Intermitent Boot Up Problems

[Kathie1101]

Hi

Approx 5 months ago I had problems booting my pc. I would turn the power switch on, the fans, cd rom lights & disk lights would all come on, but the monitor wouldn't switch on and their would be no beep (usually there is 1 beep following POST). Several attempts later of switching the pc on and off it would eventually kick in and Windows would start as normal. I took the pc apart, gave it a good clean and made sure everything was seated correctly, this seemed to solve the problem and I haven't had any problems with it until yesterday.

Yesterday I switched it on, fans & lights came on, monitor didn't switch on, but 3 beeps were being emitted. Took system apart, cleaned everything, checked everything was seated ok, tried again and still same problem. Tried a different graphics card (with no effect) but finally found out that it was a memory stick that was causing the problem, removed this stick (which had been in the machine since Oct/Nov 2004)and tried to boot the pc again. This time the fans, & lights came on my tower, but still no monitor and no beep (the exact problem I had about 5 months ago). Again several attepts of switching the pc on and off and it will finally boot as normal. Once I got windows started I tried shutting windows and restarting, instead of shut down, to find out if it was just a problem that happens when the pc is fully shut down or also happens when restarted. I attempted this about 6 times, all of the attempts apart from 1 resulted in windows starting as normal. The one attempt that didn't work I had to switch the pc on and off several times before it would boot.

I would appreciate any ideas on what could be causing the problem, and if possible easy step by step instructions on what I need to do.

My system specs are:
Processor
Model : AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2000+
Speed : 1.67GHz

Mainboard
Bus(es) : ISA AGP PCI IMB USB i2c/SMBus
MP Support : 1 CPU(s)
MP APIC : Yes
System BIOS : American Megatrends Inc. 07.00T
System : SOLTEK 75FRV
Mainboard : SOLTEK 75FRV
Total Memory : 511MB DDR-SDRAM

Chipset 1
Model : VIA Technologies Inc VT8377 Apollo KT400/A/600 CPU to PCI Bridge
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 134MHz (268MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 512MB DDR-SDRAM
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 167MHz (334MHz data rate)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Plug and Play Monitor
Adapter : RADEON 9800 PRO
Adapter : RADEON 9800 PRO - Secondary
Imaging Device : EPSON Perfection1660

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Professional (Win32 x86) 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)

Sorry if that is too much info, or if need more detail please let me know.

Any help much appreciated.

Kathie

 

[Kathie1101]

Just to add to the above. I have just found some software that monitors temperature & voltage, that came with my mainboard. I have installed it and some of the readings are a bit worrying, and I guess this could be my problem, these are the readings I am getting:
Temperature:
ABSII: 64
RT1 Varies between 54 & 55
RT2 0
Fan Tachometer:
Fan 1: varies between 4821 & 4963
Voltage:
CPU Voltage 1.648
DIMM Voltage 2.56
3.3V varies between 3.264 & 3.28
5V 4.945
12V 12.8
-12V -12.279
5VSB varies between 3.915 & 4.073
Battery 2.928

The temperature RT1 reading of 54/55 is in yellow which says "Warning!But you can neglect it."
The Voltage 5VSB at 3.915 is in red which says"Emergency Warning! Please check the hardware right away" and when it goes to 4.073 it goes to yellow.

I am a bit thick about these things, so don't know what I need to replace, is it my PSU that I need to replace, and if so is it easy to fit (I have only ever done stuff like replacing graphics cards, memory etc before)and also is there a specific PSU that I would need to get.

Many thanks
Kathie

 

[Frank4d]

According to the ATX power supply spec your voltages should be:
3.3v ±4%
5v ±5%
5vsb ± 5%
12v ±5%
-12v ±5%

And 2.928 is ok for a CMOS battery (should be above 2.5v).

While your 12v is a little high, in my experience it should not be a problem. Your 5vsb is way out of tolerance and could be the reason your PC doesn't boot properly. But most of the voltage measurement software I have seen doesn't read the voltages correctly. If you have access to a DMM or voltmeter you can see if this is the case by measuring the 5vsb (measure between the purple (+)and black (-) power supply wires.

 

[Kathie1101]

After posting my last message I took my PC apart again and although I have cleaned the fan on the PSU before by cleaning it with a small brush from the back of the pc, obviously doing it this way I knew that I wouldn't be getting rid of all the dust, so I opened the PSU casing up and used a compressor to get rid of as much dirt & dust as possible, whilst I had the case open I noticed what looks like a scorch mark on the casing inside, so looks like something has been overheating. I've also taken the heatsink fan apart (previously cleaned the fan but not underneath) this was really filthy.

Anyway when I tried to start it up, still had the same problems, took about 5/6 attempts but when it did boot up ok I checked the temperatures again, and the readings were better, see below. The 5v Standby reading is still of some concern, still getting the same reading on that, but it is mainly staying at the upper end of the reading (in yellow) whereas b4 it was mainly the lower reading.

ABSII: 51
RT1 Varies between 41 & 42
RT2 0
Fan Tachometer:
Fan 1: varies between 4821 & 4963
Voltage:
CPU Voltage 1.648
DIMM Voltage 2.544
3.3V varies between 3.264 & 3.28
5V 4.945
12V varies between 12.736 & 12.8
-12V - varies between -11.867 & -12.279
5VSB varies between 3.915 & 4.073
Battery 2.928

Unfortunately I don't have access to a voltmeter so can't check how accurate these readings are, but I have also used SISandra software which is showing pretty much the same readings. I have spent some time looking on the net today, and things do seem to point to the 5V standby reading being my problem. So i guess trying another PSU will be my best bet, unfortunately it's gonna be about 2 weeks before I can get my hands on one, so going to have to risk using my pc in it's current state until then.

Thanks for your help

Kathie

 

[Frank4d]

Since two different voltage measurement apps read about the same thing, your low 5vsb voltage seems to be a problem (or maybe not). Hopefully you can borrow a PSU and try to see if it corrects your problem before going out and buying one.

 

[garebo]

Also, since the only reading that is out of line right now is your 5VSB, perhaps you can either turn that software off so it doesnt affect your startup, and just check it once in a while. At least until you get your replacement ps.

In the meantime maybe you can borrow a voltmeter, or even buy one, often you can find them for under $10.
They are great for a ton of things, not the least of which is to check the battery!


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