Motherboard takes 30+ minutes to reach splash screen during boot.

[Importem]

I built a desktop pc a little over two years ago. The pc utilizes the following components:

-MSI Z97-G45 Mobo
-Intel i7-4770k CPU
-MSI GPU with Nvidia GTX 760
-Three hard drives from various manufacturers
-16 gigs of Kingston ram
-if you'd like more details just ask

Due to the wonders of SSDs I usually have a boot time from cold to user login of around 15 seconds. However, recently my computer has started to take longer and longer to get to the mobo splash. It now takes over 30 minutes to do so. During this time the power light is on, the disc activity light flashes as normal, the fans do their usual fan whirring and so forth. There is nothing out of the ordinary except that my monitor does not detect video output. My keyboard backlight doesn't light up and the computer appears to accept no input. Once the computer decides to start working, the mobo splash appears briefly and we get to proceed to the OS as normal. From this point on, operation of the computer is completely normal. I haven't noticed any change in performance whatsoever.

I have tried removing all unnecessary components (all but a single ram module, the disc drive, the GPU, all but the primary hard drive, usb devices, etc.) and the problem persists. I have also tried resetting CMOS data.

I suspect that there is some kind of problem with my mobo. I'm just very confused as to what is causing this problem since I didn't modify the system at all prior to the problem and it works fine once it boots. I am hoping that it may be something like a dead CMOS battery but I'm not sure and I haven't had a chance to replace it or test the current one.

If anyone has ideas for me to try i would greatly appreciate your time. Thanks for reading my question.

 

[Jacob McIntosh]

Have you tried updating the BIOS to the most current version?

 

[Importem]

Have you tried updating the BIOS to the most current version?

I have not tried updating the BIOS yet. I just went to try to do that and after waiting 2 hours for the mobo splash to appear I'm beginning to think that it isnt going to show up... The way that this problem has gotten steadily worse with each boot is very odd.

 

[Karadjgne]

Sounds suspiciously like a corrupted driver issue, either on the hdd or in Windows.

Open up an administrator command prompt.
Type 'SFC.exe /scannow' (no quotes)
When done, (hdd letter colon) for me it's F:
' CHKDSK /F' (again, no quotes)
More than likely it'll mean a reboot, but CHKDSK will start right after post, so shouldn't take all that long.
After that, I'd do an intensive Malwarebytes and full on full system Antivirus making sure root kits searches are enabled.

 

[Importem]

Sounds suspiciously like a corrupted driver issue, either on the hdd or in Windows.

Open up an administrator command prompt.
Type 'SFC.exe /scannow' (no quotes)
When done, (hdd letter colon) for me it's F:
' CHKDSK /F' (again, no quotes)
More than likely it'll mean a reboot, but CHKDSK will start right after post, so shouldn't take all that long.
After that, I'd do an intensive Malwarebytes and full on full system Antivirus making sure root kits searches are enabled.

I would love to try this, but like I said, the pc isnt even getting to windows. As of right now, I dont even get the mobo splash. Its just zero output. This makes me think its hardware or BIOS.

 

[Karadjgne]

Unplug everything except the keyboard and 1 stick of ram and a monitor. You don't need an OS to get to POST. If the pc will post, plug in the OS drive only.
Boot
Soon as the pc posts, before windows even thinks of starting, start jamming either F5 or F8. Same as if you are trying to get into bios. This'll bring up a boot options menu. Look for the option that says 'command prompt' and use that.
Should pop a command line prompt that says c:\ with some file after it. Hit 'cd..' until it says only c:\ then type in 'SFC.exe. /scannow'. This will check and repair any windows system operating driver that's possibly corrupted. If the OS drive is a hdd then now would be a good time to also CHKDSK /f which will do the same check and repair but on the physical hdd itself just in case your hdd is failing or has corrupted sectors. If the OS is ssd, shutdown the pc, add the hdd, reboot, f5 again, command prompt, then type F: (or whatever your hdd drive happens to be, then CHKDSK /f

If the pc won't post, swap ram sticks, change ram slots, check make sure both power connectors are firmly seated. Try post with/without the monitor, with/without keyboard. If it's failing totally to post right up, chances are good it's the mobo or psu. Seriously doubtful every ram stick is bad, or ram slot. It is also possible the memory controller is toast and thats integrated in the cpu. But that rarely happens unless excessive volysge/heat has been applied to the cpu for extended periods

 

[Importem]

I have just got my hands on a multimeter and a mobo speaker. The voltage on PSU pins is correct so I have ruled out the possibility of a bad PSU. When I have no RAM installed, the speaker is giving me three long beeps as expected. However, as soon as I install a single RAM module the speaker will no longer give any sound. The computer is still unable to finish post. Any ideas on what might cause the speaker to give no output?

P.S. All these tests were run with nothing but the keyboard, monitor, cpu, and ram installed.

 

[Karadjgne]

Have you pulled the cpu cooler?