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Why does my machine not boot cold?

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nthach
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14 Nov 2010, 12:27 am

leejosepho wrote:
nthach wrote:
VIA chipsets have assorted compatiblity issues ...
Intel, Nvidia, and AMD/ULI core logic and south bridges have less issues ...
Intel holds near-monopoly status on core logic for their processors ...
Apple is using ...
Intel shut out AMD and NVidia ...
... the 9th circuit court allowed Nvidia to use those patents Intel has.

Whew. I would never try this, but I can imagine somebody somewhere just makes his or her own custom board, eh?!

CloudWalker wrote:
You could try setting your harddisk to SATA1 mode.

My SATAs are not having a problem, but maybe their presence is somehow *causing* a problem. It is the PATAs that do not get identified properly when the board is completely cold. I had meant to disconnect the SATAs before turning things on this morning to see whether that made a difference, but I forgot. So, and like usual now, a simple reset was all it took to get things going after a two-minute wait following the first failed startup attempt.

CloudWalker wrote:
You may want to check what south bridge the Pro model uses. VIA has an updated VT8237 PLUS that fixed the issue.

That chip on my original (V1.0) board and the one running right now is a VT8237R PLUS.

CloudWalker wrote:
btw google "capacitor" and "blown capacitor" to see what they looks like and what sign to look for

I have done that, and even with a magnifying glass I cannot see anything bulged, leaking or corroded.

I will try to remember to disconnect the SATAs tomorrow morning to see whether the PATAs then show up correctly.

Apple hasn't had any major issue with the Nvidia GeForce 9400m/320M/330M in the MacBook/Mac Mini/iMac families. Asus was making boards for both AMD and Intel platforms with nForce or GeForce IGPs. I much prefer Nvidia core logic to AMD/ULI or VIA. However, Intel works best with Intel core logic - but the Core i3/i5/i7 is like an AMD processor in which the memory controller and in the case of the i3/i5 also has its onboard video on a separate die on the CPU package. That means the core logic on the motherboard is basically an I/O hub.



leejosepho
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14 Nov 2010, 9:59 am

All of that is way beyond my own knowledge, and maybe that is why I am sometimes amazed anything works at all! I have one old machine here that is/was a great machine in its own day, but only *after* a mind-boggling experience of getting it up and running and installing an OS with absolute minimal hardware connected/enabled and then adding things in one-at-a-time.

This morning I disconnected my IDE and SATA cables and then connected just one IDE PATA, and my BIOS read it just fine after a completely cold start ... and then it continued doing so as I began reconnecting things and coming around again. So, I remain baffled as to why my BIOS-drives combination occasionally finds/displays/reports a "%" where a "-" should be between the drive model and drive version numbers following drive detection.


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CloudWalker
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14 Nov 2010, 2:30 pm

You have to check the mb manual to see if the BIOS replaces "-" with "%" on purpose. It seems a bit too cryptical even for BIOS message.

The ASCII code of "%" and "-" is just 1 bit off. If it's actually part of the drive string, may be the IDE cable is beginning to fail. Although it'll be odd only that character is affected.

Do you have more than 1 IDE device on the same channel? If so, are the master/slave settings correct?



leejosepho
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14 Nov 2010, 3:20 pm

CloudWalker wrote:
You have to check the mb manual to see if the BIOS replaces "-" with "%" on purpose. It seems a bit too cryptical even for BIOS message.

The ASCII code of "%" and "-" is just 1 bit off. If it's actually part of the drive string, may be the IDE cable is beginning to fail. Although it'll be odd only that character is affected.

Do you have more than 1 IDE device on the same channel? If so, are the master/slave settings correct?

Yes, there are two *completely* identical drives (ID and all since the second drive is a clone) on that primary channel, and I can easily install a new cable. Also, I am sure the cable I am using is a "CS" cable (blue/gray/black connectors), but I have thought about changing the drive jumpers to "MA" and "SL" and trying that anyway.

I will change the cable in the morning, and then possibly the jumpers two or three mornings after that if the problem is still there.


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leejosepho
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15 Nov 2010, 6:15 pm

This morning I changed the cable and the PATAs showed up correctly, but then only one of the SATAs showed up until after I had done a reboot. Typically, my machine takes longer to detect the SATAs than to detect the PATAs, and it takes nearly twice as long to detect the second PATA. But in any case ...

I was gone all day today and had left everything turned off following this morning's startup ... and now all drives just showed up correctly from a cold start. So, maybe the new cable did made a difference, but then I have occasionally suspected something somewhere is affected whenever I disconnect and reconnect anything. For example, a few months ago I thought maybe this drive-detection-identification problem was a power issue caused by loose/weak connectors for the PATAs ... and my unplugging those connectors and tightening and re-connecting them made it go away. So, who knows?! Maybe I just have a goofy board.


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