Computer immediately turns off and then back on in a cycle

[RoShamBo123]

My dad's computer has just run into an issue when starting up. When the power button is pressed, all of the lights turn on and the fans spin, but after about 4 seconds, it turns off. 2 seconds later, it turns itself back on, only to turn off again in for seconds. This keeps happening until I turn off the power supply. This happened out of nowhere, as the computer was working perfectly fine last night.

Parts:
i5-4690k
Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI LGA 1150 mini-ITX
Corsair CX430 psu
Radeon r7 480GB ssd

 

[terry4536]

Does the computer have a case speaker? If so, are there any beep codes?

My first guess is that the power supply is defective or it is detecting a short.

Here are two checklists. They cover most common problems.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1893016/post-system-boot-video-output-troubleshooting-checklist.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2041564/troubleshoot-boot-display-issue.html

 

[terry4536]

Here is a case speaker. They are an important tool to diagnose motherboard problems.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812201032&cm_re=case_speaker-_-12-201-032-_-Product

 

[RoShamBo123]

No, this motherboard does not come with - nor does it have a connection for - a case speaker.

Also, the fans spin up again very briefly after I switch off the PSU (using the small amount of power left in the capacitors), so I think it's the motherboard, not the PSU that has an issue.

 

[terry4536]

Yes it does. It is in the same connection as your front power , led, ect connections. (it is just 2 pins of that connector).


Go through the check lists. Check for any thing grounding the case to the motherboard.

You can check the voltage output with a multimeter or PSU tester. You can also take the PSU to a PC repair shop and have them test it.

 

[RoShamBo123]

I'm not sure... Here is a link to the manual: http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_ga-z97n(h97n)-wifi_v1.1_e.pdf

Page 26 has the front panel connectors. It doesn't list speaker anywhere, and there's only one pin left over (labeled NC - there is no pin to the left of NC).

 

[terry4536]

Your link doesn't work. The case speaker is a pretty standard optional feature.

 

[RoShamBo123]

Sorry, here's the root link: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5288#manual

Fans and lights just indicate that some power is coming out of the PSU... it does not indicate that you are getting enough.

Ah, right. I was just thinking that since the motherboard was trying to power on again even after the PSU was shut off, it was probably a motherboard issue.

 

[terry4536]

Apparently I'm wrong on this motherboard (no case speaker connector included). This is a very good reason for skipping Gigabyte. This is nothing more than cutting corners.


Here is a search I did showing others complaining about the lack of this feature.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=Gigabyte+GA+H97N&as_epq=case+speaker&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&tbs=&as_filetype=&as_rights=

 

[RoShamBo123]

Alright, update time.

Swapped out the PSU for another that I know works, but the problem persisted. I tried with no drives plugged in, and with different RAM to no avail, so it looks like it's a motherboard issue. I'm contacting Gigabyte for an RMA. Thanks for your help, guys.

 

[terry4536]

Good luck. I hope it fixes your problem.

 

[Richardloto]

My dad's computer has just run into an issue when starting up. When the power button is pressed, all of the lights turn on and the fans spin, but after about 4 seconds, it turns off. 2 seconds later, it turns itself back on, only to turn off again in for seconds. This keeps happening until I turn off the power supply. This happened out of nowhere, as the computer was working perfectly fine last night.

Parts:
i5-4690k
Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI LGA 1150 mini-ITX
Corsair CX430 psu
Radeon r7 480GB ssd

Hi dear, did you solve your problem?? i have exactly the same problem with the same build, can you write how did you fixed it?? thanjs

 

[hey buddy]

Hello!

I am actually having the exact same problem with the same motherboard, did you solve the problem???

Any help or advise is appreciated!!!

Thanks

 

[hey buddy]

Hey everyone, I finally found the solution for this problem on this motherboard!!

So what you have to do is actually quite simple. You just have to update the motherboard BIOS.

The steps I took where these:

1. First you go to Gigabyte website > then click on the tab support > go to the download box for drivers, BIOS etc. and type the model of the motherboard, which in this case is the "Ga-h97n-wifi" > it's going to present you with two options of the same model of motherboard, one is defined as "GA-H97N-WIFI (rev. 1.1)" and the other "GA-H97N-WIFI (rev. 1.0)". To see which "rev." you have just look at the actual motherboard inside your case and in one of the sides of the mother board its going to be written which "rev." is your motherboard (mine was "rev 1.0") > after you find out which "rev." is your motherboard, select the BIOS link of your motherboard, and download and unzip the latest BIOS file to a pen drive.

2. Since you can't access the BIOS because the PC keep rebooting on an endless loop you need to turn the computer completely off and unplug it from the power plug, then you need to clear the CMOS, to do that you have to unplug the conector that goes from a little battery glued on the motherboard through a small cable, to the motherboard conector itself, after you unplug the little conector off the conector on the motherboard, give it a few seconds and then connect it back again in the conector on the motherboard.

3. After that you can plug the power cord back in and turn the PC on, this time when it turns on it shall say on the monitor that the system has been reset or something like that and you just click on restore defaults and okay, then it'll take you to windows, after this just follow the instructions on how to update your BIOS from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHN_QAEPeF8

IMPORTANT!: After clearing the CMOS and you are able to get to windows, don't turn your computer on and off to access the BIOS to install the new BIOS, Because that will cause the endless loop again and you wont be able to access the bios and will have to clear the CMOS all over again. What you should do is only reboot from windows to then press delete and access the BIOS. After you update the BIOS and follow all the instructions on the video, then you can turn it completely on and off without any problems and no more endless loops 😀

If you have any questions post it here and I'll try to answer them.

 

[Hmb556]

I had this exact same problem a month or two ago, it was a bad ram stick for me. If you have two sticks, try taking out one and booting with just one stick. Then switch that one out with the second stick and try again (assuming you have two sticks). This should find the bad stick that you can then replace. See if you're able to boot up then. If you are, then it's the RAM.

 

[hey buddy]

That is correct Hmb556, I had a similar problem on a different ocasion that also caused an endless reboot loop, and I did the same tests that you mentioned here and found out that one of the RAM sticks was bad. But it was a different ocasion.

On this case, the problem I had was exactly the same as posted by the OP, PC was working fine and after turning it off, and on the next day trying to turn the PC back on to use it again, bam! Endless loop 🙁 , but I finally found the solution for this problem on this specific motherboard

 

[terry4536]

Hey everyone, I finally found the solution for this problem on this motherboard!!

So what you have to do is actually quite simple. You just have to update the motherboard BIOS.

The steps I took where these:

1. First you go to Gigabyte website > then click on the tab support > go to the download box for drivers, BIOS etc. and type the model of the motherboard, which in this case is the "Ga-h97n-wifi" > it's going to present you with two options of the same model of motherboard, one is defined as "GA-H97N-WIFI (rev. 1.1)" and the other "GA-H97N-WIFI (rev. 1.0)". To see which "rev." you have just look at the actual motherboard inside your case and in one of the sides of the mother board its going to be written which "rev." is your motherboard (mine was "rev 1.0") > after you find out which "rev." is your motherboard, select the BIOS link of your motherboard, and download and unzip the latest BIOS file to a pen drive.

2. Since you can't access the BIOS because the PC keep rebooting on an endless loop you need to turn the computer completely off and unplug it from the power plug, then you need to clear the CMOS, to do that you have to unplug the conector that goes from a little battery glued on the motherboard through a small cable, to the motherboard conector itself, after you unplug the little conector off the conector on the motherboard, give it a few seconds and then connect it back again in the conector on the motherboard.

3. After that you can plug the power cord back in and turn the PC on, this time when it turns on it shall say on the monitor that the system has been reset or something like that and you just click on restore defaults and okay, then it'll take you to windows, after this just follow the instructions on how to update your BIOS from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHN_QAEPeF8

IMPORTANT!: After clearing the CMOS and you are able to get to windows, don't turn your computer on and off to access the BIOS to install the new BIOS, Because that will cause the endless loop again and you wont be able to access the bios and will have to clear the CMOS all over again. What you should do is only reboot from windows to then press delete and access the BIOS. After you update the BIOS and follow all the instructions on the video, then you can turn it completely on and off without any problems and no more endless loops 😀

If you have any questions post it here and I'll try to answer them.

Updating the motherboard BIOS should be near the last troubleshooting step. Although it is less risky now, it is still a possibility that updating the BIOS can render a working motherboard unusable..

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1893016/post-system-boot-video-output-troubleshooting-checklist.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2041564/troubleshoot-boot-display-issue.html

Both of these checklists are very good for troubleshooting your computer (especially those problems involving start up).