Help troubleshooting boot problems

[jan1215]

I built the following system about two years ago and until recently it worked without any major problems:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P - BIOS version F11d
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz (never overclocked)
Memory: OCZ Reaper PC2 6400 (4 x 2GB 4-4-4-15 @ 2.2v)
Video card: nVidia 8800GT
Power Supply: OCZ GameXStream OCZGXS700 700W
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

Last week I left the system running overnight and when I got up the next day it had locked up (neither the mouse nor keyboard worked). I did a soft reboot using the Reset button and since then I've had major problems booting up.

Most of the time the system refuses to boot although the Phase LED are all brightly lit indicating the CPU is under full load. On the few occasions it actually boots (after clearing the CMOS via the jumper), the BIOS reports an incorrect amount of installed RAM. I currently have one 2GB stick on the motherboard yet the BIOS shows 510K memory installed.

So far, I've disassembled all the components then reinstalled them. I reseated the CPU, installed a new CMOS battery and everything else I could think of without any resolution....the computer still will not boot reliably. Could the BIOS somehow become corrupted after the soft reboot?

I'm at my wit's end and I'd really appreciate any help in diagnosing and fixing this problem.

Thanks

- James

[Chike]

Re: Help troubleshooting boot problems

Try the one ram module in the different slots(and different mdules).
Also try leaving the battery out and CLR_CMOS pins jumpered overnight.

[jan1215]

Re: Help troubleshooting boot problems

Chhike, thanks for the prompt reply. I did leave the CLR_CMOS pins jumpered over the last weekend. I'll try both removing the battery and leaving the pins jumpered overnight.

This is a really frustrating problem and I need this computer to complete some work.

Try the one ram module in the different slots(and different mdules).
Also try leaving the battery out and CLR_CMOS pins jumpered overnight.

[Chike]

Re: Help troubleshooting boot problems

Probably won't make any difference if you left it that long.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Help troubleshooting boot problems

If the extended clear CMOS does not help, I'd suggest that you go ahead and reflash that same BIOS or a newer one if there is.

Do the flash with Qflash and be sure to disable "Keep DMI Data" before you flash

[jan1215]

Re: Help troubleshooting boot problems

If the extended clear CMOS does not help, I'd suggest that you go ahead and reflash that same BIOS or a newer one if there is.

Do the flash with Qflash and be sure to disable "Keep DMI Data" before you flash

Thanks for your advice. When the problem occurred I was using the F8 BIOS; after visiting this forum I downloaded the F11D BIOS and used QFlash to update the BIOS. I don't remember if I disabled the "Keep DMI Data" option.

Unfortunately flashing to the latest BIOS did not fix the problem so I RMA'd the motherboard last week and its now with Gigabyte. I'll update this thread when it is returned; hopefully soon.

- James

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Help troubleshooting boot problems

Ahh ok, well good luck on a speedy RMA!

Let us know when you get a board back, sorry about all these hassles!

[jan1215]

Re: Help troubleshooting boot problems

I got the motherboard back today and reinstalled it. Unfortunately nothing seems to be changed and its acting exactly as it did three weeks ago. Whenever I insert more than 2GB RAM it keeps rebooting continuously. This occurs even though I've changed the BIOS settings to 4-4-4-15 @ 2.2 volts which are the recommended settings for the OCS DDR2 RAM.

This is really, really frustrating.