Computer startup problem

[rangacharee]

Hello,
I am new to this forum and I would be extremely happy if anyone can solve my problem I am at my wit's end, and the little hair I have left is now turning grey. this is my problem: I have a Sony VAIO PCV-RS320 tower computer, approximately 1 year 5 mths. and when I press the power button, the hard drive light would come on, the power supply would come on but the computer would not boot up until after several tries( sometimes as long as 20 minutes of trying)after that the computer would run smoothly with no problems.This started happening from the first time that I bought the computer but only intermittently, sometimes two days in a row, and then it would not happen again for months, now it is happening everyday. The strange part is while I am working on the computer, I could turn it off, or turn it on back again, do a restart and it would not give a problem, it is when I turn it off for a long period of time, for about an hour and up,that is when it would have the problem coming on again. I am now paying the price for my negligence. I tried different memory, different hard drives, different power supplies ( the power supply for the Sony is proprietary so I open the case and hook a different power supply from the outside) the power supply worked The power light on the motherboard comes on, the fans are spinning but the hard drive does not boot up until after several tries. Please help before I lose the little hair I have left.
Thanks
Linden Punch

 

[howard_hopkinso]

Hello and welcome to Techspot.

I suspect that you have a bad connection or dry solder joint somwhere that is acting up when the computer is cold.

That`s why you don`t have a problem once the system is actually up and running.

These types of problem are notoriously hard to diagnose.

Check all connections very carefully also check for cracked or discoloured solder joints, and loose components.

I`m sorry that I can`t be more specific.

Regards and good luck Howard :wave: :wave:

 

[cjtune]

This sounds very much like the problem I'm having now. I just bought an ASUS P4SP-MX SE (CPUentium4 1.6GHz) motherboard a day ago and it's having intermittent startup problems like what rangacharee is experiencing. It'll start up ok for the first 10-20 times and then later hang without even reaching the POST hardware info screen. I'll have to try to shut down and restart another 20 or so times before it's OK. More weird is that jiggling the connectors on the motherboard to the IDE LED, powerup LED and switch, speakers, etc. will sometimes (temporarily) alleviate the problem. Resetting the CMOS doesn't help. Will try to RMA my motherboard to the store next week after my vacation.. they insist on a thorough check at their premises so bring it on!