So a couple of nights ago, I was coming towards the end of the huge GTA V download when my PC suddenly restarted itself. It did it a few times in quick succession before settling but didn't get to the Mobo splash screen. Instead I have blackscreen with A2 in the corner and the same on the onboard debug display. Some googling says this means a SATA error and pointed to a possible dead OS drive or potentially a problem with onboard SATA ports.
I did wonder if it could be PSU related as during the following trouble shooting, whenever I've swapped any sata power connectors, it occasionally does the 2 or 3 quick successive power on and off cycles before settling however it looks to be unlikely after trying another psu.
So far I've tried the following:
1: Unplugged all other drives and cables leaving just the SSD with the OS on it.
Also tried with different cables and in different SATA ports both sata 3gb/s and 6gb/s ports: stuck on A2.
2: Unplugged all drives: sticks on A0 which means no drives apparently.
3: Tried swapping to different sata power cables: Still sticks on A2
4: CMOS reset: get a screen telling there have been changes and to press F1 or F2 etc but won't progress beyond that regardless of what is pressed, onboard display still sticks on A2
5: Flipped the BIOS switch on the mobo to try the second BIOS: stuck on A2.
6: Unplugged all drives and hooked up optical drive to try booting from OS CD: STUCK ON A2!.
7: Taken the OS ssd out and tried it in a caddy on another machine: other machine reads it and is able to access it.
8: Unplugged all graphics cards, using only onboard graphics: Sticks on A2 and neighbours hear much swearing.
9: Taken out all RAM bar 1 stick: ...A2. I go and have a drink.
10: Taken the PSU put of my Micro ATX build (cutting my hands to shreds in the process) and hooked that up instead to see if it's the PSU: still stuck on A2 and also bleeding.
Figure this last one rules out the PSU which annoys me as I've been looking for an excuse to get a new one.
I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that it's all mobo related and somethings just blown. Any suggestions for what else I can try?
I have a spare blank HDD I could try and hook up as the primary drive though as I don't even get to the BIOS screen even with only an optical drive attached, I doubt it'll succeed. I could also try reseating the CPU though it has been in place without fault for 2 years now (though i have recently swapped the whole mobo into a new case though it's worked okay since the move).
I did wonder if it could be PSU related as during the following trouble shooting, whenever I've swapped any sata power connectors, it occasionally does the 2 or 3 quick successive power on and off cycles before settling however it looks to be unlikely after trying another psu.
So far I've tried the following:
1: Unplugged all other drives and cables leaving just the SSD with the OS on it.
Also tried with different cables and in different SATA ports both sata 3gb/s and 6gb/s ports: stuck on A2.
2: Unplugged all drives: sticks on A0 which means no drives apparently.
3: Tried swapping to different sata power cables: Still sticks on A2
4: CMOS reset: get a screen telling there have been changes and to press F1 or F2 etc but won't progress beyond that regardless of what is pressed, onboard display still sticks on A2
5: Flipped the BIOS switch on the mobo to try the second BIOS: stuck on A2.
6: Unplugged all drives and hooked up optical drive to try booting from OS CD: STUCK ON A2!.
7: Taken the OS ssd out and tried it in a caddy on another machine: other machine reads it and is able to access it.
8: Unplugged all graphics cards, using only onboard graphics: Sticks on A2 and neighbours hear much swearing.
9: Taken out all RAM bar 1 stick: ...A2. I go and have a drink.
10: Taken the PSU put of my Micro ATX build (cutting my hands to shreds in the process) and hooked that up instead to see if it's the PSU: still stuck on A2 and also bleeding.
Figure this last one rules out the PSU which annoys me as I've been looking for an excuse to get a new one.
I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that it's all mobo related and somethings just blown. Any suggestions for what else I can try?
I have a spare blank HDD I could try and hook up as the primary drive though as I don't even get to the BIOS screen even with only an optical drive attached, I doubt it'll succeed. I could also try reseating the CPU though it has been in place without fault for 2 years now (though i have recently swapped the whole mobo into a new case though it's worked okay since the move).