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Gurezaemon

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#303462 12-Feb-2023 12:13
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I put together a new PC in mid-December. 
Intel 13600, MSI Z690 Tomahawk DDR4 with 32Gigs RAM, new Deepcool 1000W PSU, running Windows 11. 
Graphics are a RTX2060 and a 1030 from my previous build.

 

This was working rock solid until a couple of weeks ago, when it started rebooting at random every couple of days, and it was guaranteed to do a full reset when resuming from sleep/hibernate, etc. In between these events, it was fine, and even handled running Prime95 (for the CPU) and Furmark (for the GPU) at the same time for hours on end.

 

Yesterday, it stopped even booting into Windows. It was getting to the spinny thing showing that windows was loading, but then ended up in an endless cycle of rebooting and offering automatic repair, which never worked. Occasionally, the following box appears 
ctfmon.exe - Success
Unknown hard error

 

Not particularly helpful. I fully reset the BIOS, with no change. Even removed CMOS battery overnight. Temperatures on the CPU are fine, and it has decent airflow. 

 

This has gradually worsened to the point that after a minute even in the BIOS, the PC resets itself. Obviously, I can't even get to the point of reinstalling Windows fresh, or even starting a portable Linux install. It managed to run a Linux install off a hard drive out of a spare laptop for 5 minutes, but that crashed as well, although this stays running for 5-10 minutes, whereas the BIOS lasts 30 seconds tops.

 

IMPORTANT POINT: There was one issue when putting the PC together. Stupidly, I dropped a screw into the CPU socket, bending 5-10 of the tiny little pins. After much swearing and peering through microscopes, I got them all aligned reasonably, and everything worked perfectly for a couple of months until now. My thoughts are that this would be is the primary culprit.

 

I've removed everything that can be removed, swapped the RAM around, and nothing makes any difference. Reseated the CPU and looked at the pins underneath - everything seems lined up nicely.

 

Given the screwup with the motherboard pins, I'm thinking I should just bite the bullet, and replace the motherboard, and be done with it.

 

Before I start browsing for new motherboards, have I missed anything obvious?

 

 





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gzt

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  #3035338 12-Feb-2023 12:20
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No idea. Can you try booting a USB?

 
 
 
 

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Gurezaemon

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  #3035342 12-Feb-2023 12:25
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Same result. USB boots for 30 seconds or so, then a reboot. The Linux Mint hard drive pulled out of a laptop boots and stays running for a few minutes, then reboots. BIOS doesn't even make it to 1 minute before a hard reset.





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  #3035344 12-Feb-2023 12:33
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faulty PSU?




gehenna
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  #3035349 12-Feb-2023 13:03
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These days there are often status lights that cycle through the boot process on the motherboard itself. If it gets stuck booting you might be able to match that with the relevant status light. I have been able to isolate faulty RAM this way in the past. And VGA issues.

Gurezaemon

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  #3035354 12-Feb-2023 13:21
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Using both the onboard graphics and a spare old GPU don't change anything, and swapping RAM seems to make no difference either.

 

I've swapped out the PSU into this machine, and it seems fine. I'm having trouble thinking it's anything but the mobo at this point.

 

 





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gzt

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  #3035357 12-Feb-2023 13:32
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Probably is. Will it run memtest86?

MadEngineer
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  #3035363 12-Feb-2023 13:51
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Strip the computer down to the bare minimum of parts - cpu, smallest amount of ram, without checking on your cpu use onboard video if you can. Even unplug anything usb except the keyboard.

See if the fault continues.

I’d be reviewing the cpu for any burn marks around those damaged pins




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Gurezaemon

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  #3035382 12-Feb-2023 15:05
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After swapping everything out, a friend suggested it could be a corrupt BIOS. So I reflashed it. And it appears to be working again! Very, very relived.

 

The boot files still seemed to be borked, but luckily a bit of software I'd installed a week ago had created a system restore point, and using that fixed things, and did the trick.

 

Thanks to all for your good ideas. Now I just have to put the damn thing together again 😂





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gzt

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  #3035389 12-Feb-2023 15:19
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Nice! How did you refresh bios?

  #3035390 12-Feb-2023 15:22
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gzt: Nice! How did you refresh bios?

 

bios flashback on the motherboard one would asume


djtOtago
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  #3035395 12-Feb-2023 15:30
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I haven't come across a corrupted Bios in years. It would be pretty low on my things to check. 🙂

 

 


djtOtago
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  #3035399 12-Feb-2023 15:35
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gzt: Nice! How did you refresh bios?

 

Most modern motherboards these days have an USB port dedicated to Bios updates. Put the bios update file on a thumb drive, plug it in and turn on the computer. Some will upgrade automatically, some will need special key combo on keyboard held down. Some also have a recovery bios as well.


  #3035401 12-Feb-2023 15:45
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djtOtago:

 

I haven't come across a corrupted Bios in years. It would be pretty low on my things to check. 🙂

 

 

 

 

i had that on a recycled PC i had


MadEngineer
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  #3035408 12-Feb-2023 16:30
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djtOtago:

 

gzt: Nice! How did you refresh bios?

 

Most modern motherboards these days have an USB port dedicated to Bios updates. Put the bios update file on a thumb drive, plug it in and turn on the computer. Some will upgrade automatically, some will need special key combo on keyboard held down. Some also have a recovery bios as well.

 

I was curious so checked the specs page for that motherboard and found it doesn't have backup/dual-bios (unlike all (afaik) Gigabyte boards) but instead a dedicated bios update button:

 

Updating BIOS with Flash BIOS Button
1. Please download the latest BIOS file that matches your motherboard model from 
the MSI® website.
2. Rename the BIOS file to MSI.ROM, and save it to the root of the USB storage device.
3. Connect the power supply to CPU_PWR1 and ATX_PWR1. (No need to install CPU 
and memory.) 
4. Plug the USB storage device that contains the MSI.ROM file into the Flash BIOS 
Port on the rear I/O panel.
5. Press the Flash BIOS Button to flash BIOS, and the LED starts flashing.
6. The LED will be turned off when the process is completed.

 

MAGZ690TOMAHAWKWIFIDDR4.pdf (msi.com)

 

There's all the usual other options available too.

 

 





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Gurezaemon

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  #3035462 12-Feb-2023 16:46
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Updating it was really that simple. Watching the motherboard do something without a CPU or cooler in it was a little surreal though. I'm using the resuscitated machine now, and am very grateful that I'm not having to spend $4-500 on a new mobo. Or get ready to moan in the thread about slow couriers 😀





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