diagnosis Certain programs do not launch

[AfroShots]

Hello. I have some technical maintenance and know-how but this one is truly bizarre and beyond me. Please excuse my long post. I just want to make sure I'm as thorough as possible. I also apologize if the post is hard to understand. This issue was very confusing to document and present because I didn't know when or where to even start.

 

Problem: The computer enters a state where a certain set of programs will not launch. This state persists through reboots. Everything else functions normally.

 

When does it happen (Bear with me here): 

• While it is in this weird state, I will occasionally do something hardware related in my tower, such as take out the video card or replace the case. When I put it back together, There is a high chance it gets out of this state. The last time it got out of this state was very recently when I moved to a new house and re-assembled my setup including taking out and putting the video card back in for transit.
• When it is out of this state, it will boot normally and function normally for a handful of times, usually 1-3 days. I average turning on and shutting down my PC about 3 times a day, and keep it on for up to 4 hours on end.
• After the 2-3 day mark, a very weird boot sequence happens.
  • Normally, it goes from showing on one of the monitors the motherboard logo and then the Windows 10 loading, and to the login screen within 10 seconds. As far as I can tell, it is a perfectly healthy boot and everything works as expected.
  • I will try my best to record a video of this happening. After the 2-3 day mark, after I turn my PC on, all 3 of my screens will be black for about 10 seconds. The lights blink on them as if they are receiving no input. After these 10 seconds, the motherboard logo is skipped. Windows loading takes just a bit longer than usual. When it gets to the login screen, neither my mouse and keyboard (perhaps all USB devices but I can't be sure) don't work for about 10 seconds. My keyboard's backlights are not even illuminated, if that means anything. Once they start up, I get to log in. After logging in, it will play a sound of a USB device being plugged in and then being unplugged. Then it will show a notification of a USB device not being recognized. Every USB device I plugged in (hardware list at bottom of post) functions normally, so I'm not sure what it even is. The PC has, at this point, entered the state.
• After this state has begun, a certain set of programs will not launch. By this I mean that I try running them and nothing shows up. I think the process is in Task Manager though I can't be sure. This includes the following programs:
  • Corsair Utility Engine, Corsair's keyboard macro and backlight setting program
  • Battle.net, Blizzard's game launcher (it tries to launch and the error reporting window comes up without showing)
  • PlaysTV, a passive game recording software
  • Bethesda Games launcher

When it started: The cycle of normal -> weird state -> normal began about 3-4 months ago. The first time it happened was when I wrapped up my tower, drawing tablet (as a monitor) keyboard, mouse, microphone and headphones, and made a pretty smooth 1 hour car transit, and re-set up my PC somewhere else.

 

My workaround: I have a multi-monitor setup (hardware list at the bottom of the post), and switching from Extended view to Duplicate view on all my monitors lets me manually launch the programs I need. They function perfectly normal after I switch back to Extended. Why this works, I have no earthly clue. Maybe there's a hint here for those of you who know more than I.

Stuff I have tried:

• Reinstall Windows/uninstall recent programs/isolate software. I have tried reinstalling Windows 10 from a USB key (not its own recovery system) and the issue persists through it. It happens on clean Windows 10 installations once it is in the state.
• Try to isolate what device may be causing it. I have tried all the peripherals. It happened through all of the combinations. I have not tried taking out RAM sticks or the video card or anything like that. I will gladly retry peripherals if someone thinks it is necessary though.
• Change video card PCIE lane. The act of opening up my PC and tampering around with it, like I mentioned before, fixed it for 2-3 days. Then the weird boot sequence happened eventually and it started again.
• Googling it. Believe me I have tried every possible related Google query under the sun.

My guesses: Please don't read this unless you have no clue either. I wouldn't want my unsophisticated guesswork to be the basis of someone's theory.

• Spoiler

   

  • Something to do with my drawing tablet. Among all my guesses, I'm most suspicious of my Monoprice drawing tablet. I think it uses third party generic drawing Tablet drivers. The drivers do not look like anything Monoprice made. It also connects via a USB 2.0 Male - USB 2.0 Male. I have never seen any other device use Male to Male before. It is also the only HDMI device out of my 3 monitors, the other two being DVI (making it the odd one out). My workaround involves making all video outputs the same... somehow loosely tied to the monitors at least. Every time I mentioned tampering with my tower, it has involved mostly the video card, the HDMI output of which I use with my drawing tablet. Recently I replaced the HDMI cord and it seemed to knock it out of the cycle, but as I type this it’s back in the state again. Finally, it is also the only monitor I took with me once the issue started. Also interesting, the pressure sensitivity gives up and I have to manually start, reassign it the right monitor and then the pressure sensitivity sets in.
  • Maybe my Rode NT USB microphone. Once in a blue moon Teamspeak will take in any sound from it even if it is using it directly as my communication device. I have to unplug it and plug it back in for it to work. Maybe tied to the failed USB device at boot?
  • It may have something to do with video drivers and my video card. Because the issue persists through Windows re-installs, and Windows comes with drivers for my card by default, this may have something to do with it. While the PC is in this state, I have made a Virtualbox Windows 10 VM. The VM does not utilize dedicated GPU by default. Battle.net launches in the VM, but it does not show a games list or anything, just a blank window. This leads into...
  • A certain graphics API all the programs that do no launch may have in common. All of the programs I mentioned look like they're going for a modern aesthetic. Perhaps they share some sort of API my video card doesn't get along with? Among probably many other reasons this may not be the problem, it still does not directly explain the slow startup and malfunctioning USB.
  • Bent pins/short circuiting or something in my USB ports, or video card HDMI port. I don't know much about these things to be fair. Also, HDMI works just fine for video output to my drawing tablet.
  • Overheating? This is very likely not it, considering I turn off my PC for the night and the problem is there in the morning. But airflow is fine, internal temps are healthy, plenty of fans and ventilation to go around. I only mentioned this because opening up the PC and tampering around with it seems to do something temporarily. Maybe this is correlated with having to leave it off for an extra long period of time. Then again, I have left the computer off for days on end and the issue was there when I got back.

   

   

Anything else out of the ordinary?

When I plug in a USB device or HDMI monitor, my headphones (not usb, but ¼” converted with 3.5 mm adapter plugged into front of PC case) play or make up to 5 loud “click” sounds after the USB detected sound.

My mouse and keyboard are both by Corsair, but they use different softwares for the extra features such as Macros and what not. Corsair Utility Engine for keyboard, and Corsair M95 Gaming Mouse Configuration for the mouse. While in the state, although the keyboard software does not load at all, the mouse one does. Interestingly, the mouse software does not actually do anything. None of my macros or sensitivity settings work until I do the workaround and launch my keyboard software, after which the mouse functions as normal.

I suppose I should also mention that the case USB 3.0 ports don’t work, but the 2.0 ones do. Very likely because I didn’t wire it up properly. Case is Define R5.

 

Parts List (let me know if I didn’t include something you feel is necessary):

• Motherboard: ........................  Gigabyte Z97X-SLI
• GPU: ...................................... XFX R9 290
• CPU: ...................................... Intel i7 4970K
• Mouse:................................... Corsair Vengeance M95
• Keyboard:............................... Corsair K70
• WiFi:....................................... USB-AC55R (listed because it’s a USB device. Issue was existed even when I was on ethernet)
• Microphone:........................... Rode NT-USB
• Monitor #1: ............................ Some generic AOC 23 inch, wired DVI to R9 290
• Monitor #2: ............................ Some generic AOC 22 inch, wired DVI to R9 290
• Monitor/Drawing tablet:.........  Monoprice MP-22 inch, wired HDMI to R9 290, wired USB 2.0 Male to USB 2.0 Male to the motherboard.

 

Please, any and all help is very appreciated. Suggestions/advice/hints/guesses, I'll take anything. Again, sorry for the long post.

 

[Cyracus]

you should get the driver for your graphics from amd here https://support.amd.com/en-us/download  Microsoft tends to bork things when they handle other peoples drivers. Have you tried disconnecting the drawing tablet and rebooting?  Anyway try the amd driver, see if it goes away for good

[RAM555789]

It almost sounds like your PSU is fluctuating power with the 2-3 day mark with the weird boot. try seeing if shutting down your computer at the end of the day helps (I'm assuming you just let it sleep so it can update)

[AfroShots]

18 minutes ago, Cyracus said:

you should get the driver for your graphics from amd here https://support.amd.com/en-us/download  Microsoft tends to bork things when they handle other peoples drivers. Have you tried disconnecting the drawing tablet and rebooting?  Anyway try the amd driver, see if it goes away for good

I have now updated to AMD's latest drivers for my card. This boot is fine and worked normally. This does not mean much though, as the issue usually returns, but fingers are crossed!

 

12 minutes ago, RAM555789 said:

It almost sounds like your PSU is fluctuating power with the 2-3 day mark with the weird boot. try seeing if shutting down your computer at the end of the day helps (I'm assuming you just let it sleep so it can update)

I shut down my computer every night using Windows' intended method, through the Start Menu -> Power button icon ->  Shut Down. My PSU is EVGA SuperNOVA 750W.

I think this issue existed even before I switched to my new case and PSU. Thanks for the suggestion though!

[Cyracus]

1 minute ago, AfroShots said:

I have now updated to AMD's latest drivers for my card. This boot is fine and worked normally. This does not mean much though, as the issue usually returns, but fingers are crossed!

I know how it goes, dealt with OS corruption that struck intermittently for a couple months. Good luck

[RAM555789]

4 minutes ago, AfroShots said:

I have now updated to AMD's latest drivers for my card. This boot is fine and worked normally. This does not mean much though, as the issue usually returns, but fingers are crossed!

 

I shut down my computer every night using Windows' intended method, through the Start Menu -> Power button icon ->  Shut Down. My PSU is EVGA SuperNOVA 750W.

I think this issue existed even before I switched to my new case and PSU. Thanks for the suggestion though!

It could also be the power coming from your wall. Did this start maybe after you moved to a new place or started pluging it into a different wall socket? 

[AfroShots]

Just now, RAM555789 said:

It could also be the power coming from your wall. Did this start maybe after you moved to a new place or started pluging it into a different wall socket? 

This happened for months in my old place, and is also now happening in my new place. However, I have been using the same power brick for all 3 of my monitors as well as my tower in both houses. Would giving the tower its own power socket or leading a power cable from a different room hold any promise?

[RAM555789]

1 minute ago, AfroShots said:

This happened for months in my old place, and is also now happening in my new place. However, I have been using the same power brick for all 3 of my monitors as well as my tower in both houses. Would giving the tower its own power socket or leading a power cable from a different room hold any promise?

I would say its worth a shot, your going to be drawling a lot of power from that one socket. You could also try it with just one monitor plugged in, that may be less of a pain.

[AfroShots]

Day 2 of manual driver update. So far so good. If it goes weird again I'll try the power outlet stuff.

[AfroShots]

I'm gonna go ahead and say updating the drivers manually through AMD's site did it, and whatever Windows came with was faulty.

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to help me out. Appreciate it a lot!