Help! Unbootable new computer!

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 12:49

Hello all! I would really appreciate any and all help you can offer me! I have just built my first ever custom P.C.

Intel Core 2 Due Q6600
OCZ 2 x 1GB DDR3
GIGABYTE-EP45T-UD3P
650W PSU
Radeon HD4850 512MB

But is won't boot up. It'll load the motherboard screen, with BIOS options and such, and then list a load of stuff, before saying "Boot from CD/DVD". As soon as the disc spins up the system reboots. Although 1 times out of 20 it'll give a TRAP 00000006 Error, which is meant to be related to Windows NT, even though I'm using a Windows XP disc.

~Ease~

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 13:57

I'm just trying to attach a Floppy Drive now in case that helps... both the FDD and the DVD-Drive are second hand and quite old, but seem to be in working order. The RAM is brand new (out of the box this morning!) as is the hard-drive. I've never connected a DVD Drive before, so it only has the IDE cable attached to it, and a Power cable. Is that the correct way of doing it?

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 14:13

They were initially in 1 and 3, and I was just experimenting by moving them to 2 and 4. Didn't notice a difference, but I will put them back in 1 and 3, just in case!

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 14:28

Alright, I just burned a uBuntu disc, and put it in. No error or reboot yet... but seems to be stuck saying "Loading..."

I could cry! I've been looking forward to using this computer for months!

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 15:01

The hard-drive is brand new, but the DVD drive isn't. But I get a different TRAP message dependant on whether I put in an XP disc or a 2000 disc, and the Linux disc partially loads, so I suspect the DVD Drive should be ok? Close-ups coming in a minute!

<Edit> Also, the 1 in 20 reboots resulting in a TRAP message has changed to 9 out of 10 reboots. Though Linux doesn't error, it just keeps saying "Loading..." </Edit>

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 15:11

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 15:25

Yer, all fine there. This is really annoying! Anyone know what "NoCy NoZr IntDis Down TrapDis" mean in an error message?

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 16:30

Alright, I just ran MemTest and it crashed. Is this a sure indication the Memory is bust, or could it still be something else like Power? The way it reboots the moment it's put under any stress makes me think it may be a CPU problem.

To check: what needs to be plugged into a SATA HD, and an IDE DVD Drive? HD: SATA cable and SATA power cable only? DVD: DVD ribbon and power cable?

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 17:39

Robdata said:
did u plug in the 4 pin 12volt connector to the motherboard

Heh, I did actually miss that when I first put my P.C together, but it is definitely in now

Is it possible that 650W isn't enough for a Q6600, Radeon HD4850, and a load of fans?

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 18:05

Ok, thanks for the confirmation! Well I've asked my supplier for a replacement/refund on the RAM. If they refund it I'll try a slightly more expensive RAM, perhaps one even from the Motherboard compatibility list... if it still doesn't work I'll just beat my head in with my new P.C and live morosely ever after.

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 18:49

Yer, does everything normally. If I don't send it to BIOS it comes up with "DISK [something] ERROR" but that's normal if there's no disk for it to boot from right? Man, I wish I knew someone with a spare DVD Drive... shame my FDD doesn't work either!

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 18:56

Brand new cable; came with my brand new motherboard. The whole system is virtually one day old besides my cursed DVD Drive, which I am becoming more and more certain is the problem... although it is odd that it gets far enough to tell the difference between all the discs?

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 19:02

But its not really running MemTest. It realises there's a disk, then says "Loading........" for a split second, then reboots...

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 19:16

I upped the voltage a fair bit (it was only at 1.5V) to the 1.7V it says on the OCZ web-site. No real difference; still won't run any installation disks. I'm scared of throwing a much higher voltage at it in case I void my warranty or something. I don't really have £60 to spare after buying all this stuff! Do I need to change V Threshold for the RAM as well? It's at 0.75V.

Just tried MemTest after upping the voltages, and got something new!

Unexpected Interrupt - Halting

Type : Gen_Prot
PC : 000068dc
CD : 00000010
Eflag : 00010002
Code : 000024a4

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 20:25

CPU voltages all seem fine, temperatures are super cool (all about 30C or less), I can sit in BIOS forever and it seems fine.

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 20:40

decto said:
Usually when I see faulty boards they crash while sitting in the BIOS sooner or later.

Have you tried the basics, clearing the CMOS ....

HDD in a different SATA port

Booting with a single Dimm

Checked for known BIOS version issues on website

Installing an OS on the drive in another machine then putting it in to see if it boots

CPU voltage manually at 1.35V to be sure (Q6600 are rated to 1.35V)

AD

Edit:

Also can you state the make and model of the PSU and also the Ampage on the +12V output. Should be on the label visible on the photo.

Yup, tried all of that besides "Installing an OS on the drive in another machine then putting it in to see if it boots" because I don't have another machine besides my laptop.

w3bbo said:
I might not be seeing things right but it looks like your SATA plug on the HD is upside down?

The plug is keyed, so it would be impossible to put it in upside down. I think my HD just has upside down ports.

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 21:09

+12V1 = 23A
+12V2 = 20A
-12V = 0.5A

Just put SLAX on a USB disc, and that's all up and running! (WOOT!) So I guess that means its definitely the DVD Drive? But now in SLAX I can go into my DVD Drive and explore my Windows Disk and see everything, though naturally setup.exe doesn't work!

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 21:20

But the mouse and keyboard work fine?

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 21:53

Its saying my Hard Drive doesn't contain a valid partition table, but I've never used Linux before so I have no idea how to make a valid partition table! Found Memtest86 on my SLAX, so I'm running that, and so far it all looks fine. Could an unpartitioned HD be the problem?

Ease · 23 Dec 2008 at 22:30

Alrighty; I just played with fdisk and mkfs and stuff like that, figuring that at worse my computer still didn't work... ha ha. Anywho, after all that I then borrowed a friend's DVD drive (which is so bust up it doesn't even open without a LOT of force) and tried my WinXP disk again.

...

SETUP RAN! And is now formatting my hard drive to NTFS! I wish I knew whether it was the new DVD Drive or the random mkfs and fdisk'ing I did, but if this actually works and I can actually use my computer like a proper P.C this is going to be the best day of the year for me! Christmas won't/can't even compare!