Occasionally freezing, update problems, posting issues, and driver loading issues on Windows.
Occasionally freezing, update problems, posting issues, and driver loading issues on Windows.
My setup includes an ASRock b650m with AMD Ryzen 7800X3d, paired with a Steel Legend OC Corsair Vengeance DDR5 RAM (16x2, 6000MT/s) in dual-channel configuration. It runs on an 850W Corsair PSU powered by a Samsung 990 Pro 2TB SSD. Operating system is Windows 11 Home (licensed), with a 512GB M.2 drive connected. Storage options are WD Red 1TB at 7200RPM.
Boot Issue: The computer fails to boot consistently. It sometimes starts without issues, but other times it boots normally yet the non-OS drives and GPU vanish from Task Manager and can't be accessed via Windows without manual intervention in Device Manager. Once, reinstalling AMD Adrenaline caused driver problems, now it just needs toggling on/off. The third option is an automatic repair prompt appearing, followed by a restart and another cycle. On the ASRock screen, it displays "Preparing Automatic Repair" before restarting again. Additionally, the system freezes on the ASRock display without showing any auto-repair warning.
BIOS Concern: BIOS tends to freeze during access attempts. After flashing, it restarts and appears normal, yet I can't confirm the version change since the BIOS label remains unchanged.
Troubleshooting Steps Taken:
- Reinstalled all hardware components.
- Tried flashing BIOS with both current and older versions.
- Performed a full reinstall of Windows 11 twice from scratch after wiping the installation media.
- Conducted extensive stress tests on the system once it was powered on, which performed flawlessly.
Current Challenge: I'm struggling to identify the root cause of these problems. After several attempts or prolonged efforts, the machine boots fine but remains unresponsive. I've stopped turning it off or putting it to sleep, as this restarts the troubleshooting process repeatedly.
The process of removing the HDD and the secondary SSD doesn’t impact performance. Clearing the secondary SSD appears to assist in preventing the device from getting stuck during repairs. There’s no system partition present, but it hasn’t been fully rewritten seven times or more than necessary to ensure all old files are removed—this is on my priority list. Samsung confirms the drive is functioning properly.
Removing the secondary SSD seems to stabilize the system, making it feel like an MB issue. If you decide to return it, I’d consider RMA it. Just delete the partitions and start fresh—creating a new one should resolve the problem. The TOC showing unexpected files is unusual. 7 times is probably too much; it’s likely memory constraints, not a physical disk failure.