OT: hardware problems ... SOLVED
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After almost 4 years of intense use, my rendering computer will not start ... probably an internal problem. Any recommended forums for solving such problems?
Here is a description in case it helps point in the right direction:
"Short Version: I have an X299 Tomahawk that will not start or POST. It has a red light on the CMOS button. After pressing it and then the start button, the computer blinks power to several Debug LEDs (cpu and ram) and immediately shuts off.
Long Version: I built this three years ago, it has sat and worked fine although it has had to put up with suspiciously poor grounding and voltage surges and drops (I typically keep it on a Battery/Surge protector because of this). The building we are in also has a Tesla solar panel system and battery. A few days ago, the solar panel people were coming to fix something, I shut the computer down and unplugged it before they arrived. Since then, I have not been able to restart the computer. I found out they increased the voltage from the solar panels a bit and my surge protector is lowering voltage to compensate. However, I tried using the computer on a 12 volt battery and inverter (a combination I have used before) and I get the same blinking lights and immediate shut-off. Also, the grounding seems worse since they worked on the solar panels.
Any ideas? I suspect my PSU may have problems now - it is a Thermaltake 850 Gold.
Other items: Intel i9 14 core processor, 64 Gb corsair ram, Nvidia M6000 graphics card."
Thanks in advance!
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Comments
Does the LED debug code display on the top of the motherboard show any codes at all?
That would be the best place to start.
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* Could be a simple as pulling one of the memory cards, press and hold the CMOS reset button for 10 seconds release then power it on.
Should boot to a CMOS/memory reset warning screen with the options to open the UEFI settings or continue booting.
If you've got more than one harddrive, you may need to select the proper one if the boot order got scrambled.
* The CMOS battery could have died and would cause this problem. It's the coin battery in the middle of the board.
That's about all I can think of at the moment.
Thanks for the ideas!
I do not think the LEDs are helpful at this point ... too many of them are lighting up and the error code does not have time to do anything.
I already tried replacing the CMOS battery ... no effect.
It has 3 hard drives as well as the SSD drive ... so, yes, the boot order could easily have been changed. I will try that.
I can also try pulling a memory card.
Might need to do something like this to clear CMOS
https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/f7xpsc/how_to_short_circuit_a_cmos_battery_to_clear_cmos/
If the BIOS has become corrupted, there might be a switch or a jumper to use the backup BIOS.
Here's the manual for an MSI X299 Tomahawk. A quick glance revealed both a Clear CMOS button and a FLASH BIOS button on the rear panel. Always good, having a copy of the manual around.
https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/mb/M7B05v1.2-EURO.pdf
There's also a switch to select Bios A or Bios B (page 31)
Thank you for the suggestions ... but the switches on the back are ineffective. The internal A-B switch is also ineffective.
I may have to try the 'short circuit method mentioned by IceCrMn.
Or I may just have to take it apart and add things 1 componenet at a time to see where the problem begins ... that will take some time ... and has the catch, that if the problem is the power supply, then all of that effort will be wasted.
It does not sound like the power supply. Make sure whatever cools the CPU is attached and plugged into CPU_FAN1. A dead BIOS battery may not let the computer start. It has happened before; your PC will run without the CMOS battery as long as your default CMOS parameters are compatible with the operating system or if you manually set the appropriate CMOS parameters after every time the system loses power. This is usually the case with a dead CMOS battery. Take a look at this How to Check PC Power Supply? [PSU Tester, Multimeter, Jumper] (graphicscardhub.com) to eliminate the PSU as the problem. Be systemic. When diagnosing PSU is a great place to start.
Well ... I am not sure what finally did it, but one of the last things I did was short circuit the JBAT1 pins to manually reset the CMOS. After that, a couple of tries requiring the reset/restart buttons and it was running again.
Thanks for all the help.
Congratulations!
Modern gremlins are very small (they've evolved to fit into integrated circuits) but some of the larger ones are big enough to get jammed in between button contacts. Pushing the button a few times sometimes shakes them out.
Hmmm ... there are gremlins and electronics tools in the Daz Store ... it might make an interesting render ...