Strange failure--Windows Home Server

[nel]

My server had been running flawlessly for over a year. It's very basic in configuration:

Asus P5KPL-CM (Intel G31 chipset)
Intel E5300 Pentium Dual Core
2x1GB DDR2
Windows Home Server with PowerPack 2 (based on Windows Server 2003)

I use it for backing up my home PCs and storing shared data. More importantly, my family relies on it for DVR purposes (using Sage TV software).

After a power outage, I couldn't get it to boot; it would just hang. At first, I thought it might be a bad hard drive, so I replaced the boot drive to reinstall the OS. That didn't work. Upon closer inspection, I found that the stock Intel CPU heatsink/fan had somehow worked itself loose. I took it apart, cleaned it, put new thermal compound and reattached everything. I decided to reload the OS on the original drive. The reinstall worked, and all my data was intact. There was a problem reinstalling the Atheros LAN driver--the machine became non-responsive, requiring a power cycle. However, it worked fine after that shutdown.

Then the next day, it died and hangs on boot. I checked the heatsink, and it's fine. It boots into Safe mode okay, so I suspect it's software related. Even so, the fact that the motherboard can't read the CPU fan speed may suggest something more.

I'd appreciate some diagnostic tricks to help figure out what's going on.

 

[Deltona_Dave]

I think the Atheros driver is causing the hang. If it boots in safe mode, that's a start. Try booting in safe mode with networking. If it will, try rolling back the LAN driver and checking to see if there is a newer version available.

Dave

 

[Colt45ws]

I would check the power supply and ensure it is outputting the correct voltages.

 

[chevrofreak]

Reset the BIOS using the reset jumper. I'd almost be willing to bet money that it fixes the problem.

Also, buy yourself a UPS. A 1000VA one can be had for $100 from Costco.

 

[nel]

Still a mystery as to what happened, but the faulty item is the motherboard. I did the following:

1. Updated bios

2. Reinstalled OS and LAN driver (no crashes this time but found that the system couldn't find an IP address, despite having the correct configuration settings)

3. Disabled onboard LAN and installed a known working Gigabit Ethernet card

4. Tried a different CPU

5. Checked the ASUS support forums (others have experienced similar problems).

With the same components, I have a new Intel motherboard is up and running.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Suffice to say, I'm not happy and wonder if Asus quality is what it used to be.