Question Restart loop x5 Each day + Video :/

[jakedude182]

Hi my pc begins every day with a bootloop up to 5 times or more. Once it does pass the post and show the boot menu it is usually ok and boots the OS and theres no trouble once its on all day for use.

Occasionally it will go black just after posting and then restart repeatedly.

It will restart in the first 5, 10 or 20 seconds when showing Gigabyte and between that and the OS loader menu.

Some days it turns on first time no problem, and is quite random for some reason (which Is why I think something is shorting )

This has made it difficult to locate the root of the problem.

This is a video of whats happening:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQz0L_JE9OI


Can anybody confirm for me that in this situation with the motherboard ontop of cardboard, the pc should not be restarting... but instead would stay turned on and running even with nothing connected?


Things I have tried:

I have re-seated the cpu with a new Noctua D15 after replacing an old AIO water cooler.
I have removed every component apart from the 12v cpu 2x 4pin power plugs, the CPU fan, and motherboard 24pin. (shown in video) and the boot loops still occur, even with no screen plugged in.

I have inspected the motherboard for capacitor damage, I have reset the bios with a screwdriver between two pins (but not flashed it yet)

I have tested a known good PSU and still no luck. I have paper clip tested the bequiet psu that has always been in it with one fan plugged in and this stays on and turns on with no restart issues.

I have disabled all overclocks on the cpu and ram (ram is Gskill 2x4gb 2400MHs XMP1)

I have inspected the motherboard standoffs for shorting.

I've tested different plug sockets in the house, using just the 1 kettle plug to the wall, tried through adapters. I have tried using a different plug into the psu.

___
I am considering buying a new motheboard, ram, and cpu and upgrading and calling it a day on this good pc, but restart problem prone pc.


I have a feeling that the motherboard is the cause of the problem. This is a Gigabyte G1 sniper Z97

I am not sure whether to flash the bios on it as its risky?

Apologies for the long post... Thanks for reading, Jake

 

[jakedude182]

I have replaced the Corsair H80i with a Noctua D15 aircooler and the issue has not changed at all.

All dust has been cleaned from the case and from the motherboard. Although very slight dust remains on the back of the motherboard but a negligible amount in my opinion. The motherboard and new CPU bracket behind it is definitely not touching the metal pannel at the back of the case.

The days it does boot first time, and the days that it takes several attempts is still very random. And hard to make any pattern of.

The bios battery has been changed to a known and tested good battery again.

The fact the issue was happening without the components in a case means to me that I think its something very small, possibly the motherboard.

For now i'm putting up with it taking several loops before starting properly. I've backed up the hard drives and they are the first things I expect to fail in time due to the start stop nature of my problem.

Will see about new parts in the future or if a computer shop has any clue.


Edit. One thing that has occurred to me now is that I do place 2x pieces of A4 paper ontop of the 240mm fan at the Top of the case when the pc is switched off to stop dust entering. This could introduce static which could lead to the motherboard and stay in the motherboard (I actually have no idea if this is something that could happen)..

Edit 2: Something else that I noticed when inspecting the motherboard closer is a small screwdriver mark that was made years ago which I hadn't considered at all.
This is directly below the gigabyte writing on the motherboard and is a minor mark over a few traces.
I was pushing lightly on this direct area with a small piece of wood when the pc was on, during the boot phase, and at various times to see if it would cause the pc to do anything different. The result was no difference, and it remains unclear if this small flathead screwdriver mark is any concern. But it is there.
Without buying a new 1150 board to test out I can not move on further.


Edit 4. I have not yet put small circular pieces of cardboard behind the motherboard screws. Currently there are paper style pink ones that were provided in small packets that came with the motherboard on purchase.
I have also not attempted to flash the bios with a newer version. The newer version only supports more recent SSDs that have come out after 2014.

Edit 5: The issue has only begin to occur after 4 years after the computer was built. I inspected the CPU socket closely for any misaligned/bent pins. The CPU had never been removed since it was built in 2014 until this January when the replacement noctua D15 heatsink was installed successfully.

thanks, Jake

 

[jakedude182]

Continued notes: 14.02.2020

The turning on issue is sometimes taking longer to do so some days now. Although often it restarts before post. The times when it restarts just before the boot menu screen makes me think that if I set the boot priority to the ssd and either swapped the master boot record over to that, or removed my other secondary OS selection then it might save time.

And then could mean that the bios isn't searching or needing some confirmation from whichever hard drive before allowing the boot screen to load. I have no idea, as the issue does occur most of the time before the bios and even without everything plugged as said in above posts.

I'm also considering some earth testing around the house as i'm unsure at the moment.

also something I saw about incoming power from the mains:

' , the varying AC is often lumpy and with the occasional spikes (the length of the variations isn't constant either). Not only do these make it harder for the PSU to adjust the mains, it can also damage some of the components inside it.'

that was a piece in relation to the ac to dc conversion that psus make.
I feel my motherboard is the issue. So if a newly introduced pc in the house shows any startup issues then that would confirm it. I haven't got another pc to try this yet or looked into borrowing one.

Leaving the pc on for 48 - 60 hours isn't causing me any issues right now other than a waste of electricity. Might be worth turning C states back on as currently the cpu runs at full clock speed without these power saving features on.
And this saves the boot issues or, non boot issues as some days it starts up first time fine still. The problem remains random, but is still present. All HDD data is backed up, so i'm waiting for one of those to fail kind of or maybe the lot to trigger buying a new motherboard, ram, and cpu.

To do: put small pieces of cardboard behind the screws on the motherboard that are accessible, the noctua blocks quite a bit of access now though.