Fairly regular wont boot, doesn't go anywhere, I have to reset 3 or 10 times.
Holding f8 will not get me to bios setup if its in that mood.
Sometimes it gets as far as displaying graphics card info and locking up.
Sometimes it get to "hit delete to enter bios setup" then locks up
Occasionally it fires up no problems.
I built it in 2007? Asus m2nesli, atlonx2 2.7 gig., 600 watt ps
Running avast virus stuff, and ccleaner
Ive flashed the bios (2007 version) since problem started.
Recent additions were, new cmos battery, additional 2 gig ram(4 total), upgrade to 8600gs/500meg video card, and that was approx 3 months before problem started.
5 months ago, something screwed up the MBR (dont remember the actual message) and I reformatted and reinstalled xp sp3
My thoughts are this is before MBR, but Im no expert.:4-dontkno
Why not run memtest on the ram as that is the most likley. Downloads an iso file you then make a bootable cd out of. Then boot to it and run at least 4 full tests. Each test has 8 segments so let it run overnight. Any errors at all and there is bad or incompatible ram in there so you then run it with only 1 stick each time. Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool
Brand & Model of the 600W PSU? Brand & specs of the RAM? Is the 4GB 4 x 1GB?
Did you run MemTest on one stick at a time and let it make several passes?
I still think Ill have time tomorrow to clean desk, and open case up.
Memtest, looked to me like it did all 4 gig at once. I didnt even look for settings to play with. I dont remember mention of video mem
Memory is crucial ballistic, model ?, with the yellow aluminum heatsinks, ddr2, 4 1gig sticks
and I remember 5,5,5,? or was that the bios setting for timing
Hopefully i have time tomorrow, to get inside, I still have the old 7600gt 256meg vid card to try again
searching thru bios I see "primary display adapter"
available settings are pci, and pci e. Pci is picked.
I know I have it in a pci express 16 slot. Should I change this setting?
Also when testing, remove all unnecessary devices including PCI expansion cards, extra drives like the CD/DVD and FDD. Remove extra RAM and just run with 1/2 sticks.
Since you've reformatted & reinstalled Win, the MBR should be clean. Unless you used a copy which could contain a MBR worm. Use only original CDs.
But since your problem shows up during BIOS I'm leaning towards a hardware issue. And a bench test is in order.
changed the pci setting, then for the fun of it , tried to run 3dmark06 benchmarkto check for improvment. 3d doesnt run anymore, I can live with that, but was surprised.
case open
coolmax 500t power supply
crucial ballistic ddr2 800mhz 4-4-4-12
2 new sticks of ram out, took 3 resets this time, left the memory out anyhow
removed galaxy 8400gs 512mb and replaced evga 7600gt 256mb card
booted first try but will have to reboot a few more times to be sure as it occasionally booted 1st time anyhow
will have to reinstall video driver, scrolling is now lumpy and who knows what else
did not clean desk, just tossed onto floor
ran everest and checked temps, while cpu and mob is around 80f , with 90f hdd's, a spot called aux is 110f, ?who's aux?
4 good boots in a row,
uninstalled nvidea software for 8600 card, reinstalled 7600
Now the new hardware wizard, wants to install a "sm bus controller, and a "pci memory controller
I not only dont know what they are but wizard cant find them on my video card cd, or my c:drive
Putting memory back in soon, and continue testing
ok it has an nvidia Chipset on that motherboard. When you uninstalled the nvidia drivers.... it got them all. Not unusual. Just go out to nvidia's site and download the lates drivers for your chipset (i Think its going to be the nforce4 chipset) and latest drivers for the video card. In fact, they might package those together into a single install package. I know it does for my 460 and 980 chipset. That should fix those particular device problems.
yes.. Try reinstalling the Nvidia chipset drivers. It should take care of those devices in the Device manager that were trying to install but could not find software for.
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