Fan spins, won't boot, corrupt BIOS

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Mighty

Mighty

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Jan 22, 2010
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I bought a replacement GA-Z87X-UD5H at the end of Nov. Been running well since then. Albeit, occasionally I'd walk in the room in the morning and the machine will have rebooted overnight. Maybe every three to five days for the last month. I run SETI@Home 24/7, so it's being pushed pretty hard. I keep Core Temp up, so I know it's not overheating, but it is up around 70% most of the time. Games have been running fine.

Tonight, the screen went black. It tried to reboot itself, but was doing the thing where the fan spins for a second, but won't boot. Most of the time it didn't even make it far enough to display debug codes.

I tried reseating the RAM, the GPU and all power plugs at both ends. I haven't taken the cooler off and reseated the CPU, yet. I did blow out some dust from the cooler. I routinely clean the radiator every month or two, so it wasn't even close to blocked off.

I wondered if it might be heat from the number crunching, so force-powered down and I went and did something else for over an hour. When I came back, pretty much the same behavior. So, while surfing around looking for ideas, and staring to type this up, I let it continue to try booting. After 20 or so attempts, I got a "Corrupt BIOS, restoring" message. Then it booted another 20-30 time, at least. And now it just came back up.

So, I'm back up and running, now. But, does anyone have any ideas to try for when this happens next?

GA-Z87X-UD5H updated to F9 BIOS Nov '15
4790K CPU also purchased Nov '15
Corsair H60 cooler Nov '15
2 x 8 GB DDR3-1866 ADATA XPG V2 Jan '14
GTX 780 3GB Jan '14
Thermaltake SP-850M 80 PLUS Bronze Jan '14

Thanks,
Drake Christensen
 
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Tonight, I got home and the machine was locked up. Rebooted, and sure enough, it's doing the fan spin thing. It's been trying to boot for over an hour, so far.

Would love some suggestions.
 
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Letting it sit overnight, it would boot by the time I got up the next day. Then, it cleared itself up for a few weeks.

But it has come back with a vengeance. It has been attempting to boot for three days, now.

Nobody has any ideas?
 
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Sorry you have not been attended to Mighty and I have only just seen your thread.

You should do a full stress test of your system, if you can get into Windows.
Difficult to pinpoint the offender without that.

You mentioned in your original post that your system had a corrupted Bios and it attempted to fix itself. Doesn't always happen.

Clear your CMOS and if that doesn't work then Download the latest Bios. There are risks however it may be your only option.
If your then able to post, observe the Qcodes and report your findings.
Try this first and if your still in Benchtest mode, then leave it that way till we find the culprit.
 
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I'll try to clear the CMOS.

I updated the BIOS in Nov, when I upgraded the CPU. That was back when it was working.

Currently, it doesn't boot far enough to reinstall the BIOS.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll let you know the results.

What do you think of a dying PSU?
 
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Resetting the CMOS changed the behavior a little. As it starts to boot, I see a broken digit (most of a zero) flash briefly on the debug display, then it goes blank, and then the same broken digit a second later, as it shuts down. Then, the same thing as it tries to boot, again and again.
 
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Could be as simple as the CMOS battery dying. Worth replacing at around $4
If that doesn't fix it then we will have to dig deeper cause it could be the MB or PSU.
Try that first.

Trouble shooting of this nature can be time consuming so please have patience.
Note; Don't forget too, You have a dual Bios.
 
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Hmm. Hope the battery works. I'm slowly replacing everything in this machine.

What does the dual BIOS buy me?

I appreciate the suggestions.
 
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Hmm. Hope the battery works. I'm slowly replacing everything in this machine.

What does the dual BIOS buy me?

I appreciate the suggestions.
 
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If you have a corrupt Bios, the other Bios will allow recovery.
Go here for an explanation: http://www.gigabyte.com.au/microsite/55/tech_081226_dualbios.htm

I got this from my notes:

It is possible to make the BIOS Auto-Recovery kick in (Dual BIOS) and re-flash the MAIN BIOS with the contents of the BACKUP BIOS.

This is a simple and easy method for anyone to try before having to resort to other more difficult methods, or a RMA.

1. Shut off the power supply using the switch on the back of the PSU, wait 10-15 seconds.
2. Press and hold the case Power On switch, then while still holding turn on the power supply from the switch on the rear.
3. Still holding the case power on switch, the board will start, once it does release the case power on switch and shut off the power supply via the switch on the rear of the unit. (Do the latter two parts as quickly as you can once the board starts)
4. The board will shut down.
5. Turn the power supply back on using the switch on the rear of the unit.
6. Turn on the motherboard by pressing the case power on button.

Once the board starts this time you should see the Gigabyte splash screen, or POST page, then the Auto-Recovery from Dual BIOS will kick in. You will see a checksum error, and then recovery from BACKUP BIOS will begin. Once it is done reboot your machine and enter the BIOS and load optimized defaults then save/apply/reboot back to BIOS.

Now you are done, and will be using whatever BIOS was in your BACKUP BIOS, From there you can attempt whatever you were previously trying, or update your BIOS to the latest version.
 
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Okay. It did auto-restore itself that one time I saw that message. I guess I must have the latest BIOS in the backup. Because the previous version wouldn't work with the new CPU. Trying to remember what the symptoms of that were.

I replaced the battery. No change. I pulled the power and reset the CMOS, again.

One tiny oddity. When plugging it back in, I heard the speakers pop. When I hit the power button, they popped, again. Each time it attempted to start, it would pop again, but more quietly each time. After about six times, it was inaudible. I'm sure this has nothing to do with the issue I'm seeing. Just kinda odd.

I looked up a description of how to test the power supply. I can test it unloaded. Since it won't boot, I don't have any convenient way to put load on it to test it that way.

This motherboard is only about 8 months old. But, I kinda suspect it.
 
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Replaced the power supply. No change in behavior. Looks like the motherboard, to me.

Since this one is only eight months old, I'm gong to take a stab at getting it replaced under warranty. Contacting Gigabyte right now.

If that doesn't work, or if it's going to take too long, I may just buy a used one on eBay. I've seen a couple from users with long histories and good ratings. Prolly worth a $50ish risk on a machine this old.

If you have any other ideas before I go too much farther on this, I'm happy to give them a try. I appreciate your patience and your advice and suggestions this far.

Drake
 
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There are stress tests you can do to evaluate for voltage droop under load and to test your thermal efficiency.
You can also test your DIMMs and GPU at the same time.
Download HWMonitor and AIDA64 trial version. Put them together on your desktop and run the various tests.
If you wish to have an analysis, then take a desktop shot during the test. Do not go above 80C on the core and take the screen shot after 10mins.
Upload images to IMIGUR. Obtain the BB url and provide the link in your post.
 
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Can't really do any of that until the computer gets further than one second into the boot.

I vaguely recall a similar situation. I think maybe this happened when the old BIOS was trying to boot with the new CPU. I still have my old CPU. It mostly works. It fails when I push it too hard and the temp climbs. But, it'll run long enough to update the BIOS, again. So, I'll give that a try. And, this time, I'll look into how to verify that the new BIOS gets copied into the "Backup BIOS Partition" or whatever they want to call it.

Just odd that it worked for months after getting that "Corrupt BIOS and restoring" message.
 
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I think I've narrowed it down to the CPU.

I put the old 4770K CPU in there. It boots, complains of a corrupt BIOS, restores, and then I can get to the BIOS Setup screen. It shows the correct BIOS, version F9. That was the one I installed, that supports the 4790K CPU.

I swap back to the 4790K, the new CPU. Back to not booting. Swap to the 4770K, and corrupt BIOS and restores.

Now, to add insult to injury, my boot drive appears to have died. I tried multiple cables in that box. Then, I stuck it on a SATA->USB adapter and plugged that into this machine. No joy. A different drive on the adapter works fine.

*heavy sigh*

Time to look up warranty info on Intel CPUs.
 
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It's not necessarily the CPU itself however, most likely in your case. You should also check the MB CPU socket with a magnifier to see if there are any bent pins. If not sure, post a macro pic of the socket.
If you find any then all is not lost. you can bend them back carefully with a toothpick.
Bent pins in the MB CPU socket will void your Warranty as its considered a user fault.

Intel are very good regarding CPU RMA issues, they've had plenty of practice.

Sorry to here about the dead drive. ?
 
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Well, it does boot with the 4770K CPU. So, that kinda points to the CPU being the issue. I suppose the little nubs on the CPU could hang down a little farther on the one CPU over the other.

Hmm. That means pulling that CPU, *again*. Well, I guess it's not running right now, anyway. Albeit, I could pick up a new drive at Fry's and be up and running tomorrow with the 4770K CPU. Hmm. Guess it's worth a try.

One thing I did notice on the 4790K is that, in regular light, I can see a 3x2 patch of pins on the underside of the CPU that look a little discolored. I'm not certain if it's the pins, or just the board around those pins. I tried to take a picture of them, but it isn't captured well with my phone. Zoomed out, it's barely discernible in the picture. Zoomed way in, the effect disappears completely. I suppose I should put it under better light and give it a try with my Canon. I tried wiping it with my finger, and it didn't clean nor smear whatever it is I'm seeing.

On the drive, all my data is fully backed up, with two different backup systems. It's just going to be a pain to get everything configured the way I like it, again.

Update:
Picture of discoloration

Further update:
I took a good look at the pins with a magnifying glass, plus took a dozen macro pictures, from different angles, focused on different spots, and changed the lighting a coupla times. All of the pins look very even. I don't see any out of place.

I also see a little discoloration on the 4770K. There's a patch near, but not overlapping, the area I see on the 4790K, though it's very, very faint. That patch could actually be imagination. But, there are two or pins near the bottom of that same side that are definitely discolored. Plus, maybe a patch of nearby pins, though, again, those could be my imagination.
 
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Actually, that was the back of the CPU, so no pins there. I just dumped the pictures I took of the CPU socket on the motherboard into the same directory. That's the entire batch, so some are better than others. They start to get clear at about 191.
 
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Yes I should have said no damage there. I cant see any bent pins from your other shots either.
 
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I was looking back over the pictures, again. And I actually did spot one bent pin that I'd missed before. In picture 198, in the far upper-right corner, second row, I see the end pin is out of alignment with the others.

It would be pretty bizarre if it works with the one chip and not the other. And, it's not very far out of alignment. But, I'm going to give it a try.
 
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Oh my lack-of-god, that's delicate work.

I used a jeweler's screwdriver. I have a mediocre magnifying glass, better than the little plastic things that come with soldering stands.

Unfortunately, I dripped something on the motherboard. As I was wiping that up, I was careless and let the paper towel drag across the open socket. (Pro Tip: Paper towels and open CPU sockets don't get along.) The pins grabbed onto it like a patch of thorns. I was able to clean out the leftover bits of paper with alcohol and a soft paint brush. But, I ended up bending another pin.

It took well over an hour, and several more zoomed in pictures, to convince myself that I got everything straightened out enough.

Anyway. No change in behavior. Boots with the 4770. Won't boot with the 4790. So, I'm pretty sure it's the CPU.

Thanks for all the help. I'll post back here when they send me a replacement CPU and I get it installed.

Drake
 
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Replacement parts arrived this week.

Parts of it went smoothly. The CPU is good. The SSD is good. And, oh, joy, I "get to" install Windows, again *sigh*

One new oddity. When I reboot, it gets stuck with a b2 error on the motherboard. This happens either with a software warm boot or a cold boot. As I was trying to figure this out, on a whim, I hit the reset button. Surprisingly, it makes it past that and it finishes booting.

The b2 error has to do with the console, aka some sort of display error. I'm wrapped up in getting Windows set up the way I like it, so I'm putting off debugging that, for now. I did a quick search, but no obvious solutions, yet.

In Windows, Update made it through everything except the latest driver for the motherboard display chipset. I tried a clean boot. I tried downloading the driver update from Intel. That's another one that I'm ignoring, since I have a GPU.

I tested the CPU by running Prime95 overnight, and it survived. So, I got that going for me.
 
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