Caught in a reset

[badger]

i5 2500K
Asus P8Z68-V LX
2x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3
Crucial M4 128GB
Asus 560Ti DirectCUII

Just built this. It started up first time and I got into the BIOS, but now it's caught in an endless boot loop. Just powers on and off constantly, never even loads up the BIOS now. All the fans spin up, motherboard lights up, then it shuts down and does the same thing.

Any ideas?

[blueball]

Remove 1 stick of memory to see if it boots like that then ensure memory settings are correct (esp voltage) - a lot of DDR2 boards used to have this issue too.

Another thing to try is to turn off PSU using switch at back, remove power lead, turn on PC to "flush" any charge then replace power lead and power on normally.

[badger]

Removing the RAM didn't work. However after I reset the BIOS it booted up and I was able to install Windows. Windows restarted okay during OS installation but then it didn't seem to do a full hardware reset, when I installed graphics drivers it reset and is now caught in the reset loop again.

[blueball]

May be worth setting BIOS to defaults and then setting it up again. Are you using the latest BIOS for the board?

Have you set the M4 to have latest firmware (at least 0009)

Might be a case of pulling things out and putting them back again - something might not be seated correctly.

[badger]

The SSD came with 0009 firmware, made sure of that when I ordered to minimise hassle (optimistic now it seems).

The mobo was running the first firmware, have now updated. Still getting the same problem.

If I clear the CMOS then boot it goes straight into Windows and behaves normally.

If I shut down it does something weird - seems to power off as normal but then quickly restarts and then finally shuts down completely. If I then power up again all is fine, but if at any point I have to restart - be it via Windows or the BIOS - then it gets stuck in the loop and I have to clear CMOS again.

It's got me stumped I tells thee. Any ideas? The system is usable but having to fiddle with jumpers just to restart is a tad inconvenient.

[blueball]

Have you tried reseating things?

Did you set BIOS to defaults using the option in the BIOS and then reset what you need?

Do you have another PSU you can try (I'm grasping at straws with this comment TBH)

[badger]

Yeah everything is firmly connected. Resetting the BIOS doesn't work because I can't save the changes, it goes back into the reset loop when it reboots.

Think I'm going to have to return the mobo, the fact that it boots up ok when CMOS is cleared would indicate to me that is where the problem lies.

[blueball]

Don't suppose you have a spare CMOS battery in case the one in the MB is bad?

[Splash]

Take it out of the case. I'd put money on a short in this situation.

[badger]

Take it out of the case. I'd put money on a short in this situation.

I thought it might be that too, but wouldn't it stop it booting at all? Why would it start normally when the CMOS is cleared but flip out on a reset?

[blueball]

I thought it might be that too, but wouldn't it stop it booting at all? Why would it start normally when the CMOS is cleared but flip out on a reset?

Don't know but hey it's worth a try

[Jonj1611]

Make sure the jumper on the motherboard isn't set to Clear CMOS or Clear RTC, otherwise it will do exactly what you say it is doing all the time.

Might help and worth checking

[Jonj1611]

Also out of interest, did you use a new psu with it? I had a similar problem with a PSU that was on its way out.

[badger]

It wasn't a short, ran it outside the case and same problem.

Didn't try the jumpers but the manual was clear about which pins to use, although it did have the labelling for the TPU switch the wrong way round so who knows?

I did find a post on a forum from someone who had the exact same issue but they managed to fix it by fiddling with the TPU switch, didn't work for me but it seems that I'm not the only one experiencing it which is encouraging in a way.

Thanks for all your help gents. Mobo is going back today, at least if the replacement does the same thing I will have eliminated that as the problem.

[badger]

Could a bent CPU socket pin cause the problem? Tried to return the board but it got sent back with them saying it was damaged and tough **** basically...

[blueball]

Could a bent CPU socket pin cause the problem? Tried to return the board but it got sent back with them saying it was damaged and tough **** basically...

That seems to be the most common response from vendors at the moment. I strongly suggest that anyone returning a mobo needs to take photos prior to parcelling it up as proof that there is no damage.

You could try straightening it with a pin.