Intermittent Failure to POST

Here's an odd one. I have an Intel D850GB that intermittent fails on
power-up with no video and three beeps. Descriptions of the beep code
identify it as a video, memory, or some other critical failure. (duh)

http://support.intel.com/support/mot...esktop/d850gb/

Here's the weird part. The system will fire up fine, but it will fail
on a restart. If you shutdown the machine, wait 40 seconds or so
(sometimes a few minutes) it will again start up without difficulty.

I've tried:

1) Stripping the system down to minimum components--video card, hard
drive, processor and memory.

2) Cleaned (with contact cleaner) and inspected all card/module edges
and their corresponding sockets.

3) Swapped out the power supply with a known good unit.

4) Swapped out the video card with a known good unit of a different slot
type. (Used an antediluvian PCI card instead of the preferred AGP one.)

5) Popped the processor to look for pin or socket damage. Checked
thermal compound, reseated and regooped the heatsink.

6) Removed the motherboard from the chassis to check for chaff or points
of contacts.

7) Ran MemTest86+ for 24 hours without producing a single memory error.
Prime95 also has ran for 24 hours without an error.

8) Profuse swearing and the illustrative destruction of an adjacent
clock radio.

I've been unable to try different memory, as they are RIMM type, and I
don't have any spare modules.

While the system has been under load, the processor/board temperatures
(as reported by Everest) never exceeds 50C. Putting a box fan on high,
aimed at the motherboard, affects temperatures a bit, but does not alter
the pattern of pre-POST failures.

At times, it seems as if unplugging the power supply from the mains can
reduce the "refactory period," but that might just be coincidence.

Any ideas as to what might be going on here?

Grinder wrote:
Here's an odd one. I have an Intel D850GB that intermittent fails on
power-up with no video and three beeps. Descriptions of the beep code
identify it as a video, memory, or some other critical failure. (duh)


8) Profuse swearing and the illustrative destruction of an adjacent
clock radio.
You should retry number 8 a couple of times.

Sjouke Burry wrote:
Grinder wrote:
Here's an odd one. I have an Intel D850GB that intermittent fails on
power-up with no video and three beeps. Descriptions of the beep code
identify it as a video, memory, or some other critical failure. (duh)


8) Profuse swearing and the illustrative destruction of an adjacent
clock radio.
You should retry number 8 a couple of times.

I might as well. The typewriter has been giving me attitude anyhow.

Grinder wrote in
news:gTmvj.44148$yE1.40114@attbi_s21:

Here's an odd one. I have an Intel D850GB that intermittent fails on
power-up with no video and three beeps. Descriptions of the beep code
identify it as a video, memory, or some other critical failure. (duh)

http://support.intel.com/support/mot...esktop/d850gb/

Here's the weird part. The system will fire up fine, but it will fail
on a restart. If you shutdown the machine, wait 40 seconds or so
(sometimes a few minutes) it will again start up without difficulty.

I've tried:

1) Stripping the system down to minimum components--video card, hard
drive, processor and memory.

2) Cleaned (with contact cleaner) and inspected all card/module edges
and their corresponding sockets.

3) Swapped out the power supply with a known good unit.

4) Swapped out the video card with a known good unit of a different slot
type. (Used an antediluvian PCI card instead of the preferred AGP one.)

5) Popped the processor to look for pin or socket damage. Checked
thermal compound, reseated and regooped the heatsink.

6) Removed the motherboard from the chassis to check for chaff or points
of contacts.

7) Ran MemTest86+ for 24 hours without producing a single memory error.
Prime95 also has ran for 24 hours without an error.

8) Profuse swearing and the illustrative destruction of an adjacent
clock radio.

I've been unable to try different memory, as they are RIMM type, and I
don't have any spare modules.

While the system has been under load, the processor/board temperatures
(as reported by Everest) never exceeds 50C. Putting a box fan on high,
aimed at the motherboard, affects temperatures a bit, but does not alter
the pattern of pre-POST failures.

At times, it seems as if unplugging the power supply from the mains can
reduce the "refactory period," but that might just be coincidence.

Any ideas as to what might be going on here?

Have you examined the MOBO for bad capacitors? This may shed some light on
bad caps: http://www.badcaps.net

--
pcbldrNinetyEight

pcbldrNinetyEight wrote:
Grinder wrote in
news:gTmvj.44148$yE1.40114@attbi_s21:

Here's an odd one. I have an Intel D850GB that intermittent fails on
power-up with no video and three beeps. Descriptions of the beep code
identify it as a video, memory, or some other critical failure. (duh)

http://support.intel.com/support/mot...esktop/d850gb/

Here's the weird part. The system will fire up fine, but it will fail
on a restart. If you shutdown the machine, wait 40 seconds or so
(sometimes a few minutes) it will again start up without difficulty.

I've tried:

1) Stripping the system down to minimum components--video card, hard
drive, processor and memory.

2) Cleaned (with contact cleaner) and inspected all card/module edges
and their corresponding sockets.

3) Swapped out the power supply with a known good unit.

4) Swapped out the video card with a known good unit of a different slot
type. (Used an antediluvian PCI card instead of the preferred AGP one.)

5) Popped the processor to look for pin or socket damage. Checked
thermal compound, reseated and regooped the heatsink.

6) Removed the motherboard from the chassis to check for chaff or points
of contacts.

7) Ran MemTest86+ for 24 hours without producing a single memory error.
Prime95 also has ran for 24 hours without an error.

8) Profuse swearing and the illustrative destruction of an adjacent
clock radio.

I've been unable to try different memory, as they are RIMM type, and I
don't have any spare modules.

While the system has been under load, the processor/board temperatures
(as reported by Everest) never exceeds 50C. Putting a box fan on high,
aimed at the motherboard, affects temperatures a bit, but does not alter
the pattern of pre-POST failures.

At times, it seems as if unplugging the power supply from the mains can
reduce the "refactory period," but that might just be coincidence.

Any ideas as to what might be going on here?

Have you examined the MOBO for bad capacitors? This may shed some light on
bad caps: http://www.badcaps.net

Yes, sorry, I should have mentioned that. I don't see any that look odd.

Grinder wrote in
news91wj.47007$yE1.13176@attbi_s21:

pcbldrNinetyEight wrote:
Grinder wrote in
news:gTmvj.44148$yE1.40114@attbi_s21:

Here's an odd one. I have an Intel D850GB that intermittent fails
on power-up with no video and three beeps. Descriptions of the beep
code identify it as a video, memory, or some other critical failure.
(duh)

http://support.intel.com/support/mot...esktop/d850gb/

Here's the weird part. The system will fire up fine, but it will
fail on a restart. If you shutdown the machine, wait 40 seconds or
so (sometimes a few minutes) it will again start up without
difficulty.

I've tried:

1) Stripping the system down to minimum components--video card, hard
drive, processor and memory.

2) Cleaned (with contact cleaner) and inspected all card/module
edges and their corresponding sockets.

3) Swapped out the power supply with a known good unit.

4) Swapped out the video card with a known good unit of a different
slot type. (Used an antediluvian PCI card instead of the preferred
AGP one.)

5) Popped the processor to look for pin or socket damage. Checked
thermal compound, reseated and regooped the heatsink.

6) Removed the motherboard from the chassis to check for chaff or
points of contacts.

7) Ran MemTest86+ for 24 hours without producing a single memory
error.
Prime95 also has ran for 24 hours without an error.

8) Profuse swearing and the illustrative destruction of an adjacent
clock radio.

I've been unable to try different memory, as they are RIMM type, and
I don't have any spare modules.

While the system has been under load, the processor/board
temperatures (as reported by Everest) never exceeds 50C. Putting a
box fan on high, aimed at the motherboard, affects temperatures a
bit, but does not alter the pattern of pre-POST failures.

At times, it seems as if unplugging the power supply from the mains
can reduce the "refactory period," but that might just be
coincidence.

Any ideas as to what might be going on here?

Have you examined the MOBO for bad capacitors? This may shed some
light on bad caps: http://www.badcaps.net

Yes, sorry, I should have mentioned that. I don't see any that look
odd.

What about the HD. Is it spinning when the PC fails POST or is it locked
up?

--
pcbldrNinetyEight

pcbldrNinetyEight wrote:
Grinder wrote in
news91wj.47007$yE1.13176@attbi_s21:

pcbldrNinetyEight wrote:
Grinder wrote in
news:gTmvj.44148$yE1.40114@attbi_s21:

Here's an odd one. I have an Intel D850GB that intermittent fails
on power-up with no video and three beeps. Descriptions of the beep
code identify it as a video, memory, or some other critical failure.
(duh)

http://support.intel.com/support/mot...esktop/d850gb/

Here's the weird part. The system will fire up fine, but it will
fail on a restart. If you shutdown the machine, wait 40 seconds or
so (sometimes a few minutes) it will again start up without
difficulty.

I've tried:

1) Stripping the system down to minimum components--video card, hard
drive, processor and memory.

2) Cleaned (with contact cleaner) and inspected all card/module
edges and their corresponding sockets.

3) Swapped out the power supply with a known good unit.

4) Swapped out the video card with a known good unit of a different
slot type. (Used an antediluvian PCI card instead of the preferred
AGP one.)

5) Popped the processor to look for pin or socket damage. Checked
thermal compound, reseated and regooped the heatsink.

6) Removed the motherboard from the chassis to check for chaff or
points of contacts.

7) Ran MemTest86+ for 24 hours without producing a single memory
error.
Prime95 also has ran for 24 hours without an error.

8) Profuse swearing and the illustrative destruction of an adjacent
clock radio.

I've been unable to try different memory, as they are RIMM type, and
I don't have any spare modules.

While the system has been under load, the processor/board
temperatures (as reported by Everest) never exceeds 50C. Putting a
box fan on high, aimed at the motherboard, affects temperatures a
bit, but does not alter the pattern of pre-POST failures.

At times, it seems as if unplugging the power supply from the mains
can reduce the "refactory period," but that might just be
coincidence.

Any ideas as to what might be going on here?
Have you examined the MOBO for bad capacitors? This may shed some
light on bad caps: http://www.badcaps.net
Yes, sorry, I should have mentioned that. I don't see any that look
odd.

What about the HD. Is it spinning when the PC fails POST or is it locked
up?

It spins up.

Sounds like a bad video card, but I'm not certain. RAM can be sporadic when
it fails. In order to interpret the beep codes properly you need to know the
exact BIOS your board contains. Once you find that out, here's a helpful
resource for interpreting the message. (I've given the Award BIOS page
because that's often used with Intel boards - there are many others
available from this page)

http://www.bioscentral.com/beepcodes/awardbeep.htm

..
"Grinder" wrote in message
news:gTmvj.44148$yE1.40114@attbi_s21...
Here's an odd one. I have an Intel D850GB that intermittent fails on
power-up with no video and three beeps. Descriptions of the beep code
identify it as a video, memory, or some other critical failure. (duh)

http://support.intel.com/support/mot...esktop/d850gb/

Here's the weird part. The system will fire up fine, but it will fail on
a restart. If you shutdown the machine, wait 40 seconds or so (sometimes
a few minutes) it will again start up without difficulty.

I've tried:

1) Stripping the system down to minimum components--video card, hard
drive, processor and memory.

2) Cleaned (with contact cleaner) and inspected all card/module edges and
their corresponding sockets.

3) Swapped out the power supply with a known good unit.

4) Swapped out the video card with a known good unit of a different slot
type. (Used an antediluvian PCI card instead of the preferred AGP one.)

5) Popped the processor to look for pin or socket damage. Checked thermal
compound, reseated and regooped the heatsink.

6) Removed the motherboard from the chassis to check for chaff or points
of contacts.

7) Ran MemTest86+ for 24 hours without producing a single memory error.
Prime95 also has ran for 24 hours without an error.

8) Profuse swearing and the illustrative destruction of an adjacent clock
radio.

I've been unable to try different memory, as they are RIMM type, and I
don't have any spare modules.

While the system has been under load, the processor/board temperatures (as
reported by Everest) never exceeds 50C. Putting a box fan on high, aimed
at the motherboard, affects temperatures a bit, but does not alter the
pattern of pre-POST failures.

At times, it seems as if unplugging the power supply from the mains can
reduce the "refactory period," but that might just be coincidence.

Any ideas as to what might be going on here?

On Feb 25, 9:34 pm, "Pat Glenn" wrote:
Sounds like a bad video card, but I'm not certain. RAM can be sporadic when
it fails. In order to interpret the beep codes properly you need to know the
exact BIOS your board contains. Once you find that out, here's a helpful
resource for interpreting the message. (I've given the Award BIOS page
because that's often used with Intel boards - there are many others
available from this page)

http://www.bioscentral.com/beepcodes/awardbeep.htm

."Grinder" wrote in message

news:gTmvj.44148$yE1.40114@attbi_s21...

Here's an odd one. I have an Intel D850GB that intermittent fails on
power-up with no video and three beeps. Descriptions of the beep code
identify it as a video, memory, or some other critical failure. (duh)

http://support.intel.com/support/mot...esktop/d850gb/

Here's the weird part. The system will fire up fine, but it will fail on
a restart. If you shutdown the machine, wait 40 seconds or so (sometimes
a few minutes) it will again start up without difficulty.

I've tried:

1) Stripping the system down to minimum components--video card, hard
drive, processor and memory.

2) Cleaned (with contact cleaner) and inspected all card/module edges and
their corresponding sockets.

3) Swapped out the power supply with a known good unit.

4) Swapped out the video card with a known good unit of a different slot
type. (Used an antediluvian PCI card instead of the preferred AGP one.)

5) Popped the processor to look for pin or socket damage. Checked thermal
compound, reseated and regooped the heatsink.

6) Removed the motherboard from the chassis to check for chaff or points
of contacts.

7) Ran MemTest86+ for 24 hours without producing a single memory error.
Prime95 also has ran for 24 hours without an error.

8) Profuse swearing and the illustrative destruction of an adjacent clock
radio.

I've been unable to try different memory, as they are RIMM type, and I
don't have any spare modules.

While the system has been under load, the processor/board temperatures (as
reported by Everest) never exceeds 50C. Putting a box fan on high, aimed
at the motherboard, affects temperatures a bit, but does not alter the
pattern of pre-POST failures.

At times, it seems as if unplugging the power supply from the mains can
reduce the "refactory period," but that might just be coincidence.

Any ideas as to what might be going on here?

Could the battery be bad?

Grinder wrote:
Here's an odd one. I have an Intel D850GB that intermittent fails on
power-up with no video and three beeps. Descriptions of the beep code
identify it as a video, memory, or some other critical failure. (duh)

http://support.intel.com/support/mot...esktop/d850gb/

Here's the weird part. The system will fire up fine, but it will fail
on a restart. If you shutdown the machine, wait 40 seconds or so
(sometimes a few minutes) it will again start up without difficulty.

I've tried:

1) Stripping the system down to minimum components--video card, hard
drive, processor and memory.

2) Cleaned (with contact cleaner) and inspected all card/module edges
and their corresponding sockets.

3) Swapped out the power supply with a known good unit.

4) Swapped out the video card with a known good unit of a different slot
type. (Used an antediluvian PCI card instead of the preferred AGP one.)

5) Popped the processor to look for pin or socket damage. Checked
thermal compound, reseated and regooped the heatsink.

6) Removed the motherboard from the chassis to check for chaff or points
of contacts.

7) Ran MemTest86+ for 24 hours without producing a single memory error.
Prime95 also has ran for 24 hours without an error.

8) Profuse swearing and the illustrative destruction of an adjacent
clock radio.

I've been unable to try different memory, as they are RIMM type, and I
don't have any spare modules.

Just in case anyone is scoring at home: It has turned out to be a bad
memory module. Buying RDRAM sucks.

While the system has been under load, the processor/board temperatures
(as reported by Everest) never exceeds 50C. Putting a box fan on high,
aimed at the motherboard, affects temperatures a bit, but does not alter
the pattern of pre-POST failures.

At times, it seems as if unplugging the power supply from the mains can
reduce the "refactory period," but that might just be coincidence.

Any ideas as to what might be going on here?