Boot/BIOS problems

[Az00123]

Hi, for some reason i seem to be having a boot problem and i can't seem to find a reason or permanent fix for it.

I have an abit ip35 dark raider, and it's always started up with fans on highest speed, shut down then started up again with fans on high speed, fans then slow down and it and worked, i think this is usual with p35 boards and just requires a flash to fix it, i've never bothered fixing it though as i don't really see it as a problem.

Now though, it starts up with fans on high speed, shuts down and starts up again with fans on high speed and stays like this. I can't get it to start up at all unless i reset the CMOS and remove the CMOS battery for about 15 mins. I used to have a q6600 oc'ed to 3.2ghz but now i can't keep my oc because i have to continually do the steps above to get it to boot, whenever i try to save any BIOS settings and restart the computer it will have the same boot problem as before. I have no case speaker either. Latest change to build was a new hdd on the 8th of march, the problem started occurring on 3rd august and i was on hols from 4th-23rd. On the night of the 3rd my grandfather touched the computer and could have somehow broken it

Specs:
Abit ip35 dark raider
q6600
TRUE
8gb ddr2-800 g.skill ram
seagate 7200.11 320gb (primary drive)
samsung f1 1tb (bought later for more storage)
nvidia 9800gx2
cm stacker 831
samsung sm245b

Hi, haven't been here in a while but i think this is the place where i'm most likely to find good help. I posted the previous quote a few weeks ago on another forum and one member suggested that it was a problem with the CMOS battery as i always turn off the main power supply when i turn off the computer and so there's no auxiliary power from the psu.

A few days after i'd posted the thread, i managed to get the computer to boot by setting the CMOS jumper to reset, removing the battery, turning mains off, waiting for about 10 minutes and then plugging in the CMOS battery, powering up and setting the jumper to normal, i also stopped turning the mains off when i shutdown the computer and the problem seem to have disappeared (the bios had totally reset, lost my oc, had to reset time etc), apart from a message i got at bootup "cpu is unworkable or has been changed, press f1 ro continue" or sometimes "cmos checksum error"

Today, while still using my computer with the temporary fix, i started getting artefacts and the computer powered down and restarted, i also got a blue screen but the computer restarted (forgot to set it to leave the bsod on screen) and hung on the post screen, i tried going through the same method as prev stated to reset the bios and i managed to boot and stay on for about 10 mins after getting artefacts again and the computer restarting and hanging on the post screen

can anyone help?

 

[OnDborder]

This is interesting..."On the night of the 3rd my grandfather touched the computer and could have somehow broken it"
Well seeing that you are having multiple issues; won't boot correctly, "cpu is unworkable or has been changed" error message, bsod, and artifacting. I would guess a motherboard defect or psu going kaput.
What kind of volts are you getting on the 12 and 5 volt.
Do you know what your vcore and nb temps are?
Did you try swapping out parts?

 

[Trap05]

Sounds like you have a couple problems. First of all there's no need to shutoff the switch on your powersupply when the PC is off. Now it sounds like your problem is videocard related...Can you test the card in another PC or try something else in yours?

 

[Az00123]

thanks for your speed reply, i booted up, then it crashed while i was typing out a reply, got some pics of it though. Now typing this from my mothers dell comp
In response to your questions, i don't have the equipment to measure the voltages or to swap out parts as its my first build. i also thought the cpu error was due to the bios/oc being reset and the unstable bios because of the suspected dead/problematic cmos battery as the computer was booting fine when the mains was left on when the computer was shut down as opposed to when i turned it off and it wouldn't boot; which is probably due to the battery being dead (i built this in may 08 and have been turning the mains off when i shutdown the computer since then)

back to the pictures of when i crashed

i've taken the cmos battery out again, in about 10 minutes it will let me boot again and then crash after 10 mins...

edit: in response to trap, i know i shouldn't turn it off, but it's because my mother constantly nags about the red led on the mobo being on (the power detected light) and forced me to turn it off, hope she learns a lesson from this , also, i can't test it in any other buiilds as all my other comps here are old (no pcie) or laptops, also, i doubt i could test it in my friends comps either as they all use prebuilt pcs

 

[Trap05]

Why should your mother care about a red led on the motherboard? If you can't test the card someplace else take it to a shop and have them test it or get your hands on a card you know works properly. Also I think I remember reading your board doesn't like 8GB of ram very much so pull 2 sticks for the time being.

 

[Az00123]

perhaps the graphics error could be down to drivers? i did have a problem in counter strike source which was resolved through a driver update about 2 or 3 days ago, i want to try and fix this problem without going off to check my build in a comp shop but looks like i'll have to. for the meantime i've pulled 2 sticks out and am now boooting up, will post back with updates as soon as it crashes
edit: with 2 sticks out, it's been going for around half an hour without a crash, anything i should do now while comp is up to try and fix the problem for good? also should i replace the cmos battery as i think that may be the culprit

 

[Trap05]

Replace the cmos battery. Make yourself a memtest CD and let it run for a bit and see if you get this graphic corruption while outside of windows that will tell you if its drivers or not. I'm sure it isn't a driver issue but this will confirm that for you.

 

[Az00123]

hi again, since the last post i haven't had any more graphics problems or crashes, just the usual cpu message when i boot

i've just replaced my cmos battery and put the other 2 sticks of ram in and booted up but i still get the cmos checksum error message which afaik means a problem with the cmos battery?

 

[Trap05]

What bios version? I'd look at updating it to the most current if its not already.

 

[Az00123]

i think the bios version is awardbios v6.00pg
how do i go about updating it?

 

[Trap05]

This link will tell you how and you could use CPUZ mohterboard tab to find out your actual bios version because what you posted is not correct.
http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/down...ard&pTITLE_ON_SCREEN=IP35&pSOCKET_TYPE=LGA775

 

[Az00123]

all i see in the version is v6.00 pg :\
i'll try taking a look at the abit site now but i've started having router problems too, seems like all technology hates me...

 

[Trap05]

Going by the date you're on bios 11 go to 18 which is considerably newer.

 

[Az00123]

I can't change any bios settings and save them to cmos as i repeatedly get graphical errors, it will boot fine with the saved settings but i can't see what's going on. First, i tried to change the boot menu so that it would boot from my usb drive, it seemed to boot fine but all I could see were 0s with dots inside them, arrows and smiley faces dotted around the screen. After that i reset the cmos and also tried just upping the NB voltage while setting the boot back to my hdd to see if it was a usb problem, but the problem still persisted, it booted fine (i could hear the windows sound when i reach the login screen) but i could only see white lines moving around on screen. Up till now, i haven't had any other graphical problems since the crashes which i posted about earlier.

Is there any other way i can flash the bios without having to set the boot menu in the bios?

 

[Az00123]

does anybody have a solution to my problem?

 

[Trap05]

Use your boot menu key F8 or whatever it is to select the boot device you want.

 

[Az00123]

Hi, i've been away for a few days and now i'm back
I flashed the bios through the abit software as i don't think there is a boot menu on my mobo (weird)
I restarted after flashing, went into my bios and turned mch and ram voltage up a notch to see if it could handle saving the settings, it did boot up straight away and worked. however after about 5 mins i started getting graphical errors again. The bios has definitely been flashed as it says version 18 but im still getting the cmos checksum and cpu is unworkable error, as well as the graphical erros after flashing and trying to reset the cmos multiple times.
Should i try dismantling the computer and booting with 1 stick of ram and 1 hdd? Or are there any more things i can do to try and fix this problem? i'd also like to thank you trap for all the help you've provided so far

 

[Trap05]

I think its either videocard or motherboard until you can eliminate one of those you're stuck. Your simplest is to test your videocard in another board.

 

[Az00123]

is there anything else i can do in the meantime to try and solve this problem? most computer shops around here are pretty useless, either they refuse to do it because they believe my card will fry their mobo, they don't have the resources or they charge a ridiculous amount just to plug the card in and see if it posts.
during this time i've also been trying to boot repeatedly, since flashing i have been able to save bios settings and boot up with graphics problems (artefacts, tiny res) and in windows, device manager says its shut down the 9800gx2 due to some sort of error. I tried to reinstall graphics drivers and the comp froze midway through it so i had to go through the whole process of resetting cmos again. i booted up again and somehow managed it without any graphics problems, however after 5 mins again i got artefacts for a second and the comp crashed and restarted. seems to be more of a graphics card error than mobo atm though all these problems make it hard to differentiate while i try to find somewhere to test my card.

 

[Trap05]

I would just RMA the card at this point