PC crashes while booting; works on second boot

[MrMorris]

Hello Guys,

this is my first post in this forum and I'm here because I'm looking for suggestions to solve a problem.

The Problem:
When I start the PC after it has been shut down for at least 5-6 hours it crashes on the first booting attempt. After this happens im forced to manually shut it down by pressing the Power Button for several seconds. If I try booting it two minutes later it works perfectly normal - no crashes or different sorts of problems.

What I have checked so far (short form, details below):

1. Not an operating system problem (both Windows and Linux crash)
2. RAM works fine
3. HDD is fine
4. Graphics Card is fine aswell
5. Power supply seems to be fine too (90% sure)

How I checked

1. OS: I have been running Windows 7, Windows 8 and Ubuntu 13 + 14 on the machine, the same problem occurred on every System (BSOD on Windows and Kernel Panic at Linux)
2. RAM: I had the Memtest 86+ running for a few hours without a problem
3. HDD: The S.M.A.R.T values are all okay
4. Graphics Card: Tried another graphic card, same problem.
5. PSU: Connected the HDD and Graphics card to a second PSU to reduce the workload --> same problem.

What I did furthermore:

• Removed all hardware from the case and rebuild it on my desk (on cardboard) to exclude short circuits.

Hardware&Software Components:
CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 955
RAM: G.Skill DDR3 1333MHz (3*2GB)
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 5770
HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 (500GB)
Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P
PSU: beQuiet PurePower 410W
OS: currently Ubuntu 14.04



If there is any information missing, please tell me



I'm grateful for any suggestion, since I'm pretty much out of ideas

(sorry for my english)

 

[Joe C]

If your power supply is taking too long to provide a power good signal to the board, you'll get an identical scenario as to what you describe, try another power supply....check all the capacitors on the mother board to be sure they are good (not bubbled up on the tops and leaking). See if that helps

When the power supply first starts up, it takes some time for the components to get "up to speed" and start generating the proper DC voltages that the computer needs to operate. Before this time, if the computer were allowed to try to boot up, strange results could occur since the power might not be at the right voltage. It can take a half-second or longer for the power to stabilize, and this is an eternity to a processor that can run half a billion instructions per second! To prevent the computer from starting up prematurely, the power supply puts out a signal to the motherboard called "Power Good" (or "PowerGood", or "Power OK", or "PWR OK" and so on) after it completes its internal tests and determines that the power is ready for use. Until this signal is sent, the motherboard will refuse to start up the computer.
In addition, the power supply will turn off the Power Good signal if a power surge or glitch causes it to malfunction. It will then turn the signal back on when the power is OK again, which will reset the computer. If you've ever had a brownout where the lights flicker off for a split-second and the computer seems to keep running but resets itself, that's probably what happened. Sometimes a power supply may shut down and seem "blown" after a power problem but will reset itself if the power is turned off for 15 seconds and then turned back on.

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/power/sup/funcPowerGood-c.html

 

[MrMorris]

Hey,

thanks for the suggestion. The crashes are happening about 3 seconds after the BIOS finished its tasks - do you think the PSU problems can still crash the Computer at that point?

Right now i got spare parts for everything except the Power Supply so I'm going to order a new one anyway, do you think 410W will be enough or should I go for 530W?

Edit: I ordered a new 450W beQuiet PSU, which will allow me to test it tomorrow.

 

[Joe C]

Can't guarantee that a new psu will fix your problem, just a diagnostic method of trial and error....It could possibly be something else

 

[MrMorris]

Hey,

I got the new PSU today and was really hoping that it was the cause of the problem, but unfortunately it occured again, after I started the Computer.

I took a picture of the Kernel Panic error message (see Attachements).

Updated Checked List:

1. Not an operating system problem (both Windows and Linux crash)
2. RAM works fine
3. HDD is fine
4. Graphics Card is fine aswell
5. Power supply is fine

Edit: According to this link there appear to be problems with a combination of Gigabyte Mainboards and G.Skill RAM Modules, even if the Memtest shows no problems. I will try different modules tomorrow and report back

Some other suggestions would be awesome

 

[Joe C]

I would try adjusting the ram timing and settings as per the link you posted first

 

[MrMorris]

Hey,

so I looked some information about the RAM Voltage up:

G.Skill:
Voltage: 1.50V
SPD Voltage: 1.50V
Timings: 9-9-9-24-2N

Settings by the BIOS:
(see Attachement)
Voltage 1.616

Unfortunately I'm unable to turn the voltage down to 1.5V, it only lets me raise it, so I will have to change the RAM. Furthermore the Interwebs told me that this mainboard appears to be very picky with the RAM it accepts...

It's still bugging me that the Memtest went through without any problems

I'm going to switch the RAM-Modules tomorrow and will report if the problem is gone.
------------------------------------------------------------
Edit: Finally the Computer is working as it should
Thanks for all the help!

(This thread can be closed.)

 

[Joe C]

Edit: Finally the Computer is working as it should
Thanks for all the help!

For the sake to help anybody else that might have a similar problem, ..............what did you do to correct this problem?

 

[MrMorris]

Oh, I hoped that had been clear

The Problem:
When I start the PC after it has been shut down for at least 5-6 hours it crashes on the first booting attempt. After this happens im forced to manually shut it down by pressing the Power Button for several seconds. If I try booting it two minutes later it works perfectly normal - no crashes or different sorts of problems.

I checked:

• HDD (S.M.A.R.T. Information)
• PSU (Used a different Power Supply)
• RAM (Ran Memtest86 for several hours, no problems)
• Graphics Card (Used a different Graphics Card)
• Software/OS (Tried Windows 7, 8 and Ubuntu 13)

Problem cause:


In the end the problem was caused by the RAM-Modules, despite the fact that Memtest showed no errors. The Mainboard ran them at 1.6V, but they needed 1.5V.


Solution:


The mainboard didn't let me lower the power to 1.5V so I replaced the RAM modules.

Conclusion: Don't trust Memtest86 alone when testing the RAM, look at the required Latency and Voltage and compare the values to BIOS values.


(I hope this helps )