Solved Windows 10 doesn't boot or freezes (been working on this for a while...)

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TheDiagGuy

TheDiagGuy

PCHF Member
Jul 28, 2019
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Hello all,
Before we begin here's some specs:
Mobo: ASRock 970M PRO3
CPU: AMD FX6300
CPU Cooler: Cryorig H7 49 CFM
SSD: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB
HDD: WD Caviar Blue 1TB
GPU: PNY GTX 1050
PS: Sentey 600w
RAM: Crucial 4x4 1600
Optical: LG WH14NS40
Network: Asus PCE-AC56
OS: USB install of Windows 10 Pro now updated to 1903
Fans: Running three small fans.

The Problem:
90% of the time my rig won't boot on first try. Meaning: Won't even hit the PNY GPU screen (which is the first thing I see on boot.)
I force power down. Let it sit for 10 seconds. Then I fire it up and it will boot every time.
Next issue it will have is it will randomly freeze. No warning. Will always boot right back up. If there is sound playing when it freezes it will make the crackle sound and freeze. Never got a BSOD as long as I've had the rig.

Other Details:
CPU is not overheating according to core temp program when rig freezes.
Was freezing with older versions of Windows 10 before updating to 1903

Things I've tried:
RAM swapping:
I've run the rig on one stick of 4GB RAM and tried all four of them one at a time. Tried swapping in different RAM altogether. Same
GPU swapping:
I have a PNY GTX 750 TI that I run in another rig (that has never frozen) and after putting it in this rig, same issue.

If you guys have any input that would be awesome. I'm pretty much left with either the PS, the CPU or the MOBO. As I would think if it was the boot drive I would at least get to the BIOS. I have another ATX PS but its 550w. Wanted to see what you guys thought before I tore apart both of my rigs.

Thanks!
 
Welcome to PCHF TheDiagGuy,

TheDiagGuy said:
I have another ATX PS but its 550w
Click to expand...

If the brand of the 550W PSU is any better than the Sentey PSU swap it in asap as putting it politely Sentey PSU are garbage and cannot produce anything near the claimed output that the box that they ship in claims, check the maximum claimed output and you will most likely see that it says 420W, the maximum combined wattage figure is a misleading marketing ploy.

NB: What you describe sounds like there is a problem with the power good signal between the PSU and the MB.
 
Okay I will try that later tonight and let you know what happens. Thank you for replying!
 
Excuse me butting in here but very recently I had a pc with exactly the same motherboard and exactly the same cpu doing the same thing. I swapped everything including memory, cpu, psu, couple of gpu's to no avail. Even rebuilt the pc out of the case with a fx4300, just didn't want to boot first go. Pc now in use with original components except for 970 pro3.

Please follow @phillpower2 advice, but what a weird coincidence
 
gus said:
Excuse me butting in here but very recently I had a pc with exactly the same motherboard and exactly the same cpu doing the same thing. I swapped everything including memory, cpu, psu, couple of gpu's to no avail. Even rebuilt the pc out of the case with a fx4300, just didn't want to boot first go. Pc now in use with original components except for 970 pro3.

Please follow @phillpower2 advice, but what a weird coincidence
Click to expand...

Honestly I was suspicious of the MOBO too because of the firmware updating I had to do to make it accept the FX-6300 which required me to have a second processor to boot on. I have had the problem ever since I first started using the rig. I've had it for almost two years now, and the problem has slowly gotten worse. Before, it would boot every time I would hit the power, but it would freeze sometimes after 5 minutes or four hours or not at all. It only recently started doing this whole "never boot on the first try" thing, and nothing has changed with the PC to make me wonder if it was something I did to it recently to cause it. Like my name says, I am "The DIag Guy" but not for computers. For Cars and Trucks. I have a diagnostic mind, but lack experience when it comes to PC's. Thank you for your response as well. Rather than tear my PC's apart, I decided to just order a PSU on amazon.

Got this little guy:
 
Interesting what you say about changing the bios version to accept the 6300, because the support page for the board lists the fx6300 as working with all versions.

ASRock > 970M Pro3

Support for Socket AM3+ / AM3 Processors; Solid Capacitor design; Supports Dual Channel DDR3 2400+(OC); 2 PCIe 2.0 x16, 1 PCIe 2.0 x1, 1 PCI; 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec), ELNA Audio Caps; 6 SATA3; 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 (2 Front, 2 Rear), 10 USB 2.0 (4 Front, 6 Rear); 1 TPM Header, 1 IR...
www.asrock.com www.asrock.com

Anyway please continue with advice from @phillpower2
 
Going off on this 'lil tangent here while we wait for the PSU to prime it's way to me. I initially put the build together on pcpartpicker and if you put this MOBO and processor together they warn you about a bios update possibly being necessary to make the 970M chipset accept the 6300. So, just to avoid the headache, I took a CPU out of a computer that I was using as a backup and updated the MOBO. They also said my CPU cooler wasn't compatible with the MOBO, but I'm not sure how they would determine that. Mounted just fine. Anyway, when the PSU gets here I'll make sure to post if that fixed it or not.
 
phillpower2 said:
Not a PSU that I would recommend but should be ok for the GTX 1050 as it is not too power hungry.

Have you tried the alternative 550W PSU yet.
Click to expand...
No sir. I decided I would just wait until the PSU I bought on Amazon arrives. It should be here tomorrow and I should have it installed that night. I know the PSU I bought isn't the greatest, but I don't ever plan on upgrading this rig. My wife and I play games through LAN, and my other rig is weaker (if you can imagine) than this one, so if I did anything I would just build another rig to replace the weaker rig I have going. I'm one of those guys who buys everything second hand. I actually got the MOBO and the CPU unopened second hand. Everything else in the rig except the case and the optical drive. So, if I build another rig, I'll be waiting for an unopened DDR4 MOBO to come up. The joys of being poor and also cheap...
 
Installed the new PSU. First time trying to boot didn't boot. Powered off and immediately tried to boot again (didn't wait the usual 10 seconds it takes for it to work on second boot) and it didn't boot. Power off again, waited 10 seconds, booted. Mobo? CPU? Combo as mentioned by @gus? I have it idling now on the title screen for Borderlands 2. Waiting to see if it freezes.
 
Ah, my bad for not reading your post correctly, I didn't see that you had used a 4300 and had the same issue.
 
Booted it this morning just to see if it would. Booted on first try. Gamed with it for about 4 hours last night and it didn't freeze. I think the initial boot failed because it was the BIOS powering it on because it saw power. I kept forgetting I had that BIOS setting on. I turned it off. I'll post again tonight and let you guys know if it boots on first try.
 
Tried to fire it off right now. Didn't fire on first shot. Just as a side note, I've let it sit in a "no boot" state for a few minutes and then pressed the power button to see if it will shut off normally to see if maybe I'm just not getting any output from the video card, but this is not the case. Have to force shut down. Also, I forgot to mention that sometimes (rarely) on second boot (when it actually boots) the color output will be all out of wack and I'll have to restart to correct this.
 
Booted it this morning and it fired on first shot... I mean this is technically an improvement lol. Still frustrating.
 
TheDiagGuy said:
I think the initial boot failed because it was the BIOS powering it on because it saw power. I kept forgetting I had that BIOS setting on. I turned it off.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean by the above, please clarify.

TheDiagGuy said:
Also, I forgot to mention that sometimes (rarely) on second boot (when it actually boots) the color output will be all out of wack and I'll have to restart to correct this.
Click to expand...

This could be a driver issue as in the wrong drivers are being loaded.

Get back to us regarding point one above and we will go from there, I suggest that for now you put the computer in stand by when you are not using it rather than shutting it down completely, this will reduce the risk of it not being able to start up at all.

Tip
If using a computer and not a mobile phone, please avoid adding multiple posts while waiting for us to reply to your last, edit your last post to include anything that you wish to add, this will ensure nothing gets overlooked which can sometimes happen if a thread has more than one page, it also avoids filling up folks inbox
 
In my BIOS, I set up my computer to boot whenever power is detected after not having power. IE: a power outage. As soon as I connected the power cable to the PSU, the computer attempted to boot when I hadn't hooked up the HDMI or Mouse/Keyboard or WiFi antenna. I got rid of that setting though after that first failed boot. This morning I attempted to boot it and it booted on first boot, but last night it did not boot on first try, but after forcing shut down, I didn't have to wait the 10 seconds with power off before attempting again. Before I installed the new PSU, when I would force shut down after first boot attempt failed and tried to boot it again right away, it would fail again. I would have to wait approx 10 seconds with power off before I could power on with a successful boot.

In reference to the EDIT feature you mentioned. I am using a computer to type my responses, and it wont let me edit posts after a certain amount of time. Believe me, I am no noob to forums, and I know to edit my last post before posting new posts, but since this site doesn't seem to allow me to edit after a certain amount of time, I really had no other option but to post new responses. Is this set up because I am new to the forum? Or is it like this for everyone?
 
Makes sense now, not many folk use such BIOS settings these days.

TheDiagGuy said:
As soon as I connected the power cable to the PSU, the computer attempted to boot when I hadn't hooked up the HDMI or Mouse/Keyboard or WiFi antenna.
Click to expand...
That is not good and to avoid potentially shorting something out attaching the power to the wall socket should not be done until all peripheral cables have been securely connected, the only devices that can be safely connected when there is power going to the computer are referred to as being hot swappable as are many external USB HDDs, even plugging in the screen to the GPU when the smallest amount of charge is present can short out the MB.

TheDiagGuy said:
last night it did not boot on first try, but after forcing shut down, I didn't have to wait the 10 seconds with power off before attempting again.
Click to expand...
Does the above mean that the computer did not boot into Windows but instead remained powered up with fans spinning and a black screen.

Not sure what is going on with your edit feature as you should be able to edit any of your posts as long as the thread is still open.
 
Thanks for letting me know that, I'm still pretty green as you can see...

Yes, when I say "doesn't boot" I mean that it does not boot into Windows and there is no output from the GPU as my monitor says "No signal" The LEDs all light up and the fans spin. Also, I have waited to see if I can shut the computer down by pressing the power button on the case (as in, not holding it to force shut down) to see if it would shut down to test and see if I'm just not getting GPU output but the rest of the rig is working correctly.. Does not shut down like normal, always have to force shut down.

Attached is a picture of me not being able to edit.
 

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