intermittent problem when booting up

[Inzaghi09]

hi... i'm posting this on behalf of my cousin, his pc seems to be having trouble booting up. there are times when he tried to start his pc but the MSI image remains stuck at the screen and after a few minutes, it will proceed to a blank black screen with a "blinking underscore". i'm not sure if its the motherboard's problem though, pls help me in assessing the problem. (pc specs below)

upon rebooting, when you try to enter the bios, you will see the following screen.
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g263/zh2908/Image282.jpg
("Warning!!! The previous performance of overclocking is failed, and the system is restored to the defaults setting, Press any key except "DEL" to enter SETUP.......")

there was no overclocking done to the system, so i was wondering why did the system claim that there was overclocking done. after "press any key", this is what was shown
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g263/zh2908/Image281.jpg
have tried both options, ie. Yes and No, to keep current bios settings.

sometimes it will get into the bios after that, but sometimes it stays at that screen. when it gets into the bios, my cousin tried to choose "Load optimized defaults" and "Load Fail-safe defaults", thinking that the bios might have been wrongly configured. however, the problem still remains after that. (the warning message/the blinking underscore)

that said, there are times when the comp may successfully boot up as per normal and get into windows xp. however, this seems to be a problem as the comp only seems to boot up depending on its mood. i'm not sure if the details i've provided is sufficient. pls let me know if i should provide any more details that i've missed out. thanks!


his pc specs is as follows.

Intel E7200
MSI P35 NEO 3 MAINBOARD
MSI 512MB 9600GT O.C PCX
SEAGATE 320GB SATA2
KINGSTON PC5300/667 2* 1GB
ANDYSON 500W POWER SUPPLY
LG 20X SATA DVDRW

[ant3202]

try to clear your CMOS first :)
removing the battery for a while or follow the manual to short the jumper

[Coolstyle]

Hi Inzaghi09, :)

Try what ant3202 bro suggested.
Let us know how it goes from there.
Did he get this problem recently only
or after changing some hardware components?
ie, processor, memory etc.

[Inzaghi09]

hi... ok... i'll try it out when i go over later. thanks!

btw, he didnt change any parts... :)

[Inzaghi09]

hi all... i tried to reset the cmos. managed to reset it and windows tried to boot up as per normal on first attempt. however, it showed the blue screen shortly after the black screen with the windows logo.

i only managed to boot into windows after i pressed F8 and selected the option to load windows as per normal. then it finally worked as per normal.

upon checking the device manager, i found out that there was an error for "SM Bus Controller". i did a google, but wasnt able to determine what's the fault. tried to install the drivers for that by putting the motherboard's cd, but no drivers were found for the "SM Bus Controller". does anyone know what i should do? btw, i'm still unsure what's the problem though...

[Coolstyle]

Hi Inzaghi09, :)

Thanks for the update.
That's weird if he didn't change any hardware.

Try to reinstall the INF drivers to see if its able
to re-detect the correct SM bus controller.
Even so, that shouldn't be the problem of the booting issue.

Also, the bios that you are using is quite outdated for the E7200.
http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=downloaddetail&type=bios&maincat_no=1&prod_no=1342
You might like to update the bios too,
just to make sure that the booting up is not caused by the CPU microcode detection.

By any chance, do you remember what the bsod screen showed?
Thanks. :)

[Inzaghi09]

hi.. i'm not sure what are INF drivers.. INF drivers are from which part? motherboard?

i'll try to update the bios later, and post back here.. thanks! :)

the bsod screen showed for less than 1 sec, before it auto reboot and attempts to bootup again. so i couldnt see it.. :(

[Coolstyle]

Hi inzaghi09, :)

INF drivers are like chipset drivers.
You'll see the option to install it when you insert the driver disc.
:)

[ant3202]

here is the link to intel P35 chipset drivers
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=816

[Inzaghi09]

hi Coolstyle.. i managed to see the BSOD after i disabled auto reboot on system failure. the error message is "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA"

Hi Inzaghi09, :)

Thanks for the update.
That's weird if he didn't change any hardware.

Try to reinstall the INF drivers to see if its able
to re-detect the correct SM bus controller.
Even so, that shouldn't be the problem of the booting issue.

Also, the bios that you are using is quite outdated for the E7200.
http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=downloaddetail&type=bios&maincat_no=1&prod_no=1342
You might like to update the bios too,
just to make sure that the booting up is not caused by the CPU microcode detection.

By any chance, do you remember what the bsod screen showed?
Thanks. :)

[Inzaghi09]

btw, i tried to flash the BIOS by downloading from the MSI Live Monitor.. however, when the flash process is able to start, i kept seeing "AFUWIN.exe" has encountered a problem and needs to close". i've tried to reboot and repeat the steps, but the same error occured. i cant do a flash of the bios through DOS as i do not have any floppy drive on the pc. anything else i can try? thanks! :)

[Inzaghi09]

hi all... thanks for your help. i've formatted the comp. reinstalled the drivers. successfully flashed the bios as well. so far so good. perhaps its just a windows error. (i hope so).

thanks ant3202 and Coolstyle! :)

[Coolstyle]

That's great! :)
Thanks for updating us too.
You have a good weekend ahead.
Cheers!

[silver_shin]

hey mi name is angel andi have a very big problem, y have a elitegroups mother board model p4m800pro-m v.2.o and i buy a core 2 duo micro 1066 e7300 2.66ghz.
i install the micro on the board and when i turn on the pc start working but i have no signal on my monitor i dont know how to make it works a friend tell me to update bios but i dont know how to make it, i download from ecs oficial website the bios update that it supose to make it works but when i open the afuwin.exe it says that ocurred an error : error loading bios, and close oviusly to run it im using another micro a celeron D 3.2 ghz but i need to update to de core 2 duo and it supose its suported by the mother board can some one helkpe me?

[Coolstyle]

You'll need a DOS bootable thumbdrive or an MS DOS startup diskette.
Transfer both the flashware and bios to the bootup device.
Configure in bios to boot up from thumbdrive or floppy, which ever you are using.
Follow the readme file in the .rar bios which you downloaded.

Once boot up, the command is usually,
flashware version then bios file name.
ie, afudos p4m800.xxx

Check their official website for a more detailed guide too/FAQ. :)

[silver_shin]

to run an ms-dos start up diskete i will need to use win 98 rigth?
cause itryed using XP on save mode to create it and it just dont work

[silver_shin]

is there any driver to run E7300 on socket intel 775 for a elite group motherboard?? sorry fot to mouch asking but im getting crzy i have 4 days with this problem and i really want to use my new micro hahaha i spend 200 bucks on it >.< i will apreciate any help =D THX about the other solution im tryng to make a botable cd or diskette but im having some trubles if i can make it and run the dos afu and make it works u will be the first ones to know it Thx for ya help

[ant3202]

if you had a floppy drive,
right click the floppy drive icon and select format
tick create startup dos disk.
and click ok

if you do not had a floppy drive in hand, you may had to look for a thumbdrive

you will need to follow more to this link:
http://www.weethet.nl/english/hardware_bootfromusbstick.php

processor does not need drivers to run. its hardware dependent.
you will need to go to your manufactuer website to download the drivers or use the cd they had provided you.

[Coolstyle]

to run an ms-dos start up diskete i will need to use win 98 rigth?
cause itryed using XP on save mode to create it and it just dont work
Take a look at this.
It may be of some use. :)
Its very much similar.
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showpost.php?p=26739576&postcount=3

[silver_shin]

well finally don i have mi core 2 duo runing on my pc, the problem was so easy xD as my windows was broken(blue screen) the AFUWIN.exe was unable to run drivers or bios info, so i simple re-intall my windows operative system and run AFUWIN and just select the rom file and chose "ignore rom name" and "look all bios" i guess and done it uptdate them, now im runing my new micro with no problems and also have a better answer of ram memory and video card AGP =D Ths for help guys :s12:

[Coolstyle]

That's great! :)

[Inzaghi09]

hi, it seems like the format i did back then didnt solve the problem entirely.

the comp only loads windows depending on its mood. there are times when it just gets stuck at the msi logo screen, shows the underscore and refuses to load windows.

i'm suspecting that this might be a motherboard error.

in addition, there are times when the comp just shows the bsod, error message is "kernel in page error".

pls advice whether i should just send the cpu down to msi for a check. thank you!

[ant3202]

try disconnecting your hard drive for a moment.
only with a dvd rom drive there, if your memtest program is written on the cd.

use memtest to test your memory stick by stick and see how.

if the problem persists ... you may bring down your mobo, together with ram, processor to corbell to test out. Those friendly guys there will be glad to help you.

cheers.

[Inzaghi09]

hm.. i've sent the ram over to kingston, they tested the ram and said there is no problem with it.. I've tried to disconnect the hdd, power up, off, then connect the hdd again.. And the pc will boot up..