Hardware New Motherboard Restart plus HDD Smoke

shakirmoledina

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So I bought an ASROCK G31M-S motherboard and set it up with my old hardware and OS.
Naturally Win 8 was not booting so I re-installed it and started up well.

Previously my motherboard did not support my E7400 CPU.

At night everything went fine and dandy with all programs plus drivers getting installed.
I restarted and so that Window 8 boot would take long so I left it till morning to figure out a solution.

Then (morning), my computer kept on restarting as so
1.) after the windows 8 logo
2.) 2nd boot after auto-restart, it restarts before boot logo
3.) 3rd boot after auto-restart, I go into BIOS and it restarts

So then i 'unconnected' everything and reconnected it and then WTH smoke from the HDD. When I first bought this HDD it gave smoke but I connected another wire and it worked fine (after the first smoking). Now after this smoking it won't show up.

I used my other weaker HDD and it boots up but still restarts.

My Questions
1.) Why is my Computer Restarting now?
2.) Is there a possibility to 'cure' the HDD?
I believe the diode is problematic of the PCB so I may think of removing it to save my data (but actually money). Also will try connecting it to external HDD connectors (don't know what they are called) that have usbs and sd card slots etc.

Thanks
 

trumpet-205

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Check to see that SATA is in IDE mode *you are using SATA HDD no?). Make sure you flash the BIOS to the latest,

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/G31M-S/?cat=Download&os=BIOS

Also, whenever something smokes, you don't use them again. Period. Seeing that you used your HDD after it smoked the first time all I can say is that's stupid. It smokes, it is a goner.
 

Foxi4

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So I bought an ASROCK G31M-S motherboard (...)
You've made a huge mistake.
When I first bought this HDD it gave smoke but I connected another wire and it worked fine (after the first smoking). Now after this smoking it won't show up.
No smoke without fire - if the PCB is burned, the HDD is as good as trash.

My Questions
1.) Why is my Computer Restarting now?
System files damage or hardware failure - turn on the PC Speaker and note down the beeps pattern if there is one. A fresh Windows installation is recommended, but you could try attempting System Repair by pressing F8 before the computer fully boots - this should take you to the boot menu from which you can choose to attempt Startup Repair etc. You can also try reparing the whole installation with the "sfc /scannow" command via the console.
2.) Is there a possibility to 'cure' the HDD?
You could replace the logic board, but it's not worth it - these days it's cheaper to buy a new HDD instead of fixing an old one.
 

shakirmoledina

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About the BIOS flash I shall have to do it but I cannot stabilize my PC enough to flash the BIOS. Previously it was working with the same settings but I guess it aint doing so now.


Lol okay but cheaper.

It did burn before but worked so gotta take a chance sometimes as it was brand new when that happened.

If its about system files damaged then why does it reboot on the BIOS?

Cheap? Arguable because they cost 180k Tshs here which is around $50. Its quite a lot for the people here considering we earn 800k per month without tax. (don't mind this line)

SO IN SUMMARY,
I think i will go for the BIOS upgrade if i can trust the system stability

Thank you for the replies
 

trumpet-205

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It did burn before but worked so gotta take a chance sometimes as it was brand new when that happened.

You don't take chance on something that burnt, even if it is brand new. Which begs another question, why did you not RMA it back then? Sometime when something burnt it can take down other components connected to it, which is why you don't take chance.

Also, what power supply unit are you using? I beginning to wonder if you are using garbage PSU.
 
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The restarting all sounds like HDD PCB failure.

Restarting after W8 logo: terminal error in sytem files - halt and restart.
Restarting after POST and before W8 logo: boot device error (after detection) - boot impossible - halt and restart.
Restarting on BIOS/POST: hardware error detected (usually gets a beep or diagnosis light on the motherboard corresponding to the error) - halt and restart (often resetting CMOS automatically if supported).

Now I don't know the specifics (beep/diagnosis codes) for Asrock motherboards because I stopped using them after a number of them dying on me (you get what you pay for). I cannot offer any advice other than if its not letting you get into BIOS setting, the first thing I would do is unplug the HDDs and try again.
 
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shakirmoledina

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You don't take chance on something that burnt, even if it is brand new. Which begs another question, why did you not RMA it back then?


Its been many years since I have been using it so I guess it may be tired now. Its 400W, what brand... UNITEK

about the HDD PCB Failure. Maybe t'was not working from the beginning and hence the restart. Just that I saw the smoke later (ie. now)

I must confess that I got this HDD for cheaper than normal price (30% cheaper)
 

Foxi4

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Its been many years since I have been using it so I guess it may be tired now. Its 400W, what brand... UNITEK

about the HDD PCB Failure. Maybe t'was not working from the beginning and hence the restart. Just that I saw the smoke later (ie. now)

I must confess that I got this HDD for cheaper than normal price (30% cheaper)

Here's the thing. Your HDD literally caught on fire. Don't expect it to work normally because smoking HDD's are not normal. Maybe it worked for a little bit but it was dying from the start and you should've returned it. ;)

That, and the part you're showing us is not a hard drive - this is a PSU (Power Supply Unit). Is this the part that emitted smoke?
 

shakirmoledina

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Here's the thing. Your HDD literally caught on fire. Don't expect it to work normally because smoking HDD's are not normal. Maybe it worked for a little bit but it was dying from the start and you should've returned it. ;)

That, and the part you're showing us is not a hard drive - this is a PSU (Power Supply Unit). Is this the part that emitted smoke?

absolutely correct, I should have thought about it
PSU - trumpet asked me so mentioned it.
The HDD was your standard Seagate 500GB HDD
 

shakirmoledina

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I am thinking the problem was the CPU overheating.
I noticed the thermal paste is not there anymore.

Background story: I changed the motherboard since the older one did not support speedstep and yet reached 67 degrees temp. Now that is supporting speedstep, obviously its gonna heat up more (74 on startup) so i guess it reaches around 80 and restarts again and again.

We live in Tanzania where the room temperature is 30 degrees cool.

To make things worse, the CPU fan's/heat sink's legs are broken and hence loosely attached there even worse heat dissipation.

I am pretty sure thats the case.

HDD, trying to replace the PCB to at least get some data off it.

Thanks, any new ideas do tell
 

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Whilst that definitely does not help things, overheating always leads to throttling followed by immediate shutdown, never restarting. The aim is to reduce heat and prevent permanent damage, and that is hard coded into all chipsets.
Restarts mean something else.
 

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Do you have pictures of the heatsink damage?

As for the power supply, it's not outputting 400W worth of power any more. The older it gets, the less power it can output, which is why it's recommended to get a powersupply that outputs more power then you'd require.
 

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