Why does my machine do this on boot?

Michaeljcox24 · 4 Jan 2011 at 22:16

To anybody else who's machine does this...

When I boot from cold in the morning, after having the power switch on the PSU on off all night, then switching it to on, and pressing the power on switch on the case, the lights on the antec light up, fans start spinning, then switch off.

Then a couple of seconds later the same thing happens, but the machine goes into post and boots clean into windows.

Is this something I should be worried about or is it normal?

stulid · 4 Jan 2011 at 22:18

Not normal, its actually got a name "cold boot"

RJC · 4 Jan 2011 at 22:19

I think this is called the cold boot issue, my system did something similar when overclocked, downloaded the latest BIOS and this has helped greatly.

Michaeljcox24 · 4 Jan 2011 at 22:21

stulid said:
Not normal, its actually got a name "cold boot"

I know its cold boot, but I wondered why it was happening. Happened on my old PSU as well, so can't be PSU issue.

MrElve · 4 Jan 2011 at 22:23

I too turn my power supply off by its switch at night otherwise the Republic of gamers light on my motherboard lights up and down constantly. Never heard of a problem like this since now so i'll have to try and be a bit more cautious. However it's strange why it should make a difference, all i could possibly suggest is when you turn your PSU on in the morning just leave it for about 10 or 15 seconds before turning your computer on but thats all i can suggest im afraid.

RJC · 4 Jan 2011 at 22:25

I think as your overclocked it's the way the board applies the overclock to the system*, have you checked for the latest BIOS updates.

* Hopefully someone can confirm or explain better than I can.

Michaeljcox24 · 4 Jan 2011 at 22:28

RJC said:
I think as your overclocked it's the way the board applies the overclock the system*, have checked for the latest BIOS updates.

* Hopefully someone can confirm or explain better than I can.

that would be a perfectly logical explanation, I'll have to try cold booting from stock settings.

Ultimately its not a problem, because it doesn't stop my machine from booting at all, but I just wondered why it happened.

setter · 4 Jan 2011 at 22:32

On a p5q deluxe this is entirely normal, as youve turned the power off on the psu, upon switching back on the system checks to make sure the memory strap is set properly, hence this double boot, if you just shut down via start and leave it like that, the system will boot as normal next time it's turned on. This happened on my old p5q dlx based rig as well, only when power was removed from the system. Its a common built in feature of asus motherboards.

Michaeljcox24 · 4 Jan 2011 at 22:54

ok cheers, peace of mind mate.

cammy5477 · 4 Jan 2011 at 22:59

yes my rampage 3 does this as well......

MikeHunt79 · 4 Jan 2011 at 23:04

Mine used to do this but now it does not...

setter · 4 Jan 2011 at 23:05

Yep, bit worrying the first time it happens tbh. But it's nothing to panic about. A cold boot though is when the psu is switched on and when powering up via the case switch, all fans spin up, mobo lights come on but nothing is displayed on screen. This happens very occasionally on my p6t dlx v2, hit reset and it boots fine, seems a common issue on this board but no known causes or fixes.

matthab · 4 Jan 2011 at 23:08

Most intel boards do it, its completely normal

JonJ678 · 4 Jan 2011 at 23:11

MikeHunt79 said:
Mine used to do this but now it does not...

Same here. I like the idea of it being an error checking process, but my hunch is that it isn't an intentional feature.

setter · 4 Jan 2011 at 23:17

Little more info on it here,

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=200091

The feature is present in a lot of asus boards, some manufacturers chose not to impement it in their boards, Abit being an example. This happened on my p5q dlx, stock or overclocked, again though only if power was removed from the system.

Confused Stu · 4 Jan 2011 at 23:24

Chalk up another vote for "normal behaviour". I am running a P5Q-E and if I switch off the PSU using the on/off rocker, the next time I switch on the PC it will cold boot as you described. Also, if an overclock stops the PC posting, it will revert to a cold boot (and default BIOS settings) after a reset. Switching the PC off and on without touching the PSU switch gives a normal (non-cold) boot each time.