Gigabyte motherboard reboot loop solution

[weirdg]

Hi,

I thought I'd post a tip for anyone stuck with the reboot loop issue. I recently purchased the following for my rig:

• Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 motherboard
• Intel core i5 750 CPU (Lynnfield)
• G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ memory
• 500w CoolerMaster eXtreme Power Plus 500 PSU (came with my case)
• XFX Radeon HD 5670 512MB DDR5 video card

After I setup everything, I went to power on my machine for the first time, and it was a no go. The system would attempt to boot up for about half a second and then shutdown right away. A few seconds later it attempt to try again on it's own, and then shutdown again after about half a second. It kept doing that in a continuous loop, until I cut the power from the PSU. I read suggestions on several forums and tried the following:

• Boot without a video card
• Boot with only one DIMM
• Change the slot the one DIMM is sitting in
• Tighten the screws attaching the motherboard to the case

Then I took a another look at the board, and noticed there was nothing sitting in the EPS12v power connector beside the CPU socket on the motherboard. My previous rig had one on the motherboard too, but I never had to use it so I dismissed it when I put everything together. I was going plug the 8-pin power cable from my PSU to the EPS12v connector on the board, but it turned out my PSU didn't come with... d'oh! So I ended up buying a 4-pin to 8-pin adapter so I could.

The second I connected the cable to my PSU and motherboard everything finally worked properly.

SOLUTION:


The connector usually sits near the CPU socket.

If any of you are experiencing the reboot loop problem and your Gigabyte motherboard has an EPS12v power connector, make sure you have power going to it. Some PSUs don't come with the 8-pin power cable, so if you're one of the unlucky ones like myself then you can purchase an adapter like the ones in the link below.

Newegg.com - APEVIA 9.5" 4 Pin P4 /12V to 8 Pin P8 /12V Power Supply Converter Cable Model CVT48 (I purchased one similar to this one)
Newegg.com - 1ST PC CORP. CB-PCI-X2 Adapter

This solution work for me, and I hope it helps some other people out.

WG

[Acebmxer]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard reboot loop solution

It is always highly recommended to plug all power connectors to the motherboard... They are there for a reason... I am glad that you got it working.

[weirdg]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard reboot loop solution

It is always highly recommended to plug all power connectors to the motherboard... They are there for a reason... I am glad that you got it working.

Unfortunately not all power supplies come with the 8-pin EPS12v power cable. The PSU in my other rig doesn't have it, and the PSU that came with my new case didn't come with it. It's also usually required only if your CPU uses 120w or higher power. I believe the Intel Core i5 750 is about 95w, or somewhere around there.

WG

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard reboot loop solution

Sometimes you can use the normal 4 pin ATX CPU power connector that all PSU's have, but it is not really recommended.

Sometimes it is fine though, but I personally would only use it until I could get a better PSU

[weirdg]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard reboot loop solution

Sometimes you can use the normal 4 pin ATX CPU power connector that all PSU's have, but it is not really recommended.

Sometimes it is fine though, but I personally would only use it until I could get a better PSU

I tried that, but it didn't work for some reason. In theory, since both connectors require 12v, an adapter such as the 4-pin to 8-pin from the link I posted should work fine as a permanent solution. Correct me if I'm wrong.

WG

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard reboot loop solution

Sometimes it does not work, depends on the setup and PSU.

Sometimes the PSU is just not strong enough for the setup to function properly

Adapters are not suggested either, but yes you are right about how they should work.

[bootster]

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard reboot loop solution

Yes, faulty CPU can cause those exact symptoms, no beeps and 1/2 second cycles of trying to start.

Grab a cheap Celeron on ebay and test with that, I think you can get a 420, 430, or 440 for between $5-25 on bid normally, usually more if you want to go buy it now though.

Also, there is other cheap CPU's that are compatible, maybe you can find a better deal for Buy it now by looking through some of the ones on the lower end of the list
GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Socket 775 - Intel P45 - GA-EP45-UD3P (rev. 1.1)

Or you could verify if the CPU is going bad by testing it on another motherboard, maybe at a friends, neighbors, or family members.

[profJim]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard reboot loop solution

What is the brand and model number of your current power supply?
A failing power supply or testing with cheapy power supplies might be the problem.
You might need to re-seat all plug-in hardware and cables connections.

FWIW, I regularly clean out the inside of my computer case every 3 - 4 months and no, I'm not a neat freak.

[weirdg]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard reboot loop solution

I've been experiencing the same problem on and off for over a year on an older gigabyte board (GA-EP45-UD3P rev 1.1). It'll work fine for weeks or months, then unexpectedly reboot and be stuck in a reboot loop. I've been patiently troubleshooting until the warranty just ran out.

At some point it started rebooting in rapid half-second cycles, meaning the PS fan would come on only that long and then restart again. I would have thought that this would point to the motherboard, but the Gigabyte tech support person said that it still could be memory or CPU. I'd always thought that a bad CPU would generate a beep, but the tech support person seemed to be saying that the motherboard has basically no reliable "self test" at all.

I've swapped out power supplies, and ran my two sticks of memory one at a time, to no effect. Gigabyte tech support suggested I buy a used CPU, to rule out that possibility, but I'm honestly finding it hard to believe that a bad CPU would cause such a problem – it doesn't seem that the system even had time to get to BIOS, much less to the CPU. Was he just trying to discourage me from filing an RMA?

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom...

I've seen tons of issues like this before. I'd suggest you try the following.

- Set your BIOS to factory defaults and load the latest BIOS version.
- Check your North and South bridges and see if they are being sufficiently cooled. If not, apply a fan or some heatsinks.
- Are the memory slots directly beside the CPU? If so, try placing the DIMMs in slots further away from the CPU.
- Run diagnostic tools on the memory and hard drive. I use HD Tune Pro for my hard drives, and memtest seems to work well for the memory.
- In my experience, I've seen reboot loops occur because of bad memory, bad hard drives, or bad PSUs. Try swapping all of those out if you can.
- As I mentioned in my first post, make sure you have power going to the EPS12v connector.
- If you're plugged into a surge protector, try swapping it for another one. Make sure it's not the same company.
- Open your case, and check the board for any accidental damage. Capacitors damaged, fans not working, loose cables touching the board, etc. Also make sure you check the back side of the board.
- Check the video card, and make sure it's not overheating. I know a lot of NVIDIA cards run hot.
- Check for dust build up in your fans and PSU.
- Make sure all of your components are seated properly.
- Take apart the entire computer and reinstall everything component by component back into the case.
- After checking all of the above, do a clean install of Windows. Don't do a quick format, make sure you do the long format so it'll check the drives for bad sectors.

Please provide exact manufacturer and model names/numbers for your memory, CPU, motherboard, PSU, and primary hard drive. Maybe there's a defective component.

Thanks,
WG

[bootster]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard reboot loop solution

Thanks, All, for your suggestions!

Lsdmeasap, I hadn't thought one could get a CPU that cheaply -- that sounds like a good strategy. I've never heard of a CPU malfunctioning like this, but maybe it's an oddball.

Prof Jim, it's a PC Power and Cooling S61EPS – pretty hefty. The test replacement was an older Antec. Symptoms didn't change at all between the two, so I'm not guessing this is the cause.

I'd never heard of dust as a possible cause of computer malfunction – except as a factor in overheating. So I should add that to the list of possible causes? The machine is in a pretty dusty environment, so I'll definitely give it a thorough cleaning (again).

weirdg, I'd already checked most of what you've suggested here, except for swapping the surge suppressor. Again, I'd never heard of that one, but I'm open to all suggestions at this point.

Overheating is not an issue here. The machine has never been overclocked, and it's running in an unheated room in the winter. If anything it's sometimes running too cold (first thing in the morning), but these reboots have no correlation to extra-cold conditions.

Here are the specs:
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P rev 1.1 bios f6
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor BX80562Q6600
CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5
PC Power and Cooling S61EPS

The drive is a Western Digital. It's not a primary suspect, because these reboots occur long before the drive has a chance to spin up. But I guess I shouldn't rule it out. I'm also not looking at Windows, for the same reason.


Thanks again for your help...

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard reboot loop solution

Ya, you can get real cheap CPU's on ebay! Just look at your CPU compatible list and then search on ebay, you'll find plenty especially the ones towards the bottom of the list like Celeron400's and D's, but P4's are often just as cheap too.

I always use Celeron 420-440 though, just because I often find those dirt cheap so I keep a few on hand in case I need to let someone else borrow for something.

[Fred Lap]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard reboot loop solution

I've seen tons of issues like this before. I'd suggest you try the following.

- Set your BIOS to factory defaults and load the latest BIOS version.
- Check your North and South bridges and see if they are being sufficiently cooled. If not, apply a fan or some heatsinks.
- Are the memory slots directly beside the CPU? If so, try placing the DIMMs in slots further away from the CPU.
- Run diagnostic tools on the memory and hard drive. I use HD Tune Pro for my hard drives, and memtest seems to work well for the memory.
- In my experience, I've seen reboot loops occur because of bad memory, bad hard drives, or bad PSUs. Try swapping all of those out if you can.
- As I mentioned in my first post, make sure you have power going to the EPS12v connector.
- If you're plugged into a surge protector, try swapping it for another one. Make sure it's not the same company.
- Open your case, and check the board for any accidental damage. Capacitors damaged, fans not working, loose cables touching the board, etc. Also make sure you check the back side of the board.
- Check the video card, and make sure it's not overheating. I know a lot of NVIDIA cards run hot.
- Check for dust build up in your fans and PSU.
- Make sure all of your components are seated properly.
- Take apart the entire computer and reinstall everything component by component back into the case.
- After checking all of the above, do a clean install of Windows. Don't do a quick format, make sure you do the long format so it'll check the drives for bad sectors.

Please provide exact manufacturer and model names/numbers for your memory, CPU, motherboard, PSU, and primary hard drive. Maybe there's a defective component.

Thanks,
WG

Hi, I have an answer that may help many. One bad stick of RAM was the end result for this exact looping problem.
Funny thing is this is a brand new PC I just put together 2 hours earlier, it kind of worked, as in it would loop once or twice then work. But once I left it on for 2 hours it blue screened and from then on it would loop for ever on power up.
Diagnosed it but using one stick at a time and in each slot just to be sure it's not the slot.

As for the suggestion from weirdg, most of those are useless in this situation as the problem is at POST (Power on self test) but a great check list for general troubleshooting.

Motherboard Gigabyte with i3 and DDR3
In my case the brand of RAM was OCZ, so take my experience when deciding on your next RAM purchase! I wrote this when 4GB RAM was/is $30 (2x2GB) sticks so I guess lack of quality control goes with the price.

Happy computing

[weirdg]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard reboot loop solution

Hi, I have an answer that may help many. One bad stick of RAM was the end result for this exact looping problem.
Funny thing is this is a brand new PC I just put together 2 hours earlier, it kind of worked, as in it would loop once or twice then work. But once I left it on for 2 hours it blue screened and from then on it would loop for ever on power up.
Diagnosed it but using one stick at a time and in each slot just to be sure it's not the slot.

As for the suggestion from weirdg, most of those are useless in this situation as the problem is at POST (Power on self test) but a great check list for general troubleshooting.

Motherboard Gigabyte with i3 and DDR3
In my case the brand of RAM was OCZ, so take my experience when deciding on your next RAM purchase! I wrote this when 4GB RAM was/is $30 (2x2GB) sticks so I guess lack of quality control goes with the price.

Happy computing

I agree most of my suggestions might be useless, but I've run into many of those issues on my computer and many others before. I did also mention to check for faulty hardware such as memory, and to try and swap it out with known confirmed working sticks.

WG