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Intermittent Boot Hang After POST

Started by l0stb0y760 , Jun 10 2009 09:46 PM

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#1
l0stb0y760
Posted 10 June 2009 - 09:46 PM

l0stb0y760

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Olah,

just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for an intermittent boot hang Problem. Right after a successful POST, sometimes/randomly the system will hang for about 3-4 min and then it will finally bring up the XP loading interface. This happens after about every 5-10 cold boots. Not a big deal but I don’t see any reason why this should be happening. Seems like the system is hanging while trying to find the OS. I've tried a fresh install of XP but that didn’t help. Highly doubt its a software problem. So I am thinking it is a hardware problem. However, Ram checks out okay according to Memtest and the PSU was recently upgraded from 380 Watts to a 650 Watt which didn’t help the problemo.

Processor is being Over-clocked but I set it back to default which didn't make any difference. In fact all the hardware in my system is roughly new. Perhaps the problem is related to a faulty Processor or failing hard drive? Well, my hard drive is a Raptor which is about a year and a half old and I keep it well conditioned. Processor is a Core 2 Duo which is maybe 2 years old. These are expensive hardware replacements that I'd really like to avoid to fix a pesky problem like this. Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions? Please... :]

~l0st :)
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#2
edge2022
Posted 10 June 2009 - 10:49 PM

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Not so sure, but you might want to try flashing your BIOS to see if that helps.
What is the make and model of your computer?
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#3
Ectech
Posted 10 June 2009 - 10:50 PM

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Hi LB,

Since you covered most of the basics, i'd take a look at the cabling. Disconnect the machine from the wall and unplug & re-seat all the connections.

Edited by Ectech, 10 June 2009 - 10:52 PM.

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#4
l0stb0y760
Posted 10 June 2009 - 11:52 PM

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Wow, thanks for the quick response guy's (Peace out to tomshardware.com, I posted this same question about two days ago, still no reply ;0).

Roger that Ectech ill try that. Nice Ubuntu/Mac avatar btw haha luv it.

Edge, ive have already flashed my BIOS as well. In fact this minut issue is so random its almost as if my computer has a personality. Unfortunately I'll have to test this out for about a good week or two to see if Ectech's suggestions work or any other suggestions for that matter. A very tedious process ;\ but hey we are Techs haha.

Anyhow, here are my specs:

CPU- Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (Overclocked to 3.33 GHZ)
Mobo- ASUSTek P5k-VM
Memory- Corsair 4 Gigz DDR2 (800 MHZ)
Graphics- PCIE Nvidia 8400GS
Sound Card- Blaster Audigy SE
PSU- X-Power Pro 650 Watt
1X 75 Gig Sata Raptor HD (10,000 RPM)(Primary HD holding my OS)
1X 80 Gig Sata Western Digital (7,200 RPM) (Storage Drive)
1X Liteon DVD-RW
1x Samsung CR-RW


Thanks again for the quick reply and if anyone else has any other ideas, feel free to post.

~l0st

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by l0stb0y760, 11 June 2009 - 09:06 AM.

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#5
edge2022
Posted 11 June 2009 - 12:17 AM

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All your hardware is relatively new, and reliable.
You might want to run a diagnostic on your hard drives, just to make sure that they are ok.
http://support.wdc.c...oad.asp?lang=en
Find your drive, download and install the Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows, and run them.
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#6
l0stb0y760
Posted 11 June 2009 - 12:32 AM

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Roger that Edge! Ill post back as soon as I can. I'm in an intense battle on Day Of Defeat at the moment ;p
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#7
l0stb0y760
Posted 11 June 2009 - 09:08 AM

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Both my HDD's checked out okay:

Test Option: EXTENDED TEST
Model Number: WDC WD740ADFD-00NLR5
Unit Serial Number: WD-WMANS2529446
Firmware Number: 21.07QR5
Capacity: 74.36 GB
SMART Status: PASS
Test Result: PASS
Test Time: 04:43:44, June 11, 2009


Test Option: EXTENDED TEST
Model Number: WDC WD800JD-22LSA0
Unit Serial Number: WD-WMAM9L263810
Firmware Number: 06.01D06
Capacity: 80.03 GB
SMART Status: PASS
Test Result: PASS
Test Time: 08:04:12, June 11, 2009

Cable Connection's look solid. I popped open the case and reseated my modules. Seeing how that goes, so far so good..
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#8
diabillic
Posted 11 June 2009 - 09:12 AM

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Run a Prime95 test on it.
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#9
l0stb0y760
Posted 11 June 2009 - 11:08 AM

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Roger that Cilix,

im gonna run with this ''re-seating tactic'' for a a little bit to see if that made any difference. If the problem still persists I'll try the Prime95 Option or run it anyway when I get a free chance.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.



~l0st

Edited by l0stb0y760, 11 June 2009 - 11:36 AM.

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#10
diabillic
Posted 11 June 2009 - 12:26 PM

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Roger that Cilix,

im gonna run with this ''re-seating tactic'' for a a little bit to see if that made any difference. If the problem still persists I'll try the Prime95 Option or run it anyway when I get a free chance.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.



~l0st



The Prime95 will stress the crap outta your hardware, so if anything is failing it will probably fail in the test.
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#11
l0stb0y760
Posted 11 June 2009 - 12:31 PM

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Yea i've heard of stress tests but never really tried one. I always have this paranoya that it is going to damage my hardware. Are they a 100% safe?

~l0st
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#12
diabillic
Posted 11 June 2009 - 12:38 PM

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Yea i've heard of stress tests but never really tried one. I always have this paranoya that it is going to damage my hardware. Are they a 100% safe?

~l0st


Yes, absolutely. It just places the components under loads it would normally be under during heavy usage...just all at the same time. PC components have come a long way, and if something were to blow up during the test it shouldn't be in the PC to begin with :)
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#13
l0stb0y760
Posted 11 June 2009 - 12:55 PM

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Okay cool deal, i'll try it when i can :)
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#14
edge2022
Posted 11 June 2009 - 04:45 PM

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Here is a good tutorial for torturing your hardware with Prime95: http://www.playtool....95/prime95.html
Read through the entire article to choose the right torture method.
You should run this test for about 24-35 hours to make sure that all your hardware is working correctly. This is common tool used for checking the stability of the CPU and RAM when overclocking.

This is also a good demo to stress components like your graphics card: http://www.daionet.g...~masa/rthdribl/
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#15
l0stb0y760
Posted 14 June 2009 - 12:53 PM

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Hey Guys,

the problem happened again this morning when I booted up. It Went through POST okay but right after that the screen was just Black for about 3 min then finally the Windows Loading GUI came up and proceeded to boot just fine ;\ I ran the Prime95 Test for about 10 min and it look's like it already found a problem. Suggestions please... Here's the log:

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  • HardWareProblem.jpg

Edited by l0stb0y760, 14 June 2009 - 12:56 PM.

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