Having a very wierd boot problem . help would be appreciated

October 27th, 2005, 3:02 pm

Hey,

I am having the wierdest boot problem I have ever heard of.
Whenever I start my computer when its been off for a while (overnight or something), it starts booting by getting to my ASUS motherboard screen, (where u can click bios and all that) but then right after that screen it says "insert proper boot device" or "select proper boot disk " or something like that. I freaked out the first time i saw this, (made sure all CD / A: drives were empty) and i kept restarting and hoping for anything. After about 10 restarts and me unplugging various things and plugging them back in, my computer booted up.

Now heres whats wierd, every time now since the problem started, (and after letting my computer sit overnight) , when i boot it , it does the same thing (insert proper boot device) unless i just let my computer sit for about 5 minutes at the screen. Then i just restart and everything boots perfect.

Its like my computer has to "warm up " or something haha. I am very confused by this.
Once it is booted up, and workin throughout the day, i can restart without any trouble.
I just can't imagine it being a corrupt file or anything in windows, considering all I have to do is wait about 5 minutes and then the computer boots fine.
I was wondering if it could possibly be my hard drive dying some how (although its within 6 months new). Or my power supply (whcih is probably more like 2 years old, 300watt) .
Everything else appears to be running normally and fine once the computer is booted.
I am running my computer with my side case off right now, trying to figure out what could be wrong. All fans are spinning, mobo processor is relatively new (amd 3000 64 bit and asus something)
I am just curious if anyone has ever heard of such a problem, it seems to me the opposite of overheating haha.

Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated!
Nick

October 27th, 2005, 3:49 pm

tried swapping over the IDE cables to check whether its the cable at fault? I presume when you say unplugging and plugging stuff in that you meant checking the connections to the hard drive and so on..

October 27th, 2005, 5:49 pm

What motherboard do you have?

October 27th, 2005, 7:36 pm

Yea , I unplugged, replugged IDE cables, but i didn't try different ones, b/c these were pretty new and came with the motherboard. So maybe when i turn it on tommarow (after the usual nights rest when the problem occurs) i will try to different IDE cables right off the bat.
And my motherboard is asus A8V deluxe.

October 27th, 2005, 9:27 pm

mmm I seem to recall that AMD processors like a very steady voltage stream without too much fluctuation, could be your psu can't give it that.

January 26th, 2006, 1:11 pm

I am having the same problem (unexpected shutdowns, inability to load windows, "insert proper boot disk...", have to leave pc to rest-warm-up,etc), basically all the things that pianonick9999 described! I went to the store where i bought my pc and found the power supply to be faulty (OCZ 450W),kindly replaced it with a brand new, but after 1 month the same problem came up! The first OCZ didn't last more than 6 months. I am having a P4 HT 2.8 with the usual hardware, such as DVD-RW, DVD-Rom, 1 GB Ram, 120 GB hard disk, an old Nvidia Fx5200 card; i believe that OCZ's psu are not high quality products, since both of them became faulty (although i paid around 95euros). I am going to the store tomorrow and ask to have my OCZ replaced by another psu, but not of the same manufacturer. Could someone please suggest a psu of a reputable manufacturer? Thanks!

January 26th, 2006, 6:32 pm

Hmmm Unusual I've usually only heard good things about OCZ but normally in relation to their RAM I admit as opposed to their PSU's. I do have one important question for you both especially seeing as your PSU's die so fast Camel555, have you tried putting a surge protector in? Apart from the CPU being faulty there are only two things I can think of that could cause this. Surges or Brownouts in the line. A surge protector won't protect against brown outs but it will at least protect against any possible surges. The other is pretty safely discounted I think for Camel555 but I'm not sure for pianonick9999 which is that perhaps the CPU can't handle the load from the components in the computer.

You might find this webpage interesting, its about troubleshooting and how you can ensure its the PSU that is the problem
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=31105&seqNum=12&rl=1

And this is a program to advise you of what sort of Wattage you need in your PSU. You enter all your hardware and it calculates it. I'd go for a bit of leeway over what you actually need for your hardware. Especially if its possible you are going to add in anything new.
http://www.vbutils.com/power.asp
It suggested a 400W PSU for my computer and its fairly comprehensive in how it goes about it. That 400W had a leeway of 30W built into it. I would personally actually go up to 450W which is what I am running as that is more leeway built in as these things are always only a 'guide'.

January 27th, 2006, 3:39 am

AlkatrOz thanks for your reply, both links (especially the first one) are very helpfull! As far as your question is concerned, no, i don't have a surge protector; and that's exactly what the pc store advised me to do, apart from replacing for the third time my OCZ psu (thankfully at no extra charge). Once again, thanks for your help!

January 27th, 2006, 5:57 am

no problem, glad to help and good luck with it.

March 10th, 2006, 7:39 am

Just built a brand new PC and I have the same problem. Everything powers up...BIOS looks good...and I get "reboot and select proper boot device, or insert media into boot device and press any key"

I need help ASAP...please

March 10th, 2006, 8:08 am

When you say just built do you mean "Just built and installed the OS and I get this message" or literally "Just built"?

If the latter stick the XP cd in the drive basically and follow the prompts.

If the former, check connections, check BIOS settings, is it a RAID array and if so is it setup correctly? Try booting into the Recovery Console.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307654#3
In there after logging in type:
chkdsk /p
copy boot.ini boot.bak
bootcfg /scan
If it doesn't bring up any windows installations in the scan try:
fixboot
then do bootcfg /scan again
If during either of those you get a windows installation showing up type bootcfg /rebuild
Then remove the disc from the drive and reboot.

March 10th, 2006, 8:20 am

I built it myself from the case/mobo on up.

I'm using a single SATA hard drive
And a DVD RW as the Primary Master on the IDE

II haven't been able to install XP yet. When I stick the disk in the DVD and "press a key" i get the error I mentioned b/4 Is the recovery console still an option?

[grinch2171]

March 10th, 2006, 8:25 am

You need the SATA drivers loaded onto a floppy disk. When the install starts press F6 when it asks about 3rd party drivers down at the bottom.

March 10th, 2006, 8:37 am

i haven't gotten to the f6 stage yet...I turn it on and after giving me the option to setup BIOS (which I've already done) I get this error...

but I will go ahead and try to DL the SATA drivers you mentioned...

my SATA controler is enabled according to BIOS (FYI) do the driver do more than that?

would I get the drivers from my mobo mfg?

March 10th, 2006, 5:56 pm

Does your DVD RW light up and does it spin up? Have you checked that the cables are correctly inserted and that the DVD RW jumpers(if necessary) is set to Master?