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Failure to post after changing sound card

379 views 19 replies 6 participants last post by  Aaron_Henderson 
#1 ·
Hey everyone,

I just took out my PCI sound card and installed a Xonar STX II in the PCI-e x1 slot. Plugged the PC back in, computer boots fine to Windows.

I reboot Windows after cleaning out the old drivers and the computer doesn't post. Instead it keeps booting for 3 seconds and resetting over and over.

I flip the PSU switch off and then back on, the computer posts fine so i get into the BIOS to do a config reset, just in case something got funky in the configuration.

That was the last time i was able to do anything with the computer. Now it gets stuck at a boot code of 7F if i unplug all unnecessary components and 75 if i leave all components plugged in. On a cold boot it'll freeze during POST although it says Press Del for setup or F1 to continue, the keyboard (USB and PS/2) doesn't do anything. If i reset the PC from there then i get stuck again in that 3 second boot then reset cycle.

I did the obvious of taking out the new sound card but that doesn't make a difference. I've unplugged and replugged every single power cable and SATA connector, reseated all components (except CPU) and i'm running out of ideas. My GPUs are stuck together in a water loop and the last thing i want to do is take the loop apart to go single GPU.

Any thoughts?
 
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#4 ·
I'll try the battery now but i forgot to mention i also tried the built in clear CMOS button a couple times.

EDIT: I'm now typing this from my desktop. Taking out the battery for a couple minutes allowed the computer to boot clean and let me into the BIOS and reload my configuration. The only problem is that I'm back to my original problem, for the computer to boot I need to flip the PSU switch off and then back on. If I simply restart or shut down the PC without cutting power to the PSU, it'll keep doing this 3 second boot/reset over and over.

Tomorrow I'll unplug all the front panel header wires and boot the computer with the motherboard's built in power button. I doubt that it's a short though, I wouldn't be able to ever boot the computer if something kept sending a reset signal to the motherboard. Also, my motherboard has an option to auto restart on power failure, this setting has always been off.
 
#5 ·
When you say this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emmanuel View Post

I reboot Windows after cleaning out the old drivers and the computer doesn't post. Instead it keeps booting for 3 seconds and resetting over and over.
How exactly did you "clean" the old drivers out??
 
#6 ·
I've run into similar issues, and it could be many things, usually related to power/cables. One time it was a nightmare, until I finally figured out one of my 3-pin to molex adapters bit the dust, and just having it plugged in to the PSU would cause issues just like you are having. I don't know why the cable stopped working, it was random, maybe cheap adapter had wire that was too thin or something. Removed it though, and everything was back to normal. Hate to say, but I think the next step is to strip it down to just motherboard, single stick or RAM, and since you have watercooled SLI, try using any old GPU if your Xeon doesn't have integrated. If you don't have a GPU to use for trouble shooting, I would suggest you pick one up off of ebay, a simple $5 PCI card is usually perfect.

Also, code "7F" says "Check POST error and display them and ask for user intervention" and code "75" is "IDE device detection", so possibly unhook all harddrives/optical, reset CMOS, and then hook up only the OS HDD, and reset CMOS again. Also, maybe try new SATA cable(s) as well. And make sure to hook up HDD to SATA port 1, doesn't usually matter, but I've also ran into a very similar issue to this not very long ago, the last time I disassembled my PC for cleaning. And messing with the HDD's I have is what fixed it, once I got everything working, I just plugged in my remaining non-OS HDDs and everything was good.
 
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#7 ·
EDIT: thanks Aaron, I didn't see your reply before I posted the one below

Whatever goes on at the OS level (short of flashing a ROM or changing BIOS settings from Windows) could never cause my issue.

Here were my final steps last night:
-unplug all case connectors (USB, power/reset/hdd lights etc)
-physically unplug the accessory power cables from the PSU
-disconnect all SATA cables from SSDs and CD Drive
-unplug, blow air into and reconnect every single power cable into the motherboard, GPUs

This didn't fix my problem.

I received another AX1200 this morning and will be trying it out tonight, I hope this fixes my issue. My biggest fear is that my motherboard is going bad, ungrateful SOB who's been watercooled her whole life lol.

I'd like to reiterate that I can get into Windows and heavily stress my system playing games as long as I reset the PSU power switch before starting the PC.
 
#8 ·
It's too bad you didn't have a spare PSU around for testing, but I guess if it turns out to be the PSU, nothing lost. I always keep spares around for testing, dropping $$$ on a 1200W PSU just to throw parts at your rig to see if that fixes things could get expensive. From the sounds of it, it certainly could be PSU, but also could be motherboard, like you said. Either way, hope you get it sorted, and that the new PSU wasn't a waste. Really nice build you have there, by the way, when it works
tongue.gif
 
#9 ·
Haha yeah if the new PSU doesn't fix my problem I will either return it or keep it. I lied, it's a slight upgrade that I got: the AX1200i, I'm sure I could appreciate the platinum efficiency and being able to monitor its status from Windows (with the Corsair app).

The advantage is that they are fully modular PSUs so all I have to do is unplug the cables and replug them into the new PSU. It would be a nightmare otherwise, I have power cables running under the motherboard and with the water loop I can't move the motherboard without taking the loop apart somewhere.
 
#10 ·
Why did you get an AX1200i when the EVGA SuperNova G2/P2 are much cheaper as well as better?
Its $47 less for a P2 on newegg.

Also note that Corsair Link does not work its a stupid marketing gimmick.
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cinderblocks View Post

Where were you to pitch your precious EVGAs before he bought a new PSU? Anyway it is only $40, he won't regret it.
wink.gif


I got my AX1200i for $300, how much does the Evga go for? And I didn't want to risk getting a different brand of PSU with incompatible power cables, then I'd have to take the whole computer apart to route the new cables. What I really wanted was simply another AX1200, but they are out of production which means paying an inflated price for brand new or buying used (which I'd rather not do).
 
#12 ·
You cant use your AX1200 cables with the AX1200i anyway so you need replace the cables no matter what.

And the P2 is $254
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G28N0888&cm_re=EVGA_SupernOva_P2-_-17-438-056-_-Product

Its newer and cheaper then the AX1200i is.

If you dont care about noise and efficiency you can get the 1300 watt G2 for even less
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G28N5238&cm_re=EVGA_SuperNova_G2-_-17-438-011-_-Product

Its also cheaper newer and then the AX1200i.
 
#13 ·
The P2 does look slightly better. Crap it looks like you're right, some (not all) connectors seem to have a different layout. When I'm home I'll evaluate how much of a PITA it is. For my testing purposes though I'll just have the PSU out the case and power up essential components only, if that fixes my reset issue I'll deal with actually installing it and redoing my cable routing.
 
#14 ·
The cables from the AX1200 is not compatible with the AX1200i or vice versa, this is the reason why we had type 1 and type 2 Corsair cables
Type 1 is for the AX and type 2 is for the AXi.

So you will be forced to change the cables no matter what you do.
 
#15 ·
It's beyond me why they'd make such a poor business decision, there is no reason why they'd need to change the connector layout. On top of that they advertise their fully modular PSUs as "ease of upgrade", turns out to be as annoying as upgrading a non-modular PSU.
 
#16 ·
Everyone does the same and have pretty much always done so, in fact its very very rare that you can use cables from one PSU on another.
It have always been that way so its not new.
 
#17 ·
#18 ·
Have you tried unhooking all HDD and booting from a Live CD or Live USB?
 
#19 ·
I don't know if you the video worked for you but the issue is to just get to the POST before any OS gets loaded. It's like the motherboard keeps sending a RESET signal every couple seconds before something even appears on the screen. When the reset happens, I can actually see the built in RESET button lighting up for a split second, I don't know if that's normal or indicative that the motherboard is actually issuing that command.
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emmanuel View Post

I don't know if you the video worked for you but the issue is to just get to the POST before any OS gets loaded. It's like the motherboard keeps sending a RESET signal every couple seconds before something even appears on the screen. When the reset happens, I can actually see the built in RESET button lighting up for a split second, I don't know if that's normal or indicative that the motherboard is actually issuing that command.
I know, I just remember one of the post codes before was referring to IDE detection, figured it was an easy way to eliminate that as I have had HDD configs cause a non-boot like that. Not saying that's the issue, but whatever the issue is doesn't seem very easy to track down, so figure I would be trying just about anything with even the slightest possibly of working. I didn't download the video, I clicked it, but I don't usually download things like that randomly, even though I am sure it is fine. I clicked it thinking it was a Youtube video.
 
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