MAJOR comp prob. help plz :)

suppafly

So basically when i turn on my computer the boot screen comes up, then goes to the next screen and then turn off, and boots up again and keeps doing the same thing in a loop. it won't load up at all. I tried taking reseating the RAM but nothing. My friend said i should try load up in safe mode by pressing F8 when its starting but nothing happens when i do that. is it F8 to get into the boot menu? It was working fine and then one morning this. So any got any idea what might be wrong??

Sys Specs:
Komplett Intel Gamer
Cooler Master Mystique 631, Black

Windows Vista home premium x64

Corsair Powersupply 620W Black, ATX/EPS, 120mm Fan, 8xSATA, SLI, WxHxL 150x86x150

MSI P965 NEO-F V2, P965, Socket-775, ATX, 1333FSB, GbLAN, DDR2, PCI-Ex16

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz Socket LGA775, 8MB, BOXED w/fan

Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2, 4096MB CL5, Kit w/two matched CM2X2048-6400 Dimm's

Point of View GeForce 8800GTS 320MB,DDR3 PCI-Express, DVI, Extreme ed.

Samsung SpinPoint T166 500GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM

NEC DVD±RW burner AD-7170 IDE Black OEM, DVD+R/+RW/DVD-R/-RW/Ram (Dual layer)

Creative SB X-FI Xtreme Gamer

Khannie

Can you go into the bios alright? (I removed your asterisks btw)

suppafly

no it turns off and reboots again just as it gets to it

Adam

Well try resetting the CMOS so. Remove the power cable, remove the button battery on the mobo, press and hold the case button for 30 seconds to drain any charge, then replace the battery and try again.

suppafly

just tried that there now mirror. It just gets the the boot screen pic and then turns reboots again straight after that.

Standard Toaster

Are you getting the Vista loading screen even for a second?

Gillie

Would it be overheating?
Have you tried booting with the cover off?

challengemaster

does sound somewhat like overheating

BrokenArrows

Hey OP.
In this situation usually the only indication of the issue will be the computer beeps.

These may sound like random beeps but they are used to identify problems.

Have a listen during startup. They could be something like two fast beeps and a gap and another one etc.

Post it up here or look on google for what the beeps represent.
They are different for every computer make/model.

have a look here. i know. i cant find a page for MSI boards but some of the codes will probably be similar
http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml

Lazarus2.0

BrokenArrows wrote: »

Hey OP.
In this situation usually the only indication of the issue will be the computer beeps.

These may sound like random beeps but they are used to identify problems.

Have a listen during startup. They could be something like two fast beeps and a gap and another one etc.

Post it up here or look on google for what the beeps represent.
They are different for every computer make/model.

+1
It does sound like overheating . It also sounds like faulty RAM . It also sounds like a failing hard drive . Faulty GFX card . Corrupt BIOS . Could be any of a multitude so beep codes would be a big help here .

suppafly

The_Edge wrote: »

Are you getting the Vista loading screen even for a second?

I did one or 2 times but now it doesn't go past the MSI boot screen pic

it only seems to give one beep, which going by that guide says it ok, but it not.

Would it be overheating?
Have you tried booting with the cover off?

I did take the side off but i don't know how it could be overheating. Is it possible for it to overheat in just 30secs or less? cuz thats all the time it is on for before turning off again

BKtje

I did one or 2 times but now it doesn't go past the MSI boot screen pic

If you leave it for 30minutes and then try again does it get further than if you keep trying straight away? Are you sure your heatsink fan is spinning and that the heatsink is securely attached to the motherboard (the heatsink and fan that come with the core 2's can become loose very easily which means it doesn't touch the cpu and therefore causes it to overheat).

Faulty ram would usually blue screen if it manages to Boot at all, failing hard drive would allow you into the BIOS, faulty gfx card would probably allow you into the BIOS or not display a picture at all,corrupt BIOS is unlikely. That said it could be any of the above but I have to agree with Challengemaster that it sounds like overheating.

Would you be comfortable with unplugging hard/cd drives, ram and gfx cards?

suppafly

B-K-DzR wrote: »

If you leave it for 30minutes and then try again does it get further than if you keep trying straight away? Are you sure your heatsink fan is spinning and that the heatsink is securely attached to the motherboard (the heatsink and fan that come with the core 2's can become loose very easily which means it doesn't touch the cpu and therefore causes it to overheat).

I left for the night an tried again this morning. First try turning it on it gets to just past the boot screen, and subsequent trys turns off at the boot screen. I was just getting to the windows loading screen first a couple of days ago but not now. The heatsink fan is spinning properly by the looks of it.

Faulty ram would usually blue screen if it manages to Boot at all, failing hard drive would allow you into the BIOS, faulty gfx card would probably allow you into the BIOS or not display a picture at all,corrupt BIOS is unlikely. That said it could be any of the above but I have to agree with Challengemaster that it sounds like overheating.

Would you be comfortable with unplugging hard/cd drives, ram and gfx cards?

I don't have time this morning but i will try later this evening to take them out.

Mac daddy

Failing hdd does not cause this^ that would throw up a non system disk.

If a system does not boot or bangs out straight away you have either a problem with your PSU, CPU, Heat, Ram

Remove all Ram leave one module installed.
Disconnect all optical devices ie cdrom/dvd drives.
Check your PSU feel the back of it for excessive amount of heat.
Check your systemboard leds wipe out the mobo manual for guidance on the leds.

To rule out your hdd's try and use a bootable cd ie knoppix to try and boot the system if that fails its one of the above.
Also if you are able to access the bios ( DEL or F10 or F9 ) scroll through the bios until you see the components and temps ( asus boards have this not sure about the others )

BKtje

Well you have pretty much the exact symptoms i had when my core 2 was overheating due to my stock heatsink and fan being knocked loose, it really is very flimsy. Getting slightly further with the initial boot and then less on subsequent occasions is an indicator of this.

Just because the fan is spinning doesn't mean that the heatsink is making good contact with the processor. Try to move the heatsink by lifting it away from the board, it shouldnt budge at all. If it lifts away at all then you have probably found your problem.

If all the above is ok then do as mac Daddy suggests. Unplug the ribbons (cables) from the motherboard leading to all your hard drives and optical drives (or remove sata connectors if you have a sata drive) and remove all bar one stick of ram. Then try booting, let us know the results.

Check your systemboard leds wipe out the mobo manual for guidance on the leds.

Not all boards have led's so don't worry if you don't see any. The single audible beep is usually an indicator that everything is fine during the boot process. Once again this would be an indicator of heat being the issue since this would continue to rise until the built in auto shutdown occurs.

I did take the side off but i don't know how it could be overheating. Is it possible for it to overheat in just 30secs or less? cuz thats all the time it is on for before turning off again

Your processor can reach 100degrees celcius in just a few seconds. If you removed the heatsink and disabled the thermal protection, you'd have smoke before you could count to 5.

To rule out your hdd's try and use a bootable cd ie knoppix to try and boot the system if that fails its one of the above.

No need to do this yet as we will have taken the hard drives out of the equation by disconnecting them.

Good luck and let us know the results so we can get this fixed

suppafly

Mac daddy wrote: »

Failing hdd does not cause this^ that would throw up a non system disk.

If a system does not boot or bangs out straight away you have either a problem with your PSU, CPU, Heat, Ram

Remove all Ram leave one module installed.
Disconnect all optical devices ie cdrom/dvd drives.
Check your PSU feel the back of it for excessive amount of heat.
Check your systemboard leds wipe out the mobo manual for guidance on the leds.

To rule out your hdd's try and use a bootable cd ie knoppix to try and boot the system if that fails its one of the above.
Also if you are able to access the bios ( DEL or F10 or F9 ) scroll through the bios until you see the components and temps ( asus boards have this not sure about the others )

just tried that there. Took out the HDD and one of the 2 sticks of RAM and unplugged the dvd drive, and took out the soundcard but still the same story. I put in another HDD i have from another comp but that didn't change anything either.

B-K-DzR i checked the cpu cooler thing like u said and it seems solid enough. it doesn't feel loose.

here'd 2 pics for the cpu fan

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k15/jazzyjeff19/IMG_0326.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k15/jazzyjeff19/IMG_0328.jpg

suppafly

also i want to try and see if i can backup the inof thats on the HDD. I have another machine i can put it into. is it just a case of putting it into the machine, plugging it in and it should just show up when i turn on the comp? or do u need to do something esle aswell? its a serial ata drive and there one other serial ata drive in the other machine too.

dr.bollocko

Can it boot with anything at all?
Freedos?
Boot CD?
Definitely definitely hardware?

zilog_jones

Try taking out the graphics card - you should at least get some beep code if that's missing (should say in motherboard manual). Also, try booting with no RAM, there may be a beep code for that too.

If possible, try someone else's RAM or PSU.

Are there any diagnostic lights on the motherboard or on a bracket thing? My MSI board (975X Platinum, similar vintage) came with a bracket (goes in a card slot hole, called "D-Bracket" in manual) that has 4 LEDs and some USB ports on it, dunno if yours came with one too.

Also, regarding people suggesting taking the cover off to reduce potential overheating: Think about that now - you're reducing airflow!

suppafly

right so i've given up trying to fix it and am sending it back to Komplett. they said they'd replace whatever is broken. Only thing is I need to try and backup the stuff on my harddrive. So I have a spare machine that i can put the hard drive into. What do i actually need to do after slipping it in and connecting it? Do i need to change some setting in the comp or what? both drives r sata drives

Adam

suppafly wrote: »

right so i've given up trying to fix it and am sending it back to Komplett. they said they'd replace whatever is broken. Only thing is I need to try and backup the stuff on my harddrive. So I have a spare machine that i can put the hard drive into. What do i actually need to do after slipping it in and connecting it? Do i need to change some setting in the comp or what? both drives r sata drives

Nope, once you plonk it in it should fire up without a problem. Just check your master/slave settings with any other drives in the spare machine.

Overheal

wait..it was brand new?

suppafly

regarding the master/slave thing, is there a little switch on the back of the HDD to put it in master or slave or how do u check that?

Overheal wrote: »

wait..it was brand new?

yeah it was about 6 months ago. has plenty of stuff on it now.

Nonmonotonic

Settings on hard drives are done by moving wire jumpers at rear ( where ide and power cables go - smaller version of ide socket ). Settings are usually printed on the body of the HD. Usually jumper on for master, off for slave.

You really made yourself popular by indicating its under warranty.

suppafly

this is how i have my HDD's setup: http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k15/jazzyjeff19/DSC00180.jpg

The top one is the one that was in my other computer already and the bottom is the one from the computer thats not working. I have the blue wire(dunno what it does, is this the one that makes it the master drive?) and then i have the other cables plugged into both, but the second drive isn't showing up when i load in.

I have xp on the other computer i have put the HDD into, but it came from a comp that was using vista x64, might that be why its not showing up?

Nonmonotonic wrote: »

.

You really made yourself popular by indicating its under warranty.

yeah sorry about that. i wanted to try and find out what was wrong with it and see if i could fix it so i don't have to sent it all off cuz for some reason they expect u to pay for posting it back even thougb its less that 6 months old. really appreciate all the help given in this thread

Overheal

well its just to stop you from sending it back because youre too lazy to dust it off, etc :pac:

Nonmonotonic

Sorry, dident read your initial spec. My explanation was for IDE drives, SATA setup has no jumpers.

The reason your drive is not 'showing up' is because it is missing its data cable ( same as blue one on top drive ). Is there another one rolled up inside the case?

Picture says it all!

suppafly

so both of them should have one of those cables connected into mobo right. I dunno if there is one, its a dell 8800. I'll have to check tomorrow to see. If not can u pick up one one them fairly easily?