Can't Get MotherBoard Splash Screen

[bonobo]

I've been having ongoing problems with my computer for about a year now. I've received many good suggestions from this forum, but alas nothing has yet resolved these issues.

I was able to live with the problems because they only presented themselves sporadically, usually causing the boot process to fail at random points. However, starting yesterday my computer refused to even get so far as displaying the motherboard splash screen when I boot. After dozens of reboots, eventually I started having some success and was able to log into Windows. Then it seemed the computer would spontaneously reboot after about 10 minutes or so. The behavior seems really random at this point, so it's hard to describe precisely. Previously I had also been having issues where the display would become visually garbled, forcing me to reboot, though occasionally the problem would disappear on its own if left alone for a while.

One might suspect this was a problem with my graphics card. However, when my computer first started having booting problems including garbled Windows login screens, I tried a different graphics card and continued to experience the same problems.

I've run memtest on all my RAM and they're fine.

It can't be a harddrive problem because the splashscreen should appear before anything is read off the harddrive from what I understand.

I have also been using a brand new power supply for the past two months, so it is unlikely to be that (I bought the power supply hoping it would *fix* these booting problems).

This leads me to believe the problem is either my motherboard or my processor. I'm highly inexperienced in diagnosing either of these, however, short of replacing them all together, which is a rather expensive test. So I guess my question is how can I go about diagnosing these components? Does this even sound like a mobo/cpu problem? Could this possibly be a BIOS issue? I'm at quite a loss. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[bonobo]

BTW, here are the machine specs:

Windows XP Pro

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Windsor 2.6GHz Socket AM2 89W Dual-Core Processor

SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

ECS KN3 SLI2 (1.0) AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard

EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W Power Supply

[mjc]

Strip it down to barebones...no drives, one stick of RAM and just the video card...does the problem continue?

At this point, I wouldn't rule out anything...except the BIOS itself. Unless it doesn't actually support the CPU, which, according to ECS it should..the last BIOS update listed is from 07/07...and it is the only listing.

[bonobo]

Of course, now the problem refuses to happen. I've rebooted my machine about half a dozen times successfully at this point. Augh!

Thanks for the suggestion though, I will certainly try that when the problem returns.

[bonobo]

After moving my video card back to its original PCI Express slot (there are two on my mother board, and I had decided to try the other one after the recent problem began), the problem returned. After about a dozen reboots without getting to the splash screen, I moved the video card back to the second slot. After a few tries I was able to boot successfully. This makes the mother board theory look more promising. As mjc suggested, I have now stripped down the machine to the bare essentials, and still cannot get the splash screen most of the time. I'm thinking I should just go ahead and buy a new motherboard and hope for the best at this point. Any tips on transferring a processor to a new mother board would be most helpful...

Thanks!

[minus-sign]

Have you put a processor in before?

[WSS]

If you can look CLOSELY at the motherboard are any of the capacitors (small cylindrical vertically standing thing a majigs) swollen looking? Or are all of them identical in circumference? I'm thinking a capacitor or two has burst on the mobo.

[mjc]

If you can look CLOSELY at the motherboard are any of the capacitors (small cylindrical vertically standing thing a majigs) swollen looking? Or are all of them identical in circumference? I'm thinking a capacitor or two has burst on the mobo.

Or bulging at the top...the tops should be perfectly flat or slightly indented.

Or have puddles of brownish goo around them. That means the electrolyte has leaked out and is collecting dust/dirt.

[WSS]

I've caught a few swollen but luckily they weren't that far gone, lol. I use my pc far too often and noticed sporadic performance, I guess the guys that aren't using them often let them go long enough for that goo puddling up. And old DFI nf3 had a few bad caps.

I imagine once the goo is present other peripheals would start to go as well.

[bonobo]

@ minus-sign: i've put a new processor in a new motherboard before, but i've never had to move one. that makes me rather nervous, because i know you've got to clean off the old thermal compound and apply new stuff just right...

@ WSS and mjc: i haven't really examined the motherboard too closely. i'll take a look when i get home today.

Thanks for the responses!

[WSS]

I've just used a Q-tip doused in rubbing alcohol to remove old AS5 (thermal compound). Let it air dry for a bit.

Reapply a super small dab and spread it as thin as possible, I used a card from a deck of playing cards.

[bonobo]

@ WSS and mjc: You guys are geniuses!! Upon very close inspection, I noticed that two of the capacitors right next to my PCI Express slot are slightly bulging at the top, with a hint of a brown substance leaking out. VERY subtle, I didn't even notice it at first. I'm not sure it would even show up in a photo.

Wow, I'm really impressed. Give yourselves a pat on the back. :-)

So now what? Is there anything I can do about that? Or should I stick to my plan of buying a new motherboard.

Thanks!

[mjc]

Well, if it still has any warranty, you can RMA it...probably with through the manufacturer. But if it doesn't, then yeah, time for a new one.

[WSS]

Just glad to help, I'd order a newer model motherboard and try the RMA anyways. It just takes too long, I'm very impatient.

[bonobo]

Thanks again. I'm investigating the RMA option.

For anyone who's curious, I posted some photos of the bad capacitors:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33464111@N00/

[mjc]

Yep, if they weren't soldered to the board, they'd be pushing up daisies...

[bonobo]

Just wanted to give everyone an update on this issue. Turns out my motherboard was still under warranty, so I sent it back to the manufacturer, and they replaced the two bad capacitors. There was some minor physical damage to the board when I received it via fedex (the onboard fan broke off), but it works!

On a side note, I've determined that the weird visual artifacting problem I was experiencing may in fact be my monitor. I've connected my computer to a different DVI slot on the same monitor and it seems to work fine, though oddly the colors seem to have shifted somewhat.

I think I may have been dealing with up to four separate unrelated issues, which is what made the diagnosis so difficult. Thanks again to all of you who provided tips and insight.

Btw, mjc, I happened to be reading the Monty Python Dead Parrot Sketch the other day and realized that your last comment was a reference to that!