Very concerned. Not sure what to do.

[Dave_07]

Hi, i'm having an ongoing issue with my new 3XS system, it's about 3 months old, and i'm quite concerned that it might be a serious issue

Basically the system initially started having issues with completing post at boot and also switching it's self off. I thought it was due to some minor connection issues with various components, I corrected that. But the system started to have the same symptoms again after a week or so. Then I thought it might be the plug extension blocks the system was plugged into. So I bought brand new masterplug ones. And the system went back to being fairly stable again.

But now tonight the system just did the same thing again, switching it's self off then auto rebooting. It kinda shocked me, cause I was sure the issues were related to old plug extension blocks. And that it had been resolved by getting new ones.

I also specifically set up the way everything was plugged in this time, putting the system and monitors on different plug extension blocks, but leaving the speakers and router on the same extension block as the PC. So if it happened again I would be able to see exactly which devices were losing power.

When the system turned off, every other device, 2x monitors, speakers and router all kept their power on. So I know for definite that it wasn't a power interruption or fault with the extension blocks, as the only device to suddenly lose power was the pc tower it's self.

So i'm thinking it maybe the PSU or something else has developed a fault or some sort of issue. Also there is a weird intermittent audible clicking sound coming from the PSU, or at least it sounds like it's coming form there. It's kinda hard to tell, but it's really quite an annoying sound. The PSU is a Corsair RM1000w fully modular unit.

Kinda freaking out a bit, cause this seems like something that is beyond my ability to fix. The system is a scan 3XS custom build and it does have 3 year warranty with 1st year on site.

Really hoping that I don't have to pack it all up and send it back to scan. But i've never really had that many issues with scan systems, least nothing like this. So i'm not sure how the whole "on site" aspect of the warranty works.

Thanks, and sorry for long post. But I felt I needed to give a proper history of the issue, as it's been on going for a while, but intermittently.

[Dave_07]

Update: Ok so left the system running over night, and it didn't lose power. Maybe the power loss before was a one off ? I don't know. With it being so intermittent, it's hard to reproduce the issue. There doesn't seem to be any triggers, as it happed previously while idle and while the system is at load.

[flearider]

does it happen just while playing games ?? ie:the pc under load ..
had the heating in the house been high ? temp problem ?
I'd be taking it back to scan so they can look at it ..

[Dave_07]

does it happen just while playing games ?? ie:the pc under load ..
had the heating in the house been high ? temp problem ?
I'd be taking it back to scan so they can look at it ..

It has happened while the system is idle and also while in games, but actually happened more while idle. I always have gpu-z, core temp and aida64 open on the second monitor. As it's still a new rig, i've been keeping an eye on temps every time the system is under load. The temps have always been good.

This is the system idle:


System after an hour playing L4D2 @ 1080p:


System after an hour playing Dying Light @ 2k, which is a pretty demanding game:


As you can see the temps are pretty reasonable, and the system seems also to be auto adjusting the rpm's on gpu's and cpu correctly. The only rpm I can't check is the PSU fan.

Also power loss hasn't occurred again. I left the system on for most of the day as well to see. However i'm not sure if that is necessarily an indication of anything. As previously when the system was losing power, it was intermittent, sometimes it might be ok for a week before it did it again.

Also the clicking sound is also becoming quite annoying. Sounds like there is a cricket chirping away inside the case. Imagine a more high pitched sped up version of THIS

[flearider]

could be a fan that's chirping .. find out which it is .. get your ear down there ..with it being 3 months old pop it into scan ask them to take a look there good people ..

[Dave_07]

Well this morning, the system did the same thing. Although this time it didn't just switch it's self off, it just hard crashed. No BSOD or anything, it just froze, with a loud buzzing sound coming from the speakers.

I think the q-code on the motherboard said 33 when it did this, at least thats what it looked like. But there is no 33 code on the manual. Just this: "Code 32-36 - CPU post-memory initialization."

Then after that when it tried to auto reboot, it just got stuck in a cycle of stopping at q-code "BF". It couldn't get past "BF". And again the motherboard manual was equally unhelpful in regards to the meaning of this code. The manual just simply says: "Code B8-BF - Reserved for future AMI codes"

All I did then was just push down on all the major components, like the graphics cards and the memory sticks and push on the pin connectors on the graphics cards as well, just the usual stuff to make sure nothing had come lose. But I heard nothing click in, and nothing seemed at all disconnected or loose.

For some reason then the system was able to boot. But I really doubt it was the act of pushing on the components that mad any difference to be honest, because all connections were fine. Rather I think it was just leaving the system off for a short while then rebooting that got it to boot. So I have no idea whats going on, but I can safely say this system seems to be significantly less stable than my previous scan system which ran for 5 years with no such stability issues.

This is really stressing me out a lot now
Been saving for this new rig for god knows how long, and now it feels like I just paid 3 grand for nothing.

Flearider do you know if scan staff members still moderate this sub-forum ? Seems like my post is the only one.

Also you don't know what the Overclock_Power_Options.exe does do you by any chance ?
For me it's located in C:\3XS-TESTS\PowerSchemes. It was on the system when I first got it.
I remember the first day I got it, I was going through the file registry and I stumbled across this application. I remember accidentally clicked on it too, and it initiated something in command prompt. Could that have messed up the system somehow ?

[peterb]

SCAN do look at the forums, but it is a long bank holiday weekend. You might be better off calling SCAN on the phone on Tuesday or Wednesday morning.

If it is only three months old you will probably better sending it back under warranty and let SCAN sort it out, rather than trying to fix it yourself.

[Dave_07]

SCAN do look at the forums, but it is a long bank holiday weekend. You might be better off calling SCAN on the phone on Tuesday or Wednesday morning.

If it is only three months old you will probably better sending it back under warranty and let SCAN sort it out, rather than trying to fix it yourself.

Was afraid that might be the case. Would I have to pay for shipping back to scan ?

[peterb]

Was afraid that might be the case. Would I have to pay for shipping back to scan ?

That is something you will need to ask them.

It may be in the terms and conditions of the warranty agreement that is part of the original purchase contract.

[Kie]

Why would you need to pack it up and return it if you've got twelve months on site warranty and your system is only three months old? Ring them up (best method) and explain the problem, they should send an engineer to your house to resolve the problem...

[Sanjay@Scan]

Hi Dave,

Sorry to hear you are having issue with your system.

Can you email me your build number and contact number to systemsupport@scan.co.uk

Regards
Sanjay

[Dave_07]

Hi Sanjay, Thank you for your reply.

I have mailed you the account number and invoice number, along with contact number. I apologize for the delayed reply, but someone accidentally reversed their car into the front of our house , so been dealing with that for the past week.

Anyway, been doing more on and off testing of the system. The issues described have grown worse. The system struggles to complete power on self test at boot, with it usually halting at different stages of the POST process during boot.

Thanks.

[Dave_07]

Hi, just wondering of you received the email or not ?
I received a "your email was read" by "Bens@Scan" receipt sent back to my mail client. If not I can re-mail the details if you need.

Also just remember there is a little micro usb stick that came with the system, designed to re-setup the bios or something ? But i'm unfamiliar with how to go about using it. Just wondering if I should give it a go or not, as I don't want to mess up the overclock on the CPU, or the setup on the raid array or anything. Just got windows and everything setup just right, so deferentially don't want to do anything that could jeopardize the integrity of the raid array.

Thanks.

PS, the main problem is still getting through POST at boot up. It just seems to randomly fail at different stages of the post sequence. Seems like pot luck whether it completes post. But out side of that the system seems ok. If we could just get this boot up/POST issue resolved then the system would be perfect

[Sanjay@Scan]

Hi Dave,

Sorry for the late reply, your email from yesterday got filtered into my SPAM. I have emailed you some settings you can enter in the BIOS to see if this helps getting the PC to POST every time.

Regards
Sanjay

[Dave_07]

Hi Sanjay. Been a while mate But I have update, and once again need your expertise and advice.

I've been working/testing the system for a while longer now, and i'm not sure, but I might have an idea as to what is causing the system to seemingly randomly fail P.O.S.T at boot up. Though it's just a hunch at the moment.

Basically out of habit I always turn my primary monitor on first before turning on the actual system, so the system can detect the display properly, and also often I would turn the speakers on as well before starting the system. But I started to noticed that the times when the system booted up first time with no issue was when I would turn the monitor on first, but forget to turn on the speakers as well. So I tested it and the system did indeed seem to stand a greater chance of getting through POST if the speakers were off during POST at boot up.

These are the SPEAKERS i'm using.

So I decided to do a test for a period of two weeks, where every time I turned on the system, I obviously make sure to turn the monitor on first beforehand, but NOT turn on the speakers beforehand. And sure enough as long as the speakers were never on when the system was going through POST, it would always boot up without issue first time every time.

So there seems to be some sort of issue were if I have the speakers on while the system is doing a POST it can cause the POST to fail.

Personally I have never seen an issue like this, nor have I ever had any similar issues like this in the past with previous computers. So I need to ask you, is this normal ? Like I know it's kind of a unwritten rule that you always turn your monitor on before you turn on your computer, so the computer can detect and feed to the display properly. So i'm just wondering if there is a similar rule with speakers ? - like is it normal for powered on speakers to interfere with POST ?

Anyway, I decided to get rid of those speakers and replace them with an identical backup pair I had. I tested the new pair of speakers, and unfortunately they seem to also cause the same problem, like the system is fine if the speakers are off during POST, but if they are on during POST, it makes the POST fail at random stages.

So I don't know whether it's just these particular Genius speakers that the system has a issue with, (which I kinda doubt cause they worked fine with my previous system) or whether there is a fault with the onboard sound on the motherboard. So the mystery isn't solved yet, but i'm getting closer.

Anyway i'm going to order some new different speakers and test them, and see if the system can POST with the speakers plugged in and turned on. I'm looking to get a pair of 2.0 speakers with 3.5mm pin plug, not usb, and be in the £20-£30 ish range. Which one's would you recommend ? Although maybe I should try USB speakers as well. However don't USB speakers that take the sound through the actual USB connection, bypass the onboard sound chip ? resulting is lower quality sound output ?

If after testing new speakers the system still has issues with speaks being on during POST, then I guess I have to assume there is a fault is with the system/onbaord sound. But if that is the cause then how come there is only a issue during POST and no issue when the system is in windows.

Thanks for any assistance you can give.

[Dave_07]

Scratch that, back to square one. I decided to do some more testing with the speakers completely unplugged from the system. Because I noticed the system started failing post again even tho I was making sure the new pair of genius speakers were off during POST. Thinking that if it was the speakers at fault, if unplugged them completely from the system, that should mean the system starts up every time right ? Nope, if anything the system became even more flaky after that, failing post left right and center, and corrupting windows because of BSOD occurring at the "starting windows" bit just after POST.

So I guess that theory goes out the window. Not sure why it had a period of like two solid weeks where it had no boot issues at all as long as the speakers were off during POST

Next thing to try would be bios update. Which may try myself, or maybe return the system to scan and let the guys at scan do it.


Edit: Aslo for got to mention i'm using a 5A fuse in the plug for the system power lead, is that enough for a system like this ? as I was told not to use a 13A with pc's.