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Aistic
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HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Mon Apr 22, 2013 4:52 am

Hi again TechReport,

I'm in real trouble.

Last night I started my computer on some large downloads and went to sleep. Today I found it irresponsive and with the display turned off.

I powered it off and then on to find that it booted into much the same state, that is, showing just one POST code on the debug LEDs throughout, "00", which according to my asus mobo manual is "not used" and which in the ROG connect program on my laptop (which connects to the mobo via USB and shows fx debug codes) shows up as "CPU initial".
All the fans and the HDD spin up nicely, including GPU fans, and the LEDs light up, including the double zeroes of the debug LED, but that's pretty much all that happens.
It seems to me, perhaps it doesn't even try to POST?

I have tried
  • clearing CMOS and switching to the second BIOS on the video card, as both CPU & GPU were overclocked, albeit stably so.
  • disconnecting some newly bought ram sticks,
  • disconnecting a hard disk that threw a tantrum some weeks ago http://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=87457
  • disconnecting the video card

My specs are
i7-3820 @ 4,5 GHz, 1.365 volt, cooled by a NH-D14 SE2011
ASUS Rampage Formula IV
4 x 4 GB of DDR3 @ default clocks and timings
Sapphire Radeon 7950 @ 1200/6300, 1.21V, cooled by an Arctic 7970 Xtreme - all the small heatsinks for VRAM and VRMs are still in place
Samsung 830 128 GB SSD
Seagate Barracuda 1,5 TB 7200.11
Antec HCP-1200 W power supply

I'm at a loss, even as to what part is failing?

Thank you for reading all of this
 
Aranarth
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Mon Apr 22, 2013 10:02 am

Unplug the machine from the wall, pull the cmos battery, leave it alone for 48 hours.

Replace the battery, fire the machine up.

See if you still get the same code.
Main machine: Core I7 -2600K @ 4.0Ghz / 16 gig ram / Radeon RX 580 8gb / 500gb toshiba ssd / 5tb hd
Old machine: Core 2 quad Q6600 @ 3ghz / 8 gig ram / Radeon 7870 / 240 gb PNY ssd / 1tb HD
 
Aistic
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Mon Apr 22, 2013 2:04 pm

*sigh*

Thanks. Will try that.
 
Forge
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Mon Apr 22, 2013 2:45 pm

48 hours is excessive and not needed. Half an hour to an hour fully disconnected should give every effect that 48h would.

There's no problem with superstition, as long as you know where the diagnostics stop and the superstition begins.
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Aistic
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:19 am

I'm happy to report that my problem has (seemingly) magically resolved itself.

I found out yesterday (when I was about to remove the battery) that turning the psu off for half an hour would enable a normal boot-up on repowering.

If I restarted, the computer would initially boot up, but turn off during POST and a boot following this would result in the problem described in OP, complete with 00 debug code. If I turned the psu off for another half hour, a normal boot-up would again follow.

I've kept the computer running over night, and now, when i restart, or turn the computer off, I have no problem turning it on.

?

And: Am I saved?
 
Arclight
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Sun Apr 28, 2013 12:50 pm

Aistic wrote:
I'm happy to report that my problem has (seemingly) magically resolved itself.

I found out yesterday (when I was about to remove the battery) that turning the psu off for half an hour would enable a normal boot-up on repowering.

If I restarted, the computer would initially boot up, but turn off during POST and a boot following this would result in the problem described in OP, complete with 00 debug code. If I turned the psu off for another half hour, a normal boot-up would again follow.

I've kept the computer running over night, and now, when i restart, or turn the computer off, I have no problem turning it on.

?

And: Am I saved?


The debug code thingy is done by Windows when the system shuts down unexpectedly. That's not the issue imo. Personally i think your PSU is on it's way out and i would advise you urgently look for another unit, from a friend or local IT shop, just to test the system with a PSU that is known to function properly, to see if the system exhibits the same symptoms.

If the system works with the good PSU then it's clear you need to buy a new one or RMA the old one if you still got warranty. If the system still has the same issue, then the next thing you should check would be the motherboard.
nVidia video drivers FAIL, click for more info
Disclaimer: All answers and suggestions are provided by an enthusiastic amateur and are therefore without warranty either explicit or implicit. Basically you use my suggestions at your own risk.
 
Aistic
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Sun Apr 28, 2013 3:48 pm

Hi Arclight,

I'm not sure I follow. Are you saying that windows made it so I couln't reach POST or access BIOS or anything, because of an unexpected shutdown?

Regarding testing the PSU; by my last post, I meant that I don't have the problem any more. I also described the events leading up to this resolution of the problem. So I don't know what you meant by changing the PSU?

Hope I'm making more sense :)
 
Arclight
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Sun Apr 28, 2013 4:30 pm

Aistic wrote:
Hi Arclight,

I'm not sure I follow. Are you saying that windows made it so I couln't reach POST or access BIOS or anything, because of an unexpected shutdown?

Regarding testing the PSU; by my last post, I meant that I don't have the problem any more. I also described the events leading up to this resolution of the problem. So I don't know what you meant by changing the PSU?

Hope I'm making more sense :)


I've re-read your post, somehow i misunderstood that now you have to turn off your PSU for half an hour just so that you can boot up normaly. *woosh*

Ok then, so if it's fixed i don't really know what was wrong.

As for the debug code, if you let it run once till it finishes then it will dissapear. I doubt it will find anything wrong with your PC but just let it run. If not i think there is a way to disable it from regedit, but i don't believe it's worth the hassle.

Just to make sure i don't misunderstand again, could you post a picture of the screen when the debugger shows up?
nVidia video drivers FAIL, click for more info
Disclaimer: All answers and suggestions are provided by an enthusiastic amateur and are therefore without warranty either explicit or implicit. Basically you use my suggestions at your own risk.
 
Aistic
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Sun Apr 28, 2013 5:39 pm

That's very much ok. I appreciate you taking time to help.

What I meant with the debug code was, that during those start-ups where nothing would respond (no POST, no video, no power to periferals), the mother board would indicate a debug code (00) with LED digits like these: Image
 
Forge
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Sun Apr 28, 2013 8:08 pm

Arclight wrote:
As for the debug code, if you let it run once till it finishes then it will dissapear. I doubt it will find anything wrong with your PC but just let it run. If not i think there is a way to disable it from regedit, but i don't believe it's worth the hassle.

Just to make sure i don't misunderstand again, could you post a picture of the screen when the debugger shows up?


No offense, but I don't think you've had full comprehension yet. This is not a software debugger he's talking about, it's the on-motherboard POST code display. He attached a picture above. Most Gigabyte, Asus, and eVGA motherboards have them (the nicer models, anyways), and they're becoming more and more common all the time.

This whole sequence has been very strange, none of your symptoms have been lining up with each other, and it's mostly guesswork at this point, since it's booting more than not.

I think it's the motherboard. Testing the PSU is a fine idea as well. If you contact eVGA support, they are generally very helpful about trying to help you troubleshoot. In fact, if you tell them you're having trouble localizing the trouble, they may have you send the board in so they can test it out and give it a clean bill of health, even if it's not the problem.

Edit: Half of this is invalid because I saw the eVGA pic and thought it was the OP's, not a repost.
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Arclight
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Mon Apr 29, 2013 1:17 am

Aistic wrote:
That's very much ok. I appreciate you taking time to help.

What I meant with the debug code was, that during those start-ups where nothing would respond (no POST, no video, no power to periferals), the mother board would indicate a debug code (00) with LED digits like these:
http://www.evga.com/images/forum/tmp.jpg



Woosh number 2, totally misunderstood this one as well.

Ok, so i looked in the manual of your motherboard (E7112) and at page 22 where the table with debug LED codes start, for code "00" it says "Not used"

I presume you checked it yourself, i can't offer much help other than advise you to contact Asus and report the issue. Maybe you need a BIOS update, maybe you don't, i have no way of knowing.

That said i did notice in the manual that you have something called Q LEDs which help you check key components (page 20 in the manual). Were any of those active while you had the issue?
nVidia video drivers FAIL, click for more info
Disclaimer: All answers and suggestions are provided by an enthusiastic amateur and are therefore without warranty either explicit or implicit. Basically you use my suggestions at your own risk.
 
Forge
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Mon Apr 29, 2013 9:33 am

00 is the initialization. Generally failing (staying) on 00 means motherboard issues. Not necessarily failure, since a bad cable or backwards connection can cause it as well, but it's likely.
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Aistic
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Mon Apr 29, 2013 6:08 pm

Hi again
I was hoping against hope that I was out of the woods, but, woe is me, I am writing this from my smart phone, because the computer is acting up again. (And because my gf is occupying my iPad and I can't be bothered to go out of bed to get my laptop. I am only human.)

This time around, the ol' tricks don't seem to... do the trick, ie turning off the psu for half an hour still results in the 00 code.

I have now removed the mobo battery for the night.

The Qled was alight on the first diode in the row indicating the cpu, though I hazard the guess that an issue with the mobo would also have this appearance, seeing as the cpu diode is the first in the row.

The motherboard and the PSU seems prime suspects currently it seems.

As I actually don't know anyone with a desktop (everybody is on laptops), I am not sure how to test the psu. Do you think a cheap uncalibrated multi meter would be of use if i used a metal clip on the atx cable to trick the psu alive? Otherwise I can check voltages via Rog Connect on my laptop.

Asus support is atrocious I hear but I guess opening a ticket would be warrented by now?

I apologize for the wall of text... Thank you again for your time.
 
Forge
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Mon Apr 29, 2013 6:57 pm

Yes, open a ticket. They will likely run through much of the same troubleshooting we have done, but maybe they will have something new, and it is essential to an RMA anyways.
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Aistic
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Fri May 03, 2013 3:39 pm

Hi everybody,
I'm just writing from the road on the way to Italy, to let you know further inquiries will be suspended for a week, allowing for fittingly copious pizza-consumation.
I'll once again be on this bitch like a mofo trying to work this out from the 13th.
I appreciate all the help!
 
Forge
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Sat May 04, 2013 4:55 pm

Oh, I hope you meant "comsumption" and not "consummation". The latter can be very painful if the pizza is hot. Have burn salve on hand.
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Aistic
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Re: HELP! No Post(?), no video output, no nothing

Fri May 17, 2013 7:14 am

Well spotted, Forge. Freudian slip right there, I'm afraid...

Anyways, I'm back, the pizza was... satisfying and Italy was perfect.

And I'm writing this from my desktop.

I took out the mobo battery for the duration of my holiday - came back, haven't had a botched startup since... As to the significance of this, I'm baffled.

I will be reporting in if anything changes... but for now I guess, thanks a lot to you all for all your help. Fingers crossed.

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