Computer takes abnormally long time to power up (turn on)

[bjsdtl]

Hello there,

I decided to post this in the motherboard subforum as the source of this issue is not yet identified, and there was some BIOS configuration I did (explained later) in troubleshooting.

Please see my rig's setup in my signature.

A simple explanation of this issue is as follows: when turning the power on, it seems as though it takes a very long time (although this is not always the case) for the computer to receive enough electrical current to turn on. Without knowing exactly what's causing this issue, I may be incorrect in that assessment but it's the best I have to offer at the moment. Occasionally the computer will take approximately 10-15 seconds to turn on, while at other times it turns on instantaneously, as I am used to experiencing. On more rare occasions, it will simply not turn on at all. In these extreme cases, one of the chassis fans will begin to spin, and abruptly stop. After that, no attempt to turn the power on will make the fan begin to spin again. This will continue until I unplug the machine and wait approximately 30 seconds, and then try again. I may get the same result or it may turn on after those steps are taken.

One day, the PC was being particularly stubborn (not turning on) and my normal technique of wait 30 seconds, try again was getting nowhere. So I decided to hit "Clr CMOS" on my mobo and had to reconfigure the boot drive back to AHCI mode (it was reset to IDE when I hit the Clr CMOS button). That's all there is in terms of motherboard info related to this issue, but I figured it was worth mentioning.

Another, potentially informative, piece of information is that I will sometimes experience instances where the computer boots up after a long delay, and all peripherals EXCEPT the mouse work as well. All peripherals (wired keyboard, wired mouse, small speakers) are connected to the motherboard directly via USB ports (or in the case of the speakers, the A/V I/O board). I have no idea why this is the case, but I suppose it also connects this issue to motherboards.

Finally, the issue only started happening after my building installed circuit breakers in place of what used to be VERY outdated fuse boxes. I made sure to turn off my PSU and turn off the very nice surge protection strip I use on the day this maintenance was carried out to avoid any damage to the machine. However, with this issue now happening I'm afraid it may have not been enough (although it seemed quite thorough to me at the time).

In my search, I have not been able to find a case in which a PC was experiencing these problems exactly as I do. In fact, most solutions were related to things that I am certain are not an issue, such as IDE/AHCI storage configuration in the BIOS (which I have already reset and corrected).

The good news is that when the machine boots up (either slowly or immediately) everything is as it should be in terms of a software point-of-view. I can't speak for the hardware, but I would like to carry out some storage drive utility checks on both my boot drive and media storage drive just to be sure.

I suppose the purpose of this post is not to definitively identify the cause of this problem, as it could be impossible to diagnose remotely, but to shed some light onto potential sources, as well as processes I could carry out to continue my troubleshooting.

Thanks in advance!

P.S. I included the tag "boot failure" but in fact the OS never fails to boot.

 

[RaDiKaL_]

During those 15+ seconds that it takes it to turn on, what exactly happens, are fans spinning? is there any activity that leads you to think that it's trying to boot up? if so, what?

"In these extreme cases, one of the chassis fans will begin to spin, and abruptly stop. After that, no attempt to turn the power on will make the fan begin to spin again."

That sounds like a static issue, have you cleaned it recently from dust inside the case? is the case very close to the ground, maybe you have a carpet?

Static could also explain why some USB ports work while others don't.

Finally, if you rule out static then it's very likely that your PSU is faulty, you could test it on another known working machine to be 100% about it.

 

[bjsdtl]

A failed attempt goes something like this:
1)Press power button
2)1-3 seconds later, rear chassis fan twitches, but does not spin
3)No power turns on
4)Subsequent attempts to power up are unsuccessful

And a successful attempt like this:
1)Press power button
2)5-15 seconds later, power comes on
3)Mouse may not receive power via USB
4)Successful boot

When starting up fails, I have tried moving the PSU cord to a different outlet on the surge protector. This, combined with waiting about 20-30 seconds, sometimes fixes the issue.

I would be disappointed if either my surge protector or PSU failed as I invested in quality:
Surge protector: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812107131
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151098

Regarding dust, there was an issue in the past where the front-facing USB ports and audio-out jack stopped working, but I figured it was just faulty wiring and switched my peripherals to the rear ports panel. I would consider these separate issues, but if you think there is a connection due to static it might help me fix that as well.

 

[RaDiKaL_]

Try breadboarding your pc: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems

It's after step 23 I believe, this way we will eliminate any grounding issue (while taking the mobo out of the case clean any dust in all components if you haven't done that already).