving me nuts. Thanks
guys for your help
Thanks and Regards
Bob H

 

[Dave]

Hi guys,
some advice please, have vista installed with all the updates, just
recently
everytime I boot my computer up, it does the post phase, then it just
stays
on a blank screen. I have to switch it off and then back on again, and
it
boots up ok.
I built the computer aroune 3 months ago from new.
Is it possible that this could be a hardware failure such as a dry solder
joint ?.
How can I get it to boot straight up again, it is driving me nuts. Thanks
guys for your help
Thanks and Regards
Bob H

Sounds like a failing power supply to me. Most common symptom of a power
supply going bad...

Computer powers up OK, then hangs while trying to boot the OS. (right after
POST) The reason is, if the computer passes POST, then it looks for an
operating system to boot, the hard drives start spinning up, drawing more
current, which causes voltages to drop, and this has a tendency to lock up
the system hard. But then that doesn't happen, if your power supply is
healthy.

Reason it boots the second time you try? Power supply is warmed up a bit
then. Not much, but enough to get past the momentary power draw of the hard
drives spinning up during OS startup.

But to narrow this down further, check the system log. (start, search,
event viewer, windows logs, system). Look for red exclamation points. If
you see the same error showing every other time you try to start, then that
COULD be a windows problem. I'm betting you will find nothing of
significance in the system log, though.

What power supply, CPU and Video card are you using? -Dave

 

[Bill Bonde { ''Free OJ, no more time for him than]

Sounds like a failing power supply to me. Most common symptom of a power
supply going bad...

Computer powers up OK, then hangs while trying to boot the OS. (right after
POST) The reason is, if the computer passes POST, then it looks for an
operating system to boot, the hard drives start spinning up, drawing more
current, which causes voltages to drop, and this has a tendency to lock up
the system hard. But then that doesn't happen, if your power supply is
healthy.

Reason it boots the second time you try? Power supply is warmed up a bit
then. Not much, but enough to get past the momentary power draw of the hard
drives spinning up during OS startup.

But to narrow this down further, check the system log. (start, search,
event viewer, windows logs, system). Look for red exclamation points. If
you see the same error showing every other time you try to start, then that
COULD be a windows problem. I'm betting you will find nothing of
significance in the system log, though.

What power supply, CPU and Video card are you using? -Dave

Here you are in the "no display" thread claiming:

#begin quote requote other thread
OK, tough to follow that. But if you mean:
- Press power switch, system appears to come on, but there is no
beep and
no video until ...
- Unplug computer for 20-30 minutes, and then system powers up
fine
until...
- On reboot, there is no video...

Then you've got a power supply that is failing. All components
work more
efficiently when they are "cold" (room temp.) That's why
unplugging the
computer for 20-30 minutes makes a difference. -Dave
#end quote

In the first case, it works better because the power supply is hot.
In the second, better because it's cold. Pretty much no matter what
the symptom is, it's a bad power supply? Is this a comedy
newsgroup?

 

[John Doe]

"Bill Bonde { ''Free OJ, no more time for him than the guy who

Pretty much no matter what the symptom is, it's a bad power
supply? Is this a comedy newsgroup?

We're dead serious.

I agree that maybe the power supply is given too much credit for
problems sometimes, but you need to supply a better lead if you
happen to disagree. Maybe the power supply is easy to suspect when
you can't put your finger on anything else. I used to experience
occasional spontaneous restarts that a voltage regulator totally
resolved. So even replacing the power supply probably would not have
provided a correct indication of the real problem even though it was
a power supply problem.

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From: "Bill Bonde { ''Free OJ, no more time for him than the guy who brought the gun'' )" <tributyltinpaint yahoo.co.uk>
Newsgroups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Subject: Re: Boot Problems
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[meow2222]

"Bill Bonde { ''Free OJ, no more time for him than the guy who


We're dead serious.

I agree that maybe the power supply is given too much credit for
problems sometimes, but you need to supply a better lead if you
happen to disagree. Maybe the power supply is easy to suspect when
you can't put your finger on anything else. I used to experience
occasional spontaneous restarts that a voltage regulator totally
resolved. So even replacing the power supply probably would not have
provided a correct indication of the real problem even though it was
a power supply problem.

Why not monitor the psu lines wih a meter, then you can probably stop
worrying about it.


NT

 

[BH2]

Hi,
thanks for the advice will use it, have noticed another variance of the
problem. If I just switch the computer off at the box only, then later
switch it back on the problem is still there, but if I switch it off and
unplug it (say at night after using it,) at the wall power outlet, then
plug it back in next day and swich on it on, it works great - Weird ?

"Bill Bonde { ''Free OJ, no more time for him than the guy who


We're dead serious.

I agree that maybe the power supply is given too much credit for
problems sometimes, but you need to supply a better lead if you
happen to disagree. Maybe the power supply is easy to suspect when
you can't put your finger on anything else. I used to experience
occasional spontaneous restarts that a voltage regulator totally
resolved. So even replacing the power supply probably would not have
provided a correct indication of the real problem even though it was
a power supply problem.

Why not monitor the psu lines wih a meter, then you can probably stop
worrying about it.


NT

 

[Paul]

Hi,
thanks for the advice will use it, have noticed another variance of the
problem. If I just switch the computer off at the box only, then later
switch it back on the problem is still there, but if I switch it off and
unplug it (say at night after using it,) at the wall power outlet, then
plug it back in next day and swich on it on, it works great - Weird ?

Is there a USB card reader in the box ?

The blinking cursor could mean some kind of problem finding a
disk to boot from. And if a USB card reader is present,
some BIOS don't handle devices like that very well (either
with or without media plugged into the card reader). Also,
USB devices can behave differently, if powered by +5VSB versus
+5V (changing the power source, using the jumpers on older
motherboards, sometimes changes the symptoms). Using +5V
via the USBPWxx option, means the USB device gets power
cycled. Recent boards no longer have that option, so the
USB devices stay powered via +5VSB during sleep.

A PCI port 80 POST card would be one way to get a hint at where
it is getting stuck. But it is only worthwhile getting a card,
if you can borrow one. They're not worth owning (due to the lack
of documentation for the hex code values - I've looked up a few
only to find they're "reserved" values).

Motherboards are complicated things, and there is plenty of
funny stuff in the onboard power regulation and sequencing
that could go wrong. Blaming everything on the power supply
is not going to explain every failed system. When the power
supply on my current system started to fail a couple weeks
ago (leaking caps), one symptom was an extended boot time,
but the BIOS didn't particularly freak out when it happened.
It was taking the hard drive, several tries to complete
spin up. I replaced the supply before it failed completely.

There is a schematic here, for a motherboard, which will give
some idea how complicated the power stuff is on the motherboard.

http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/schematics/252812.htm

Paul

 

[BH2]

Hi Guys I really appreciate the help, USB, I didn't think abut that but have
a usb external drive plugged in an is active when I first boot up the
system, but would that make a difference, because it will still boot up
after complete power off
Thanks again
Bob

 

[Paul]

Hi Guys I really appreciate the help, USB, I didn't think abut that but have
a usb external drive plugged in an is active when I first boot up the
system, but would that make a difference, because it will still boot up
after complete power off
Thanks again
Bob

Disconnecting stuff and testing, is all part of the fun.

Paul

 

[Dave]

In the first case, it works better because the power supply is hot.
In the second, better because it's cold. Pretty much no matter what
the symptom is, it's a bad power supply? Is this a comedy
newsgroup?

When electronics components are too hot OR too cold, they do not work as
efficiently as they should. And the most common failure point of a computer
is the power supply. So common, it is like 1000 or so power supplies fail
before any other component will fail. No, this isn't funny. People just
don't realize how important it is to get the right power supply. You can
choose the junkiest mainboard in the world, like really CRAP quality, and
probably still end up with a decent system if you just get the right power
supply. It's THAT important. It can't be over-emphasized. -Dave

 

[Dave]

Hi,
thanks for the advice will use it, have noticed another variance of the
problem. If I just switch the computer off at the box only, then later
switch it back on the problem is still there, but if I switch it off and
unplug it (say at night after using it,) at the wall power outlet, then
plug it back in next day and swich on it on, it works great - Weird ?

Nope, just another indicator that the power supply is probably
ailing. -Dave

 

[John Doe]

Why not monitor the psu lines wih a meter,

I guess, if you are talking about an AC voltage meter that can hold
low and high voltage levels. My voltage regulator has overvoltage and
undervoltage LED indicators while the line is under load. My voltage
regulator costs very little and it solved the problem.

then you can probably stop worrying about it.

Worrying about what?

 

[BH2]

Hi Guys,
The help provided is fantastic, nice to know there is help out there,
Thankyou.
I will try and monitor the psu, by the way the psu came with the case, it is
a Cooler Master Elite 340 Case, Micro-ATX, 420W PSU