PC hangs pauses at BIOS loading for 2 minutes before continuing to boo

[newprouser]

Hey Everyone,

This is my configuration :

Intel 945 GCNL Board 800 FSB

Core 2 Duo 2 Ghz E4400

Samsung 667 Mhz (2+2) 4GB DDR2 RAM

160 GB Segate SATA HDD

DVD LG

floppy disk

The problem I am facing is like this : When I start my pc, the I'm not able to see the usual "press F2 to load BIOS" text and even pressing the F2 button does not help. Next during the same period the computer hangs for about 2 minutes. And after this period the windows XP booting starts. After loading windows I find that many of the hardware(motherboard) components are not recognized.

Till now I have tried the following :

- Reinstalling windows

- Flashing the bios

- Resetting bios to default via motherboard hardware

I got a BSOD all of sudden which may or may not be related the above issues. please see the screenshot below :

But nothing seems to have solved the issues of 1) Hanging at BIOS boot and 2) Hardware components not recognized in windows. Any ideas on what the problem could be ?

Edited December 7, 2011 by newprouser

[jaclaz]

Sounds like hardware issues.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315266/en-us

I would check RAM (try one OR the other memory bank, one at the time) and remove and reseat *everything* first thing, then verify disk/filesystem from an "external" boot (Recovery Console or PE).

jaclaz

[tain]

Agreed. Reseating everything is a good move here. Remember to ground yourself to avoid any ESD issues.

[Tripredacus]

When your PC is hanging at POST, does it show a number in the lower right hand corner? I can't remember if that board shows the POST codes or not.

[puntoMX]

When your PC is hanging at POST, does it show a number in the lower right hand corner? I can't remember if that board shows the POST codes or not.

It should on that board, but you might need to press TAB or ESC as some Intel boards will have the silent boot and it will show the Intel logo on top of the numbers... but in general it should show indeed.

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I've seen also a lot of southbridges go out (charging too many phones and MP3 players at the same time is something you won't want to do on those boards), and bad caps next to chipsets...

[Tripredacus]

I often see certain ODDs take their sweet time reporting during POST also. You can see if its fast to get throught post with the ODD or even HDD disconnected.

[newprouser]

Thanks for the replies jaclaz, tain,Tripredacus,puntoMX.

This PC is my friend's PC, so its taking some time to get him to do all this stuff. I will let you know asap as to whether your ideas solves the issue or not.

[newprouser]

UPDATE :

Some of information I posted in the 1st post are wrong.

1st, the BIOS was not flashed. Only the settings were reset using the pins on motherboard.

Next, the motherboard utility CD is not able detect the hardware automatically, but by executing the respective installers for Video, Audio , Network , Motherboard INF's etc, all components

are getting detected.

The BSOD appeared after repeatedly switching on and restarting the PC about 5-10 times in a short duration. And after a normal boot it has not re-appeared.

---

Some more updates on problem description:

> As soon as PC is booted the Monitor display comes alive (i.e its NOT in stand by), but still the video does not display. Display appears only after 2 minutes (exact - each time)

> Pressing any of the usual buttons (including ESC , TAB ) to bring up BIOS does not help - its totally inaccessible.

> All bootable media other than HDD do not even get activated - so any CD , USB device does even seem to be queried.

> When no HDD is present the blank screen lasts forever. even the usual "No bootloader/bootable device found message is not displayed.

> Trying to update BIOS using the intel BIOS updater EXE file fails to recognize the BIOS.

> But if all RAM is removed, appropriate beep sound is heard.

--

@ jaclaz

Re-seating the RAM did not work. Unfortunately not able to boot any other media on the PC. I will try to get the HDD checked on another PC and report back.

@tain

Tried re-connecting all that I could - Optical , HDD , FDD , RAM , Power supply connectors. No change.

@Tripredacus

Usually the key to be pressed for accessing BIOS is displayed, but right now the entire screen is blank though the monitor is ON.

Also removing the ODD does not seem to affect in anyway.

@puntoMX

None of the button seem to bring the BIOS. Do you feel that a power surge in power supply could have caused this ?

[submix8c]

1st, the BIOS was not flashed. Only the settings were reset using the pins on motherboard.

Stoopid Question - was the "pins" reset done using a jumper? If so, was the "jumper" put back to the "normal" position?

Bios Recover Procedure (see the jumper? 3 settings - Normal, Clear CMOS, Recovery). The Jumper MUST be put back to Normal after Clear CMOS.

[newprouser]

1st, the BIOS was not flashed. Only the settings were reset using the pins on motherboard.

Stoopid Question - was the "pins" reset done using a jumper? If so, was the "jumper" put back to the "normal" position?

Bios Recover Procedure (see the jumper? 3 settings - Normal, Clear CMOS, Recovery). The Jumper MUST be put back to Normal after Clear CMOS.

Yes, the jumper is in the normal position.

[puntoMX]

Okay, so a BIOS reset. I would check timings/speed of RAM and ACHI/SATA/IDE/RAID mode for the harddrive. Looks more like the OS wants the old settings back. Why was the BIOS reset in the first place?

[newprouser]

Okay, so a BIOS reset. I would check timings/speed of RAM and ACHI/SATA/IDE/RAID mode for the harddrive. Looks more like the OS wants the old settings back. Why was the BIOS reset in the first place?

Not able to reach the BIOS screen. As I mentioned above, none of the buttons are able to open up the BIOS page,so it seemed like a BIOS reset *might* solve the issue.

Either even after a re-install the video problems persists, so it seems more like hardware issues as suggested above.

[submix8c]

Not able to reach the BIOS screen. As I mentioned above, none of the buttons are able to open up the BIOS page,so it seemed like a BIOS reset *might* solve the issue.

According to the Manual, it has PS/2 Mouse and Keyboard Ports. Are you using USB instead? If so, you may NEVER get into the BIOS.

I must assume that the Reinstall loaded the correct (USB Keyboard/Mouse) drivers, otherwise it would have never reinstalled and the keyboard/mouse would never have worked. How did you manage to get the BIOS to boot from a CD/DVD if you can't even get into the BIOS? (LEGACY USB Support for using a USB KB/Mouse - a certain manufacturer hosed some users with a default-to-PS/2 BIOS update with NO PS/2 PORTS!)

Have you tried the "Emergency BIOS Recovery with Floppy" solution (the "special no-jumper" method)? If not, try that and BE SURE to use the CORRECT BIOS (you will need a floppy drive and all other drives disconnected).

I'm seriously at a loss. Is this a TRUE Intel board (home-brew tower) or an OEM board (HP, Dell, etc. tower)?

Source of my Info and links to everything. BTW, BIOS Reset has to be done correctly as well - read the DOCS in the link.

WARNING! Use a Win9x/ME-formatted Floppy or CD/USB Image, and NOT one formatted with an NT-type system.

[newprouser]

For what its worth : the problem was indeed with the BIOS. The issue got resolved after flashing the bios chip externally.