ABIT IP35-Pro Start up Problem

[s2clanneo]

Ive had my computer for over a year now and havent had any problems, love everything about it. However, just the other day, my computer restarted on me and I was puzzled. When it restarted on me, it flashed a blue screen with white writing... Far too fast for me to begin to read it... When it started up again a screen opened and basically said that I could restart it normally, under the last known working conditions, or safe mode. No matter which option I choose I get the same result which is a restart that takes me back to that screen. I checked the POST code on the motherboard itself during the process and it seems like its showing F1 which is a softmenu reset. Ive never experienced this before and Im not sure what to do. Any help/suggestions would be great. If Ive left out any type of information that someone may find useful then let me know and Ill be glad to fill you in. Thanks in advace

[BUFF]

full system specs incl. makes & models please.

[s2clanneo]

ABIT IP35-Pro
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
EVGA GeForce 8800GT 512MB
Segate Barracuda 320GB
2x1GB Corsair
Running a Thermaltake Toughpower 650W



Hope this helps.

[BUFF]

have you tried a full clear CMOS (including discharging the caps)?

[s2clanneo]

Uhm, Im not completely computer savy. I did flip the switch on the back of the mobo to clear the CMOS but that didnt work. That may not be what youre talking about though. Maybe you could be a bit more detailed on how I can do what youre suggesting

[kater-acme]

Take the battery out for a minute (not just 4 seconds). Set/reset the CMOS jumper next to the battery. Should help.

[s2clanneo]

Well that didnt work... On the reboot however, it did give me a "CMOS Checksum Error - Defaults loaded" message after I cleared the CMOS and according to the manual that could mean that the battery is dead. Im gonna try using a new battery and see if maybe that will fix the problem.

Any other suggestions or advice in the meantime is more then welcome.

[BUFF]

going back to "When it restarted on me, it flashed a blue screen with white writing... Far too fast for me to begin to read it... When it started up again a screen opened and basically said that I could restart it normally, under the last known working conditions, or safe mode. No matter which option I choose I get the same result which is a restart that takes me back to that screen."
if it gets to that stage of trying to boot Windows the mobo is working.
It's something to do with your Windows install or other hardware (perhaps HDD or memory?).

[s2clanneo]

^^
I dont think it could have something to do with my windows install could it? I mean, Ive had this machine up and running for over a year plus now with no problems what so ever so I dont know how a windows problem would come about after all this time has passed.



At any rate, Ive been trying to troubleshoot this problem on my own and heres some different things Ive tried.

I had a battery from an older comp of mine that is basically just spare parts now. I dont use that machine anymore. I changed the battery and that failed to fix the problem. The next thing I did was that I actually hooked up the HD from my older machine to my current and it booted windows with no problem. So Im gonna assume its not a hardware issue but a software issue of some type... Or the HD is completely shot all together. Ive been talking with an RL friend of mine who said I could hook up the HD as a slave to try and see what the problem is and wether or not I could fix it.

Im curious as to wether some of you think this would be the best route. If this is the best route, then I need some info because Ive never actually run a slave setup before and dont know what I should be doing or looking for. If anyone can kinda give me a detailed guide on it or maybe point/link me to a guide that would help a lot.

[malfunction]

AHCI vs IDE mode for the chipset drivers?

[s2clanneo]

Sorry, but like I said before Im not completely computer savy so I dont understand what youre trying to ask/get across. /doh

[malfunction]

Look at the manual - page 2-17 (as printed, page 43 of 88 if you're viewing the PDF) - shows the available options for "SATA Mode". Try booting up in both "IDE" and "AHCI" mode (assuming you aren't using RAID at all / only have a single boot drive).

You can download the manual from this thread:

http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...ro-manual.html

If you don't have a copy handy.

[s2clanneo]

^^
Ive never changed anything in the BIOS/CMOS on my own. Never wanted to fiddle with any of that setup because Im no pro by any means.

Well heres what Ive done so far today to try and chip away at this problem.


I booted both the older/working HD as well as the newer HD that Ive been having problems with. I booted the older HD as a primary and the newer HD as a secondary or slave. I was able to pull files from the newer drive and keep some things that I needed/wanted from it. Basically this is showing that the HD itself isnt broken or anything of that sort as I can still access the files from it, however, it still wont boot to windows. Im going to gather this means that its some type of software/windows issue thats still the problem. Im curious as to wether or not its possible to fix the problem somehow using the windows CD or some type of functionality through the working HD. If anyone has info it would be a big help.




EDIT: Both HDs Im using are running SATA and not IDE. Not sure if that makes a big difference with the post above this one.

[kater-acme]

Here's what I'd try (random order):
- scan for malware
- reattach / replace SATA cables
- check HDD with hd-tune for bad sectors
- reinstall Windows
- check RAM with Orthos (select RAM test)
- get TuneUp Utilities (or similar software) and run maintenance (or similar action)

From what you're describing I'd think that this is more of a software problem, or if it's hardware related then RAM could be the culprit.

[malfunction]

EDIT: Both HDs Im using are running SATA and not IDE. Not sure if that makes a big difference with the post above this one.

To be clear I'm not asking if your HDDs are SATA or IDE, I'm suggesting you change the compatibility mode of the chipset in the BIOS. You can think of it as IDE mode = pretend to be an IDE chipset so older versions of Windows (XP or earlier) can use the hard drives without needing more up to date chipset drivers built-in. If Windows was installed in IDE mode it's unlikely to be able to boot up in AHCI mode. So I'm saying you should try both settings and see if it boots from the HDD.

[s2clanneo]

kater, its def not a hardware issue as Ive been able to boot an older HD as a main using the current HD as a secondary and was still able to pull files from it even tho its not booting to windows. Which is why I said I think its some type of software issue and think that I need to fix or maybe even reformat windows.


Malfunction, I did what you suggested by following the manual and that failed to work.




Im pretty sure its some type of software/windows related issue. Can someone tell me how I can go about fixing it even though it wont boot windows? I ran my older HD with the newer (not working HD) as a secondary and inserted the windows disk to see if it would give me some type of option of choosing between the HDs but it didnt, so Im not sure exactly how to go about fixing or even reinstalling windows. So if someone could give me info on that, that would be great.