Why does my machine not boot cold?

Post Reply New Topic

I have had times in the past when my computer would occasionally give me some kind of error and not boot, and I finally got rid of those kinds of problems a while back. However, now it does that every time I attempt a *cold* boot (after the machine and power strip have been completely off for a while) even though there is nothing at all wrong with any of my drives.

What is going on?

Until a few days ago, a reset would usually be enough to get it to boot like it should, but now it almost always takes going on into the BIOS and coming back out without even having to make any changes or save.

I have replaced a couple of noisy fans that might have been drawing too much power, but I have not tried doing a voltage check anywhere ... and I replaced the CMOS battery just a few weeks ago.

Any suggestions?

could be the PSU or power strip. First thing first would be to make sure the plug into the PSU and the walls are in full on everything

I am having the same problem this evening! I just bought a new laptop so I am not as frantic as usual. In my case, I cannot always pull up the BIOS menu as the keyboard is rarely reactive at that stage of the boot process; however, that sometimes fixes the problem. I have confirmed this. Also, it only needs to be off for a second for this problem to occur.

I've checked all of my internal cables and connections (except the buried one as I have a slim profile tower). This is my second computer with this type of error. Getting desperate and taking it to repair shops leads to colds ears and stupid, erroneous diagnoses.

It's not a power supply issue here either.

Is it the computer you added serveral harddisks already? Maybe your PSU can't handle the extra inrush current. Does the situation improve if you disconnect some of the harddisks/fans?

@chaotik_lord
Did they have the same problem when you took it back? If not, it could be the power of your house.

Cheap capacitors in your power supply - a majority of PSUs use cheap Chinese or Taiwanese capacitors in them. I only recommend certain Antec PSUs made by Seasonic or Delta and most Seasonic-sourced Corsair/OCZ/PC Power and Cooling that use mostly Japanese-made Nippon-Chemicom/Rubycon/Nichicon/Panasonic(Matsushita)/Hitachi caps or better quality Taiwanese caps from Samxon or Aishi.

I also had luck with InWin/Powerman PSUs made by Sparkle/Fortron.

Open your PSU - DO NOT TOUCH THE CAPACITORS, as they still hold a deadly charge on the primary side. If they look like they ruptured or you see a brown buildup or if the caps DO NOT say Rubycon/Nichicon/(M) which is Panasonic/Hitachi/Nippon-Chemicom/United Chemicom, you have bad caps. Some Teapo on the SECONDARY side is passable. If you see any obscure brand of caps, get a new PSU.

I thank each of you.

Yes, I recently added the 4th hard drive, but all was well at that time. So, maybe I have a *failing* power supply ... but then why would everything work fine after simply taking a side trip through the BIOS setup screens? In any case, I will disconnect the SATAs before turning anything on tomorrow morning and see what happens. Then also, this machine can easily justify a new power supply, so I will take a look inside there and report back.

Two more things just came to mind:

1) I have a BIOS 3-second delay set for reading drives;
2) I sometimes get some "Morse Code" sounds in my speakers, sometimes before startup and sometimes while an OS is running.

power supply, power supply, power supply. Cheap/bad caps can do all sorts of things to electronics up and including FRYING anything with them.

I'd recommend these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817371033
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817371006
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817151094
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139004

Okay, I will shut this machine down right now and use my backup until I have a new power supply!

I'd go Earthwatts - since those are made by Seasonic or Delta with decent to good capacitors on it.

What about either of these:

Seasonic: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT
Antec: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT
??

The label on my Allied shows 27A @ 3.3VDC and nothing else I have found shows more than 20A there. Is that going to be a problem?

I just ordered a 450W Antec (but not via eBay), so in a few days we will see whether it makes the difference here.

Antec Neo/Earthwatts=good. Just make sure the UL number is from Delta Electronics or Seasonic.