[HELP] PC won't POST and it just keeps on "restarting"

adulaamin · Jul 29, 2014

Good day!

I need help with my PC. System specs are on the left. What happens is every time I press the power button, the PC lights up for 5 seconds then shuts down again then lights up again then shuts down again. No beeps and nothing displays on the monitor. It worked just a few hours before. I did a proper shutdown the last time I used it. What I've tried to do so far is just to clear CMOS by pressing the button on the IO panel on the board. I'm thinking it might be the PSU. The only thing is I don't have an extra PSU that I could try to test the system with. I'm planning to buy one maybe in next few days but before that, I would like to know what you guys think before I spend some money.

Thanks in advance!

rtwjunkie · Jul 29, 2014

adulaamin said:
Good day!

I need help with my PC. System specs are on the left. What happens is every time I press the power button, the PC lights up for 5 seconds then shuts down again then lights up again then shuts down again. No beeps and nothing displays on the monitor. It worked just a few hours before. I did a proper shutdown the last time I used it. What I've tried to do so far is just to clear CMOS by pressing the button on the IO panel on the board. I'm thinking it might be the PSU. The only thing is I don't have an extra PSU that I could try to test the system with. I'm planning to buy one maybe in next few days but before that, I would like to know what you guys think before I spend some money.

Thanks in advance!

Well, you anticipated the first step, and it really is to see if the same thing happens when connected to another PSU. Until then, you can start out unhooking everything non-essential to see if it still does the same thing. One memory, cpu, cpu fan, and gpu, although technically at this stage you don't even need GPU. If it still does this turning on and then right off again after that, try removing the motherboard from the case and set up on cardboard with just as few things. This is to eliminate possibility of a short on the backs side of the board with the case.

My suspicion is the voltage return on the motherboard not sending a complete signal back to the PSU, so it doesn't stay on.

awesomesauce · Jul 29, 2014

hmmm it can be many option.. try another psu, no bip? try to force bip: u remove all ram and see if it bip.

Shambles1980 · Jul 29, 2014

id be inclined to blame a bios setting but you a;ready reset the cmos. so its hard to guess where to go from there really,
i would imagine most other hardware errors would bleep an error code. or light up an error code.

i would go re seating everything just in case though.

adulaamin · Jul 29, 2014

Thanks for all the replies. I'll try booting w/o the video card and a single stick of RAM if it fixes the issue. I'll also try to post a vid of the PC as well.

rtwjunkie · Jul 29, 2014

adulaamin said:
Thanks for all the replies. I'll try booting w/o the video card and a single stick of RAM if it fixes the issue. I'll also try to post a vid of the PC as well.

Just to be sure, try multiple times. Put that one stick in each slot, and then try other sticks of RAM same way.

Nabarun · Jul 29, 2014

Resetting the UEFI may not always work if it is somehow corrupted. Try to flash it (with the latest firmware) using the USB BIOS Flashback feature.

adulaamin · Jul 29, 2014

rtwjunkie said:
Just to be sure, try multiple times. Put that one stick in each slot, and then try other sticks of RAM same way.

Yup. I'll check each stick of RAM just to make sure.

Nabarun said:
Resetting the UEFI may not always work if it is somehow corrupted. Try to flash it (with the latest firmware) using the USB BIOS Flashback feature.

It won't display anything on the monitor. Even if I press del or F2. It just keeps on rebooting.

Nabarun · Jul 29, 2014

adulaamin said:
Yup. I'll check each stick of RAM just to make sure.

It won't display anything on the monitor. Even if I press del or F2. It just keeps on rebooting.

You don't need to start the pc to flash the uefi. Just put the PROPERLY NAMED BIOS on the root of a usb drive, put it in the SPECIAL usb port on the rear I/O panel (near the cmos clr switch), turn on the AC mains but don't start the pc. If the pc automatically starts after switching on the mains, then hold the start/shutdown button for a few seconds to initiate a forced shutdown. Then press the CMOS clr switch for a few seconds until it starts to blink. This will continue for about a min. After that, if you have trouble starting up, press the direct-to-bios switch on the motherboard to go directly to the UEFI, then reset to optimized defaults by pressing F5. Do also try without the GPU. And like others have said, try a minimalist barebones system with only the cpu, mb, and ram (try every stick on every slot - 1 at a time). Remove ALL storage.

Edit:
I hope the monitor is OK. Verify by disconnecting it from the gpu and see if it lights up.

adulaamin · Jul 29, 2014

Nabarun said:
Resetting the UEFI may not always work if it is somehow corrupted. Try to flash it (with the latest firmware) using the USB BIOS Flashback feature.

Nabarun said:
You don't need to start the pc to flash the uefi. Just put the PROPERLY NAMED BIOS on the root of a usb drive, put it in the SPECIAL usb port on the rear I/O panel (near the cmos clr switch), turn on the AC mains but don't start the pc. If the pc automatically starts after switching on the mains, then hold the start/shutdown button for a few seconds to initiate a forced shutdown. Then press the CMOS clr switch for a few seconds until it starts to blink. This will continue for about a min. After that, if you have trouble starting up, press the direct-to-bios switch on the motherboard to go directly to the UEFI, then reset to optimized defaults by pressing F5. Do also try without the GPU. And like others have said, try a minimalist barebones system with only the cpu, mb, and ram (try every stick on every slot - 1 at a time). Remove ALL storage.

Edit:
I hope the monitor is OK. Verify by disconnecting it from the gpu and see if it lights up.

Thanks for the info about the BIOS flashing. I didn't know that :toast:

The monitor is working and I'll be trying what the other have suggested.

adulaamin · Jul 29, 2014

Ok so I just got home from work. The damn PC won't work. I tried to switch it on but the power LED just flashes a bit and it turns off again. I removed the video card and used just a single stick of RAM. Just a question, which wires on the 24-pin mobo cable should I jump to switch on the power supply? Sorry I'm just using a phone to post msgs and it's a pita to type and search thru the net...

Nabarun · Jul 29, 2014

green and black. but what the hell for?

adulaamin · Jul 29, 2014

Just to check if the PSU will turn on by itself? The wires are all black on yhe PSU.

rtwjunkie · Jul 29, 2014

Nabarun said:
green and black. but what the hell for?

The reason he would do this is to eliminate the PSU as a culprit. If it works, his PSU is probably good, and the motherboard is likely the culprit.

@adulaamin: The wires should not be all black. Are you looking at the actual wires going to each pin of the 24 pin connector?

adulaamin · Jul 29, 2014

rtwjunkie said:
@adulaamin: The wires should not be all black. Are you looking at the actual wires going to each pin of the 24 pin connector?

Yup... on the Corsair AX650 all the wires are black...

rtwjunkie · Jul 29, 2014

adulaamin said:
Yup... on the Corsair AX650 all the wires are black...

wow, perhaps someone else here has experience with those...I don't have a clue how to guide you on that without the colored wires.

adulaamin · Jul 29, 2014

I think I'll just sleep it over for now. Its 5am here I'll try some more testing later... thanks for all the replies! :toast:

Nabarun · Jul 29, 2014

Right. But if you disconnect the 24-pin cable from the motherboard, you will have to connect *something* ... like a fan, directly to the psu to be able to tell that the psu is working. I hope you have the necessary 3-pin/4-pin to molex/sata etc connectors to do that. The fan on PSUs don't always run at lower loads. Not sure about this particular one though. BTW, did you try the USB BIOS flashback? And what happens with the "GO" button?

Law-II · Jul 29, 2014

Hi

adulaamin said:
Yup... on the Corsair AX650 all the wires are black...

+1 Nabarun put load on the PSU with a fan

pin 16 Green & pin 17 Black
Example

Note: 24 pin power that connects to motherboard

atb

Law-II

Shambles1980 · Jul 29, 2014

a psu will usually auto shut off if there is not enough of a load on it. i dunno if a fan is enough of a load. most use a old ide hdd

rtwjunkie · Jul 29, 2014

Shambles1980 said:
a psu will usually auto shut off if there is not enough of a load on it. i dunno if a fan is enough of a load. most use a old ide hdd

+1 to that. A load is necessary. I have left all fans connected to psu whenever i have tested this, and it provides enough of a load.

awesomesauce · Jul 29, 2014

goodnight adula, it can be a nightmare when u have no stock for testing (ie, ram,psu etc..) hope u find it bro!

Aquinus · Jul 30, 2014

You've reset your BIOS right? My P9X79 Deluxe will sometimes do the same thing when I push my DRAM or IMC too hard.

adulaamin · Jul 30, 2014

Good day! I just finished testing the PSU with 4 fans and 3HDDs plugged in and it works just fine. I'm gonna have to download the BIOS later at work coz I dont have an extra PC here at home. I'll try what @Nabarun suggested with flashing the BIOS as soon as I get home. A friend of mine has an extra PC we could try to test the parts in although we'll only be able to do it on saturday coz of work constraints. I'll just try to clean everything up for now and disassemble and assemble the PC.

Jetster · Jul 30, 2014

Take it all apart and bench test the MB with minimal hardware attached. Then start building one part at a time testing it as you go. You probably have one odd part causing it to shut down. Drive bay, sound card, heatsink, cable. I really doubt its your PSU

System Name	hmmm... / lappy (ASUS Scar III)
Processor	Intel Core i7-8086K / Intel Core i7-9750H
Motherboard	ASUS Maximus XI Formula / ASUS G531GW
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15s w/ 2 x Noctua NF-F12 PWM Chromax and 1 x Noctua NF-A15 HS-PWM Chromax Fans / Stock
Memory	4x16gb G.Skill Trident Z DDR4 3600mhz / 2x16gb Kingston Hyper X Impact DDR4 2666mhz C15
Video Card(s)	2 x EVGA GTX 1080 TI FTW3 / Nvidia RTX 2070 8gb
Storage	2 x Samsung 960 EVO Plus 1tb NVME/ 1tb Intel SSDPEKNW010T8 NVME + 2tb Samsung 860 EVO SSD
Display(s)	Acer Predator X34P / ASUS 15.6" Screen
Case	Fractal Design Meshify S2 White-TG + Noctua Chromax Fans / ASUS Scar III Case
Audio Device(s)	Onboard + Logitech Z623 / Onboard
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium 1000W + PROLINK PRO903WS / ASUS ADP-230GB B Power Brick
Mouse	Corsair Vengeance M65 PRO RGB / Logitech MX Anywhere 2S
Keyboard	Corsair K70 LUX RGB / ASUS Scar III Keyboard
Software	Windows 10 Professional x64 / Windows 10 Professional x64

System Name	Bayou Phantom
Processor	Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory	2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage	1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

System Name	custom
Processor	intel i7 9700
Motherboard	asrock taichi z370
Cooling	EK-AIO 360 D-RGB
Memory	24G Kingston HyperX Fury 2666mhz
Video Card(s)	GTX 2080 Ti FE
Storage	SSD 960GB crucial + 2 Crucial 500go SSD + 2TO crucial M2
Display(s)	BENQ XL2420T
Case	Lian-li o11 dynamic der8auer Edition
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar Essence STX
Power Supply	corsair ax1200i
Mouse	MX518 legendary edition
Keyboard	gigabyte Aivia Osmium
VR HMD	PSVR2
Software	windows 11

System Name	Sham Pc
Processor	i5-2500k @ 4.33
Motherboard	INTEL DZ77SL 50K
Cooling	2 bay res. "2L of fluid in loop" 1x480 2x360
Memory	16gb 4x4 kingstone 1600 hyper x fury black
Video Card(s)	hfa2 gtx 780 @ 1306/1768 (xspc bloc)
Storage	1tb wd red 120gb kingston on the way os, 1.5Tb wd black, 3tb random WD rebrand
Display(s)	cibox something or other 23" 1080p " 23 inch downstairs. 52 inch plasma downstairs 15" tft kitchen
Case	900D
Audio Device(s)	on board
Power Supply	xion gaming seriese 1000W (non modular) 80+ bronze
Software	windows 10 pro x64

System Name	hmmm... / lappy (ASUS Scar III)
Processor	Intel Core i7-8086K / Intel Core i7-9750H
Motherboard	ASUS Maximus XI Formula / ASUS G531GW
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15s w/ 2 x Noctua NF-F12 PWM Chromax and 1 x Noctua NF-A15 HS-PWM Chromax Fans / Stock
Memory	4x16gb G.Skill Trident Z DDR4 3600mhz / 2x16gb Kingston Hyper X Impact DDR4 2666mhz C15
Video Card(s)	2 x EVGA GTX 1080 TI FTW3 / Nvidia RTX 2070 8gb
Storage	2 x Samsung 960 EVO Plus 1tb NVME/ 1tb Intel SSDPEKNW010T8 NVME + 2tb Samsung 860 EVO SSD
Display(s)	Acer Predator X34P / ASUS 15.6" Screen
Case	Fractal Design Meshify S2 White-TG + Noctua Chromax Fans / ASUS Scar III Case
Audio Device(s)	Onboard + Logitech Z623 / Onboard
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium 1000W + PROLINK PRO903WS / ASUS ADP-230GB B Power Brick
Mouse	Corsair Vengeance M65 PRO RGB / Logitech MX Anywhere 2S
Keyboard	Corsair K70 LUX RGB / ASUS Scar III Keyboard
Software	Windows 10 Professional x64 / Windows 10 Professional x64

[HELP] PC won't POST and it just keeps on "restarting"

adulaamin

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

awesomesauce

Shambles1980

adulaamin

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

Nabarun

adulaamin

Nabarun

adulaamin

adulaamin

Nabarun

adulaamin

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

adulaamin

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

adulaamin

Nabarun

Law-II

Shambles1980

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

awesomesauce

Aquinus

Resident Wat-man

adulaamin

Jetster

System Name	barely hangin on...
Processor	Intel I5 4670K @stock
Motherboard	Asus H81m-cs (nothing else available now)
Cooling	CM Hyper 212X (in push-pull)
Memory	16GB Corsair Vengeance Dual Channel 1866MHz
Video Card(s)	Asus RX 580 4GB Dual
Storage	WD Blue 1TB, WD Black 2TB, Samsung 850 Evo 250GB
Display(s)	Acer KG241QP 144Hz
Case	Cooler Master CM 690 III (Transparent side panel) - illuminated with NZXT HUE RGB
Audio Device(s)	FiiO E10K>Boom 3D>ATH M50/Samson SR850/HD599SE
Power Supply	Corsair RM 850
Mouse	Redragon M901 PERDITION 16400 DPI Laser Gaming Mouse
Keyboard	HyperX Alloy FPS Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (Cherry MX Brown)
Software	7-64bit MBR, 10-64bit UEFI (Not Multi-boot), VBox guests...

System Name	H2o Box
Processor	Intel(R) Xeon e5-2690 v2 Stock 3.300 GHz stock
Motherboard	MSI X79A-G43 Plus (MS-7760) v3
Cooling	CPU EK & Phobya G-Changer 360 V2.0 RAD H2o VGA "AlphaCool M18" Hybrid [pump replaced 18/8/21]
Memory	G.Skill TridentX 16Gb 11-12-12-32 2T @ 1866Mhz [locked]
Video Card(s)	Zotac GTX 1080ti AMP EXTREME
Storage	HyperX Fury 120GB & Savage 480GB SSD, Seagate 250GB,250GB 7200rpm Kingston 64GB SSD
Display(s)	Asus TUF Gaming VG32VQR 2560*1440 165Hz VA Panel
Case	Corsair O-800D
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro
Power Supply	Be Quiet! [Dark Power Pro 11] 1200W CM replaced [7-4-2017]
Mouse	Zelotes T-90
Keyboard	K66 Mechanical US Layout
Software	Win 10 Pro 64Bit v 20H2 / OS [build 19043.1237] WFEP 120.2212.3530.0

System Name	Apollo
Processor	Intel Core i9 9880H
Motherboard	Some proprietary Apple thing.
Memory	64GB DDR4-2667
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, 8GB HBM2
Storage	1TB Apple NVMe, 4TB External
Display(s)	Laptop @ 3072x1920 + 2x LG 5k Ultrafine TB3 displays
Case	MacBook Pro (16", 2019)
Audio Device(s)	AirPods Pro, Sennheiser HD 380s w/ FIIO Alpen 2, or Logitech 2.1 Speakers
Power Supply	96w Power Adapter
Mouse	Logitech MX Master 3
Keyboard	Logitech G915, GL Clicky
Software	MacOS 12.1

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro