Motherboard Won't Boot to Any Devices (Even though its recognizing)

[joeljjones]

Hey Everyone, hopefully someone can help with this odd issue. So, I've done almost every troubleshooting tactic, but no avail. This motherboard is a little old, but all tests show no fault. The problem is booting and BIOS shows all devices and boot order is good. So here is the process its currently doing. Computer turns on, you see the post screen, then you see the PCIe SATA config screen, then a blinking cursor in the top left hand screen, then you see the BIOS screen again, then a black screen. If I press F8 to select the boot screen and select the Marvell sata card, then it does the same thing. If I try and boot to a USB device, it does the same thing. I did a complete rebuild (besides CPU). I pulled everything out, GPU/Memory/SATA Card/etc...

I booted with everything out to make sure I get a post error and I did. So I put GPU in, then booted. It checks GPU then fails, as expected. I put the SATA card in and it detects my drives fine. I then boot with only DIMM filled and it still fails. So I ran through the process with all the memory sticks and nothing works. So out of frustration I pulled the CMOS battery out and unplugged the PSU mobo rail, then went to bed. I woke up, put the CMOS battery in, then plugged the PSU mobo rail in. I booted, reconfigured BIOS with correct settings, booted the computer and it booted fine. So then a couple days went by and windows updates had my computer reboot and I had the same issues again. So in my frustration I bought a new CMOS battery and a new BIOS Chip. Swapped those and all the same stuff is happening.

I'm just looking for some solutions that don't include buying new CPU/Mobo/Memory combo. :/ I have a feeling its going to have to happen, but I want to wait for the new chips to come out in Q3 2016. Then I'll be fine with buying a new setup. Any help at all would be awesome. Thanks everyone!

OS - Windows 10 Pro 64bit
Motherboard - ASUS Rampage III Gene
CPU - Intel i7 950
PCIe SATA Card - Marvell 88SE9230 - http://amzn.com/B00AZ9T264
GPU - nVidia GTX 780 ti
DIMM - 6x 2GB Sticks (tri-channel)

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

it could be a problem with Boot Manager in Windows and not the motherboard. it seems like it gets to the point where the OS would be taking over and then fails.

try running Windows startup repair.
or run upgrade option using Windows 10 media from within Windows to fix any problems with the OS. choose "keep my files and settings" option.

 

[joeljjones]

it could be a problem with Boot Manager in Windows and not the motherboard. it seems like it gets to the point where the OS would be taking over and then fails.

try running Windows startup repair.
or run upgrade option using Windows 10 media from within Windows to fix any problems with the OS. choose "keep my files and settings" option.

I wish I could try that :/ That's part of the weirdness of this. It won't let me boot to USB either. I have a known working Windows 10 and Windows 7 USB. Both are working on other machines, but this machine does the same thing. Boots, shows SATA config screen, cursor, post screen, then nothing. Every once and a while i'll see "Checking NVRAM" in the bottom left of the screen. It probably happens 1 in 8 times (just guessing).

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

if there's nothing you're afraid of losing in Windows then format the OS drive and try a full Windows reinstall. at least you will know for sure if it is Windows or hardware failure causing the issue.

may require a second available system though if you can't run anything from USB.

 

[joeljjones]

if there's nothing you're afraid of losing in Windows then format the OS drive and try a full Windows reinstall. at least you will know for sure if it is Windows or hardware failure causing the issue.

may require a second available system though if you can't run anything from USB.

There is nothing I'm afraid of losing, but it doesn't explain why I can't boot from any device. There is a disconnect somewhere between BIOS/Mobo/HDD or something. I'm hoping someone else has seen this.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

contact customer support.

or find someone you know with a similar build where you can test your components one at a time in a working environment. could be either your board, CPU, PSU, etc slowly failing and randomly causing issues at boot.

i have also seen motherboards that have malfunctioned with these types of problems. but the only way to test is to send the board back to the manufacturer or verify the other parts are definitely working elsewhere.

 

[joeljjones]

contact customer support.

or find someone you know with a similar build where you can test your components one at a time in a working environment. could be either your board, CPU, PSU, etc slowly failing and randomly causing issues at boot.

i have also seen motherboards that have malfunctioned with these types of problems. but the only way to test is to send the board back to the manufacturer or verify the other parts are definitely working elsewhere.

The board was manufactured in 2010, I don't think ASUS would take it to look at it? I have a friend who has a similar build, so i guess the last step could be using his rig as a test bed. :/ I've been doing this for so many years and I've never come across this before. Its so frustrating.