Long bootup time

[David689]

I read in another thread that someones similar PC booted in 5 seconds. Mine takes 30 secs to boot after being shutdown.
The BIOS is set to fastboot. It is set to boot into the 500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W).

From switching on it shows a blank screen for 12s. Then it shows the "press DELETE to enter BIOS" message for 3s which then disappears to be replaced by the PCS logo and finally, 30s after pressing the "on/off" button (top front of the box) it shows the password entry box. When entering the password and pressing return it goes straight into Windows and allows you to start doing stuff, in well under one second though, which is great, coming from a 10 yr old iMac with a spinning platter HDD which needed written notice to get started into Windows on Bootcamp.

In startup I have disabled all the Adobe CC stuff and iCue and Windows security notification icon - nothing remains - but it makes no difference.

Am I doing something wrong? is this to be expected or should it be booting more quickly?

Thank you.

(edited for spelling)

 

[SpyderTracks]

I read in another thread that someones similar PC booted in 5 seconds. Mine takes 30 secs to boot after being shutdown.
The BIOS is set to fastboot. It is set to boot into the 500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W).

From switching on it shows a blank screen for 12s. Then it shows the "press DELETE to enter BIOS" message for 3s which then disappears to be replaced by the PCS logo and finally, 30s after pressing the "on/off" button (top front of the box) it shows the password entry box. When entering the password and pressing return it goes straight into Windows and allows you to start doing stuff, in well under one second though, which is great, coming from a 10 yr old iMac with a spinning platter HDD which needed written notice to get started into Windows on Bootcamp.

In startup I have disabled all the Abode CC stuff and iCue and Windows security notification icon - nothing remains - but it makes no difference.

Am I doing something wrong? is this to be expected or should it be booting more quickly?

Thank you.

Sounds like the BIOS startup settings aren't correct.

You could try reseting the BIOS to defaults.

 

[Scott]

As above, something isn't right with the boot sequence.

Having a period of time before the splash screen is a BIOS issue (worst case hardware).

I've gone to quite extreme tests in the past. Removing all peripherals, after being confident in the settings, has been a very quick check for me in the past. Zero peripherals... zero issues..... suggests a peripheral issue.

If resetting the BIOS doesn't work. Unplug the drives & USB devices. See what your boot response is like. Should be around 3 seconds for the splash on a compatible monitor.

 

[David689]

Sounds like the BIOS startup settings aren't correct.

You could try reseting the BIOS to defaults.

I reset to BIOS defaults but that didn't make any difference, but see next reply.

As above, something isn't right with the boot sequence.

Having a period of time before the splash screen is a BIOS issue (worst case hardware).

I've gone to quite extreme tests in the past. Removing all peripherals, after being confident in the settings, has been a very quick check for me in the past. Zero peripherals... zero issues..... suggests a peripheral issue.

If resetting the BIOS doesn't work. Unplug the drives & USB devices. See what your boot response is like. Should be around 3 seconds for the splash on a compatible monitor.

Resetting the BIOS didn't make any difference. So I unplugged my two USB external drives and the USB "hub" within my monitor and the USB external card reader.
Now after turning on there is a beep at about 4 seconds then at 9 seconds from turning on the "Press DELETE to enter BIOS" screen appears and stays on for 6 seconds. I get to the "enter windows PIN" about 23 seconds after turning on.
I couldn't see a "reset to defaults" in the BIOS - it was called "Load optimized defaults" and was in the "Exit" menu - I presume this resets to the BIOS defaults?

So I have gained about 7 seconds but am nowhere near 5 seconds.

I'm not sure what you mean by a "compatible monitor"? I am using a brand new BENQ SW271.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I reset to BIOS defaults but that didn't make any difference, but see next reply.

Resetting the BIOS didn't make any difference. So I unplugged my two USB external drives and the USB "hub" within my monitor and the USB external card reader.
Now after turning on there is a beep at about 4 seconds then at 9 seconds from turning on the "Press DELETE to enter BIOS" screen appears and stays on for 6 seconds. I get to the "enter windows PIN" about 23 seconds after turning on.
I couldn't see a "reset to defaults" in the BIOS - it was called "Load optimized defaults" and was in the "Exit" menu - I presume this resets to the BIOS defaults?

So I have gained about 7 seconds but am nowhere near 5 seconds.

I'm not sure what you mean by a "compatible monitor"? I am using a brand new BENQ SW271.

Hi @David689 Hope you don't mind, I've moved this to the tech support area as it's going to take some in depth analysis to find out what's going on here me thinks.

I couldn't see a "reset to defaults" in the BIOS - it was called "Load optimized defaults" and was in the "Exit" menu - I presume this resets to the BIOS defaults?

Yes, that's right, did you click that?

 

[David689]

Hi @David689 Hope you don't mind, I've moved this to the tech support area as it's going to take some in depth analysis to find out what's going on here me thinks.


Yes, that's right, did you click that?

Yes I did. I know it's done something because my machine is now "no longer capable of upgrading to Windows 11" (not a problem at all) - "TPM not detected". This is not a problem, it just shows that something was changed in the BIOS.

I did wonder if I should start a new thread - thank you.

I have just remembered that I fitted a Gigabyte PCIe 4x card to add a USB 3.2 GEN2X2 TypeC socket (note gen2X2, not just gen2). I think you're going to tell me to pull that out and try again?

 

[SpyderTracks]

I have just remembered that I fitted a Gigabyte PCIe 4x card to add a USB 3.2 GEN2X2 TypeC socket (note gen2X2, not just gen2). I think you're going to tell me to pull that out and try again?

May be worth trying, just so we can be sure.

Do you only have an OS on the primary drive or are you dual booting anything?

 

[David689]

May be worth trying, just so we can be sure.

Do you only have an OS on the primary drive or are you dual booting anything?

Duly pulled out - no different.

No dual booting going on - the only OS is Win10 on the 500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W).

(There are quite a few other drives - a second SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (1TB), two SSDs and an HDD)

 

[SpyderTracks]

Duly pulled out - no different.

No dual booting going on - the only OS is Win10 on the 500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W).

(There are quite a few other drives - a second SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (1TB), two SSDs and an HDD)

It's really odd, it does appear the delay is happening at the BIOS level.

When it stating that:

"Press DELETE to enter BIOS" screen appears and stays on for 6 seconds.

that shouldn't be coming on at all, when you boot all you should see is the PCS logo and then it should go immediately into windows logon.

So I think we need to focus at devices plugged in, now that we've reset the BIOS to defaults, we can strip back the attached devices to the bear minimum and see if anything changes.

Could you try detaching the SATA Power connector for the HDD, then boot again?

 

[David689]

It's really odd, it does appear the delay is happening at the BIOS level.

When it stating that:

that shouldn't be coming on at all, when you boot all you should see is the PCS logo and then it should go immediately into windows logon.

So I think we need to focus at devices plugged in, now that we've reset the BIOS to defaults, we can strip back the attached devices to the bear minimum and see if anything changes.

Could you try detaching the SATA Power connector for the HDD, then boot again?

OK. I've been doing some extensive plugging and unplugging. The bottom line:

There seems to be only one configuration where I do not see the "press DELETE to enter BIOS" and that is if all the external drives are unplugged, the USB external card driver is unplugged and the power connectors for the HDD and both SSDs are unplugged. In other words, if the only two drives connected are the two NVMe drives. In this configuration I don't get the message re pressing delete and I get from pressing the "on" button to the Windows password requester in 13s - the quickest so far.

From this point I have tried
1. Plugging in the external USB card reader and rebooting - I get the BIOS splash screen again
2. Reverting to just the two NVMe drives - no splash screen.
3. Plugging in an external USB drive and rebooting - I get the BIOS splash screen again.

I wonder if this points to the problem? I wonder if a BIOS setting needs changing?

Thank you for the time and thought you have put into this so far.

 

[SpyderTracks]

OK. I've been doing some extensive plugging and unplugging. The bottom line:

There seems to be only one configuration where I do not see the "press DELETE to enter BIOS" and that is if all the external drives are unplugged, the USB external card driver is unplugged and the power connectors for the HDD and both SSDs are unplugged. In other words, if the only two drives connected are the two NVMe drives. In this configuration I don't get the message re pressing delete and I get from pressing the "on" button to the Windows password requester in 13s - the quickest so far.

From this point I have tried
1. Plugging in the external USB card reader and rebooting - I get the BIOS splash screen again
2. Reverting to just the two NVMe drives - no splash screen.
3. Plugging in an external USB drive and rebooting - I get the BIOS splash screen again.

I wonder if this points to the problem? I wonder if a BIOS setting needs changing?

Thank you for the time and thought you have put into this so far.

Hmmm...

I reckon it could be a BIOS issue, perhaps requiring an update.

I would contact PCS and give them a link to this thread, and ask for a BIOS update to the latest version.

Then we could try again.

There was an issue on BIOSes before february this year which had various USB related issues, AMD rolled out an AGESA update to all board partners for them to issue BIOS updates which cured them.

I would start there and reevaluate.

You need to do any BIOS update on agreement with PCS otherwise it may void your warranty.

 

[SpyderTracks]

On second thoughts, this is a simple thing to try and doesn't take long.

If you go into the BIOS, check the boot priority and make sure the UEFI windows boot manager is the first boot device.

Then try booting initially without the USB's plugged in, then try with them plugged in.

Before I forget also, since we've reset optimised defaults, we'll need to reapply the DOCP overclock to get the RAM back to optimal speeds.

 

[David689]

On second thoughts, this is a simple thing to try and doesn't take long.

If you go into the BIOS, check the boot priority and make sure the UEFI windows boot manager is the first boot device.

Then try booting initially without the USB's plugged in, then try with them plugged in.

Before I forget also, since we've reset optimised defaults, we'll need to reapply the DOCP overclock to get the RAM back to optimal speeds.

Is this correct?

 

[Martinr36]

Is this correct?

yes

 

[David689]

On second thoughts, this is a simple thing to try and doesn't take long.

If you go into the BIOS, check the boot priority and make sure the UEFI windows boot manager is the first boot device.

Then try booting initially without the USB's plugged in, then try with them plugged in.

Before I forget also, since we've reset optimised defaults, we'll need to reapply the DOCP overclock to get the RAM back to optimal speeds.

Done. No different. I will contact PCS but don't have the time today. But thank you for all your input so far.

 

[David689]

Hmmm...

I reckon it could be a BIOS issue, perhaps requiring an update.

I would contact PCS and give them a link to this thread, and ask for a BIOS update to the latest version.

Then we could try again.

There was an issue on BIOSes before february this year which had various USB related issues, AMD rolled out an AGESA update to all board partners for them to issue BIOS updates which cured them.

I would start there and reevaluate.

You need to do any BIOS update on agreement with PCS otherwise it may void your warranty.

Message sent to PC Specialist.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Message sent to PC Specialist.

Yeah, I think that's the right thing to do, there's something odd going on here, hopefully a BIOS update sorts it.

 

[David689]

Yeah, I think that's the right thing to do, there's something odd going on here, hopefully a BIOS update sorts it.

The reply
"
23 seconds is a perfectly acceptable boot time.
Updating the BIOS for this purpose it not recommended, as reducing boot time in this case would be strictly
for novelty purposes and the risks outweigh the benefits.
If we can assist you any further, please do not hesitate to contact us.
"
I guess they have a business to run and it's true, it's not really a problem. I wonder what boot times other people with NVMe drives have?

 

[SteelyJohn]

I wonder what boot times other people with NVMe drives have?

My time to the login screen is 14 seconds which I though was excellent (my previous PC could take up to two minutes). I also remember a post where someone had a 5-second start-up but thought nothing of it until I saw this post. I did some experimenting:

With five peripherals connected (wireless mouse/keyboard, printer, camera, light and external HDD), the start-up time is 4 seconds till the beep, 4 seconds till the PCS logo (the "Press DELETE to enter BIOS" message appears for less than a second) and finally 6 seconds till the login screen.

With only the mouse/keyboard connected, the only difference is that it takes only 4 seconds from the PCS logo to the login screen (so 12 seconds overall). All combinations of the mouse/keyboard and one other peripheral take 14 seconds in total. I even tried without the mouse/keyboard, the only difference being the addition of a screen warning that no keyboard was detected, which added a few seconds between the beep and the PCS logo.

The only drive in the PC is a Samsung 980.

Note that when I first got the PC, the "Press DELETE to enter BIOS" message appeared for a few seconds before the PCS logo, it has only recently started appearing for less than a second. It appeared for a few seconds, the first time I measured the start-up time (about 10 days ago) but the total time was still around 14 seconds ( I think the time between the PCS logo and the login screen was shorter).

 

[David689]

My time to the login screen is 14 seconds which I though was excellent (my previous PC could take up to two minutes). I also remember a post where someone had a 5-second start-up but thought nothing of it until I saw this post. I did some experimenting:

With five peripherals connected (wireless mouse/keyboard, printer, camera, light and external HDD), the start-up time is 4 seconds till the beep, 4 seconds till the PCS logo (the "Press DELETE to enter BIOS" message appears for less than a second) and finally 6 seconds till the login screen.

With only the mouse/keyboard connected, the only difference is that it takes only 4 seconds from the PCS logo to the login screen (so 12 seconds overall). All combinations of the mouse/keyboard and one other peripheral take 14 seconds in total. I even tried without the mouse/keyboard, the only difference being the addition of a screen warning that no keyboard was detected, which added a few seconds between the beep and the PCS logo.

The only drive in the PC is a Samsung 980.

Note that when I first got the PC, the "Press DELETE to enter BIOS" message appeared for a few seconds before the PCS logo, it has only recently started appearing for less than a second. It appeared for a few seconds, the first time I measured the start-up time (about 10 days ago) but the total time was still around 14 seconds ( I think the time between the PCS logo and the login screen was shorter).

Interesting and good to know - thank you. I wonder what sort of times other people are getting?