[jhankins]

I have a system with an Intel 875PBZ motherboard with 4 PC3200 DIMMS (2GB total) and a P4-3.2. It used to have 2 DIMMS (1GB total), and when I added another 2, it started taking about five minutes to go from the initial POST screen to the point where it shows the RAID configuration and loads the OS (XP).

That was quite a while back, and I just tolerated the boot time. Now, I've tried removing the new DIMMs, and have found that the behavior has not gone away. Once the machine boots, it works normally. There are no error messages during POST. I've tried disabling things in the BIOS setup, I've tried rearranging boot order, I've tried everything I can think of.

Anyone here know what would cause this system to sit at the beginning POST screen for five minutes before booting?

Jamie

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Try starting computer with ONE RAM stick at a time.
Try all 4 sticks that way.

[Broni]

Try starting computer with ONE RAM stick at a time.
Try all 4 sticks that way.

[jhankins]

Yes, I tried one stick at a time. I also tried unplugging all drives (1 CD-RW and 1 DVD-RW, and an extra ATA drive). The only drive left was the SATA RAID 0 array. I tried unplugging the SATA drives and starting with no bootable devices just to see if it would get past the first part of POST more quickly, but it doesn't.

One thing I haven't tried that I'll try this evening is booting with a PS/2 keyboard. I'm currently using a USB keyboard and mouse. The place where POST takes forever is before it displays the message about detecting a keyboard. I seriously doubt that will make a difference, though.

[Broni]

Let us know, if it changes anything.

[jhankins]

Well, I tried unplugging my USB keyboard and mouse, and that didn't help. Then, I tried unplugging all of my USB devices, and things suddenly worked correctly. Then, one by one, I plugged each USB device in, and it still works. I would feel better if one of the devices had caused the problem. Problems that go away by themselves tend to come back by themselves.

At any rate, things work now.

Jamie

[Broni]

Computer mysteries....