PC wont boot, How to track down why

[mattyg]

So, My "aging" 5950 desktop wont boot into windows after an update.

It will boot randomly and then all is good until I reboot it again, Then we go into a loop. Even after the normal 4 0r 5 goes when it offers a recovery menu screen it'll often just hang. It wont boot into safe mode (just hangs)

I've 6 monitors connected and only 3 turn on when its failing to boot. But when its going to work the others then turn on. Could this mean its a GPU issue. its got a 1070 and a 1080 installed.

What would be the first steps to try and narrow it down.

It recently had a new 990 m.2 installed as i was getting some errors. It ran fine until an update.

I get random disk check screens or undoing update screens or just hangs at the bios/ windows starting to load wheel screens

 

[mattyg]

Have you checked event viewer to see if there is any errors in there that may help?

When I last got it to boot. I checked, Loads of warnings and a number or errors. BUT, It finally finished downloading the win11 repair install so ran that and not got it to boot since........

I'll start by stripping everything off it and try the onboard graphics.. I also get a device is missing error

 

[mattyg]

Can you get into BIOS menu on every go?

Yeah, can get into bios

 

[mattyg]

Can you boot into safe mode?

Generally after I give up with OS repair a couple of times and just do fresh, probably less time lol. About 5 minutes to reinstall windows.

No, It wont go into safe mode. Just starts that hanging procedure again..

 

[mattyg]

Its "feels" like its hardware. I've disconnected the monitors going to the 1080 and it now boots everytime. But it'll hang at the windows login screen if i dont log in. If i fully boot into windows it all acts normally until a sudden reboot after maybe 5 mins.
Event viewer is showing these as Critical Kernel-power issues.

 

[mattyg]

Dragging this back up as not had time to sort until tonight. I still think its hardware related. It wont even boot to USB to do a fresh install of windows.

I had it boot into windows a few times today but it just hard restarts after a few mins. Only error showing is a power interrupted issue.

I'll pull it apart at some point. I've some spare bits PSU etc. Or I just chuck my 7950x system into it and upgrade the gaming rig..............

 

[mattyg]

I wonder if one of your drives has become suspect. It may be just a dodgy SATA cable.

Possibly. I'll strip right back to just the System drive

Looking at you first post did the problem starts when you put in the Samsung drive ?

You also mentioned an update was that to the m2 or a windows update ?

It was a windows update.
However the M2 is new as I was having some issues and magician showed some errors. So I swapped (cloned) the 980 to a 990. It ran ok for a time and then went rapidly down hill.

I made the "mistake" of upgrading a while back. Old gaming rig donor'd to the work desktop and spent a fortune on the gaming rig.. Seems to happen around 3090-4090 and no around the time of the 5090.....

 

[mattyg]

I missed this. The 990 Pro used to have a major firmware issue. It was supposed to have been fixed a year ago. But if you got old stock and didn't update the firmware, you could be SOL.

I checked for firmware updates when first installed, Non were offered so I'm inclined to think it was a later batch But it was from Amazon so could have been behind a shelf for 2years

 

[mattyg]

Sometimes it's best to take the pc back to a the minimum to try to pin point.

I would pull the motherboard out the case and build on the motherboard box connecting the minimum components, then try to install windows.

Forgot to add to that post, That it turns out all my issues may have been due to the CMOS battery......

I'll strip it out over the weekend and see.

Thanks

 

[mattyg]

Oh and still getting the

A required device isn't connected or can't be installed
​

 

[mattyg]

Right I've stripped it down. Removed all HDD's only thing connected is GPU, USB and Ram.
It'll boots to the pic a language screen then locks up.

Poss RAM.. Whats the best way to check Currently running memtest, Its got 4 sticks in right now. If I remove them which slot is best to test each stick?

 

[mattyg]

Dont think its RAM. Stripping down to 1 stick. It does the same hang with each stick in each slot.

So far I've swapped the PSU, Switched GPU's, And tried each stick of RAM in Each slot. Every time it hangs when booting from USB or will get into windows but then restart after a minute or so

 

[mattyg]

Sounds like the CPU is the culprit.
I assume bios is at stock already?

Yeah, Cleared CMOS, Tried loading default settings etc.
I was starting to think CPU.

Is there a USB bootable CPU tester?

 

[mattyg]

Nope, you'd need to upgrade your gaming rig to a 9800x3d and swap the 5950 system into your 7950x system instead

Dang oh well

 

[mattyg]

9950x3d is where it's at mate

5950
7950
I would normally go for the 9950x3d but its a purely gamin rig and so far everything I've read says 9800x3d... I'll hang on a few weeks and see what the actual reviews say. I play DCS in VR so i may have to wait and see.....

 

[mattyg]

Looks like it was the CPU, Bought a cheap 5600 which has been running a stress test (CPUid) for the last 30 mins... All ok so far.
The other CPU, If i could get it to boot would only last a minute or 2 before restarting...

 

[mattyg]

How old is your PSU? You've removed load with a lower CPU and probably better cooling now that youve renewed the paste. if it's booting when you remove load like this could mean power issues.

Tried 2 PSU's I dismantled my mining rigs a few years back so have a couple spare 1000w and 1200w Corsairs. It was also faulting with one GPU. I'm running 6 monitors. Now its testing with 2 GPU's 1080Ti & 1070Ti.

Apart from sorting the fTPM it booted straight away and has been solid since... Plenty of reboots to check its not a fluke... Funnily enough it feels snapier than it did with the 5950x.