PXE ROM/VIDEO CARD problem...

[JagFire19]

I recently got a Fragbox PRO for Christmas and my games and programs have been running fine. However, it has started to unexpectedly shut down. Within the past two days, it has randomly shut down about 10 times. At first, I thought it was that my video card(BFG Asylum nVidea GeForceFX Ultra 256 MB) was getting too hot, but then on the boot up I recognized something that I didn't think was there before. It went through an unusual process on the startup screen that involved the words:

• PXE-E53:No boot filename received
• MEDIA TEST FAILURE.TEST CABLE
• PXE MOF:EXITING PXE ROM

I was pretty sure that I hadn't seen those before. It takes a few pushes of the power and reset button to startup because sometimes it just stops while going through the startup. Once it gets started, it works fine until it randomly shuts off. I searched the internet for a helpful hint on the problem involving EXITING PXE ROM and found some things, but wasn't sure how to cure them. I need some help identifying the problem whether it has to do with the graphics card(pretty sure), a security situation with an intruder, or some weird bug(highly doubt). Also, a cure for the problem would be terrific. Thx in advance.

[cheyenne1212]

I've done some searching on google and from what I found, people that have this problem are on a LAN, and it seems to be an error with the network.

Haven't really found much yet though. Can you boot into safe mode or something and see if theres any yellow question marks in the device manager?

This is a windows xp system right?

/edit:

Do you use sometype of remote manager or anything, cause this PXE thing is some type of Device/software to manage computers over a network.

[JagFire19]

Hey cheyenne1212,
Thanks for your response. I wasn't sure if anyone was interested in helping me. Yes, I am on a network that works throughout a router. Six computers in total are hooked up to the router. All computers either run windows xp pro or home. Mine happens to run xp home. I'm not sure if I use a remote manager or anything-not sure how to find out. Also, how do I get it to boot into safe mode? I have corrected the startup to the point that the words "MEDIA TEST FAILURE.TEST CABLE" are not involved. It only states "PXE-E53:No boot filename received" and "PXE MOF:EXITING PXE ROM". I found some information on the PXE-E53 problem located at this source-->here
I'm not sure how to cure this--the website says:

PXE-E53: No boot filename received--->The Boot Agent received a DHCP or BOOTP offer, but has not received a valid filename to download. If you are using PXE, please check your PXE and BINL configuration. If using BOOTP, be sure that the TFTP service is running and that the specific path and filename are correct.

P.S. I have a emergency disc that I can install to return everything back to factory fresh form. I don't have that many files that I would lose. Is this problem really worth the use of that disc, and if so, will it cure my problem? Thx.

[groovicus]

Just a random thought here...is it possible that you bumped a cable when you installed your new video card? I had an issue a while back where one of my boxes would randomly crash, then refuse to boot up properly...It took me forever to figure out the problem, because sometimes it would go for days without a crash... and it didn't start for a couple weeks after I had worked on the box....

And if I am totally misunderstanding the issue, blame it on my cold meds...

[JagFire19]

There is a possibility of that groovicus, however I think that the problem doesn't relate to what you said because I just got the computer with the 256 mb card-not replace/install a new one. Also, it had been working fine before and this just befuddles me.

As of now though, it is barely getting past the startup onto my basic screen with the usual background, shortcuts, start menu, etc. And when it does get there it turns off after about 10 to 20 secs. Now I'm really worried! Please any help is extremely needed!!!!

Edit: When it does actually restart, it doesn't let me go up or down to chose safe mode. Just for clarity...

[groovicus]

hmm...reread your first post... not sure where I got the idea you put in a new card

I'm not so sure that it is an issue with your video card. By the error message your getting, it leads me back to a jiggled cable (I haven't researched it though). I've never had a bad vid card keep me from booting, not saying that it can't happen though,

Going off Phish's post, did you try disonnecting from the LAN before booting? Did you install any new drivers for anything (probably not, but I had to ask)

Since you just got the box, try tech support? I don't know...I'm just throwing out the steps I would go through.

[JagFire19]

Yah, I e-mailed tech support and have tried calling them numerous times. Right now, I'm pretty mad at Falcon Northwest because they are known for their great computers and the support that comes with them

On another note, I thought that the LAN idea had some merit. Considering none of my other computers on my network, I've begun to think the problem is elsewhere. I can't exactly try to disconnect from my LAN though because when my comp actually turns on-if it turns on i should say-it only stays on for about 10 sec.

As you probably guessed it I haven't installed any new drivers. All the programs and drivers were installed before the box arrived to me and as I said, it was working fine for the first couple of days.

I'm still going to try tech support and if they don't help I'm getting to the point where I'm about to use the 30-day money back guarantee....Man, I'm not a happy camper right now...

[groovicus]

Were there any error codes associated with the messages above?

I'll do some hunting around and see what I can find... this little problem you are having is kind of interesting.

EDIT: Some system specs would be helpful...specifically motherboard. It seems a lot of Dell users had the same issue around mid year, but I haven't found any reasonable solution. Solutions I've found so far include pulling the battery out (will void your warranty), resetting bios to factory defaults (could hose everything, depending on how it was tweaked at the factory), checking hardware connections.

[JagFire19]

Here are my specifications:

Intel®Pentium®4 2.80GHz 800MHz Front Side Bus Processor with Hyper-Threading Technology - Intel® i865 Chipset
120GB Hard Drive, 7200 RPM, 8MB Cache
1024MB DDR Memory - 400MHz
BFG Asylum nVidia GeForceFX 5950 Ultra 256MB Graphics Card
DVD+/-RW Black (also supports DVD-Rom, CD-RW media)
Intel USB 2.0 controller 4 Ports
1394a Firewire controller w/ 3 Ports
10/100 Network Interface Port
Digital & Analog 6-Channel Sound
Microsoft Windows XP Home
PowerDVD DVD playback software
Emergency System Recovery DVD

Hope that helps!!!

Edit: I'm not sure what you mean when you say error codes. Do you think you could give me an eg. of a couple error codes.

[groovicus]

A few other items worth mention I found.... sometimes this error is caused by the bios looking to the network for boot up info: http://www.computing.net/windowsxp/w...rum/53912.html , so I'm tending to lean more and more towards Cheyenne's analysis of a network issue.... anyway, check your bios to see if it's trying to boot from the network.

Tech support is probably going to be a little dodgy since this is the holiday season, so you may have to be a little patient with them.

I'm leaning towards a hardware issue with your network interface (as in component failure).. so depending on what you want to try, maybe reset the bios to defaults and see if it will boot up.... or try reinstalling windows over itself (which means seting bios to boot from cdrom)

That's all I can think of.....