Booting up issue - help required

Hi I wonder whether anyone can help me with the boot up issue I have been having for 5 months now.

I've had the pc for a year and 4 days and although I've been in touch with PCS many many times and they've tried various things to try and resolve the issue (new hard drive, change in BIOS settings, updating drivers etc) I'm still having the same problems. It's taken me approx. 35 attempts to start my pc this morning and although all the fans are running and I get the start up bleep the following happens:

(a) Asus Motherboard blue screen briefly flashes up (for less than a second and if you try to get into bios you will see the bios screen briefly flash up but you cannot enter that area)
(b) Atheros Boot Agent then flashes up
(c) Either the Windows Error Recovery screen will flash up or the Windows start menu flashes up but I’m unable to log into the blue screen and the screen remains blank.
(d) I then have to power off and on again and repeat the above exercise until the Atheros Boot Agent stays on the screen and then it will go to the Windows Error Recovery screen from where I can either try and repair or start windows normally.

I've checked the forum and it seems that a few people are experiencing similar problems to myself but I can't see any fixes for this issue.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

Thanks.

LittleT

My PC spec is:
Processor (CPU) - Intel® Core™2 Quad Q8300 (2.50GHz) 1333MHz FSB/4MB Cache
Memory (RAM) - 4GB CORSAIR XMS2 DUAL-DDR2 800MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY
Motherboard - ASUS® P5QPL-AM: DDR2, S-ATA II, 1 x PCI-E x16, 2 PCI
Operating System - Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium 32-bit + Windows 7 Upgrade
USB Options 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS (4 REAR + 2 FRONT) AS STANDARD
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 250GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 22x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Graphics Card 1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 4650 PCI EXPRESS
Sound Card ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities WIRELESS N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
Memory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)
Case STYLISH PIANO BLACK FUSION CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Power Supply & Case Cooling 450W Quiet Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£25)
Processor Cooling STANDARD CPU COOLER

Hvem you flashed the bios, done a re-install of the os, tested the memory.

When you say flashed the bios do you mean update it? I reinstalled the OS last week and I'm afraid I don't know how to test the memory.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but Atheros make chipsets for wireless cards, not motherboards. Do you have any USB devices connected to your PC when you turn it on? Have you got your PC set to boot on LAN? Check your boot settings configuration in your BIOS and ensure the first boot device is set to your hard drive.

Morning and thanks for your responses Maestro & PCS.

I haven't had time to flash the bios yet but I can confirm that the the only USB devices connected to my pc are a set of speakers and a printer.

When I checked the boot settings at the weekend I noted the following:

1st boot = SATA 3M
2nd boot = CDROM
3rd boot = disabled

I was asked to change the bios setings on 12.10.10 when I spoke to somone at PCS. Do you think they need changing again or should I check the settings for the wireless network card?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Regards.

Are there any other further boot device options other than CDROM and SATA 3M (excluding removable and floppy)?

Try disabling the wireless card in device manager and re-booting.

I have rechecked the BIOS settings and there are no other boot device options selected. I made the mistake of shutting down the pc last night and I couldn't get it started again this morning (tried 50 times before having to leave it and go to work). Anyway after a further 10 tries tonight the pc finally started!

Anyway I disabled the wireless card (Edimax) and rebooted the pc and it started ok (which it generally does after the pc has been on for a bit/warmed up).

I also have an Atheros PCI-E Ethernet controller - this is currently enabled but do I actually need this if I'm connecting to my home network via the wireless card.

I've also taken a look in the Atheros Boot Agent Configuration Menu and these are the current settings:

Network Boot Protocol = PXE
Boot order = Pnp/BEV(BBS)
Show Config Message = Enable
Show Message Time = 3 seconds

There is a message that relates to the current boot order entry: "Boot ordered by BBS BIOS, if BBS BIOS present". Other options/message available are:

ROM disable = network boot disabled, boot local devices
Int 18h = boot the devices ordered in BIOS setup
Int 19h = always boot network first, then local devices

Do you think it's worth me changing the boot order to Int 18h so that the pc tries to boot the hard drive first?

As always any help is gratefully received.

Regards.

LittleT said:

Network Boot Protocol = PXE

Click to expand...

That means boot from LAN - PXE boot, which is probably the cause of your problems. Where abouts on your PC is this "Atheros Boot Agent Configuration Menu" - it is in your BIOS or on your desktop? Either way, I would disable it if possible, otherwsie set it to Int 19h.

You can re-enable your wireless network card because I think it's your LAN not WLAN causing the issue.

Good morning - well PCS as you suggested I have changed the settings in the Atheros Boot Agent to Int 19h (as there was no seting to disble it) and when I rebotted the pc a few times last night all seemed ok. However, I decided to do a complete shutdown overnight and had the same problems trying to reboot the pc this morning and after about 20 attempts to boot the pc up I gave up!

Anyway I've now got the pc started again. I unplugged all the cables: power, monitor, printer, keyboard and lef the pc off for a while. I even resited the monitor cable into the 2nd DVI slot (which I've done a few times) and I was able to start the pc again. Whether the booting problem is solved is another issue.

If I wanted to return the pc to yourselves for you to check for any other errors what is the turnaround time?

Many thanks.

Regards.

Can you confirm - have you installed an Atheros network card yourself, which you have not purchased from us? If so, remove it and then try booting.

Afternoon PCS

I can confirm that I haven't installed any network cards to the pc as everything that's currently installed was installed by yourselves.

I don't think the issue is fully resolved as I was unable to boot the pc after shutting it down for 2 hours on Saturday - however it only took 10 attempts for it to boot up properly so I've now left it running and don't want to turn it off in case it doesn't boot up again.

Do you think I need to re-check any BIOS settings (or anything else) or do I need to update any drivers on the pc in the hope that it resolves any other issues?

Many thanks.

Regards.

This issue is almost definitely a software/BIOS related issue, as opposed to hardware. I would suggest you call us on 0844 499 4000 so that we can check your BIOS over the phone and hopefully resolve this once and for all.

Thanks for your response - I will call on Saturday morning.

Regards.

Hi, I'm afraid I'm having problems with my pc again.

After speaking to Matthew at PCS on 20.11.10 and discussing various options (unit being too cold - move to a different location, poss issue with motherboard etc etc) the pc has been on all the time and working fine for the past 2 weeks.

However, I went to use the pc yesterday afternoon it had frozen. I had to turn it off and I've been unable to reboot the pc since. I left it "on" overnight (so that it wouldn't be too cold this morning) and it still wouldn't start. I'm basically back to having the same issues that are mentioned in my first post apart from the fact that the Atheros Boot Agent info doesn't pop up as that was disabled in BIOS.

Could any of this have anything to do with me using an old monitor (LG) that's connected with a VGA/DVI cable (blue and cream ends!) to the graphics card. Sometimes if I move the cable to the other graphics card slot (I have two red ones at the back of my pc) the pc will start ok - however I tried that last night and also this morning and it hasnt worked!

Anyway I'm at a loss as to what this issue is so would be grateful for any help you can offer otherwise I think I will have to send it in for a repair and poss be without it for a few weeks.

Regards.

LittleT

When you PC had frozen yesterday afternoon, was the screen simply frozon on the Windows desktop, or had the screen gone black, or did you have a BSOD?

When you start up your computer you always get a display on your screen, yes? If so, it's nothing to do with your monitor.

I think we may need to take a look at your computer - there is obviously something causing this to happen. If it's freezing when in Windows then some hardware may be to blame. My guess would be an intermittent HDD problem or motherboard issue.

Just to give you an update on my pc situation.

I discussed my ongoing issues with Matthew at PCS at the end of last week and I did, on his recommendation, call an engineer to look at my pc (as PCS are unable to deal with repairs until mid-January 2011).

The engineer carried out various tests and has confirmed that I need a new motherboard and is going to provide me with a quote for supplying/fitting a new one.

How will having a new motherboard fitted affect my loading of Windows 7 onto it as I'm sure I've read somewhere on this forum that people have had issues when trying to re-load Windows onto their pc? Will I just have to contact Windows and explain the issues I've had and that I have a new motherboard or do I need a code (or something else) from PCS?

Regards.

LittleT (order no. 312336)

Why not have the same motherboard fitted? You can buy this from Ebuyer for under £36: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168936

Fitting should take <1 hour and you won't have an issue with Windows booting because it will be the same chipset.

Ah that's an idea. I will mention this to the engineer as it may be that I can buy the motherboard myself and just ask him to fit it.

However, if I do end up with a motherboard that has a different chip set what do I need to do about setting Windows 7 on it?

Regards.

LittleT

You may need to re-install Windows if you use a different chipset, but it all depends, the only way to tell it to try it really.