Help problem solving PC that won't boot please

Drewb

Drewb

Drewb

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9 Jan 2007
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188
PC won't boot. Press power, monitor wakes, fans briefly spin, light comes on graphics card and red light on mobo. This sequence lasts less than a second and the fans never get up to speed.
This cycle repeats itself many times then stops, during this cycle the monitor goes back into power save mode.
Sometimes the fans spin up properly and the graphics card light stays on for 3-5 seconds, it seems like it is going to boot but the bios screen never appears and then everything switches off again.
All the time I have power to a USB port I use to charge my phone.
Is there any way to determine which component is faulty. I am guessing the PSU is OK.
Any ideas gratefully received.
 
Usually you strip it down, remove all usb and other peripherals, use one stick if ram and alternate, check all connections are tight. Even unplug HD. Strip it down and eliminate.

I could imagine a usb device such as a phone causing this.
 
Thanks,
I had taken all USB devices off except the keyboard widget. This mobo does not like booting with certain USB devices attached but the phone isn't usually one of them.
I was afraid you were going to say strip it down and rebuild minimum - oh well needs must :)
 
As above - re: skeleton setup on a box. If needed, short the power pins on the front panel header with a screwdriver (light touch) to start the system.

Full system spec would be useful - including PSU brand/model.
 
I can't get logged in to ocuk for order history as I can't remember the pw and it's on the PC :(
PSU is EV3A 1000P2
GPU is EV3A GTX980Ti
Memory is Corsar DDR4 something
Mobo is an ASUS
that is as much as I can see for now. Need to dig up some paper doc/user manuals.
 
Right the PC decided to boot, couldn't work out why it wouldn't go past bios for a few secs, realised I had unplugged the drives - DOH!
Is there any useful diagnostics I can get from it now it is up and running? I am loath to switch it off again today as I have urgent things to finish.
 
Drewb said:
Right the PC decided to boot, couldn't work out why it wouldn't go past bios for a few secs, realised I had unplugged the drives - DOH!
Is there any useful diagnostics I can get from it now it is up and running? I am loath to switch it off again today as I have urgent things to finish.
Click to expand...
Complete spec would be useful still - can get most crucial details from CPUz. It would be particularly useful to know your motherbaord and CPU - if you have onboard graphics you could do some further tests.

So the problem is sporadic - or has it automagically fixed itself with re-seating of cables (not unusual)?
 
Thanks for the help so far. Here is complete spec from my OCUK order history (all 7th Oct 2015 if it helps)

EVGA GeForce GTX 980Ti Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+ 6144MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Intel i7-5820K 3.30GHz (Haswell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3 Processor
Asus X99-AUSB3.1 Intel X99 (Socket 2011) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
EVGA SuperNova P2 1000W '80 Plus Platinum' Modular Power Supply
Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C14 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit - Black
Fractal Design Define R4 Midi Tower Case - Black
Windows 10 64 bit.

I don't think the reseating helped as it failed several tries after I checked all connections, I think the problem is sporadic. Could room temp be an issue do you think, it was cold in here first thing and has warmed up by 4 or 5 degrees now.

Any diagnostics I can run while it is up and running OK?
 
Ok, no iGPU (no GFX on the CPU) - so rules out some testing.

Nothing sticks out in your rig other than quality - perhaps the aging 980Ti which would have been nice to whip out and test with onboard GFX if you had had it :/

Drewb said:
Any diagnostics I can run while it is up and running OK?
Click to expand...
Drewb said:
I am loath to switch it off again today as I have urgent things to finish.
Click to expand...

If you need the system for work i wouldn't do any stress testing - as you could buckle the system and it may not boot again.

You could check your current CPU and GPU temps?

There are tests you could do when you don't need it - such as quick bursts of prime and checking CPU load temps and running furmark/similar and checking your GPU temps under load. But, only do these when you've finished your work...

Drewb said:
Could room temp be an issue do you think, it was cold in here first thing and has warmed up by 4 or 5 degrees now.
Click to expand...
Not really, but then again how cold is cold - are you studying penguins in the Antarctic for example?
 
Haha no penguins, cold to me is under 20, warm is where it is now at 22 :)
I don't seem to have the Asus monitor software installed to check temps at present, when I was in bios CPU was at 25C but that is irrelevant I guess.
I will get the Asus monitor software installed later, how do I get GPU temps? I don't think I have ever seen them before.
A big NOTE, I don't need that sort of GPU power anymore, I don't play games on the PC now, my graphics requirements are just to be good for photo editing and the occasional 4k video. If I can get a fairly cheap GPU to replace it, I would rather do that than strip the whole thing down.
Thankyou very much for your help so far, it is very much appreciated.
 
Drewb said:
Haha no penguins, cold to me is under 20, warm is where it is now at 22 :)
Click to expand...
Yep, room temps not a factor.

Don't install Asus monitor software (bloatware) - just download Real temp i can supply link if needed.

To monitor your temps you can use GPUz or MSI afterburner - again i can provice link if needed.

Also, could you clarify the below:

Drewb said:
I don't think the reseating helped as it failed several tries after I checked all connections, I think the problem is sporadic.
Click to expand...

Checking connections and re-seating are completely different.

If when you 'checked connection' you just looked them over and pressed your thumb on them to make sure they were secure that's not the same as a re-seat. Sometimes re-seating will re-engage a component (for whatever reason) or complete a connection that wasn't fixed with a simple press of the thumb.

If so, there's a slim chance it's fixed - i stress slim...
 
I apologise I used reseating incorrectly, I just wobbled everything to make sure it was firm. I will have to power down at the end of the day and take the risk tomorrow, shall I reseat GPU? (I am loath to take CPU out as it is fiddly even in a big case like mine).

Thanks I will try Real Temp and GPUz in a bit.
 
Drewb said:
I apologise I used reseating incorrectly, I just wobbled everything to make sure it was firm. I will have to power down at the end of the day and take the risk tomorrow, shall I reseat GPU? (I am loath to take CPU out as it is fiddly even in a big case like mine).
Click to expand...
Don't touch the CPU - that's way down the list.

Proper, re-seating of cables would be a valid troubleshooting test, as would be re-seating the GPU (and re-seating it's connections). Plus, re-seat memory - basically anything that's easy to remove (not cooler/CPU) pull out and plug back in again - check the connections while they're out for damage.

If you haven't reset the CMOS i would definitely do that too. If the system was stable i would recommend flashing the BIOS to the latest release.
 
OK these are at relative idle, just a few browser windows open.
Realtemp shows max of 29C
GPUz shows steady 50C. However the GPU fan is showing at 0 RPM is that right?
I will check load temps later today, after your earlier comment I am loathe to stress too much at the moment.
 
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