[Solved] Trouble booting, BIOS only randomly completing POST
Hi,
Sorry if this post is long but it is my first post here and I'm not very computer literate. I'm trying to provide as much information as possible to help solving my problem. I have an older computer that is mostly used for checking mail and surfing the Internet. During the last weeks it has had problems booting up when restarting the computer or powering it up. It usually takes a couple of tries before it boots successfully.
When it fails to boot the following happens: I press the power button and the green light close to the power button lights up and I can hear the CPU and case fans start. The dvd drive led flashes and then the amber light below turns on and stays on for about 30 seconds. However the monitor doesn't turn on (which would happen on a successful boot), it just stays in standby mode. After about 30 seconds the amber light turns off and nothing else happens (POST failing?). The computer never reahces the "OK beep" (there are no beeps whatsoever). After a couple of attempts it boots up properly (the monitor turns on, it lists the hard drives etc., the computer beeps once and Windows starts loading).
Any idea what could be the reason for this? Sometimes it boots up on the first attempt, other times it can take 4-5 times before a successful start.
Here are the specs for the computer:
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1600+
Motherboard: MSI K7T266A Pro 2
RAM: 2 x 512 MB Kingston 266 MHz CL2 DIMM
GPU: Ati Radeon 9600 Pro (Sapphire Atlantis brand)
HDD: Hitachi IC35L120AVV207-1 & Hitachi HDT725025VLAT80
PSU: Macron MPT-351P 350W (the computer's original PSU was replaced with this one about 3 years ago)
I've tried the following to fix the booting up problem.
Is it the PSU or the motherboard that is about to fail or something else? I know the PSU is a crappy one but it was the only one they had in stock at the time I replaced the old PSU (the fan was about to give up by the sound of it). Here is a list of the voltage reported by HWMonitor:
Once it boots up and Windows XP (Professional with SP3) loads there are no problems. I only had a couple of BSOD, 0x0000000A and 0x00000024 (copying a 2+ GB file from one hard drive to the other seemed to cause the 0x00000024 error). I'll attach the debuglogs although my main concern is the problem booting up.
Any help to solve the boot troubles would be very much appreciated.
Hi,
Sorry if this post is long but it is my first post here and I'm not very computer literate. I'm trying to provide as much information as possible to help solving my problem. I have an older computer that is mostly used for checking mail and surfing the Internet. During the last weeks it has had problems booting up when restarting the computer or powering it up. It usually takes a couple of tries before it boots successfully.
When it fails to boot the following happens: I press the power button and the green light close to the power button lights up and I can hear the CPU and case fans start. The dvd drive led flashes and then the amber light below turns on and stays on for about 30 seconds. However the monitor doesn't turn on (which would happen on a successful boot), it just stays in standby mode. After about 30 seconds the amber light turns off and nothing else happens (POST failing?). The computer never reahces the "OK beep" (there are no beeps whatsoever). After a couple of attempts it boots up properly (the monitor turns on, it lists the hard drives etc., the computer beeps once and Windows starts loading).
Any idea what could be the reason for this? Sometimes it boots up on the first attempt, other times it can take 4-5 times before a successful start.
Here are the specs for the computer:
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1600+
Motherboard: MSI K7T266A Pro 2
RAM: 2 x 512 MB Kingston 266 MHz CL2 DIMM
GPU: Ati Radeon 9600 Pro (Sapphire Atlantis brand)
HDD: Hitachi IC35L120AVV207-1 & Hitachi HDT725025VLAT80
PSU: Macron MPT-351P 350W (the computer's original PSU was replaced with this one about 3 years ago)
I've tried the following to fix the booting up problem.
- Checked RAM for errors with Windows Memory Diagnostic (ran it in extended test mode for 8 complete passes (12+ hours), no errors found). Also ran Prime95 for a couple of hours (no errors).
- Checked the hard drives with Drive Fitness Test 4.15 (advanced test). No errors found and no reallocated sectors.
- Replaced the CMOS battery
- Reseated the RAM
- Removed the graphics card and cleaned the dust off it. Also ran the Video Memory Stress Test CE from a cd, no errors.
- Removed the power cables from both hard drives and tried booting up a couple of times. Still "hanging" on bootup, monitor stays in standby mode and BIOS doesn't finish the POST (no beeps).
- Checked the temperatures, CPU max around 48°C (idle ~41°C), HDDs 33-36°C, motherboard ~35°C
Is it the PSU or the motherboard that is about to fail or something else? I know the PSU is a crappy one but it was the only one they had in stock at the time I replaced the old PSU (the fan was about to give up by the sound of it). Here is a list of the voltage reported by HWMonitor:
Code:
Hardware monitor Winbond W83627HF
Voltage 0 1.73 Volts [0x6C] (CPU VCore)
Voltage 1 1.20 Volts [0x4B] (AUX)
Voltage 2 3.28 Volts [0xCD] (+3.3V)
Voltage 3 5.03 Volts [0xBB] (+5V)
Voltage 4 12.28 Volts [0xCA] (+12V)
Voltage 5 -12.12 Volts [0x22] (-12V)
Voltage 6 -5.05 Volts [0x35] (-5V)
Temperature 0 34°C (93°F) [0x22] (TMPIN0)
Temperature 1 41°C (104°F) [0x51] (TMPIN1)
Fan 0 1541 RPM [0xDB] (FANIN0)
Fan 2 2482 RPM [0x88] (FANIN2)
Once it boots up and Windows XP (Professional with SP3) loads there are no problems. I only had a couple of BSOD, 0x0000000A and 0x00000024 (copying a 2+ GB file from one hard drive to the other seemed to cause the 0x00000024 error). I'll attach the debuglogs although my main concern is the problem booting up.
Any help to solve the boot troubles would be very much appreciated.