First boot failure
Discussion
Bit of an odd one. I keep a Win 7 HTPC build on the go for Media centre. Yes I get it's ancient history but I like it. I built the PC myself years ago, so know my way around things. It currently runs an SSD for the o/s & two chunky HDD's that are just for storage really, music, films, pictures etc.
It never boots first time, nothing, just spinning fans & a blank screen. I hold the power switch to turn it off & restart & it boots normally, This is reliable, so I'm guessing something BIOS but what?
It never boots first time, nothing, just spinning fans & a blank screen. I hold the power switch to turn it off & restart & it boots normally, This is reliable, so I'm guessing something BIOS but what?
but my first step would be to reseat all the removable components just in case. Does the BIOS have a boot logger?Sadly none that I can see in the BIOS menu. Does have something called dehumidifer function though 
it's an ASRock Uefi BIOS.
I can rebuild the system which seems like a sledgehammer to crack a nut or reset BIOS to defaults. Pretty sure all h/w components are seated properly, the systems runs fine, just has this odd double boot symptom.
it's an ASRock Uefi BIOS.I can rebuild the system which seems like a sledgehammer to crack a nut or reset BIOS to defaults. Pretty sure all h/w components are seated properly, the systems runs fine, just has this odd double boot symptom.
Assuming that means you can access the BIOS, it's less likely to be a basic hardware issue, it's POSTing. Ummm. Ideas.
Check the order of the boot devices (especially if you have an old OS on one of the data drives, I made that mistake once)
Run a manufacturer health test on all the drives to check for failures
Boot into safe mode?
Remove the graphics card, boot?
Reseat the RAM, boot?
EDIT oh one more springs to mind given the vintage. CMOS battery?
Check the order of the boot devices (especially if you have an old OS on one of the data drives, I made that mistake once)
Run a manufacturer health test on all the drives to check for failures
Boot into safe mode?
Remove the graphics card, boot?
Reseat the RAM, boot?
EDIT oh one more springs to mind given the vintage. CMOS battery?
Edited by Whoozit on Tuesday 24th January 10:52
Thanks for the ideas. Should mention I replaced the CMOS battery a couple of years ago - this has gone on for a while. Maybe replace it again? I supoose a dud isn't impossible.
Reckon unplugging everything & rebooting with one added component at a time could be useful? I,e. down to SSD only & then go again after adding the sound card, graphics card additional HDD's etc to rule them out? I can say for sure that the only o/s is on the SSD & that there is nothing on the SSD except Win7 & the system partition Windows creates. it's a fairly lean build in that sense.
Reckon unplugging everything & rebooting with one added component at a time could be useful? I,e. down to SSD only & then go again after adding the sound card, graphics card additional HDD's etc to rule them out? I can say for sure that the only o/s is on the SSD & that there is nothing on the SSD except Win7 & the system partition Windows creates. it's a fairly lean build in that sense.
To be fair when a CMOS battery goes you do usually get an error message, or have to reconfigure stuff on each boot but as it is a cheap and easy thing to change it is generally worth doing as a bit of a hail mary.
I suspect you have a dodgy capacitor on the MB somewhere, does it happen every time you boot or only if it has been switched off for a period of time, if the latter then it is indicative of a capacitor having drained and needing to be charged up with the application of power.
your suggestion of disconnecting items and booting without is a good one.
I suspect you have a dodgy capacitor on the MB somewhere, does it happen every time you boot or only if it has been switched off for a period of time, if the latter then it is indicative of a capacitor having drained and needing to be charged up with the application of power.
your suggestion of disconnecting items and booting without is a good one.
It's every boot, reliably. Will do a bare boot & add stuff a component at a time, see if that reveals anything. I can't remember if Win 7 auto adds drivers to stuff, so even though this is pre POST on the face of it, looking at updating drivers maight be an avenue to explore, assuming manual drivers & MB interaction with components. Thing is though it came on at some point, I.e. it wasn't always like this & I haven't upgraded anything in the build for years. From memory, the PSU about five years ago. Hence it's a bit of a head scratcher.
I have an old Shuttle HTPC running Windows 10 that exhibits similar ghostly behaviour, namely - it won't get past POST if there's a USB stick plugged in. Took me hours to work that one out.
Also it'll randomly forget the BIOS settings. Battery has been changed but it makes no difference. I have muscle memory for resetting the drive orders, etc now.
No help to you I'm afraid, but it could just be that it's a "quirk" you have to live with.
Also it'll randomly forget the BIOS settings. Battery has been changed but it makes no difference. I have muscle memory for resetting the drive orders, etc now.
No help to you I'm afraid, but it could just be that it's a "quirk" you have to live with.
Holy thread etc. etc.
I never really acted on the suggestions here to my shame however, this week it got worse, going from two to four boot attempts, prompting me to do somehting. Bearing in mind it's an HTPC sat on the bottom of a stack of three boxes & so not the easiest to get at, I unplugged it, took it outside & literallly put the leaf blower over it, blowing out a massive cloud of dust. No point doing things by half eh?
Sorted it, booting first time reliably now. Dust is the enemy, a leaf blower is overkill but just in case anyone was curious.
I never really acted on the suggestions here to my shame however, this week it got worse, going from two to four boot attempts, prompting me to do somehting. Bearing in mind it's an HTPC sat on the bottom of a stack of three boxes & so not the easiest to get at, I unplugged it, took it outside & literallly put the leaf blower over it, blowing out a massive cloud of dust. No point doing things by half eh?
Sorted it, booting first time reliably now. Dust is the enemy, a leaf blower is overkill but just in case anyone was curious.
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