Stuck in Boot Loop but temporary fix by reseating ram

[jmp2862]

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CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.38 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H-BK ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($123.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card ($385.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($16.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Dell P2214H 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($179.99 @ B&H)
Keyboard: Logitech MK520 Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard w/Laser Mouse ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Etekcity Scroll X1 M555 Wired Optical Mouse
Total: $1246.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-27 15:57 EDT-0400

Sorry for the wall of text.
Hello All
I am not computer savvy so forgive me if I get some stuff wrong. So I’ve been having some problems with my pc that I’ve had for more than a year trouble free. It is stuck in a “boot loop” currently, where the gigabyte led thing cycles through some error codes:

Turn on
Some numbers/letter numbers go by quickly
Pause at 15 (Pre-memory North-Bridge initialization is started-according to gigabyte manual)
Then quickly some more numbers/letter numbers I see c2,c4 I think (Reserved-manual but I think these have to do memory according to google and it is a successful check because these go by fast)
Then pause at 32 (CPU PEI initialization.)
Then repeat.

Monitor screen stays black this whole time.

What I eventually found is that reseating the ram into different slots and then booting the computer starts fine. But I can’t shut it down again otherwise it goes into that loop thing when I turn the computer on again (restarting/putting to sleep works fine). The computer will start if I move just 1 stick into a different slot. It will also start with only one stick of ram just as long as I have moved the stick into a different slot. Any slot/either stick of ram works just have to reseat one. If I put the computer to sleep or restart, I have no problems. Also since I found this “solution”, I’ve gotten bsod error “Memory_management” once in like 4+ hrs on. With that error the computer restarts fine no boot loop. So that is the current issue.

I’m not sure if this prior stuff is relevant bc, but here it is anyway.
The way this all started is I turned on the computer and it said something along the lines of “bios failed to start...something options to load optimized defaults and reboot”. I selected the load optimized defaults and reboot. Then the computer just started an on/off cycle of less than 5 seconds so I disconnected the power and started googling.

Google suggested to check if the cpu cooler was working. I noticed the cpu cooler fan was not spinning so I took it out and cleaned it. I plugged in a working case fan into the cpu fan header and case fan started up just fine. I attached the cpu cooler fan back to the heatsink and tried to start up again. The cpu cooler fan worked but I got stuck in boot loop again. The little error code thing would stop at A0 (IDE initialization is started) and then the computer would start shutdown/restart in less than 5 seconds cycle.

I decided to try the clear cmos button so I unplugged power pressed the clear cmos button then tried powering up again. No go but the error code was now stopping at 95 (Check PCI device requested resources). Also I have never done any overclocking, flashing of bios. Everything is stock.

So then I decided to take everything apart and start with like psu,mb,cpu, then add ram, then add hdd etc. Well when I added the ram back in it started and monitor showed “no bootable device…” so I thought I was good. Added ssd back in and tried to start again but got error code 59 (CPU micro-code is not found or micro-code update is failed) and boot loop started again.

I had read some stuff online about bent cpu pins being a cause and freaked out. Tried again it started but “no bootable devices found”. Tried different sata ports it booted and got to windows.

Of course upon shutting down and powering up again I get a boot loop. Eventually I figured out reseating ram thing worked. I added video card back in and no problem as long as I reseat the ram.

My question is what is the cause here? At first I thought maybe hardware issue motherboard or ram? But the ram sticks work and all the slots work just have to reseat each time. PSU seems fine as everything turns on and ssd/hdd don’t seem to be relevant to this? Also I ran memtest86 on the ram for like 12 hrs twice and had no errors. I don’t know enough but is memtest86 like the end all of memory diagnostics? If that shows up with no error your ram is all good?

I don’t have any spare parts/testing equipment so I can’t test everything on a different computer. I figure I’ll give to a computer repair shop because I’m pretty much at the end of what I can do I think. I didn’t mess with the cpu at all bc I didn’t want to try taking off the heatsink and if bent pins are the cause that's something I don’t want to try to fix. Could this be a cpu issue?

Also there has never been any liquid spillage or anything on the PC. Any suggestions for good pc shops in houston?

Any advice is very much appreciated. Thank you

 

[Calvin7]

Core i5-4590 has a locked multiplier so is not much for overclocking.. Supported memory is: DDR3-1333, DDR3-1600.
DDR3-2133 Memory is for overclocking. I would recommend using memory with the supported frequency speeds or lowering the Memory Clock manually.

 

[jmp2862]

Hi
thanks I didn't know that the cpu would limit the ram. Do you think that ram would be causing the boot loop now after working fine for a year. From my quick search I'm given to understand that the memory frequency would be automatically lowered? Also since the computer has been working fine for a year and I have not made any manual change to the memory speed, would that be the cause of this boot loop?

Actually I looked at the motherboard supported memory list right now and my ram is not on there. Is this a significant issue? Thank you

Edit: actually checked the bios right now by restarting (still can't shutdown then start as pc will go into boot loop again) and the memory setting in the bios is set as "auto" frequency 1333 mhz. So that shouldn't be causing the boot loop right?

 

[Evgenace]

Hi,
I'm having the same problem. Everything was working fine for more than a year, but now PC goes into the boot loop. Reseating /removing RAM helps to boot it.
Have you found a solution yet?

Thanks.

 

[jmp2862]

Hi,
I'm having the same problem. Everything was working fine for more than a year, but now PC goes into the boot loop. Reseating /removing RAM helps to boot it.
Have you found a solution yet?

Thanks.

Hi I know its a bit late but I was able to solve this myself ( I made a post on reddit but no one responded to that either). Here is a copy/paste:

So I was able to fix this by flashing the bios from F6 version motherboard came with to latest F8 (as of 06/2016). I used the q flash method with a USB drive. You can find the procedure via google. This solved my issues and I am able to shutdown and turn on without going to boot loop. Hope this helps anyone who has a similar problem.

I hope this helps you. I am not sure why this worked..but it did.

 

[Evgenace]

Hi,
I'm having the same problem. Everything was working fine for more than a year, but now PC goes into the boot loop. Reseating /removing RAM helps to boot it.
Have you found a solution yet?

Thanks.[/quotemsg]

Hi I know its a bit late but I was able to solve this myself ( I made a post on reddit but no one responded to that either). Here is a copy/paste:

So I was able to fix this by flashing the bios from F6 version motherboard came with to latest F8 (as of 06/2016). I used the q flash method with a USB drive. You can find the procedure via google. This solved my issues and I am able to shutdown and turn on without going to boot loop. Hope this helps anyone who has a similar problem.

I hope this helps you. I am not sure why this worked..but it did.

[/quotemsg]

Same here.
I had BIOS F8, but I flashed it again. And don't have this problem anymore. I'm not sure what happened, since it was working fine before.
Thanks a lot.