boot problems

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bjoern Wagner
  • Start date Start date
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Bjoern Wagner

Hello,0

i have a new win xp installation on a new self-made pc. if
i switch of my pc for a longer time there is only a black
screen instead of the win xp boot screen. in addition to
that the ide drive and hard disk scan needs a very long
time. (about 2 upto 5 sec) after that the display shows the
default pci and interrupt tables. than the screen turns
black and nothing happens. i have to push the reset button
und to press ctrl+alt+del for reboot. the 2nd try or any
other restart from win xp runs without problems. thre are
no problems if i turn on the pc after some minutes as well.
what can i do?

my system:
AMD Athlon 64 2800+
GigaByte Mainboard (nForce 3 Chipset)
512 MB Infinion Ram DDR400
GigaByte graphic (GeForceFX 5200, 128 mb ram)
120 GB S-ATA HD
LG DVD writer
WinXP Home SP 1a
 
It's fun building your own PC, but problems like this do
appear from time to time, even if you are building PC's
professionally!

things to check:

(Does the same thing happen in safe mode?)

1. The Processor fan is not being restricted from correct
opperation
2. The Ram is correctly seated (try reseating, or
swapping order, or swapping for other ram - Gigabyte
boards are notorious for not working with some makes
of RAM!)
3. The Bios is up-to-date as per the manufacturers
website (I think you said Gigabyte so
www.giga-byte.com)
4. Install the WHQL drivers for your graphics card, if
still same problem, swap graphics card, or boot from
onboard graphics, if you have onboard!

After all is said and done, Rebuild your machine, and do
a fresh install, do all the updates first and then go for
the latest updated drivers from the relevant
manufacturers!

-Let us know how you get on. (Stick to the same Thread,
it's easier to track!)
 
I tried out your hints and now i got another problem.
The CPU fan runs correctly and i think the Ram too. But if
I try to boot for the first time occurs the new problem. It
really takes a long time to detect the both DVD-drives (up
to 10 sec.) but the pc doesn't detect the HD. there's the
"Detecting IDE drives..." message on screen and nothing
happens.
I connected my dvd drives to IDE Channel 1 (master and
slave) because I have a S-ATA HD I disabled IDE Channel 0.
(There is no difference whether I disable the channel in
the BIOS or not. it's still the same problem.) The HD is
connected to the S-ATA Port 1 (Port 2 is not in use). I
guess S-ATA Port 1 is IDE Channel 2 in BIOS because after
the reboot the HD is detected at this position. May this
affect the problems? shall I use IDE Channel 0 instead of
Channel 1 for my DVD devices?
I got another another idea. i used the IDE energy
connectors for the S-ATA HD. But i have a S-ATA energy
connector too. (the flat connector) Is this also a reason
for my problem?

Thanks for your help!
 
A couple of things. First, you want to use the SATA Cable to connect the
drive to the MB. Second, use the SATA power connector instead of the
4pin Molex connector. Third, check the settings in your BIOS for SATA
mode. There should be something in there about SATA under the IDE
configuration. Fourth, don't disable any of the IDE Locations.
Usually, SATA 1 is IDE 3 or IDE 5 in the BIOS. Finally, it should not
matter where you put your DVD Burner, etc. Here is what I would suggest
though:

SATA Port 1 for the HD
Primary IDE Controller for DVD Burner (or DVD ROM) as Master.
Secondary IDE Controller for DVD ROM as Master.
 
I followed your instructions. But the problem is still the
same. The hard disk isn't detected while the first start.
Is it possible to set any jumper on the SATA HD?
 
SATA does not have jumpers. You can only have 1 SATA drive connected
hence Serial. The pins you may see are actually for factory testing.
It sounds like something still isn't set properly in the BIOS. Also,
make sure that power is properly hooked up and the plugs are all in
snug. Mine don't seem to clip in very strong, so it could just be loose.
What does your BIOS say? That is the most important thing right now.
Can it find the drive when you enter the BIOS?
 
Well, if I boot the system for the first time and it
doesn't detect the HD I actually cannot enter the BIOS. If
i press DEL the message "Prepare to enter setup" appears
but nothing happens. After the reset the HD is detected and
theres no problem to enter the BIOS. I noticed yersterday
that sometimes the PC detects the HD after a long time 1 up
to 2 min.
 
There are a couple of things that may be going wrong there. First off,
if the BIOS doesn't even initialize properly (it should work even
without a hard drive connected), you may have a BIOS going bad. My
guess is going to be that the HD is going bad and the BIOS is hanging
while trying to access it. I have had this happen on a couple of older
SCSI disks that I hadn't used for a long (over a year) period of time.
I took quite a few reboots to get the disks spinning again. Anything
that goes wrong before Windows loads is going to be a hardware problem
though, so you may want to check things out.
 
I guess that the HD isn't the problem. After I switched
the external power connector to a durable power socket
the system boots without any trouble. Before it there was
a connection to a multiple power socket and this was
switched of with an integrated button if the pc was not
in use. (Sorry I don't know the correct term) Moreover
the speakers and the monitor were connected to this power
socket too. (to save some energy). Is it possible that
the source of the problem is the power supply unit of the
computer case? And not the HD?

Thanks for your hints!
 
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