HELP! COMPUTER ISN'T BOOTING

[appleseedcarrot]

Specs :

i7 3960x
Asus p9x79 Pro
8gb
1200w psu
480gb
1tb hdd



I have two problems.

Tonight, I was bored and figured that I would finally fix the ram problem I was having. There are 4 ram sticks, and as soon as I found out that each were 4gb, I knew I was supposed to have 16gb, not 8. So I took the ram sticks out, tested each ram slot, etc... and as soon as I boot, it doesn't. I get a b7 error on the mobo led, and using memok doesn't work. However, after I used memok, the error changed to a b6.

What do I do? I can't boot in, and I'm scared af. All the usb ports and power still seem to be running. My mouse lights up, mobo shows led, etc...

Second problem is that my mobo doesn't seem to be able to detect both an ssd and a hdd. If I had a ssd plugged in, the bios will pretend the hdd doesnt exist, and neither does the computer even find it. Same goes for when I plug in the hdd and then the ssd. Just wanted to mention this problem, but I figured the booting problem is much more urgent.

I searched up a bit, I heard some people resetted their CMOS or something, could someone explain that to me?

[r.linder]

Seems like 2 of your sticks either aren't in properly or are faulty. Reseting the CMOS won't fix a hardware issue like that.

[Omega]

Try one RAM stick at a time to identify the deffective ones. The deffective RAM modules is likely also what is keeping the machine from booting

[Randox]

Do the ram slots only have a release on one end?

If so, they probably aren't inserted properly. Took me almost 2 days to boot my computer on a Z97-ar board because none of the ram was seated, and every time I've reinserted RAM since, there has always been at least one stick not seated on the first try.

The slots just require an absurd amount of force to seat properly on the spring side of the slot. I'm always afraid I'll push the slots right through the mobo because it bends so much.

Not sure about the drives.

[appleseedcarrot]

Originally posted by Escorve:

Seems like 2 of your sticks either aren't in properly or are faulty. Reseting the CMOS won't fix a hardware issue like that.

I don't know about the ram sticks or dimm slots being faulty yet, but the problem is that before I moved the ram sticks around, 8 gigs were working properly with dual channel. I need to get the system to work before anything.

Originally posted by Omega:

Try one RAM stick at a time to identify the deffective ones. The deffective RAM modules is likely also what is keeping the machine from booting

I tried to do single channel and I tried all ram modules. None of them fixed the problem. The problem is that 2 of them are confirmed working before I switched them around.

Originally posted by Randox:

Do the ram slots only have a release on one end?

If so, they probably aren't inserted properly. Took me almost 2 days to boot my computer on a Z97-ar board because none of the ram was seated, and every time I've reinserted RAM since, there has always been at least one stick not seated on the first try.

The slots just require an absurd amount of force to seat properly on the spring side of the slot. I'm always afraid I'll push the slots right through the mobo because it bends so much.

Not sure about the drives.

In fact, I accidently didn't realize that the bottom 4 ram slots were reversed and I put them on the completely wrong side, I was pushing so hard on the ram sticks, but the hole on the ram stick didn't align with the hole on the ram slot. I figured it out later, but I'll check if I put them in properly.

Is b6 error the same as b7? Wouldnt solving b6 fix this?

[Snow]

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

Is b6 error the same as b7? Wouldnt solving b6 fix this?

From what I found online, B6 means "Remove the battery, unplug the PC and wait a few minutes", and B7 means "Check if you've installed your memory the proper way".

[Carlsberg]

If you have the manual it does suggest some things. memok auto tune for instance will configure memory timings etc. Following procedures in manual will probably get you to whats going on.

[appleseedcarrot]

Originally posted by Snow:

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

Is b6 error the same as b7? Wouldnt solving b6 fix this?

From what I found online, B6 means "Remove the battery, unplug the PC and wait a few minutes", and B7 means "Check if you've installed your memory the proper way".

hmm. From battery, do you mean psu, or is there like some kind of battery on the mobo?

[Andrius227]

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

Originally posted by Snow:

From what I found online, B6 means "Remove the battery, unplug the PC and wait a few minutes", and B7 means "Check if you've installed your memory the proper way".

hmm. From battery, do you mean psu, or is there like some kind of battery on the mobo?

Small round battery on the mobo, removing it causes it to lose all saved settings and stuff, basically resets it.

[Snow]

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

Originally posted by Snow:

From what I found online, B6 means "Remove the battery, unplug the PC and wait a few minutes", and B7 means "Check if you've installed your memory the proper way".

hmm. From battery, do you mean psu, or is there like some kind of battery on the mobo?

The actual battery you can find between two top PCI-E slots. It's important to unplug PC from electricity as well. That battery keeps the info about your BIOS settings, like ram speeds and timings. By removing both battery and the power cord and waiting a few minutes (actually depending on the mobo a few seconds might be enough, just not sure about your particular one) you make PC forget its BIOS settings, so when you put everything back and start the PC again - it will load factory BIOS settings and re-initiate the hardware installed, including your memory sticks.

[appleseedcarrot]

Originally posted by Snow:

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

hmm. From battery, do you mean psu, or is there like some kind of battery on the mobo?

The actual battery you can find between two top PCI-E slots. It's important to unplug PC from electricity as well. That battery keeps the info about your BIOS settings, like ram speeds and timings. By removing both battery and the power cord and waiting a few minutes (actually depending on the mobo a few seconds might be enough, just not sure about your particular one) you make PC forget its BIOS settings, so when you put everything back and start the PC again - it will load factory BIOS settings and re-initiate the hardware installed, including your memory sticks.

Ok, I will try that!

Another thing, I found in the online manual that b6 means "Clean up of NVRAM". Whatever that means. Regardless, I will first try doing that battery thing, and if it still doesnt work, I will notify you guys.

Say, whats the difference between taking out this battery and resetting the CMOS?

Should I also be worried about static electricity? I have carpet, but I've watched videos and have had people tell me that it was super rare to have static electricity destroy your computer, but should I be worried regardless?

[Snow]

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

Another thing, I found in the online manual that b6 means "Clean up of NVRAM". Whatever that means.

That actually means what I've said. NVRAM is the type of memory PCs use to store the BIOS. By cleaning it a lot of manufacturers refer to cleaning CMOS.

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

Say, whats the difference between taking out this battery and resetting the CMOS?

Taking out the battery and unplugging the PC leads to CMOS reset.

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

Should I also be worried about static electricity? I have carpet, but I've watched videos and have had people tell me that it was super rare to have static electricity destroy your computer, but should I be worried regardless?

Just touch some metal before touching the insides of the PC and that's it. Sure you technically can kill PC with static, but you're unlikely to build up enough static while tampering inside your PC for a few minutes.

[appleseedcarrot]

Originally posted by Snow:

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

Another thing, I found in the online manual that b6 means "Clean up of NVRAM". Whatever that means.

That actually means what I've said. NVRAM is the type of memory PCs use to store the BIOS. By cleaning it a lot of manufacturers refer to cleaning CMOS.

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

Say, whats the difference between taking out this battery and resetting the CMOS?

Taking out the battery and unplugging the PC leads to CMOS reset.

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

Should I also be worried about static electricity? I have carpet, but I've watched videos and have had people tell me that it was super rare to have static electricity destroy your computer, but should I be worried regardless?

Just touch some metal before touching the insides of the PC and that's it. Sure you technically can kill PC with static, but you're unlikely to build up enough static while tampering inside your PC for a few minutes.

ok, thank you so much! I will update as soon as I take out the battery and reset.

[Washell]

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

There are 4 ram sticks, and as soon as I found out that each were 4gb, I knew I was supposed to have 16gb, not 8.

Unlikely story to happen, so how did you find it out? It's not uncommon for a 4GB kit of two 2GB sticks, to be labelled on each stick as 4GB (1 of 2), so you may have just misread that.

[appleseedcarrot]

Originally posted by Snow:

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

Another thing, I found in the online manual that b6 means "Clean up of NVRAM". Whatever that means.

That actually means what I've said. NVRAM is the type of memory PCs use to store the BIOS. By cleaning it a lot of manufacturers refer to cleaning CMOS.

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

Say, whats the difference between taking out this battery and resetting the CMOS?

Taking out the battery and unplugging the PC leads to CMOS reset.

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

Should I also be worried about static electricity? I have carpet, but I've watched videos and have had people tell me that it was super rare to have static electricity destroy your computer, but should I be worried regardless?

Just touch some metal before touching the insides of the PC and that's it. Sure you technically can kill PC with static, but you're unlikely to build up enough static while tampering inside your PC for a few minutes.

THANK YOU SOO MUCH.

I took out the battery and had to take out the gpu. While I was waiting, I cleaned the gpu a bit with some qtips and ended up waiting over 30 minutes. First boot had the same problem, but after removing all the ram modules and putting them back, the computer is working perfectly. For some reason, the ssd won't boot up on windows, and I'm having the same problem where the computer won't detect both a ssd and hdd at the same time. I'll figure that out later.

Since the ssd won't boot up (it keeps saying to insert a proper boot device), ill reinstall windows, again...

Won't be much of a problem considering I just got this ssd a few days ago and had to reinstall windows.

BEST OF ALL, MY COMPUTER FINALLY REGISTERS ALL 16GB OF RAM, I AM SO HAPPY. I also went into bios and overclocked each ram module into 1600mhz, should I have done this?

update : I am stuck on this screen with the windows logo saying "Preparing automatic repair"

I'll leave this on for now, should I just wait for it to go through? I kept on getting this "please insert proper boot device and press a key" thing, but now im getting this automatic repair screen.

[Snow]

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

BEST OF ALL, MY COMPUTER FINALLY REGISTERS ALL 16GB OF RAM, I AM SO HAPPY.

This is awesome!

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

I also went into bios and overclocked each ram module into 1600mhz, should I have done this?

I'd say keep it at 1333 until you figure out your booting problems, just to be sure. Once your Windows boots up perfectly - then try 1600.

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

I kept on getting this "please insert proper boot device and press a key"

This usually happens when no drives containing OS are selected or recognized. Go into BIOS settings and find something containing "Boot", make sure your SSD is showing as the first boot device.

Originally posted by aDumbnamedUser:

update : I am stuck on this screen with the windows logo saying "Preparing automatic repair"

Now this can happen when you change your hardware. I'm not too familiar with X79, but I'd say it's totally possible that Windows thinks it's a whole new PC due to quad channel and twice as much ram. Also sometimes Windows can't boot if the system time is set way before the Windows release, so make sure to set correct-ish year, month and day in BIOS settings.

Now about the drives. SATA got different working modes - IDE for old drives, AHCI for new ones and RAID for synchronizing few drives for various reasons. Now, considering it's server-grade hardware you're running - chances are SATA mode is set to RAID by default, and that's a no-go in your case. Also Windows installed in IDE mode won't boot if you change the mode to AHCI, and otherwise, unless you do some registry magic. AHCI is also required for single SSD to reach proper speeds, so I highly recommend checking it and keeping it at AHCI at all times even if that means you've to reinstall windows.

To do list.
1. Use 1333MHz RAM mode for now.
2. Set the correct date in BIOS.
3. Make sure SATA is in AHCI mode.
4. Make sure SSD is the highest priority in boot sequence.

If you still can't see both drives in BIOS settings - try to change SATA ports and SATA cables, chances are some cable is just malfunctioning.