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Computer built June now having Boot Problems


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#16
MickJJ

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HI Phillpower2,

Thanks for contacting me.

I will follow my plan.  I am hoping to load all the important software within 5 weeks If all goes well without problems I will update you then.

Take care mick


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#17
phillpower2

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You are welcome Mick  :)


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#18
MickJJ

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Hi philpower2,

I said I would update around the 5-week mark as by then I had hoped to have installed all my software to a stable unit. As the 5 weeks are up I thought I would give an update. I am hoping to have installed all the software I regularly use by Sunday 21st November and post a further update week commencing 29th.

Software I do not use regularly I am putting off installing until the New Year and some until I need to use it.

Time span between one update to another is based on my experience with this new build as when experiencing a problem and resolving all appears well until about a week later when the computer decides it has been good for long enough and it is time to put another spanner in the works. If I can report all is well week commencing 29th I will post another update end of December and January unless I run into problems. I am working on the theory that if all is still well end of December and again end of January that my new build problems have been resolved and any after that are new and not associated with the build.

 

I picked up my computer on the morning of the 11th of October after passing One hour, Four Hour and 12-hour stress tests.

 

Connected everything up – went straight into reboot.

Contacted the repair firm and we decided it was now time to start replacing the hardware starting with the power unit. The firm immediately said if I bought the hardware, they would be happy to fit and retest for nothing- Exceptional service

 

Whilst my calculation of wattage required was 700w and as you know from the above the power unit I chose was 850w (the largest in the Fractal Gold range and as the case and fans were Fractal I decided to stay with them.)

 

I wanted to go for 1200w, however the well-known brands had non available so I opted for a Corsair 1000w HX 80Plus Platinum. 

There were a few 1200w around but as I had never heard of their manufacturers and were £100 dearer, I decided not to chance it. Once Corsair or Seasonic 1200w become available I will be seriously considering upgrading.

 

The new power unit arrived the next day 12th October and it along with my computer and all the stuff I have connected to it was taken back to the repair shop.

They fitted the new power unit, clean installed (formatting the C drive) and ran the unit with connections for just over a week – no issues arose.

I collected on the 26th October.

Set it all up and no problems.

 

Frozen Mouse

27th October Re-Installed my programs – no problems. 20:00hrs left it running whilst I had something to eat. Returned at 22:00hrs still running but the mouse head was frozen – stuck at the top of the monitor screen

Nothing I did stopped this

  1. Rebooted – still frozen
  2. Checked USB ports via device manager – no issues identified
  3. Tried a wired mouse – still frozen
  4. Rebooted without keyboard or mouse attached – It automatically sailed past the warning notice that no mouse or keyboard attached – Mouse head still visible locked at the top of the screen.
  5. Used windows repair to reinstall windows still no joy – frozen mouse head still visible.
  6. Tried Clean install – message drive not compatible for windows. The drive was the original WD 1 TB SSD M2 which sits in its own place within the motherboard and contained the OS from day one.
  7. Tried again windows repair to reinstall windows – message drive not compatible.
  8. Tried both 5 & 6 several times and each time the same message appeared.
  9. Clean OS install onto a spare drive – used that to get the computer going.

Eventually after trying many different approaches, I was able to clean the original C drive (WD 1 TB SSD M2) – Format it – convert it and install a clean version of windows. No more mouse problems.

 

I started reinstalling my software one every other day.

I no longer leave the computer running unattended other than for a few minuets for fear another mouse freeze. Once everything is installed and running normally, I will start seeing if I have the same problem.

 

Rebooting

Whilst this has not happened in a shutdown sense the event manager says otherwise.

I coattend on to this as I was watching the motherboards Q code. On occasions it appeared to go trough the sequence twice before reaching the windows log in page.

At this point I would like to point out

  1. If I did not have a glass panel on the side of the computer, I would not have picked it up.
  2. At no time did the computer show any mechanical signs of rebooting.
  3. If I did not check the event manager I would not have known.
  4. Every time I shut down the computer I do it through the start button – Power – Shut Down and then normally once the fans stop rotating, I turn off the power source.

98% of the time when I reboot after turning off the power, the Q code on windows log in shows code 40 – event manager shows no problems.

 

The other 2% of the time, or, if I reboot after shutting down but not turning off the power the Q code sequence appears to go through twice and ends up with code AA. Event manager then shows critical error – The system rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. The error could-------.

 

The Q codes are part of the ASUS system – there are many of them but the two I have identified represent:

Code 40 – System is waking up from S4 sleep state.

Code AA – System has transitioned into ACPI mode, interrupt controller is in APIC mode. As I understand it transitioning into ACPI mode is normal with multicore CPU’s.

 

I would be grateful for advice on:

  1. Is it normal to wake from sleep mode when all power is switched off after closing down using the system shut down?
  2. Is there a reason that when the Q code AA is shown it indicates 99% of the time the Q code sequence has repeated itself before getting to windows log in, and event manager records a critical error?
  3. As the computer does not mechanically shutdown / reboot itself is there a need to do anything or be concerned? I ask this as it has been something I have seen over the years (both with my mine and other computers), but because the computer itself functions normally I took very little notice of.

 


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#19
phillpower2

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Hello Mick,

 

A bit to get through there so you cannot be accused of not being thorough before posting back.

 

A 1: Yours is not an isolated incidence as I have seen a few folks of late having problems with both Sleep and Hibernate, this suggests to me that this is a bug from a recent Windows update.

 

A2: Suggests to me that the BIOS is having to do a double check on an item of hardware before being able to post.

 

A3: See the below;

 

Download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here, this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s. 

 

To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:

  1. In Speccy, click File, and then click Publish Snapshot.
  2. In the Publish Snapshot dialog box, click Yes to enable Speccy to proceed.
  3. Speccy publishes the profile and displays a second Publish Snapshot. You can open the URL in your default browser, copy it to the clipboard, or close the dialog box.

 

Download MiniToolBox and save the file to the Desktop.

 

Close the browser and run the tool, check the following options;

 

List last 10 Event Viewer Errors
List Installed Programs
List Devices (Only Problems)
List Users, Partitions and Memory size

Click on Go.

Post the resulting log in your next reply for us if you will.


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#20
MickJJ

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Hi phillpower2

Than you for getting back to me so quickly.

I have created a link and download below and I hope they give you what you need.

 

Attached File  MTB - Notepad.txt   20.58KB   140 downloads

 

 

http://speccy.pirifo...5EEQS7hrUzxyltY

 

 

I realize that not all my programs have been identified due to them not being installed as yet but I note that

Phase One - Capture Pro 21 a photo editing software is not identified and was one of the first programs I re-installed and was in use yesterday.

There are the occasional reports that  Kaspersky can cause problems (especially around workstation motherboards) and whilst this is shown it was only reinstalled yesterday afternoon - to date has not caused a problem.

  

Thank you for your continued support

Mick


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#21
phillpower2

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Couple of things of note in Speccy;

 

RAM
64.0GB Unknown @ 1330MHz
 
Bit on the slow side for your CPU which the specs here say 2933MHz is recommended, this could be what is causing the POST to run twice, cannot say this for sure but it is the only hardware thing that we can see in Speccy.
 
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Computer type: Desktop
Installation Date: 24/10/2021
 
There are no chipset or IRST (Intel Rapid Storage Technology) drivers shown to have been installed since Windows 10 Pro was.
 
Once Windows has been clean installed you must then install first the chipset drivers, then the storage/SATA drivers and third the graphics drivers, the drivers can either come from a disk provided by the motherboard manufacturer or downloaded from the site and saved to a flash drive etc, this is a must and Windows should not be allowed to check for updates before it has been done as more often than not Windows installs the wrong drivers or in the incorrect order and this can cause all sorts of problems. 
 
The missing drivers along with Windows missing some updates could be the cause of the driver errors in the MTB log.
 
You should also check for firmware updates for all of your storage devices ( The 14GB SanDisk Cruzer Blade excluded). 
 
Kaspersky as you can see for yourself in MTB is having a problem with Windows security settings.
 
If after remedying the above you are still having issues with Kaspersky I suggest that you open a support ticket with them.
 

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#22
MickJJ

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Hi phillpower2

Thank you for getting back to me.

I have a feeling that I did reinstall the drivers once I undertook a clean installed windows but can not be certain so will reinstall. Before I reinstall the motherboard drivers I would like to check with you.

 

Obviously windows has been running and updated itself for the best part of 2 weeks - would you advise just to reinstall the drivers or is there something I should look out for as windows has been active for that period in time.

 

My BIOS states my RAM is 2666MHz - still I agree it is under the 2933.

IRST is off - should this be turned on as I was advised at one time to turn off.

 

With regard to firmware updates for my storage devices  - something that has been said to me before - I have done numerous searches for them Western Digital Hard Drives Gold 4TB *2 , 2TB *1 but have not found any. The only firmware WD identify is a Universal Download for checking external hard drives. I have never found actual firmware for internal drives. 


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#23
phillpower2

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You would know if you had physically installed the drivers yourself as you would of either had to install them from a disk that shipped with  the MB or go to the ASUS website here and download them, chances are that you got offered something from ASUS via Windows update, the less than useless AI Suite 3 for example.

 

Any problems that may have been caused by not installing the chipset etc drivers as soon as Windows had been installed are not guaranteed to be fixed by retro installing the said drivers, your call if you do and be sure to create a new system restore point first.

 

Your RAM you acknowledge is too slow.

 

IRST is off - should this be turned on as I was advised at one time to turn off.

 

 

Can I ask who advised you of this.

 

The IRST drivers are what enables the SATA ports on Intel chipset MBs to be able to communicate with storage devices such as SATA SSDs and HDDs.

 

Western Digital Dashboard is what you need for looking after WD devices, go here 


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#24
MickJJ

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Hi phillpower2

Thank you for getting back to me. The reason I have taken so long to reply is because I wanted to look into further re implementing your comments. 

 

1) I know I did install all the software that came with the motherboard. - It is my norm when installing clean to disconnect from the internet whilst doing so and then the motherboard software. I admit I cannot remember if I had disconnected from the internet when installing after the mouse freeze - In addition whilst I certain I did install the software if a scan read out indicates otherwise, I do not want to get into who is right syndrome, scan read out or me. It does not resolve the issue and it is better to say cannot remember and move on.

 

2) I have installed the Performance Counters and no longer showing up as an error.

 

3) With regard to the hard drives. I had downloaded the WD Dashboard which monitors all my HD, s. The only update identification section is for the SSD Black SN750M2 and is showing as being up to date.
All other updates on their site refer to external hard drives or their Cloud / NAS like the MyCloudPR4100 which I have and is regularly updated normally 03:00 and check by me on a routine basis.
I have contacted WD about firmware updates for their Gold Series HD, s.

 

4) With regard to Intel Rapid Storage Technology the advice to turn off has come from several sources in that Its use is (as I understand it) is with RAID configuration. I do not use RAID and my hard drives are not configurated for RAID, so I assumed it was not required Hence I left it in the OFF position. Following your comment, I did turn it on this morning and when I entered windows none of my hard drives were present, which I thought may be the case. I rebooted turned IRST off and the hard drive were accessible. However, the mouse was frozen - I restarted the computer and that resolved the issue.

 

5) Ram I will be reviewing this next year - unless problems force me to do it earlier.

 

6) I will be installing / updating drivers over the next few days and if necessary, contacting Kaspersky. On that note I do know that their VPN can cause issues and had uninstalled it. However, I note it is back - must have been installed automatically when I reinstalled Kaspersky. It is normally an additional cost add on. I will uninstall it again.

 

Is there anything you feel I have missed out or not fully understood?

Thank you for your continued help and support Mick


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#25
phillpower2

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4) With regard to Intel Rapid Storage Technology the advice to turn off has come from several sources in that Its use is (as I understand it) is with RAID configuration. I do not use RAID and my hard drives are not configurated for RAID, 

 

 

While it can be used with a RAID set-up the above is incorrect, enabling IRST and the mouse freezing are most likely a pure coincidence and this based on the fact that it was not enabled when the mouse froze last time + you did not have to jump though all sorts of hoops to resolve the issue this time.

 

Benefits of IRST here

 

Your PC to do with as you see fit and I see no reason why you cannot use it with the IRST disabled and the rest of the set up the that it is.

 

The RAM, either upgrade it to 2933MHz in the future or stick with the 2666MHz and as you say above move on.


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#26
MickJJ

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Hi phillpower2

Thank you for getting back to me.

I will be pursuing IRST further as I do not know enough about it so has become a challenge for me - regardless if I activate or leave inactive.

 

I review my components each year to see if I should upgrade or wait until I new build. My RAM is high on my agenda for next year but in light of what I use my computer for (editing and AI technology - using not developing) and the fact that as I am in my mid70,s I am unlikely to develop it further so instead of increasing the amount of RAM, upgrading to the recommended speed may be the best option.

 

I think both of us have concluded that this support case has concluded other than the odd question and update. I will leave it up to you to close it or leave it open for me to update in December and January unless another problem associated with this case crops up.

 

Thank you and Iammykyl for all your help and support - it has got me through a problematic time and a good learning experience.

mick


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#27
phillpower2

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You are welcome Mick and no worries about the thread getting closed, we don`t tend to do that with tech related threads.


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#28
MickJJ

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Hi phillpower2

Regarding updating my hard drives I have now had a response from WD and thought that it may be of interest.

It is attached as an PDF file.

Attached Files


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#29
MickJJ

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Update,
Computer functioning as it should - both hardware and software.

A point of interest:
Rebooting from either shut down or shutdown + power switched off, windows activation is when the Q-code reaches, either:

Code 40 – System is waking up from S4 sleep state.
Code AA – System has transitioned into ACPI mode, interrupt controller is in APIC mode. As I understand it transitioning into ACPI mode is normal with multicore CPU’s.

As to which one it chooses is unpredictable (random) but is not giving any problems.
With Q code 40 event viewer does not record any critical errors
Q code AA shows up a critical error - Kernel-Power 41, The system rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. I have seen a reduction in this error notice being recorded as time passes. In addition, since the computer has been functioning normally there is no physical sign i.e. rebooting on start-up occurring.

 

I will be upgrading my RAM to 2933MHz.

 

I do not know if I will build another computer (this is my 3rd build) but if I do, I will be going back to my previous thoughts regarding power units. I always bought 1000+w unless my components showed a power rating demanding an even larger unit.
On this occasion I went for Fractal Design, case, CPU cooler, extra case fans so thought I would stick with them for the power unit and the biggest they make is the 850w and as I had calculated my power requirement was 700w. 850w is 19.35% above I thought I would be OK. Just shows that even with checking one can miscalculate requirements, or just not allow for a large enough additional power.

 

For anyone reading this thread – If you are planning a computer with any of the following components Xeon CPU, the latest GPU (like mine a4000), EEC memory do your own power calculations as the standard ones found on the net do not list them. Only standard build components are listed.
Had I stuck with my normal planning of over 1000w I would have been between 35.29 and 52.63% over.


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