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[Choppasmith]

So last year, I seemingly had this really bad short circuit on my motherboard that was constantly causing reboots. My brother thinks some static electricity must've damaged the board when I opened it up in the past. Last July I ordered a new custom built PC from Magic Micro. Thought I'd order a basic tower and then transplant a lot of still fairly new and working parts from my older PC into the new one (graphics card, HDD, etc). That way I could save a lot of time and hassle not having to worry about those intricate motherboard wires. I didn't really like the cheap PSU (I think it's like 400W) it came with, but considering everything was all neatly zip tied together, I thought I'd just leave it despite having a superior PSU ready to go. Went off without a hitch and I was flying...

All until late last week, I'm just browsing the web as always and I suddenly get a blue screen and the computer reboots on me but it's stuck on struggling to boot saying it needs to find the right boot device. I restart and go into the BIOS settings and everything seems normal, try rebooting, still having trouble finding the boot device only this time it seems my keyboard has become unresponsive not letting me access boot or BIOS settings at all. Thought maybe it was that weak PSU somehow, replace that, no change. Thought maybe it was the keyboard (pretty standard keyboard but had illuminated keys) I had it for several years so I thought maybe it had given out on me, so I ordered a cheap Amazon Basics keyboard. Just tried it today. Nothing. I still see the MSI splash screen, but it goes straight to a screen asking for the right boot device. Tried plugging the keyboard in various USB ports. Nothing.

So something is obviously broken, but I'm just wondering WHAT? Is there anything else I can try or am I pretty much fucked?

 

[dave is ok]

Probably should try a new hard drive

Is yours an HDD or an SSD?

If HDD, Do you hear any clicking sounds?

 

[diaspora]

ask the place you bought it from to take a look

 

[The Lamonster]

Are you sure the electrical outlet you're using for these PCs is grounded?

 

[Choppasmith]

Probably should try a new hard drive

Is yours an HDD or an SSD? Do you hear any clicking sounds?

I actually got a new hard drive in case that was the case, but there hard part is not being able to access these BIOS/boot settings.

 

[KrellRell]

I had a very similar issue. Blue screen followed by boot to nowhere. Open bios and reset boot device.

In my case it was the driver for my SSD. I'd start with your hard drive, and work from there.

EDIT: I see you got a new hard drive already.. I'm out of ideas.

 

[Alavard]

Any chance you can boot to a CD/DVD or USB of something, like a linux distro or a boot disc?

 

[Hoo-doo]

Somehow my brain filtered out the word 'PC' from the thread title and I entered this thread expecting the most GAF thread of all time.

 

[SwiftDeath]

Well you can always try booting into a linux distro on a usb flash drive

 

[dave is ok]

Have you tried taking the motherboard battery out for a few minutes or replacing it before trying the keyboard again?

 

[Choppasmith]

Any chance you can boot to a CD/DVD or USB of something, like a linux distro or a boot disc?

Tried putting in my Windows disc, nothing

Somehow my brain filtered out the word 'PC' from the thread title and I entered this thread expecting the most GAF thread of all time.

Okay I've been super frustrated those morning, but I had a good laugh with this post. Really, thank you.

Are you sure the electrical outlet you're using for these PCs is grounded?

You know, I checked the power strip I had the PC plugged into and saw that I had that plugged into another power strip. I have two outlets about 10 feet apart along the same wall, the one closest to my computer is dedicated to my Fiber Optic box/battery that Verizon at the time said should be the ONLY thing used by that outlet, but the other one still had an outlet free so I figured that would better. Not sure what possessed me that plugging a power strip into another power strip was a good idea.

Edit: Checking the motherboard battery now...

 

[inm8num2]

It sounds like some kind of motherboard issue. Since you're still within warranty coverage, perhaps you can get a warranty replacement for the motherboard if it is the problem.

 

[adamantypants]

Are you sure the electrical outlet you're using for these PCs is grounded?

You know, I checked the power strip I had the PC plugged into and saw that I had that plugged into another power strip. I have two outlets about 10 feet apart along the same wall, the one closest to my computer is dedicated to my Fiber Optic box/battery that Verizon at the time said should be the ONLY thing used by that outlet, but the other one still had an outlet free so I figured that would better. Not sure what possessed me that plugging a power strip into another power strip was a good idea.

Edit: Checking the motherboard battery now...

RIP in peace

Try plugging the whole rig directly into a wall. You might not be getting enough power draw.

 

[The Lamonster]

Somehow my brain filtered out the word 'PC' from the thread title and I entered this thread expecting the most GAF thread of all time.

I legit LOL'd from this post.

You know, I checked the power strip I had the PC plugged into and saw that I had that plugged into another power strip. I have two outlets about 10 feet apart along the same wall, the one closest to my computer is dedicated to my Fiber Optic box/battery that Verizon at the time said should be the ONLY thing used by that outlet, but the other one still had an outlet free so I figured that would better. Not sure what possessed me that plugging a power strip into another power strip was a good idea.

Edit: Checking the motherboard battery now...

Damn dude, daisy chaining is not safe. Good luck! Sounds like your mobo is fried, though

 

[A Fish Aficionado]

You plugged a power strip onto another one?

 

[GreenMonkey]

I legit LOL'd from this post.


Damn dude, daisy chaining is not safe. Good luck! Sounds like your mobo is fried, though

There's nothing inherently wrong with daisy chaining power strips, but it easily leads to dangerous decisions like plugging too many devices in leading to overloading the circuit.

Gut thought here is motherboard too, but first step in troubleshooting is to minimize variables. Go down to bare basics - PSU, board, CPU, one stick of RAM - and see if it POSTs ok, doesn't freeze up, etc. Poke around in the menus for a bit.

Then add your next device (prob HDD) and see what happens. One change at a time so you can isolate the problem.

 

[Choppasmith]

It sounds like some kind of motherboard issue. Since you're still within warranty coverage, perhaps you can get a warranty replacement for the motherboard if it is the problem.

Thanks for this suggestion! I found the box with the SN and was able to successfully register the product and yeah, seems like it's still under warranty. Only trouble I had was MSI's website wouldn't let me send the support request through, so I'm going to have to call them tomorrow (I'm at work now).

There's nothing inherently wrong with daisy chaining power strips, but it easily leads to dangerous decisions like plugging too many devices in leading to overloading the circuit.

Gut thought here is motherboard too, but first step in troubleshooting is to minimize variables. Go down to bare basics - PSU, board, CPU, one stick of RAM - and see if it POSTs ok, doesn't freeze up, etc. Poke around in the menus for a bit.

Then add your next device (prob HDD) and see what happens. One change at a time so you can isolate the problem.

Not sure what I was thinking with that power strip setup (or maybe it was done by my sister without my knowledge, I don't know)

But anyway, my options are extremely limited right now as I can't even seem to get into the bios. What's weird is I don't think it's some kind of USB power issue as my plugged in microphone still shows it has power. My only other option to getting the keyboard working is maybe finding a USB to PS2 port adapter that I probably have lying around somewhere.

 

[inm8num2]

Thanks for this suggestion! I found the box with the SN and was able to successfully register the product and yeah, seems like it's still under warranty. Only trouble I had was MSI's website wouldn't let me send the support request through, so I'm going to have to call them tomorrow (I'm at work now).

Although MSI is the board manufacturer, you may have to go through Magic Micro's warranty process since they built the PC for you. I'm not entirely sure, but it doesn't hurt to give MSI and Magic Micro a call. Maybe it's best to do that once you've isolated the problem to being motherboard-related, which seems likely.

 

[Choppasmith]

Although MSI is the board manufacturer, you may have to go through Magic Micro's warranty process since they built the PC for you. I'm not entirely sure, but it doesn't hurt to give MSI and Magic Micro a call. Maybe it's best to do that once you've isolated the problem to being motherboard-related, which seems likely.

Oh! Good catch, I only saw the 30 day refund period and totally overlooked the 1 year defect guarantee. I'll definitely check with them first then. I only hope that my order being so barebones with a bunch of different components doesn't complicate things.

 

[Choppasmith]

So Crisis Averted! Called Magic Micro tech support. Guy had me take apart everything until I was using the motherboard, onboard video, and one stick of RAM and suddenly everything started working. Put everything back together and it's as good as new like it never happened. Huh, being so adept at tech stuff, I'm sort of dumbfounded something so simple could be the solution.

But thanks all for the help, I don't think I would've come out so well without your suggestions! I'm so relieved the solution wasn't costly.