Boot problems - what could cause this?

[maz1rude]

The last couple of times I shut down my computer and turned off the surge protector, I had some trouble bringing the computer back online. During reboot, my CD-ROM drive (SCSI Ultraplex) got power (the light came on and I believe it was spinning), then the CD-RW (Plexwriter) got power (ditto with the light and spinning). However, at that point, as if stuck in a loop, the CD-ROM light came back on, then the CD-RW light came on, and so it went. Back and forth between the two devices, each time with a clicking sound as the power switched between the two devices. The first time this happened, I shut down the computer and restarted it several times, with the same result. Finally, I powered off again and used a paperclip to open the CD-ROM manually and remove a disk that was in there. That seemed to fix the problem because when I rebooted again, everything worked fine and Windows loaded. I figured, then, that the OS was confused by the disk in the CD-ROM and was trying to find a boot disk. But the next time I powered down and shut off the surge protector, the very same thing happened. This time there was no disk in the CD-ROM drive. I decided to start unplugging accessories one by one and see if that solved the problem. The first thing I unplugged was the mouse (connected via a ps2 converter). Then I tried to reboot, and, lo and behold, the computer restarted flawlessly. This makes no sense, whatsoever. when I reboot my computer without shutting off the surge protector, I have no problems. What do you think the problem could be? One friend has suggested possible hard drive failure, another says it is power supply problems (this makes the most sense to me). thanks in advance.

 

[ceh4702]

The battery is low and the CMOS/BIOS is reset when you shut it down copletely and disconnect the power??

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[maz1rude]

The battery on the Motherboard? Can it be replaced or recharged? If not, what happens if replace the battery? Do I lose all my bios/cmos settings?

 

[braddds]

yep! But then if it is your battery all your setting were lost anyways! If you've tweaked you cmos/bios and those setting have't changed (outside of drives as new mb's can refind them at startup) then I'd look at other pieces of hardware, ie: your mouse. Just get another and see if this problem persists. Chances are it is a piece of hardware or internal card and/or ram. It's not fun to troubleshoot this way but I know of no other easier way.

Cheers

 

[jhlee99]

It's weird that unplugging the mouse will cause the system to boot okay. Mouse doesn't consume that much power. Based on your description of the problem, sounds like either you have IDE controller or power problem. I would think the power is more probable.

Have added added any additional ide or pci devices recently? If so, whatever you added, try unplugging, but leave the mouse connected and boot.
jhlee

 

[Newposter]

Power supply would not be an issue with a mouse. They only draw about 20mA.

Turning the surge protector off makes no difference if the PC is truly off. When you shut down, are you powered OFF, or in hibernate mode?

Newposter
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment."