PC stuck in endless re-boot cycle - XP

[NY Chief]

I HATE computers!!!!!!!

Need a good Windows XP / PC trouble shooter for my music computer. It's a 2006 Sweetwater Creation Station PC.

Short story –
Machine not turned on for a long while, when turned on time & date need to be re-set
CMOS batt dead
Replaced CMOS batt and re-booted
Computer boots to desktop but wireless mouse doesn’t work, wireless keyboard ok.
WIFI card can’t make connection, driver reload not accepted.
Installed new mouse and worked.
Installed new WIFI card and driver, worked. Got online no problems.
Opened Pro Tools, and worked ok.
Shut down.

Turned on a week later and the machine is stuck in a continuous boot cycle. Can get to Advanced settings screens, all looks good
Safe mode, last known good config, etc does not work, goes back into re-boot loop.

Pulled all USB connected devices, no change – reboot loop
Pulled new WIFI card, no change – reboot loop
Three mem sticks cycled in and out, no change –reboot loop
Hard drive is good as when I disconnected it at the MB the system recognized it as missing.
Graphics card ok as the system has an Acronis restore feature, when selected it displays the full screen restore options (not ready for that as it will re-set the machine to the day I got it in 2006 and if it is a hardware issue it will wipe all out)
Have not tried an XP restore for same data loss reasons., plus all special music settings , drivers, etc would need to re-loaded manually.

Anybody know if I can reboot with an XP install CD and at least run some kind of diagnostic?

Sweetwater tech responsive but not very helpful to date.

[JimiJames]

Chief, check & see if you have a hammer over there in that tool box and then..........
No wait,
O.K. since the "brain" fried, and might display computer alzheimer's, get into the BIOS (Delete,delete,delete) and "restore defaults". Hit F10 - exit & save changes. yes. Hammer stays in tool box. Drink beer.

[NY Chief]

Chief, check & see if you have a hammer over there in that tool box and then..........
No wait,
O.K. since the "brain" fried, and might display computer alzheimer's, get into the BIOS (Delete,delete,delete) and "restore defaults". Hit F10 - exit & save changes. yes. Hammer stays in tool box. Drink beer.

Never mind the hammer, JJ. The 12 gauge is geting close!!

No luck on any of the restores, safe boots, last known good config, etc.

It never fukin ENDS!!!

[JimiJames]

"...No luck on any of the restores, safe boots, last known good config, etc..."

O.K. on the "etc." part You've tried what I've suggested?
Also, are you saying you cannot get into "Safe Mode", is that right? That would be on the same list of choices as Last Known.

If this once worked and then all of a sudden didn't, don't worry, we'll get'r up & runnin', man. Gotta' ask the Q's first.
... you ain't skippin' school, see. Ain't no "Safe" in Modes & Theory, pal.

[NY Chief]

"...No luck on any of the restores, safe boots, last known good config, etc..."

O.K. on the "etc." part You've tried what I've suggested?
Also, are you saying you cannot get into "Safe Mode", is that right? That would be on the same list of choices as Last Known.

If this once worked and then all of a sudden didn't, don't worry, we'll get'r up & runnin', man. Gotta' ask the Q's first.
... you ain't skippin' school, see. Ain't no "Safe" in Modes & Theory, pal.

That is correct, JJ. None of the safe mode options work, it just goes back into re-boot. I've been going around with the Sweetwater and have verified all the BIOS settings are correct.

What doesn't make sense is that it worked ok after the CMOS battery install and also with the new mouse and wifi card but when I turned it on again after that it's now stuck in the re-boot.

Anybody know if I can boot fromn the XP CD?


And as far as theory school, that's why I'm so pissed. I don't need to waste time fixing this thing. I need to get back to school!! It NEVER ends!!!

[JimiJames]

Completely remove the power cord.
Remove the battery again.
Let stand for roughly 5 min.
Hold the Start button in for roughly 30 sec. This grounds the motherboard (like an amp discharging all those mini electrolytic caps.)
Reinstall battery.
Plug in power cord again.
Start. (This is a cold start.)
Go into BIOS again and set time & date stamp (CPU clock) and restore defaults.
Boot to startup menu and choose - Safe Mode without networking.

cross fingers and chant a couple of hail mary's...

If you can't get the computer to start in safe mode then there's a serious problem
I don't understand how the boot sector got all corrupted ? May have been a power surge or static shock
if the chassis was not grounded to discharge any current that friction might have had a role. It happens but it's kinda rare.
You'd have to be in real dry heat like touching a door knob to a room in your home in the winter months... zZap !
(heh I mumble profanities every time I do that. doh !)

As far as booting from a CD. No you can't. Just repair/toubleshooting & re-install operating system.
You could use Knoppix (Linux based) which is freeware and allows you to make a bootable CD (made from another computer ofcourse) loading Keyboard & Mouse drivers and later networking for internet access.
It loads a generic OS so you could "see" all your's stuff and either retrieve of fix & troubleshoot the original OS.
(Great troublshooting tool actually . Good as backup for traveling in emergency or in a pinch cituations.)
Just an option, ofcourse.

...wait... SHOTGUN ? ! ! !

[NY Chief]

Thanks, yimmy!!!

I'll give a try tonight. I may have left the 'puter plugged in but not on when I did the CMOS battery swap so you could be on to something. I only found out about that recently...

And I have come across that Linux boot option. I'll burn a disc if just ti have.

Otherwise, do you suggest bird, buck or sabot???

[NY Chief]

NO dice, JimiJ. Didn't work. Still in the endless boot.

I downloaded Knoppixx on another machine but can't find where the file went!!!
Will try again tonight.

If that doesn't work I will diasble the auto reboot and allow it to go to blue screen of death and check the error message.

Looks like it's going back to Sweetwater tech. They built it they'll know what I need out of it (if they don't pronounce it too outdated...)

[JimiJames]

...crap
See if the RAM memory stick are seated well and check to see if you didn't disturb the jumper pins by the battery.

Yes there is a way to repair from an operating disc. Long process...

For shits, do a once over on the motherboard manual.

If there are super important or personal stuff on there you could easily take the hard drive out and plug it into another computer(friends or family member or work) see whats on there cut/copy/paste it onto that 'puter's desktop to retrieve later or burn it on a disc or put it on a thumbdrive.

ehh... what's a sabot ? a Tracer? a slug?
Then I like a 10 O/U or one of these bigger sized "tracer-slugs"

[NY Chief]

Already did the mem stick dance but will try again. Same with the connections.

It came with Acronis restore software installed which would re set back to the day I got it from Sweet Water. And I can access that no problem from start up. The Sweet Water tech said that should work IF it's a sioftware problem, if not it will probably wipe out everything!

sabot = slug, but I'm open to incendiaries, too!

[NY Chief]

Well she's back up and running. An IT friend got it back. Not really sure what happened, maybe a power off in the middle of an update corrupted the boot up sequence. But now Pro Tools is hanging up in the middle of a song and the video does not seem to be keeping up as the transport tape counter doesn't run. Graphics card??? I STILL HATE computers.

Shoulda got a mac and garage band for crissakes....

[Lefty Lou]

That's why I got rid of my PC's altogether. I got tired of being a computer repair tech and fixing errors, viruses, and you name it. I was never able to get any work done, and it was proving to be too costly. After I went Mac, I never went back. Pro Tools I found to be too proprietary regarding what hardware and software it would jibe with. I have Logic Pro 8.0 but haven't upgraded yet. FWIW, My jazz guitar buddy Maurice Johnson has the newest version of Logic and absolutely loves it. Listen to some of Maurice's Logic Pro recorded tracks here: https://myspace.com/mauricejohnsonjazz" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NY Chief]

After hours of headbangin ( NOT the good kind...) it appears that the tape roll counter is a glitch in PT 7.0. There's a 48 page thread on the Avid users site about it. Of the upgrade is 7.3xx and I have to go 7.1 to 7.2 to 7.3 to 7.4 to 7.4xx...what a f'n pain.

Where's my old studer and desk????

[Lefty Lou]

Good luck with that Chief!

[Strat78]

I had five good years recording with my Compaq, then I switched to an iMac because everybody said how awesome they were. The iMac lasted just a year doing super light weight work before it started giving me trouble. Now it won't boot at all. I've tried everything so I'm taking it to a genius bar next week to see what they can do.