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Non-booting PC

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Slytod

Slytod

PCHF Member
PCHF Donator
Jan 21, 2017
272
10
#1
Got an issue with the PC (surprise surprise) but I'm away from home, so little access to guides/invoices/etc. that would give me info, without pulling the PC apart, which I'm loathe to do. I'll describe what I can and hope someone has some general suggestions on how I might progress.

The C: drive was getting full so to ensure minimal disruption, and minimise the chance that something could go wrong, I opted to get a larger SSD drive and try to clone the disk that contained the existing C: drive.

Didn't seem to go well. Target drive use was smaller than on the original C: drive. Plus there was a chunk of unallocated at the end of the drive, not next to the new system partition.

In order to test the copy (which I was unconvinced was the clone promised) I went into the CMOS menu and removed references to disks that didn't look to be the SSD from the list of bootable options. I then rebooted expecting the thing to fail to come in, but hoping it may boot on the SSD. It came up, into Windows, but I was unconvinced it had booted from the new drive. Looking at the drives using Disk Manager, the old C: drive has 'boot' written on it, the new copy hasn't. So I suspect it still booted from the original C: despite that disk being removed from the list.

I then managed to move that unallocated bit on the SSD to be next to the future C: drive and then added it to it. I then (re)cloned the original C: drive only, to the new larger partition meant to be the future C: drive. Part way through the monitor screens went black ! I know the cloning operation eventually finished as I was able to remotely access the PC from my tablet and noted when it had done so.

I thought a restart might help fix the graphics issue, but that was a disaster.

Now the PC stops whirring very early on during "boot-up". I can't see what it's trying to show, as both monitor screens remain black. I've tried hitting keys ( Del, F8, F10, etc.). But no joy, not even when using a new cabled USB keyboard. As it's no longer booted up, remote access is lost.

I tried to check the graphics card by taking out the present one and reinserting the previous card I used to use, but there was no difference. Monitor screens remained black.

It's possibly a coincidence and something has gone kaput at this time, but I'm loathe to believe it. I still suspect it may be something to do with the depleted boot list in a CMOS menu that I can no longer see.

I tried booting from USB flash drives. No joy.
I've performed a visual check and nothing obvious.
Lights inside come on ok, and a 6 connector power socket used for the graphics card all read 3 pairs of 12.1 volts (no idea if that's right).

Is there anything else I can try before giving up and risking my personal data to a PC repair shop ?

Cheers.
 
#3
The SSD is a Samsung 860 EVO 2 TB SATA 2.5" Internal SSD. Without the PC working it's more difficult to say what remained free. But I started to get spreadsheets saying they couldn't autosave. Unsure how easy getting to the original hard drive capacity is without disconnecting and pulling it out.

It seems to have been 1 TB, and looks as if it had about 4.74 GB free, judging from the copy/clone.
 
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#5
Initially I tried EaseUS ToDo but that didn't seem to work properly at all so I tried a second time with AOMEI Backupper. (Later I moved the unallocated portion with another EaseUS program but it's slipped my mind which one. Most likely Partition Manager.)
 
#6
Had a closer look at it this morning and yes, I can confirm the original drive is a Hitachi 1 TB. I don't have a way to connect it elsewhere to find details of it's system partition though. However, looking again at the SSD drive, I need to modify my previous understanding slightly. It seems that the last clone of the C: drive partition only, using Backupper, resulted in the recreation of the unallocated bit next to the cloned and future C: drive. From that I would make an educated guess at the original system partition being 930.9 GB with 4.74 GB free.
 
#7
Just a thought. Might it be that the CMOS battery has given up ? I built this thing about 9 years ago.

Ah, replacing it didn't solve anything. Monitor still showing black. But the old one didn't look particularly great, so I left the replacement in.

Feel it's unlikely to be the CPU as the monitors went out while the cloning was midway through; and it finished. I only checked the 6 pin supply cables to the graphics board but they being around 12v suggests power might be ok. And a changed graphics card changed nothing so unlikely to be that. Plus back at base I had 2 monitors go out, so even though I've just the one at present, it doesn't seem a likely cause. Back to the drawing board.
 
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#9
That would be a nice thing to try if I had a working PC. The problem at present is that it doesn't show anything on the monitor screens. It isn't clear how far it gets, if anywhere booting up. I don't even get an indication of getting into the CMOS menu. So I can't use it to copy anything. (I don't think that the copy is so much the issue as it won't even boot up on the original partition, although that may well be because it's no longer on the list so doesn't find it. I think I most need a solution to getting to that boot menu so the list can be filled again.)

I'm not really in a position to copy further, well not unless I extracted the original disk too, and find another PC. Then I'll need a way to connect the original drive as an external drive. (Even then if I can't get far enough into the reboot to see the usual messages related to PC firmware, would we really progress any ?) I'll see what I can do re finding access to another PC.

Next thought, could the BIOS chip have corrupted and need reflashing ?
 
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#10
So currently the computer does not boot up at all? Have you tried plugging the monitor into your motherboards integrated graphics port on the motherboard to see if you get any picture on the monitor?

Have you tried using just one stick of RAM in the motherboard and see if that makes any difference? Do you hear any beeps coming from the computer? The computer fans spin when the system is powered on correct?
 
#11
Hmmm... this site has been down all day :(

I can't tell how far the PC has or has not booted up. I turn on the monitor, after it's displayed the manufacturer's logo/name it goes to black. All I see is HDMI1 top right.

I switch the PC mains switch and some sort of reset button inside on the motherboard lights up. I press the PC's on button, I hear whirring as the fans come on. I swear I then hear sounds from the disks for a short whole, the SSD flashes it's lights momentarily. The new cabled keyboard I bought for testing, lights up. But as the monitor stays black, I've no idea what state it's in. No beeps heard.

The motherboard doesn't seem to have a default graphics. Unless a 1394 or a SPDIF OUT is one. Without access to my e-mails, or getting back to base to search for manuals, I'm unsure which motherboard it is; but it's an ASUS as I can see that printed on it.

No I've yet to start removing anything apart from the changing of graphics card and CMOS battery, oh and the new keyboard. Given the above do you think it's worth a try ?
 
#13
By pulling out the graphics card (opted to put back the one normally installed) I see the motherboard is a P6X58D-E. Jiggled all the various leads but all seemed ok anyway. Removed the 6 banks of memory, refitted one of the original two, and switched back on. No change. Fans spin, lights, light. No beeps. Black screen.
 
#14
If you have a spare power supply available I would swap out the power supply and try booting up the computer with just one stick of RAM and another power supply and see if there is any change.

If no difference and you know the video card is working in the system then it points to more than likely a bad motherboard that could be causing this issue.
 
#15
Unfortunately no spare power supply. This last one was fancier cables etc. than previous PCs I'd put together. May end up having to leave it with a stranger at a local repair shop :( Thanks for the suggestions, I shall have to consider my next move. I find it difficult to believe this all occurred apparently because I simply wanted a bigger system drive. Ah well...
 
#17
Not for now, thanks. And thanks for trying. Not the result I'd hoped for but will likely get it to a local PC repair shop sometime this week. Cheers.

Update 1: Latest news is that the repair shop says he's got it working, that he thinks dust in the GPU socket was responsible. Finding this difficult to understand given nothing was moved when it went wrong, and I've swopped the card over and back again since for no improvement. But yes, it has around 9 years of dust accumulation, save for that which easily vacuumed off.

Update 2: He also tells me that one of my hard drives (non-bootable) has failed physically and so is useless. And now the original hard disk, on connection, after the SSD clone has proven to boot up ok, messes up the boot data somehow so can't be connected at the same time as the SSD but will need to be reformated. And to top it all off, the PC isn't letting him into the BIOS but into Asus Express Gate only.

Heck, it was fine, I only wanted a larger C: drive !
 
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#18
Got it back. Opt not to exit Express Gate and it'll time out and continue normally, offering access to other things such as the CMOS/BIOS menu, boot menu, etc.. But opt to exit Express Gate and it goes to Windows directly. I'm sure I had a way to skip Express Gate, I will have to find it again. Not yet had the chance to test it in the 2 monitor configuration.

SSD is connected but not installed physically yet. I need a mounting kit which I think I have at home. The non-bootable hard drive has been removed. No chance to test it yet but assured it's physically dead. (Seemed ok before the 'no visuals' issue :(.) The original boot drive has also been removed. I'm assured that if I connect it, it'll mess up booting from anything else once more. I intend to connect to a different computer using an external enclosure when I can. See if it can be salvaged somehow.

I had to move the unallocated section of the SSD drive and merge it with the new C: drive partition, but that seems to have gone ok. So, it's on the way back to being fixed again. Not sure all that was wrong, but I'm now confident of getting somewhere.
 
#20
Can't be until I get it back home later this week. Presently getting major difficulty getting onto the Internet at all due to phoneline issue where I am.
 
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