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Thread ID: 71744 2006-08-15 08:59:00 PC not always starting Grimy (3041) Press F1
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478655 2006-08-15 08:59:00 Hi, occasionally my PC doesn't start when switched on. Normally after turning the power on it will whirr away for a couple of seconds and then give a beep. Then the screen comes on with the normal start up sequence.
Sometimes (3 or 4 times in 6 months) I turn the power on and there is no beep and nothing happens. There is power to the hard drive (and it sounds and feels as though it is going) and fans, but nothing more. I have tried a different Sata cable, used different MB ports for the Sata cable, run diagnostics on the HD and everything comes up okay. Usually after a bit of fiddling and a few retries it starts up.
I have downloaded the latest MB (Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI) drivers, but not the BIOS downloads. One download description says "Fix sometime IRDA CMOS item abnormal", - what does that mean?
What is the part that "beeps"? Is it the MB or CPU? Any ideas as to the problem?
Thanks,
Graham.
System: AMD 64 x2 3800+, 2GB RAM, MSI GT7800GT 256mb graphics
Grimy (3041)
478656 2006-08-15 09:37:00 What sort of PSU? pctek (84)
478657 2006-08-15 10:18:00 RaidMax RX520.
When it doesn't start, the monitor displays the message, "no input source" (or something similar).
Graham.
Grimy (3041)
478658 2006-08-15 10:39:00 IRDA has something to do with infra-red. The mobo may have a IRDA connection on it.

The beeps usually comes from the speaker in the case, if its got one in it.

You have got power going to the SATA hdd/s havent u? Are they plugged in properly?
Speedy Gonzales (78)
478659 2006-08-15 19:44:00 Yes, I've unplugged/plugged in the Sata cable from HD to MB several times, used different MB port and a new Sata cable. Everything appears to be getting power, just no beep/start up sometimes.
It has never failed once going.
Thnaks,
Graham.
Grimy (3041)
478660 2007-08-17 22:16:00 Hi all, This morning my PC has again (first time in months) not started. No POST beep. Power seems to be going to everything, I have unplugged and checked/cleaned connectors, removed and reseated RAM, changed the main plug on the external powerboard to another socket. PC has been starting great until today - when , of course I want to get some work done! When Googling the problem the common culprits seem to be RAM/Motherboard/PSU problems. Is there an eay way to isolate which one it may be? When I had this problem last year I downloaded some Burn In/Hardware test software, which found no problems. Any idea?
I'll check back later as I've had to kick my son off his laptop to post this!
Grimy (3041)
478661 2007-08-18 00:18:00 A little more info.......After retrying to start the PC every 10 minutes or so, it eventually beeped and is working fine. I did notice that the green LED behind the ethernet connection on the MB was not lit up when it wasn't starting. Is there a particular power cable going to the MB that would relate to this, or is it a MB problem? the MB is a Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI.
Thanks, Graham.
Grimy (3041)
478662 2007-08-18 00:32:00 Does it fix it if you just press restart when the screen doesn't come up? May be a cold boot problem much like DFI Motherboards. Otherwise I would probably put it down to the PSU first of all. trinsic (6945)
478663 2007-08-18 01:24:00 A little more info.......After retrying to start the PC every 10 minutes or so, it eventually beeped and is working fine. I did notice that the green LED behind the ethernet connection on the MB was not lit up when it wasn't starting. Is there a particular power cable going to the MB that would relate to this, or is it a MB problem? the MB is a Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI.
Thanks, Graham.

have you got the 4 pin plug in its socket up by the cpu ,i believe those boards are very reliable..
ferrite (4221)
478664 2007-08-18 01:53:00 Pressing the restart button makes no difference and I unplugged and reconnected the 4 pin plug by the CPU (several times). Everything seems good (don't they always! If these problems were simple, we'd all get bored!). Grimy (3041)
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