Weird issues.
I installed a new motherboard because the other one crapped out me. I reformatted the HD, and installed Windows X64. Everything was running fine, until the computer restarted on its own. It made it to POST, but once Windows was being booted, an error showed up called "NTLDR is corrupt. Computer can not boot.". On restart, computer would not post. I figured the best way to solve the problem would start from the basics, and pull the CMOS battery. After 15 minutes, I placed the CMOS battery back on the motherboard and Windows booted without a hitch. I installed some nforce4 drivers, and restarted. Again, the computer would not post. I pulled the CMOS battery back out, and repeated the process. Windows booted. I installed some realtek audio drivers, and again I restarted, and again computer does not make it to post.
Specs on computer:
Hyper 580w Modular PSU
2gigs Corsair XMS Platinum pc-3200 DDR400
250gb Seagate Barracuda SATA 3.0gb/sec
EVGA Geforce 7900 GT 256mb
Samsung DVD-RW Drive with Lightscribe
AMD Opteron 165
ASUS A8N SLi-Deluxe Motherboard
Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.
I think this may be a motherboard issue.
Specs on computer:
Hyper 580w Modular PSU
2gigs Corsair XMS Platinum pc-3200 DDR400
250gb Seagate Barracuda SATA 3.0gb/sec
EVGA Geforce 7900 GT 256mb
Samsung DVD-RW Drive with Lightscribe
AMD Opteron 165
ASUS A8N SLi-Deluxe Motherboard
Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.
I think this may be a motherboard issue.
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Award BootBlock BIOS v1.0
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BIOS ROM Checksum error
Keyboard error or no keyboard present
Your HW is quality HW but even quality equipment can fail. Do you have another PSU you can connect? Have you tried flashing the BIOS? ('cause it sounds like you've done what you could so far to clear / reset the CMOS). I'm thinking this is happening too early in POST to be a drivers issue. (Yes, experts?)
I agree that drivers are not the problem.
What about a power supply? Do you have one in the wings you can swap in there just to rule that out?
But, I have had the computer booted on Windows for over three hours, and nothing has happened other than the screen turning off every 10 minutes to save power. Could the power supply still be defunct?
Better still, I could have Best Buy test my PSU for 5 bucks when I return the "rented" harddrive.
As far as flashing the BIOS, instructions would be nice. I can't seem to find decent instructions online.
I was about to run memtest, so I when I reset the CMOS jumper and battery to default the bios, I noticed that one of the case fans was not working. This case fan is plugged directly into the motherboard.
I am still going to rule out the memory by doing a memtest.
PSU, maybe. Boot is full load so if it is weak that could be messing with you.
I wouldn't flash BIOS unitl I checked a few more things out. A reboot during BIOS falsh would be fatal.
The thing is, I'm a little concerned as to why one of my 120mm fans isn't working. The LED's light up, but the fan doesn't spin.
the summary of my quirky solution was that the power extension my comp was sharing with several other appliances eg speakers was faulty, causing a live current to constantly short out my cmos memory. try connecting it to the power outlet directly or another altogether.
Power protection and control is of paramount importance to any computer whether it be in the home or in a corporate environment. Following are some articles that might shed some light on the subject for you.
Power Problems Cause Up To 87% of Computer Crashes
Typical Power Quality Problems & Solutions
The Problem With Power.
What is a Power Event?
Determine Your Risk.
There are many UPSs out there to choose from. Here is an UPS selector that will help you to determine the specs (specifications) an appropriate UPS for your system should have. The result will be a selection of APC UPSs. You don't have to purchase an APC UPS, however. Just make note of the recommended minimum VA rating and purchase an UPS w/ at least that rating. This is the recommended minimum "load" capacity your UPS should support.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16842107140
I should also state that I tried every outlet in my room, and the same problem persisted, whether or not the UPS was connected or not. I am confident that it is a motherboard or PSU issue. I am going to test my roommates PSU later today, and I will update on the issue.
At this time, I would like to thank everyone for their support. I appreciate the time and effort put into making my problem seem more hopeful and less hopeless.
So, what do you want to do next? Would you like to try setting the mobo up outside the case as was previously discussed? BTW, don't worry about the thread running long. This is normal (and perfectly acceptable) for difficult cases.
Well yes and no. I did use it, when my computer was working, lol. For the price, the UPS can't be beat
Well, I've tested my roommates PSU, and I had the same error. I also tested his ram, just to make sure, and guess what? Same issue. At the time of this writing, I'm putting his PSU back in, and in a much tidier job, as a favor .
Tonight, I'm going to reseat the board, once more, with the stock HSF. Perhaps I improperly reinstalled it, and it's causing some sort of error. If the problem persists, then I'm taking the mobo and the video card to a shop to have them tested. I'm pretty sure the video card has nothing to do with the problem, but you can't be too sure and the mobo and the vid card are the only components I haven't tested. But my main concern is the dad-blasted mobo.
I also did a fairly pretty cabling job, out of boredom.
As for not booting, that may well be the unfortunate result of corruption caused by the hardware issues you were experiencing. Let us know how the HDD re-build goes...
Exactly what is happening when you attempt to re-install windows? Where is it getting hung up? Are you seeing any error msgs?
Your point about the powering up and down and the effect that can have on your computer's hardware is a good one. To that end, perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to run some diags on the HDD and memory just to make sure they're ok after the ordeal they've been through.
If you need some recommendations re: utilities, just let us know.
I've noticed that someone was having problems with random restarts on the forums on this thread, and I may run the same diagnostics.
http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53318
Since I have a Seagate drive, I'm going to run Seagate’s Seatools 3.02.04. Then it's off to memory diagnostics again with MEMTEST86. BTW, thanks for supplying all the links, as it saves a lot of time looking.
EDIT://
Read through the thread you referred to in order to refresh my memory. That one actually ended being a bad HDD.
Your RAM Disk is C:\
Thank you for using SeaTools DOS
C:\>
Does that mean the harddrive tested ok? Or is there something that I'm not doing?
EDIT:///
Read your post more carefully. No, it didn't test the HDD. Did you download the ISO version of the diag. and create a bootable CD w/ it? or - did you download the floppy version?