[SOLVED] boot up problems with my office computer

Ordered a 750 watt Corsair PSU yesterday w/support for EPS and multiple 6/8 pin video cards. I already got it in the mail and plugged it in. So far so good. Dang Newegg is fast! I didn't even request fast shipping. I got the free 7 day shipping option. Not a modular design, but it's still a good PSU.

Gonna keep this PSU plugged in and testing it until my new PSU from CoolMax gets here. Gonna keep my Corsair in my tool arsenal.

New PSU in combination with the bios updates will probably make this thing run way better.

Cheers
 
I agree with this ^ lol

But I would honestly keep the Corsair in there, and instead use the Coolmax for your tool bag. You got it fast because Newegg shipped from within the same state. Wish I had a Newegg Facility it Florida. lol.
 
When I first installed Vista it ran almost flawlessly. But Vista has been freezing, despite various optimizations. Afterwards I noticed that it freezes at the log on prompt before any programs even start up, which is potentially pointing to other issues besides the OS, like the power problem I just mentioned???

I would suggest we run the chkdsk again to make sure the HDD is ok.
The unstable voltages contidion could have caused some effects to the mobo capacitors.
Before we check the capacitor, try installing the latest vista chipset driver on the computer and must follow a reboot for the new chipset driver to take effect.

Seems to me that problem with freeze should have something to do with the damaged hardware on the mobo.

Hope this helps.
Bill
Tech Manager.
 
After some more testing with the Corsair, and a bare bones diagnostic of the computer, I've isolated the problem to two USB port stacks on the motherboard.

With the Corsair plugged in with nothing else except the monitor, and a device is plugged into one of these two usb stacks, the blank screen on boot up occurs, and if Windows does boot up, it freezes and/or reboots.

The power supply shipped back to Coolmax got a clean result, so that is ruled out as a contributor.

The motherboard has been RMAed.

I should have done a bare bones test before RMAing the PSU, but given the suggestions I was uncomfortable not having it tested, so I went ahead with it..Coolmax PSU is being shipped back as is.
 
hmmm, this is an interesting problem. i've seen odd usb problems before. you know one strange thing i've encountered is the usb controllers, after you use several different usb sticks, usb external drives, and usb external dvd/cd drives, and usb gadgets, that the hub gets all these things installed on itself, and becomes confused between them all for some strange reason.
If it's just a shortage internal to the usb port, that's obviously different and at once noticable, as it causes a short that wont let the pc boot. I've rarely seen loose usb data connectors soldered to the motherboard... Usually someone tries to plug something in without first looking to see which way the usb port is oriented, and they jam it in there mashing the plastic thing against the metal of the case shorting it all out.
but yah i'd be interested in knowing the resolution of this issue, do keep in mind that some systems won't boot if something is plugged into a usb port, b/c it tries to boot from that instead. One simple trick, is to get nirsofts freeware usbdeview program, and look at all the things gunked up on your controllers. Then just delete a bunch of it that is not in use and safe to remove, oddly, this fixes the strangest problems one might encounter.
Finally I advocate getting a usb port hub that is powered, and plugging that sucker via long wire into the usb port on back of the pc, and doing all your work in the front, this way you are not always blindly plugging stuff into a tiny hole the wrong way in an effort to be fast, and not bothered by turning a box around and all the attached usually too short or tangled cables. :)
 
Yes I'm aware that the computer sometimes tries to boot off devices that are not intended to be bootable. This could be due to a couple reasons I think.

1. The bios has a bug

2. The device connected is not connected good enough (loosely) and the bios cannot read it properly, and so it just keeps trying and never gets anywhere....In other words, it knows something is there but the connection is not good enough. Playing with my brother's custom system, it would always take a long time at the bios splash screen...It would just sit there until finally it decided to boot off a device. After unplugging and reseating usb devices that were plugged in, the prolonged bios splash screen would shorten to a few seconds...This wouldn't be a total boot failure though, but more of a boot complication.

...but that kind of issue would occur after POST has completed successfully.

My particular issue is a POST failure. When this computer is working properly and is powered on, and post completes successfully, I get one short beep from the motherboard. The times when I get nothing on screen after power-on, I get no beep from the motherboard.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top