Z77 Extreme4 + i5-3570k Weird problem with bootup Dr. Debug #22

[pocketcup]

Took me a long time to get to a point where i could install WIN7 onto a mechanical WD Caviar Black 1TB after hours and hours of trying to get the Windows installer to recognise a Sandisk Extreme 120GB SSD and finally giving up.

Now that WIN7 is finally installed and running nicely, i have a strange problem...

Every time i restart the machine, the Dr. Debug LEDs show 22, and the load screen loads no further than the flashing dash in the top left corner of the screen.

I have to hit reset again and then the motherboard loads into windows... I'm trying to build this machine for a friend and it's really becoming frustrating.
I have tried other G.Skill ram; Ares 1600mhz 8Gb, not much difference.

Could there be some settings in the bios that i need to change? i.e. voltages?.. CPU Feature settings on/off? boot order? Hard drive settings? (i installed windows when it was set to AHCI i believe).

Any advice or tips hugely appreciated.

Hardware is as follows:
CPU: i5-3570k
MOBO: Z77 Extreme4
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X 2x4gb 1600mhz
GPU: Gigabyte 7870 OC 2gb
CASE: Coolermaster GX 650W Bronze
DVD: OEM Samsung DVD/RW

[kick]

First thing, the installation on the ssd not happening must be a bit annoying.
Could you give a bit more info on that and the drives in the machine and the bios version.

Perhaps you could give some screenshots of the relevant areas of the uefi.Use a usb memory stick and press F12 when in the uefi to take a screenshot of a bios page.
The storage options,boot options and so on , was the ssd recognised in the uefi originally,did you have the hdd and ssd connected at the same time, like for example win7 defaults to loadingthe sys file to the largest available disc partition even if being installed on a smaller drive(or at least it used to).
You say you installed windows when it(the bios) was set to ahci you believe..was it tho?,Like did you try resetting to ide to see what happens?
Did you clear cmos at any stage and then reset to the correct parameters.
Does the mbrd load the memory with the correct timings/voltage and speed from the xmp or the timings on the sticker on the memory packet?
code 22..Im too lazy to go look it up in my manual,but it should be in yours :).
Admittedly I did have a couple of different codes an my second board but they were all related to gx seating and recognition.

When you are in windows, click on computer,open management,open storage,then take a screenshot of your drive(s) and their partitions, I dont know if you were going for ssd caching.

or just look at it yourself and see if the format is correct something like this.(having windows 7 installed on both the hdd and the ssd and having them both bootable is usefull.. but thas for later ;0

[- wardog -]

AFAIK all 2* post codes relate to memory(DIMMs). I doubt ASRock would have altered this in their BIOSes.

Check that these are a factory matched pair and that the SPD programming is identical between the two sticks.

It may be necessary here to manually enter their timing parameters, advertised speed, and advertised voltage. Leaving, or resetting if the case may be, all other parameters at/to Auto or Default.

Setting a command rate for testing purposes to 2T/2N may help also. Unless the BIOS/SPD does this for you when Command Rate is at Auto/Default as a requirement of, usually, fast timings.

[kick]

As an adjunct to my prev post and War's

What model of 1600 gskill do you have?
I have some 1333 9-9-9-24 stuff @1.5v
which the mbrd auto detects and has run quite happily with for 2 years but it doesnt detect it to specs

auto detect puts the 9-9-9-24 major timings in ok but puts adefault vdimm of 1.59v instead of the specced 1.5 in,asrock has a tendency to overvolt memory a lil Ive read. Runs the memory at 1 cr instead of the spec 2t

puts the minor timings like tRFC at 107 when it should actually be 74 n so on .memory works fine at auto or manually entered settings at its rated speed but the sticks have no xmp for the board to read,do yours? ie does it show an option in uefi to use xmp or not?

All the other settings,well boot sequence..the hdd win7 is on 1st .. everything else auto, except ide/ahci switching, and the memory ,if its detected incorrectly..
Do you get any windows failed to load properly messages?like code 124 messages are usually to do with insufficient cpu v..ive seen those but you should only get it with overclocking (could be vtt a lil low also but you shouldnt need to worry about that on a standard set machine.

nb :Ive ordered some Gskill F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM 1600 stuff,should be here tomorrow.
It may be a waste of time and not provide much of a real performance boost , but it will provide something to play around with on benchmark figures

[pocketcup]

Firstly thanks for the prompt replies!

I've had a few wins and a few niggles as follows:

I gave up trying to get the thing to boot with various bios configurations: more voltage on the cpu, more on the ram, lower timings etc.
So i decided to take it down and just take it back to the store and exchange it for something i'm more familiar with (i.e. a Gigabyte board!)... but in doing so i bent some of the pins on the cpu socket ... so stressed the hell out for a bit knowing that the shop would no longer take the return as i had damaged the board myself... long story short i managed to carefully bend the pins back into place. Figuring that i would have to pay for the board to be repaired if i was ever to get rid of it, i thought i'd have another go.

SO... this brings us to today!

I set up the board on the tower case's box and plugged everything in outside the case, first the just the cpu and the ram and did a boot to the bios.. all good so far!
Next i plugged in the WB Caviar Black which i had previously installed Windows onto, and again booted up..... HUZZAH! success... *wipes brow* did a few restarts just to make sure i wasn't hallucinating and it booted up like a champ.
Next the graphics card... WORKS!!!.. next a TP-Link Wifi PCI card.. works fine also.. now for the tricky part... getting my windows install media to recognise the SSD which it is still refusing to do. Allthough, in another attempt to get windows installed, i had used a tricky program called PTEboot (i think) on my girlfriends laptpop to install Windows onto the SSD from within her OS. And now using the SSD i get a Windows Boot Manager error something about \Boot\BCD. Is there any way to edit this boot file myself?

I figure the previous boot issues had something to do with the board shorting on the case (?). Still nfi what Dr. Debug code #22 is though... as it's not in the books. I guess the book fails to mention that you need to be able to understand hexidecimal!

[pocketcup]

So tried formatting the SSD a bunch of different ways, even going into a Ubuntu live cd and formatting with GPT...

Still no love. :(

In the past i've had countless problems with SSDs and windows not recognising them... is it just me... or the outdated Windows installer that i'm using???

[pocketcup]

So... cloned Windows from the HDD.. got it to boot. ok.

Put everything back into the case, and i start getting the #22 again every second boot..... arg... something is shorting the motherboard it HAS to be...

I'm using a Fractal Design Core 3000 case.. strange because my other rig is built with a Fractal Design case and never got any kinds of errors... mind you its a gigabyte board in that machine...

I'm guess its one of the screws on the motherboard yeah... but which one?! and can i replace it with plastic screws or something???

[parsec]

What do you mean by an "outdated Windows installer"?

I've used three different manufactures, and five different models of SSDs on my Z77 Ex 4 boards (two), and have never had an issue with Windows detecting them. Of course, I always clear the CMOS every time I add a drive of any kind, then reload my UEFI setting via a saved profile. Can your SSD be seen in the UEFI? I have a feeling your SSD is connected to the ASMedia SATA ports, which will likely not work on a Windows installation.

Have you ever cleared the CMOS on this board?

Shorting of the board, if it is happening, is most likely between the bottom of the board and the mobo tray/case under the board. Look for long wires on the bottom of the board, and higher areas on the case under the board, or screw heads that might contact the bottom of the board. The screws on a mother board contact the ground of the board, and are then grounded to the case via the standoffs. That is meant to happen, and is not a short circuit, unless a screw is touching a DC power source, which is unlikely.

As said earlier, the 22 debug code is memory related. The bent CPU socket pins are not good, that they are fixed is questionable. Since the memory controller is in the CPU, and if the socket pins related to memory are not what they should be, things can happen.

If you are installing Windows 7 with more than one drive connected to the PC, Windows 7 has a bad habit of putting the MBR on a secondary drive. If the other drive already has a MBR or other Windows installation on it, who knows what the result will be. Only have one drive connected to the PC when installing Windows 7.

Comparing two different boards in the same case is still apples and oranges. What are the chances that the two different boards have identical layouts, and contacts/wires that could cause a short would be in the same place? Slim to none.

[- wardog -]

Hmmm ......... Constants ...........??



What CPU cooler are you using? Are you 100% sure it's assembled properly?

Pull the right side cover off and inspect that no part of the cooler on the backside is making contact to the case.

Next on my list, look very closely at the I/O plate/filler that one of the bent metal damnits/tangs it is not entering one of the motherboards rear I/O ports and causing a short.

Another is while it's in the case pull any and all non-essential cables(ethernet,usb, fw, audio(cd/hd/ac'97),COM, HDMI/Spdif, etc, etc) from the motherboard and retest.

And as parsec said. Blech! Bent pins that have been straightened will remain questionable.