[SOLVED] Computer wouid only boot sideways, now it boots when it wants to???

TheCrimsonPugilist

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Jul 26, 2015
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Context:

A few days ago I was working on my computer, using it perfectly fine, absolutely NO problems booting up WHATSOEVER , and then my shitty desk (which I've since replaced), slammed down on it shutting it off instantly.

I tried to turn it on afterwards but it refused to boot, so I took out all my peripherals and got a look inside to see if anything may have been knocked loose. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary so I plugged and re-plugged all the cords inside just to be safe. At this point, the computer is laying down sideways so I plug the power cord in to check and see if it'd boot. It did, so I stood it up vertically and put in all my peripherals again. I tried to turn it on and use it, and the computer refused to boot.

I laid the computer sideways once again to check for loose connections, and tried to power it on from the same position. It worked once again, so I turned it on and off 10 times to see if it'd consistently boot. It booted 10 out of 10 times so I figured maybe it'd work now? I turned it vertically and it refused to boot again. ( I forgot to note that at this point, the computer couldn't be turned off with the power button and I needed to either turn off the switch in the back or plug out the cord in order to do so ).

I decided to take everything out of the case and rebuild the entire computer with great care, following suggestions from threads online describing similar issues. Now it was booting semi-consistently vertically!

So I plugged in all my peripherals and tried to use the computer. It got to the windows 10 logo with the spinning white dots before the monitor blacked out and I saw the message "No Signal". I turned it off and on a few times only getting to my desktop once before receiving the same message OR, being unable to boot and having to plug out the cord in the back just to restart it.

I figured maybe it was my PSU, so I took it out and replaced it with an EVGA 500w White PSU. Same issue, so I checked to see if maybe it was my mobo, so I took out all the RAM expecting to hear multiple rapid beeps. I had to turn restart the computer 2 times in order to hear rapid beeping. Now I'm here, completely lost on what the issue could be now.

TL;DR My computer would only boot sideways, so I took everything out, rebuilt it, and switched out the PSU, got it to boot vertically but then I'd get "No Signal" shortly after booting.

My Specs:

AMD FX-6300
Kingston 8GB (2*4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 1200RPM
EVGA GTX 970 4GB SSC
EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+

I haven't switched out the mobo or GPU yet.
 
Solution
Ok so I took the mobo, gpu, cpu, cooler, and ram out of the case and put them on cardboard. Went through each ram stick one by one and found out that one of them was faulty. I would now post consistently but would get the "No Signal" message shortly after posting each time.

I have a spare motherboard lying around, so I transferred all my parts to that mobo. I've been in the bios screen for about 10 minutes now, the longest the PC has ever been up since the incident. I'm leaving it on for now in case it loses signal again.

So, I think it may have actually been the mobo. I'll update if anything changes.
Sounds like something has come loose. You have checked the memory ... have you also reseated the video card? Is it possible the PCI-E slot is damaged? I'm thinking this because VGA cards are relatively heavy compared to how they are secured. CPU coolers are also heavy, but the retention mechanism is much stronger.
 

TheCrimsonPugilist

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Sounds like something has come loose. You have checked the memory ... have you also reseated the video card? Is it possible the PCI-E slot is damaged? I'm thinking this because VGA cards are relatively heavy compared to how they are secured. CPU coolers are also heavy, but the retention mechanism is much stronger.

Thanks for responding! I forgot to mention this in the post but yeah, I put the GPU in another PCIE slot and the same issue occurred.
 
Does refuse to boot mean the computer does not turn on (fans don't spin) or just that you can't get to Windows? If the computer will power up, but not go to Windows, then it is possible the hard drive was damaged in the fall. If the computer will not power up, then I would focus more on the motherboard.
 

TheCrimsonPugilist

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Jul 26, 2015
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Does refuse to boot mean the computer does not turn on (fans don't spin) or just that you can't get to Windows? If the computer will power up, but not go to Windows, then it is possible the hard drive was damaged in the fall. If the computer will not power up, then I would focus more on the motherboard.

Refuse to boot as in, I don't hear any beeps. The fans will still spin though. When the computer does boot/ I hear a beep, it gets to the Windows loading screen, but then the monitor eventually blacks out (lights turn off on both the keyboard and mouse aswell) and I get "No Signal" on the screen.
 

TheCrimsonPugilist

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Jul 26, 2015
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Ok so I took the mobo, gpu, cpu, cooler, and ram out of the case and put them on cardboard. Went through each ram stick one by one and found out that one of them was faulty. I would now post consistently but would get the "No Signal" message shortly after posting each time.

I have a spare motherboard lying around, so I transferred all my parts to that mobo. I've been in the bios screen for about 10 minutes now, the longest the PC has ever been up since the incident. I'm leaving it on for now in case it loses signal again.

So, I think it may have actually been the mobo. I'll update if anything changes.
 
Solution
Jun 26, 2020
12
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10
It's been 30+ minutes now and still "No Signal" message so I'm gonna put everything back together.
I know it's a year since you posted. But I have virtually identical problem with my new build.
Most of the time I was just getting case Fans, cpu fans and power running no problem.
Then on rare occasions it was turning on and off every 2 seconds.
I'm starting to think now CPU heatsink not set correctly or mobo. But can never be sure. Good sign it actually stays in lying flat atleast.
PC standing upright only got to video twice.
Now lying flat it's staying on. I am just getting Linux on presently.
I did all the out of case tests, psu was good when on multimeter. I'm just going to put extra length in psu cables as I need anyway but hopefully that might help.
As I have read could be the heat sink and cpu which I am leaving until last like you.

Just wondering how you are getting on?