Pc won't post

MAX_C199 · 17 Dec 2020 at 01:23

Just finished building my second ever pc (last was 5 years ago) a few hours ago and all was going well. Installed Windows and began installing programs. All of a sudden windows restarts multiple times without warning. I ignore it the first few times because windows but then it brings up the windows troubleshooting. I go through the normal steps and then it boots up. I then power it off thinking problem solved and plug in my HDD (unplugged HDD to ensure windows doesn't **** up and install to the HDD instead of m.2) and when going to power up my ram lights up, nothing else does and it does not post. As well as this the fans spin at full speed and the power button ceases to do anything. If I switch the PSU off and leave it for a few seconds then switch the PSU back on it needs the power button to be pressed to start the fans spinning again. All I changed was connecting the sata cable to the motherboard. I have tried everything I can think of and am getting no bios errors or anything obvious. Reseated ram and GPU. Unplugged all power connectors and such. Does anyone have any clue what the issue could be?
Specs: ryzen 5 5600x
Gigabyte b550 aorus elite v1
Gigabyte windforce rtx 980
32gb gskill neo 3600 cl16
1tb western black m.2
3tb Toshiba p30 HDD
MSI mag a850gf
Phanteks p500a

DoneADougalOnSofa · 17 Dec 2020 at 01:43

Don't plug anything into SATA port 1. I've read about it causing a clash on some motherboards when an NVMe is used.

If you have a drive connected to SATA1, try moving it to another port. Can't make things any worse...

MAX_C199 · 17 Dec 2020 at 01:45

DoneADougalOnSofa said:
Don't plug anything into SATA port 1. I've read about it causing a clash on some motherboards when an NVMe is used.

If you have a drive connected to SATA1, try moving it to another port. Can't make things any worse...

I haven't yet tried with it in a different data port but I have tried with only the nvme installed and no data connected. I haven't actually had the pc post with the sata drive connected as of yet

DoneADougalOnSofa · 17 Dec 2020 at 01:48

So is the HDD currently connected in your system?
Will the PC post if you remove the drive again?

IceBear · 17 Dec 2020 at 01:51

If you can get into your bios check to see what the boot order is and make sure your m.2 is the first.. ?
Many boards disable some sata ports when using a M.2 drive.. make sure your sata drive isn't in one of those.

MAX_C199 · 17 Dec 2020 at 01:51

DoneADougalOnSofa said:
So is the HDD currently connected in your system?
Will the PC post if you remove the drive again?

No. I have tried with HDD installed, not installed, same with ssd. I have also tried removing one stick of ram, changing from slot 2/4 to only slot 1. I have also tried with no GPu installed

MAX_C199 · 17 Dec 2020 at 01:53

IceBear said:
If you can get into your bios check to see what the boot order is and make sure your m.2 is the first.. ?
Many boards disable some sata ports when using a M.2 drive.. make sure your sata drive isn't in one of those.

I am unable to get into the bios with or without the HDD installed. When powering on I am getting absolutely nothing out of the system and it appears to be failing to post

DoneADougalOnSofa · 17 Dec 2020 at 01:56

Have you done a clear-CMOS recently, say, when you installed the drive? It's just reminding me of a clear-CMOS jumper being left in the wrong position.
I've pulled up your mobo manual, and it's got some sort of switch for it, but unclear from the diagram if it's a jumper or a button or whatever.

MAX_C199 · 17 Dec 2020 at 02:06

DoneADougalOnSofa said:
Have you done a clear-CMOS recently, say, when you installed the drive? It's just reminding me of a clear-CMOS jumper being left in the wrong position.
I've pulled up your mobo manual, and it's got some sort of switch for it, but unclear from the diagram if it's a jumper or a button or whatever.

To be honest I don't have a whole lot of knowledge when it comes to CMOS. As far as I am awar the clr_cmos labelled on the diagram for the motherboard is just 2 pins. As far as I am aware I have not done a clear CMOS. I stupidly left my usb with the bios at my house and am currently at my flat so I will get that and re flash the bios to see if that makes any difference tomorrow. Other than that I'm stumped on what else to try

IceBear · 17 Dec 2020 at 02:35

Either put the little jumper to bridge the two clr_cmos pins or remove the button battery for a while to reset the bios and try and get back into the BIOS.
I doubt you need to flash the BIOS again as you've already managed to install windows but it wouldn't hurt to load up the latest one from gigabytes site for you're board.

I guess you used a USB drive to install windows from ?

MAX_C199 · 17 Dec 2020 at 02:37

IceBear said:
Either put the little jumper to bridge the two clr_cmos pins or remove the button battery for a while to reset the bios and try and get back into the BIOS.
I doubt you need to flash the BIOS again as you've already managed to install windows but it wouldn't hurt to load up the latest one from gigabytes site for you're board.

I guess you used a USB drive to install windows from ?

Yes I used a usb for Windows and with it being the 5600x I also had to flash the bios with the q flash feature so I should already have the latest bios. With the position of the button battery being underneath the GPU I will have to wait until tomorrow to try and sort that as I also left the little jump lead in the motherboard box. I'll give your suggestions a go tomorrow after work and report back. Thanks for your help so far

IceBear · 17 Dec 2020 at 02:57

If you can clear the BIOS that should put you back to #1 .When you restart spam the del button and you should be able to get into the BIOS and you can fresh install windows again

MAX_C199 · 17 Dec 2020 at 20:27

IceBear said:
If you can clear the BIOS that should put you back to #1 .When you restart spam the del button and you should be able to get into the BIOS and you can fresh install windows again

Just done this and I have managed to get into the bios. Everything seemed to be running fine so I went into windows. Got into windows as normal and just left it for a few minutes with nothing running, and only my monitor and keyboard plugged in and after a few minutes the pc spontaneously restarted. This was the original issue and I can only assume is either a power issue or is an issue with my Windows installation. I am not sure how I would be able to diagnose a power issue so I am going to re download the installation tool onto my usb and start again with the drive re formatted. If you have any tips in regards to diagnosing a power issue that would be amazing. Thank you so much for your help

MAX_C199 · 17 Dec 2020 at 21:51

Another update. I have got windows fully installed. HDD installed and formatted. However I am still getting the reccuring random restarts. I would like to rule windows out but it seems like it may be a power issue. I am obviously entirely unsure of this. Is there any way of diagnosing a power issue without any special tools?