POST fails to complete sometimes

Sorry not to be clear enough.

The unit shutting down immediately was under these conditions: No HDD's were attached and running & POST was successful. Gateway screen appeared, and text note about missing boot drive appeared on monitor.

If POST failed, then flashing red led light and case fan runs continuously. Force shut down would take 3-4 seconds to occur when POST stalled. Monitor would not show any display and monitor power light is yellow.

Also hear a very high pitched "whistle" sound coming from the system when POST stalls. This stops when force-quit is used.

Power-on button on computer is green when the whistle is heard.

Once I get past the first POST failure, system always boots on second cold start. Note that without the HDD's I had 7 of 8 successful starts.

So, once the system is up and running, it will restart all day long, and no blue-screens or errors pop up.

Also note that system suspend works on shutdown, but not on power-up. Power-on button on computer stays yellow when resuming from suspend state. Case fan starts then shuts down. Hibernate works on shutdown and start up, so far.

BIOS has a hdd setting where it is possible to delay detection of the drive(s) from one second to 29. I've set it to 12 seconds with no change in behavior. Reset back to default of 1 second for now.

Maybe contact Gateway forums about this flashing red led?

Thanks for helping.

I've gone over to tom's hardware and posted in the motherboard section a few days ago. Unlike here, there has been no response, so am grateful that you and Kees responded.

System is completely stable, and will reboot with no problem. Cold starting is the problem.

Kees is likely right, it is a motherboard issue. Something changes when the board warms a little bit as it is energized.

Do you or Kees know of a hardware forum that would at least be able to guide me to the answer as to what the red light is for, and why it sometimes indicates a problem and others times, not?

Would I go to Intel to get the board or to Gateway? Would the needed motherboard drivers come with the new board? (CD?)

Although a new motherboard does come with drivers, you'll probably need a new CPU and new RAM also.
Any model you like and that physically fits will do.

Since your OEM version of Windows is tied to your motherboard, you'll need a new Windows XP license also. Buying a new PC might be a much better idea, if it really is a motherboard issue.

Kees

Noticed when I ran memtest overnight, (11 passes w/o error) that the memory speed was stated to be 319 MHz, and not the 333 specified in system properties. Have DDR333 sticks installed as dual-channel (4).

Is this correct?

I discovered my floppy drive was not energizing and working any more during POST.

Disabled the floppy controller and drive itself in BIOS screen, now system starts everytime. Hibernate works, Standby works, every time.

Does POST check for the floppy drive? It seems it does.

Just leave it like that. Nobody uses a floppy anymore.

Kees

Either the floppy drive broke or the motherboard is broken at that point. I could test for that by replacing the floppy drive with a new one and re-enabling the BIOS settings by setting to defaults. But, no need.

Could be the floppy drive cable is mounted wrong or power connection is backwards (I doubt that) as I replaced the psu after this issue first came up?

To think I was considering using the Gateway BIOS upgrade .zip file that runs via windows desktop but requires the floppy drive to complete on reboot, I am glad I did not do that. As the only upgrade I could find for this motherboard was version .P13, at the Gateway site, same as the original, I did not see the point.

Want to get the same exact motherboard Gateway 4000888 in order to extend the useful life, good reputable links to provide? I've checked and have found one for $79.00. One of the links I found had four versions of 4000887, 4000884, etc., and with the XP license tied to the exact same motherboard, I do not think another Gateway motherboard version other than 4000888 would work. Also looking to get a reputable seller for XP Pro SP3 retail installation disk (preferably in original box) and links for that?

I know I could install a new mini-ATX board using an Intel i5 processor, with no problem, and thus upgrade using the original case as it was designed to run the P4 3.2 HT processor (runs much hotter than standard processors made today, 60 degrees C.) so proper cooling is not an issue. It is just that the new motherboard would require new memory sticks and other drivers, and with this old machine, I'd rather not go down that path. Then there is the problem of getting a new retail version of Win 7 or 8, so...

if nothing else, it would be useful for running Ubuntu when support for XP ends in April 2014. I've had this machine for five years and would hate to see it go...

Learned much here, so thanks for the help.

When this comes up, since XP is running fine and I haven't asked for XP support in over a decade why is there any concern about this?
Bob