Welcome to Inkbunny...
Allowed ratings
To view member-only content, create an account. ( Hide )
Ukent

PC Trouble - Advice/Insight needed!! :(

by


Okay, so I turn my work PC on, it displays the BIOS and RAID status for a moment, then the window logo shows up shortly after as usual, then the screen goes black, and stays that way until my TV eventually loses the video signal.

Originally, I suspected my PC thought I was using more than one display- it's done this in the past once or twice, and I fixed that on my own no issues. HOWEVER, this time after the windows logo and then the thousand years of dark, I noticed my machines lights would go off, the fans would flare up and slow down, and the lights would go back on, which is what it does before it loads the BIOS originally, but it's not restarting. So off to googleland I go in search of answers, none of which I found helped me personally.

First I tried running it in safe mode, but I mash F8 as hard as I can and the option menu just never shows. So I put in my Win7 repair disk and half the time it tells me it's incompatible with the version of windows I am running, and the other half of the time, the disk works, but when I try to repair it, it tells me it can't find the HDDs, which is odd because the BIOS tells me that the HDDs are perfectly fine aside from some minor degradation I've been monitoring for over a year with no changes (And the HDD thats degraded is new, so it was likely a false positive anyway). So I reseat the HDD anyway, just to be safe- No changes. then I run the ePSA scan thingy from my BIOS, and it immediately spits out an error at me regarding cables:

Msg Cables - Check the following cable, jumper, connection, or sensor: USB Cable 1;


Followed by an error code, which is useless because it's well past warranty now. I tell it to keep testing, and everything else aside from the CPU fan passes with flying colors, which is normal for my machine because even though that fan fails on the diagnostics, it's still running just fine- and I was told by tech support at the time to just ignore it. Even the RAID volume passes. So after ruling out a video mishap, I'm starting worry about my HDDs, but I'm not so sure it's even those now because my system acts like they're intact even though windows repair won't pick them up. There has been the odd power surge here and there lately with the dreadful weather my region has been having, but it's been days since that happened. I was up animating just last night on there lol.


I booted the PC up a copy of Ubuntu I had installed on a flash drive, which I used to recover my files back when my old HDDs really did shit themselves. Ubuntu, much like windows repair, isn't picking them up either. So now I don't know what to do. I've never quite encountered an issue like this before, and the few friends I have who know a thing or two about computers and their inner workings don't seem to know much either. I'm not sure if it has something to do with my power supply for example, or if it's one of the connections to my motherboard or something else.


I have a full set of PC repair tools and an anti-static mat and bracelet for grounding, but I'd hoped not to use any of that until I was ready to build a new PC. I'll probably open it up in the morning and have a look and try reconnecting some things, but in the meantime I'd really like some pointers or possible advice as to what seems to be going on. I have a lot of important files and projects on there, most of which I thankfully back up obsessively, but my animation software, like Poser for example, is licensed to me and I'd really like to not burn up one of the 3 unique activation chances I get with it, plus I just got done fixing up models for some clients, and I was really looking forward to using them (Firebrand being an example, and also my Beerus model which I was building from the group up myself).


Any bone someone can throw my way, it would be greatly appreciated. I can still draw and continue sketch/full drawing projects on my laptop here, but the more meaty projects were reserved for my work PC. If you aren't sure yourself, but know someone else who is tech savvy, please refer them here. It's very important to me and and the continuation of my work.


I'll try and list some specs off the top of my head, but I doubt they'll be terribly useful:


System itself is an Alienware Aurora r4 (almost 7 years old, but with a lot of it's innards being relatively new thanks to my old warranty)

2 TB HDD space (RAID 0+1 setup)

16 gigs RAM

2x Nvidia GTX 555's

intel i7 processor

OS is Win7 Home Premium


Viewed: 40 times
Added: 7 years, 9 months ago
 
sumyunguy
7 years, 9 months ago
if mobo has onboard video, take out GPU and try use onboard vid
me thinking gpu's not start up, it also could be sli link fail or creep, bridge connector loose [if sli]

mainly, take out all but minimum for pc to boot, then put back 1 by 1 till fail
also hdd not pick up, mean SATA vs old legacy support. look in bios to set or enable legacy on HDD's to true

sorr english bad, i help where can
Aquin
7 years, 9 months ago
It sounds like its either your HDD or GPU not wanting to work correctly. Did you just recently update your drivers for either of them?

Check your BIOS settings for any unusual messages.
Reyedog
7 years, 9 months ago
Sounds like your motherboard got discharged. ESD damage can happen during various things including storms if the power is fluxing.
cesarin
7 years, 9 months ago
Theres a few problems here that could cause the whole issue.

a) You're using GPT instead of MBR type.  GPT partitions can only run when you install them using UEFI.
If you installed windows using GPT/UEFI and your system is booting to BIOS. It will never detect the hdd.
b) Your installation using SATA/AHCI by default, but a BIOS reset changed it to LEGACY IDE. Windows (specially 7 and below) are not keen to this change and will either freeze, do reboot loop or just hang on a black screen.
c) Since its not rebooting but fans slowdown, you probably are not getting video signal. A crapped video driver could do this. Have you even tried to restart using Safe mode( not need to "smash" the f8, just slightly taps constantly )?
d) since you say that windows installation is not detecting the hard disks, but they are only visible on BIOS...
are they still in RAID mode? you might still need the RAID card drivers DURING windows 7 installation. Windows by default does NOT detect RAID cards nor their setups. Remember that a lot of "prebuilders" like Dell and HP, install their own specific drivers to their installation/recovery windows. Which are different (and usually branded) than the normal Windows installation discs.
e) Perhaps you only need to buy new identical hard disks and let the array rebuild?
f) as for USB errors, ,USB and Ethernet ports are the first thing that dies in a failing motherboard.
Degradation usually starts there and spreads to the southbridge chipset, and then to the northbridge (from failing PCI EXPRESS ports to memory slots failing).
g) I recommend you get a USB dock or something and scan those hard disks on another computer just in case, and if needed.. clone them.
As for bad weather and power issues.. Get an UPC/APC/UPS unit. (aka backup battery unit)

New Comment:
Move reply box to top
Log in or create an account to comment.