Curious booting problem
 

Hi all!

Well, I've had my computer watercooled for about 3 months now and it's been working out pretty well. However, just recently (this week) I've had some very strange booting problems. Sometimes my computer will boot fine. Other times its a no go (it hangs at CPU recognition, right before the memory test is done).

I have:
Gigabyte 7DPXDW mobo
2x AMD MP 2000+ w/ TC-4 waterblocks
512MB Registered RAM
Black Ice Extreme
Eheim 1250 pump
Homemade res
other crap not really important

Anyways, the hang occurs when the mobo recognizes 1 CPU but not the other. I've tried fiddling with the waterblocks (tightening and loosening) but it still acts up. Right now it's okay (I did a burn in test for 1.5 hours and it ran fine), but I have no idea if it will boot tomorrow.

Any thoughts? All comments are appreciated. Thanks!

Try updateing the BIOS if you havent already.

Otherwise, it could be a number of things;

Possible faulty MB
Possible faulty chip
Possible faulty PSU
Possible faulty CPU setting (incorrect unlock???)

Possible user error :D

EDIT: I should note a very curious booting problem of my own that I have found a solution for. Every once in a while when I try and boot, my machine will power on but will not POST. All the settings are correct and everything is plugged in correctly.
The solution I found.........
Unplug the ATX connector from MB, power cycle MB (AKA try and turn on without power), power cycle PSU, plug ATX connector back in and secure it, then power on machine like normal.

Very strange but seems to work everything I get no POST.

the cpu's could be getting to hot if the pump has been on all night. can you check the water temp before boot up? I can't remember if the MP's have the thermal diode that the mobo will monitor and not start above a certian temp.

Sometimes the unlock kit, if you used a ghetto method like defogger pain, will wear off over time (more like burn off). Check your unlock first, since a half-ass unlock can cause the problems you're describing (been there, done that ... ). I'd be willing to bet that that is the problem if it is intermittant.

MP's are multiplyer unlocked from the factory are'nt they?...
Have you played around with the APIC options in the BIOS?. I don't know what they do, only that they exist :D ...

APIC has to do with the OS, not posting. It has nothing to do with it. If it hung during OS startup, then maybe, but unlikely.

Just another idea. It might be a bad stick of RAM.... I HAVE seen RAM that will test fine in the BIOS and fails 2 seconds later. Would not hurt one bit to run a memory tester on it.

Could be that your BIOS chip itself is going bad. I've had that happen with one machine I've fixed. Damn thing would do the wierdest things sometimes, but work perfectly others. Replaced the chip and everything went back to normal.

Hi all!
Thanks for the replies! I finally was able to get my computer to boot! What I did was crank down the nuts on both my WB's until I was physically unable to do so and then I changed the ECC setting from scrub+correct to check only. Well, my computer is finally back to normal, but I did notice a 2 degree C increase (according to MBM) for idle.

So, I wanted to ask if these were good/average/bad numbers:
temps are max idle/load

ambient: 75 F ~= 24 C
case (from MBM) = 32 C/35 C
case (from cooking thermometer) = 27 C/31 C
CPU 1 (from MBM) = 42 C/47 C
CPU 2 (from MBM) = 41 C/47 C (this CPU is cooled first)

just curious! Thanks a bunch!