Computer only booting after POWER ON/OFF 10 times or more?

Posted by Jan Gressmann on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Jan Gressmann
Published on 2010-05-09T18:53:22Z Indexed on 2010/05/09 19:00 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 238

Filed under:

boot

|

bios

|

motherboard

|

Hardware

Hi fellow geeks,

recently my computer started to behave like an old car and won't start up anymore unless I flip the power switch repeatedly. What happens when I power it on:

CPU fans spins briefly and very slowly, then it stops
Same with GPU fan
No BIOS beeps or HDD activity
Screen stays black

After turning it on and off for like 10 times, it'll eventually boot like normal and run smooth without any problems what-so-ever. But I'm worried it might eventually die completely.

Anyone know the most common cause of this? Maybe I should just leave the computer powered on? :)

© Super User or respective owner

Related posts about boot

Dual Boot issues with Windows 7 and Ubuntu

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I'm finding myself in a rather unique situation. I've read through just about every resource I can find about this and while things have helped me understand some background, I haven't yet been able to find a solution. So I'm asking here. I originally had just a Windows 7 64-bit OS installation on… >>> More
Windows 7 wont boot from any boot loader except for 'Windows Boot Manager' after partition resize

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have a triple boot system on a single SSD. OSX, Windows 7, and Ubuntu. I use Chimera (basically another version of Chameleon) as my boot loader. Usually I can boot all 3 without any issue, but after using GParted to make my Ubuntu partition 2 Gigs larger, Windows 7 throws me an error when trying… >>> More
Unable to boot Windows 7 after installing Ubuntu

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I have Windows 7 on my machine and then installed Ubuntu 12.04 using a live CD. I can see both Windows 7 and Ubuntu in the grub menu, but when I select Windows 7 it shows a black screen for about 2 seconds and the returns to the Grub menu. But if I select Ubuntu it's working fine. This is the contents… >>> More
12.04 upgrade broke grub? (not wubi related)

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I just updated from 11.10 to 12.04, with no major problems (it took a while to get past a request to restart ssh, mysql and some other services, but I did no fiddling by myself, everything was done by the installer). However, after restarting, grub can't do anything. Picking the new linux installation… >>> More
Another "Windows 7 entry missing from Grub2" Question

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
Like many before me had the following problem that after installing Ubuntu (with windows 7 already installed), the grub boot loader wouldnt show windows 7 as a boot option, though i can boot fine if I use the "Choose Boot Device" options on the x220. The difference is that I try using UEFI only so… >>> More

Related posts about bios

Howto make a diff of a bios or backup/ restore all bios settings

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Hi, I'm using an Dell M90 Precision Laptop which has a NVidia Quadro FX 2500M graphics card and is running Windows XP. Laptop has been running fine - but a few weeks ago screen went 'white' - restarted computer- bios and startup screens show weird green dots and stripes, normal startup only shows… >>> More
Have I bricked my Sun V20z?

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a small pile of Sun V20z computers. I was trying to update the SP and BIOS firmwares in order to bring them all up to the same standard -- mostly to get the updated (ie actually useful) SP functionality, and figured that I would just do the BIOS while I was at it. For three of the four computers… >>> More
BIOS upgrade lowers CPU temperature

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Setup I've got a system with an Asus P8Z68-V PRO motherboard and an Intel Core i7-2600K CPU running at stock speed (no overlocking) which I cool with a Noctua NH-U12P. On the heatsink I've got the two included fans connected via the included Low-Noise Adapters (L.N.A.) 1100 RPM, 16.9 dB(A). In the… >>> More
BIOS interrupts, privilege levels and paging

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Hi, I was learning about Intel 8086-80486 CPUs and their interactions with HW. But I still don´t understand it quite well. Please, help me fill blank spots. First, I know that CPU communicates with HW using BIOS interrupts. But, what really happens in PC, when I call some INT instruction? I know… >>> More
BIOS interrupts, priviledge levels and paging

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Hi, I was learning about Intel 8086-80486 CPUs and their interactions with HW. But I still don´t understand it quite well. Please, help me fill blank spots. First, I know that CPU communicates with HW using BIOS interrupts. But, what really happens in PC, when I call some INT instruction? I know… >>> More