Turn Computer On, Shuts Off After 1 Second, Comes Back on 2-3 Seconds Later

[OneLapDown]

I have a relatively new build, it has been up and running for about a month. Recently, I turned the computer on, lights come on, fans turn on, then after a second, it shuts itself off. Fans and error code display go off, but Start and Reset buttons are lit, so the board still has Stand By power. The error code just prior to shut down is 00. After 2-3 seconds, the computer will turn itself back on, I get the single beep, and it loads into Windows 7 HP 64, just fine. Once in Windows, everything is working just fine. If I restart within Windows, no hiccups. If I shut down from Windows and turn it back after a short pause (10-20 seconds), it works fine. If I shut down from Windows, and wait a few minutes, it repeats the pattern, again, with eventually loading into Windows without a problem. Here is what I have tried:

1. Checked RAM (stick by stick, and moved slots)
2. Pulled the motherboard out, it now has just the PSU, H100i, USB keyboard, 24 Pin and 8 Pin power connected to it. Using onboard USB and onboard HDMI.
3. Took out CMOS battery for 5 minutes
4. Held CLR CMOS button down for 5 seconds

After step 3 and step 4, which were down separately, the initial power on went smoothly, right into BIOS. Restarts from BIOS were fine, as well. Turning the computer off, waiting 5 minutes, brought on the ON/OFF/ON behavior.

My components are as follows:

Intel i5-4690K (not overclocked at the moment)
ASUS Maximus VII Hero on most recent BIOS (1002)
Corsair HX 750
Corsair H100i
G.SKILL Ripjaws X (2x4GB) 1866 MHz. BIOS had it listed as 1600, changing it to 1866 did nothing.

Voltage readouts for 3.3V, 5V and 12V from BIOS are all within spec, anywhere from 100mV to 200mV above target.

Temperature readouts within BIOS also read in the low 20's C, the correct ambient temperature in my house.

No smoke, no sparks, no flickers, no strange sounds, no smells.

The fact that after Step 3 and Step 4 above, the first first start up being unproblematic leads me toward the motherboard. I would appreciate any insights the community may have. Thank you in advance.

 

[dwatterworth]

When you changed the memory speed to 1866 from the default 1600, did you do it by enabling XMP?

The on/off/on behavior sounds a lot like something I was experiencing with a new build in which disabling the CPU C states fixed the issue. That was a non-haswell compatible PSU though. It's definitely a reaction to the motherboard encountering some issue that is out of range etc.

 

[OneLapDown]

When you changed the memory speed to 1866 from the default 1600, did you do it by enabling XMP?

The on/off/on behavior sounds a lot like something I was experiencing with a new build in which disabling the CPU C states fixed the issue. That was a non-haswell compatible PSU though. It's definitely a reaction to the motherboard encountering some issue that is out of range etc.

Is there any way of diagnosing what values may be out of range? Also, why would this start up out of the blue? I would think that it would be something that I would have started experiencing on Day 1. When I get home, I will look through the BIOS to see what CPU C States settings are and play around with them. I thought most of the low C States were disabled, but I will check. Is the only drawback to disabling some CPU C States a lack of efficiency savings during idle? Thank you for your feedback.

 

[JeckeL]

Is there anything in event viewer? I would assume kernel/OS has to be loaded before event viewer can process and display "events" but taking a look can't hurt

 

[dwatterworth]

Not exactly on the ranges for power without getting a multimeter out, but that's probably not the problem. Only the deepest C states should be causing any sort of problem at all.

I'd try setting the memory speed with XMP if you haven't. Disabling the deeper C states only changes power savings when the machine is in it's sleep/hibernate states.

Have you ever tried running the machine with 1 stick of memory and being able to replicate the restarting issue?

 

[OneLapDown]

Is there anything in event viewer? I would assume kernel/OS has to be loaded before event viewer can process and display "events" but taking a look can't hurt

Currently, I don't have the hard drives hooked up, but will hook up the SSD and see if there is anything in Event Viewer.

 

[OneLapDown]

Not exactly on the ranges for power without getting a multimeter out, but that's probably not the problem. Only the deepest C states should be causing any sort of problem at all.

I'd try setting the memory speed with XMP if you haven't. Disabling the deeper C states only changes power savings when the machine is in it's sleep/hibernate states.

Have you ever tried running the machine with 1 stick of memory and being able to replicate the restarting issue?

I will look into XMP when I get home tonight. Yes, I tried each stick by itself, in each of the 4 slots, with no luck. I was starting to get worried about the ON/OFF/ON current surges during all of that testing.

 

[OneLapDown]

Last night I went back into the BIOS, and enable XMP, which was set on AUTO. I loaded up my RAM profile, checked each stick, without any luck. I also disable, then enabled C-States, which was set to AUTO. Again, no luck. One other detail which I neglected was that the motherboard SENSOR 1 was not giving me a reading for at least a week in the BIOS. I contacted ASUS about this, and they told me it was a software issue, nothing to worry about, and that it would be addressed in future software updates. Any ideas on what else I can do to diagnose the problem?

 

[OneLapDown]

Just found on the ASUS forums that for certain motherboards, a double boot after power cut is normal. All that worrying and diagnosing for nothing, but something that I would have thought tech support would have been aware of.

 

[dwatterworth]

Oh ok, good to know it's in spec. I've only experienced it after a hard power loss while the machine was on, not just the shutdown.