Resolved - Initializing Error

[Wells 1st MRB]

Name: Renee Wells

Rank: Sergeant Major

Type of issue: (Software, Hardware, Steam, Not sure) Not sure

Brief Description of Issue: Computer screen showed "blue screen of death" and after restarting, computer will not go past "initializing" phase.

***Medical Supply Staff ONLY Below this line***

Current Status: Resolved

Researching

Pending Reply

Resolved

Unresolved

Main Technician: T. Heresy

Supporting Technician: M. Hess

Edited April 24, 2014 by Hess 1st MRB

[Lafy BAR]

You can try booting into safe mode. If it lets you boot then you can try a system restore to the last recovery point.

To get into safe mode turn on the computer and press F8 repeatedly quickly. It should take you to a menu where you can choose safe mode. There are several safe mode options, the plain safe mode option is fine. Select it with the arrow keys and press enter

You should see a bunch of text scroll across the screen and be booted into safe mode.

If you don't make it that far then report back with details.

Once you're in safe mode find System Restore in your start menu. It should be in all programs, accessories, system tools.

Go through the wizard, and select the most recent restore point. If the restore point is months old and you've installed programs since then, it might not be a great idea to run it. So if there's no recent restore point, please report back.

Once you've made it through the system restore wizard there's a reasonable chance the startup error will be corrected. If not then let me know and we'll see about some other instructions, likely requiring an install disc.

[Wells 1st MRB]

There's no recent system restore.

[Heresy 1st MRB]

Hi Wells,

Some questions here:

1. Does your computer actually boot into Safe Mode then?
2. Were there any recent changes?
3. Have you been hearing any strange noises coming from the computer?
4. Is it a laptop or desktop?
5. Do you have any peripherals plugged in like a flash drive?

Thank you

[Lafy BAR]

From the same F8 menu that got you into safe mode there should be a "Repair your computer" option. If it's not there power off and back on pressing F8 again, it should show up. Once you've selected that option windows will boot into a repair mode that has a "Startup Repair" option. select that, go through the steps. Report back the results.

[K. Swartz 1st MRB]

had a similar problem on my old comp, had to take the battery off the motherboard to reset something.

Worked fine after that.

[Wells 1st MRB]

I'll follow up with information as soon as I'm home. Nice advice, Swartz.

[Wells 1st MRB]

Hi Wells,

Some questions here:

1. Does your computer actually boot into Safe Mode then?
2. Were there any recent changes?
3. Have you been hearing any strange noises coming from the computer?
4. Is it a laptop or desktop?
5. Do you have any peripherals plugged in like a flash drive?

Thank you

My computer went into safe mode on its own after I restarted from blue screen. I couldn't enable safe mode after this because the computer didn't run past the initializing screen. I have made no recent changes to my computer. I have had a strange noise from the computer lately which resembled what I call static. I had someone else recommend that it might be a fan issue (I have 5 inside the case). I'm running a desktop. I have several peripherals running.

From the same F8 menu that got you into safe mode there should be a "Repair your computer" option. If it's not there power off and back on pressing F8 again, it should show up. Once you've selected that option windows will boot into a repair mode that has a "Startup Repair" option. select that, go through the steps. Report back the results.

I didn't pull up safe mode from F8 and when I attempted to pull up any menu using "F8" nothing happened.

*******************

Coincidentally right now I'm on my desktop which started normally. I was able to press delete on startup and change the boot drive to the appropriate drive. My initializing problem has been happening for 3 weeks now, my solution was to use "log off" instead of "shutdown".

[Heresy 1st MRB]

I was able to press delete on startup and change the boot drive to the appropriate drive.

So it sounds like you were booting off of the wrong drive?

[Wells 1st MRB]

No the problem was I couldn't get passed the initializing phase to get to the boot drive error. This happens infrequently and requires me to restart my computer multiple times. This is the first time I've had to reset the boot drive (assuming it's due to the blue screen).

[Heresy 1st MRB]

It sounds like there might be something going on with your motherboard. When you say "initializing" do you mean the initial text or picture that shows up on the screen before Windows starts loading (aka the BIOS and POST messages)?

[Wells 1st MRB]

I get past the first screen, the second screen says something about BIOS and then underneath "initializing..." and we don't get past this.

[Holland 1st MRB]

I apologize for the additive hassle, but would it be possible to provide us a picture of this screen (ie. with a camera)? It may help us understand exactly what is happening.

Are you able to enter the BIOS? On the first screen you see, you should see a message indicating the button to press to enter BIOS, or setup, or some similar wording. Typical buttons to enter the BIOS include DEL, ESC, F1, F2, F8, F10.

Using the arrow keys to navigate the options, and enter key to change/confirm options, go through the menus and check to make sure any option pertaining to RAID is disabled.

Also, you should see an option for "SATA controller" somewhere (on my computer it's under the "advanced" tab). Set that to IDE.

Make sure to save your changes before exiting and trying to boot again.

If the above fails, try resetting the BIOS to default settings (should be a listing of buttons either at the bottom or to the side of the BIOS screen. One will correspond with resetting to defaults.).

Save the setting and try booting again.

If that fails, reseating the CMOS battery should fix it. Fingers crossed. Wouldn't jump right to this step without trying the above though.

Edit: It should be noted, that if any of the above steps work, your computer shouldn't be left in that state indefinitely. If you had a stop error just prior to this problem, it is safe to assume there is something wrong on the hardware end of things, and therefore, it shouldn't be expected to continue working normally for much longer.

[Heresy 1st MRB]

This sounds like the battery itself may be going bad in the system. When the system is shutdown it must rely on the battery to maintain the configuration of the BIOS. Without the battery the BIOS settings revert to their defaults which would explain why you needed to select the correct boot drive.

• From the description it sounds like the system is shutdown normally but now you are just logging out and keeping the system running?
• When you shut the system down say for overnight does the issue return?
• If you shut the system down and restart it right away after it is down what does it do then?

[Wells 1st MRB]

Ok, I'll get back to you later this evening.

[Heresy 1st MRB]

Were you able to try some of these troubleshooting steps?

[Wells 1st MRB]

I'm hesitant to try until after the realism today XD

[Heresy 1st MRB]

Good call

[Wells 1st MRB]

This is the screen I'm referring to when I say I can't get passed the "initializing" screen:

This is what occurred after the realism Saturday:

Will be working more on this tonight.

[Gearhart 1st MRB]

lol it says "dump" I the second image. But on a more serious note - I had this issue happen to me before in the pay and I think it had something to do with my hard drive bring corrupt. I not exactly sure what they told me since it was so long ago.. The difference between your issue and my issue is that I could get to my desktop screen with out that "initialization" problem.

[Heresy 1st MRB]

Please could you see if there is a Windows dump file (*.dmp) in C:\Windows\Minidump directory? If you see a current one please post it and I will debug it.

If there are not files please enable minidumps by following the steps below:

1. Go to Start and type in sysdm.cpl and press Enter
2. Click on the Advanced tab
3. Click on the Startup and Recovery Settings button
4. Under the Write Debugging Information header select Small memory dump (256 kB) in the dropdown box
5. Ensure that the Small Dump Directory is listed as %systemroot%\Minidump << where your .dmp files can be found later

In general there are several posts about this SATA (hard drive, DVD) controller having problems. The posts mention that if you wait the system should eventually come up but it appears to be a SATA controller problem on board. Some have turned off SATA 6 so that they are running SATA 3 only since their drives are not compatible. Others have moved their drives off of the Marvell SATA controller completely if they have another controller on the motherboard. Can you confirm what motherboard you have by looking in the BIOS message/setup screens or looking inside the case and getting the model number?

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=261384

http://forums.evga.com/tm.aspx?m=1182299

[Lafy BAR]

Can you please let us know the exact model of your motherboard? Do you know if it's still under warranty?

How many hard drives, ssd's, or dvd drives do you have?

Depending on your motherboard it may be possible to connect your drives to different ports and disable the Marvell 88SE91xx causing the issue.

[Wells 1st MRB]

Processor: Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core

RAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

HD: Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate

CD/DVD: LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98

Graphics: EVGA 01G-P3-1373-AR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked

Audio: ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 Channels

Monitor: Samsung PX2370 23" 2ms Full HD LED BackLight LCD

Power Supply: CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.3 SLI

EVGA 131-GT-E767-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 SLI3 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

*edit - nothing under warranty

Heresy: There are 2 dump files in the folder, the most recent is dated 1-14-14. Should I post that one or follow your previous instructions?

Edited April 8, 2014 by Wells 1st MRB

[Lafy BAR]

Umm Wells.... none of those things is a motherboard.

[Wells 1st MRB]

Update: I changed the HD cables from 3.0 to 2.0 and disabled the SATA 3 in the BIOS. Will let you know how this goes. So far so good!

[Wells 1st MRB]

The problem that lead to my noticing the "initializing" error is this:

This happened when switching to Palermo. I'm not sure if it does this each time the map switches to Palermo.