System freezes after startup Device becomes unresponsive Failure to boot properly
System freezes after startup Device becomes unresponsive Failure to boot properly
Hello, I'm dealing with a peculiar issue on my PC. During startup, it usually runs through all components, but then it freezes right after the MSI MAG logo appears. At that point, you see messages like "delete key for BIOS entry," "F11 for boot menu," etc. The motherboard doesn't show any debug lights, and the keyboard is completely unresponsive—especially the number lock light stays on, but it doesn't turn off when pressed. When I try to power off with the power button, it usually won't shut down; I have to hold it for a while before it restarts. The only way so far to get through this is by resetting the CMOS, but after reapplying settings that were working for months, the problem returns (I'll share photos later describing the changes).
My system specs are: AMD Ryzen 5 7600x, no OC, using factory defaults. It has MSI MAG 650 Wi-Fi, Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 6000 at 32GB, an SSD (previously Samsung 870 Pro 512GB), WD Black 7200 RPM HDD, Corsair RMX 750 GPU, EVGA 3070 TI in FTW3 cooling setup. It runs Windows 11 with all updates, and the BIOS is about a month and a half old.
Recently, I cleaned up my system by not touching the cooler, leaving it mounted without removal, and removing the GPU to make cleaning easier. I also moved my SSD from slot 1 to slot 3, installed a new 990 Pro 1TB drive, and added another 990 Pro 2TB drive for gaming. I swapped out the 80mm fan for a larger 120mm model, replaced the PSU, and rechecked all connections.
I also relocated my Samsung 870 Pro from slot 1 to slot 3, then moved the new drives into slots 1 and 2. I changed the GPU to a cooler fan, but it still didn't fully resolve the issue. I tried removing the GPU to see if that helped, but the lockups persisted. After several restarts, I noticed my monitor also freezes in standby mode until I unplugged it.
Recently, I attempted to add a blower-style fan above the GPU, but it didn't work due to airflow issues. I thought the fan might be drawing too much power and causing the lockups. Eventually, I removed it, but the problem continued.
When I finally got into Windows, I used AOMEI partition assistant to clone my 870 Pro drive, but that didn't fix the issue. Another odd thing was my monitor freezing in standby until I unplugged it. For a while, I thought my RAM was failing—showing a "memory management" BSOD before resetting CMOS. After resetting, the first time I pressed power, the RAM lights up, but after restarting, it worked.
I changed the RAM voltage from 1.35 to 1.36 and retested, which fixed it. However, every restart still causes a lockup. Now I'm trying to figure out what's causing these freezes and how to resolve them. Please help!
I believe I have resolved the problem. After careful consideration, it appears the new SSDs are being routed directly to the CPU, which is now under SOC control. Their increased speed and capacity have likely caused SOC to handle more load, making the previously set lower voltage and RAM speed insufficient. Adjusting the SOC voltage to 1.26 from 1.25 helped stabilize things. After resetting CMOS and disabling XMP, everything functioned properly. The issue reappeared when I increased RAM to 4800 MHz, confirming the earlier hypothesis. For verification, I restored XMP settings, which triggered another problem. Resetting the SOC voltage to 1.26 resolved it completely. Over three weeks, the system remained stable until I connected the fan again. I extended the wiring to route the pump header behind the motherboard tray, as pump headers can supply more power than fans. After modifying the BIOS curve for the pump fan and adjusting temperatures, the PC ran smoothly without crashes or BSODs. The only setbacks were temporary overheating warnings and a brief freeze during a BIOS update. Eventually, I fixed the issue by fine-tuning the voltage settings in BIOS.
I've finished work, unplugged that annoying fan, and attempted to boot the PC without performing a hard reset. It started up, but shortly after the desktop appeared, another error appeared—PFN LIST CORRUPT. I saw a message suggesting an automatic restart, yet it just froze. After manually turning it off again, it kept rebooting. This time it triggered WDF VIOLATION, which was unfamiliar. Eventually, the PC restarted on its own. The following incident showed a 0xc000021a code, accompanied by other strange messages each time. Once I reset the system, nothing loaded properly; after the splash screen, I encountered a boot manager error and an inaccessible boot device (0xc000000e). It offered to choose an operating system, but only "Windows" brought me back to that state. Memory diagnostics revealed another error, similar to 0xc0004215a or similar, repeating with each restart. I tried memtest, but the first test froze after one second, and the keyboard stopped responding for about twenty minutes before I manually restarted. When I did, BIOS showed drives that vanished from the system info, leaving only network, CD, HDD, and USB HDD options. After a reset, I lost all boot functionality except network, CD, and USB. The PSU switch remained off, and I briefly touched the JBAT1 pin on the motherboard to clear CMOS—this held for three minutes. When I turned it back on, everything seemed normal except for the persistent issues. After clearing CMOS via the factory reset option, the boot order returned, and I was able to boot into my SSD (which displayed 0xc000000e). My USB drives were visible, and I accessed Windows 11 via a multi-boot setup using E2B and Ventoy. I ran startup repair, which detected and fixed errors, then restarted the PC. After that, I performed an SFC scan, which repaired corrupted files. The system booted again, and I restored BIOS settings to their previous state before the fan issue. For now, the PC functions, but I’m unsure if it will operate normally long-term. I plan to run a full memory test overnight and possibly use Prime95 for an hour later to monitor CPU health. This situation still confuses me—especially since the fan appears to be the root cause of all these problems.