Alert! ... boot fails at checkpoint [0032]

Question

My Dell Inspiron was running fine. Windows 10 forced the Creators Update on it and the update failed to complete and bricked the computer. It would not even turn on the VGA display. If I pull the power plug for 30+ minutes it will attempt to boot and I was able to F2 into setup to change boot order to USB first. Then I could put in a bootable recovery USB stick and found the windows update failed part way through and restarted it. It took about 3 cycles of this for Windows Update to progress all the way through. Creators Update went through it screens as it finished the updates and the image on the hard disk now appears to be updated. However I have to have the computer unplugged for 30+ minutes before it will attempt to boot. If I unplug for a while, when it boots, before even showing the DELL logo on the screen, it displays for a very short period of time:

Alert! Previous attempts at booting this system have failed at checkpoint [0032]. For help in resolving this problem, please note this checkpoint and contact Dell Technical Support

then continues on with the boot just fine. If I don't unplug the computer for 30+ minutes, the next time I try to boot I'm met with just a black screen. Does not ever initiate any VGA display content, not even the DELL logo. The disk image seems to be fine now and I'm guessing it is something stored in the BIOS or some other latch as this problem occurs in the hardware before even reading the disk. I can unplug the SATA and put a bootable USB stick in and I get the same behavior.

I've searched and not found anything on what error 0032 is. Can anyone enlighten me as to what I need to do to resolve this?

Thanks for any suggestions !

RoHe · Answer

Exactly which Inspiron model is this?

Clear BIOS by powering off and pressing the power button for ~15 sec. Then remove the motherboard coin cell battery and press power button for ~30 sec. Reseat RAM modules in their slots and blow out all the dust bunnies. Reinstall the battery (use a new one) and see if it works properly now.

Might be a failing power supply...

Mary G · Answer

You forgot to mention your model Inspiron, Most likely your hard drive is failing. Try running the Dell diagnostics to test all the hardware and include the lengthy custom hard drive test. Tap F12 as soon as you reboot without waiting for any screen to select the diagnostics. See this--en.community.dell.com/.../19655364

mtsarpilot · Answer

Thanks Ron and Mary for the quick replies. Sorry I was not more specific. It is a Dell Inspiron 660s.

I am a computer engineer and have doing all sorts of tests all day, then noticed your replies. Here's what I've done so far:

- Re-seated the RAM and blew out all the dust.

- Checked the voltage on all the power supply signals and they all look good. The PWR_OK comes up as expected and stays within specs at 4.3 v.

- I grabbed a new power supply at Best Buy just in case there was still an issue with the supply. With the new power supply it behaves the same. So I'm guessing not a power supply failure

- I pulled the battery and drained all residual power out of the power supply by holding the power button while the supply was unplugged

- Plugged power back in with battery still out. Got the 5 beeps indicating the RTC was reset

- Then 1 time the system came up and let me into setup where I setup the RTC and it booted. Copied my critical data that has changed since last backup and shutdown.

- That's the last time it has been willing to wake up at all. I pull the battery and get to 5 beeps but I can't get it to wake up again.

- I've disconnected the hard drive SATA cable and put a bootable USB memory stick with a recovery boot image into USB and get the same result, no action from the computer, then a rare wakeup.

What surprises me is it won't even get to the point of lighting up the display with the Dell logo or responding to F2 to go into setup. My VGA monitor shows no signal. The computer is just not waking up. Then every once in a while it will wake up once and let it boot. Then not again.

That is all so symptomatic of a bad power supply but a new supply has made no difference.

Mary suggests running the Dell diagnostics but I can't even get it to wake up to get to the diags.

I'm curious why a dying hard drive would make it not even get it to putting out a VGA signal with the DELL logo. I'm assuming that step is part of the BIOS. Is that not the case? Must there be a bootable image on the hard disk to even get the computer to put out an initial VGA signal and logo? Interestingly I get the same response with the bootable USB stick.

I'm totally perplexed. A not so fun problem to be exploring. Any thoughts you all might have?

Thanks !

RoHe · Answer

FWIW- The Inspiron 660s isn't on Dell's list of systems compatible with Creators Build.

www.dell.com/.../computers-tested-for-upgrade-to-windows-10-creators-update

That doesn't necessarily mean it won't work with CB, because Dell may not have tested it, but something to keep in mind...

mtsarpilot · Answer

Thanks Ron. It's a pretty basic configuration. No additional items plugged in. Running on the motherboard native VGA. The only items plugged in are the memory and the SD Card / USB port / audio jack module that brings connections to the front of the case.

I did get it to boot into the F12 diagnostics and it says all electronics are good but gives error code 2000-0142 with validation 85353 for the hard disk. So the hard disk is having problems no doubt. But even with the hard disk SATA disconnected the computer still will only boot off a bootable USB stick immediately after resetting the BIOS by pulling the battery.

I'm coming to the conclusion that something has failed in the motherboard and it is going to be a bear to figure out what. Motherboards are not meant to be diagnosed and repaired :(

RoHe · Answer

Are you using onboard video or an add-in video card? If you have an add-in video card, physically remove the card and clear BIOS by removing the battery and press/hold power button for ~30 sec. Connect the monitor to an onboard video port and see if it boots now.

If you're using onboard video and have a spare video card, install the add-in video card, clear BIOS and connect the monitor to the card....

If that doesn't help, strip it down to bare essentials. Disconnect all drives except boot hard drive, remove all cards, except video, remove all RAM modules except the one in slot 1, clear BIOS and see if it boots now. If not, remove the last remaining RAM module and see if the tower beeps to indicate no RAM detected...

RoHe · Answer

You may have to reset BIOS to boot off USB because that clears any stored error message(s).

Do you know the motherboard battery is any good?

Can I assume you're connecting the bootable USB stick before you power the system on?

mtsarpilot · Answer

Yes, I put a new battery in the motherboard. The sequence I've had to use is pull the battery, pull the unplug the power supply, press the on switch which causes the fans to kick on then fade out thereby consuming the power in the supply's supercap, plug it back in and turn on so the computer beeps to say the RTC has been lost and resets the BIOS, power off, put battery back in, put USB stick in, power up.

If I don't go through those gyrations and just put the USB stick in before power up, nothing happens.

You mention error messages stored in the BIOS. If it has an error message in the BIOS possibly due to it seeing issue with the hard disk, will it choose not to even start the power up sequence?

Thanks

RoHe · Answer

Depends on what BIOS is seeing. If it's recording a serious issue that might fry the motherboard, it might not even try to start.

Since you figured out how to boot from USB, you might consider updating BIOS from a DOS-bootable USB, if you don't already have the latest version which is A11:

www.dell.com/.../DriversDetails

Keep in mind that flashing BIOS always has a chance of failing and bricking the motherboard. So you update BIOS entirely at your own risk. But if you're lucky, it might solve the problem. If it fails, you'd need a new motherboard, which may or not solve the original problem...

BTW: Updating to Creators Build from Win 10 Anniversary Update did something strange to my Dell laptop that allowed it to turn on but then immediately power off. Worse, it wouldn't even recognize or charge the battery. I thought it was DOA but then I booted from a DVD with the Win 10 CB ISO file, wiped the hard drive and did a clean install of CB and it's back to life again...

mtsarpilot · Answer

Thanks for all the suggestions Ron. Fantastic of you to take the time to help out !!!

FYI - I too had problems when Win10 updated one of my laptops to CB. It would run for a few hours then just lock up. I had to take it back to the previous recovery point and try again. 2nd time it updated cleanly but still had some flaky problems. I went through all the drivers and found a few that had updates available. Once getting all drivers up to date the laptop became stable and has been running fine for over a month now. Another to put in your bag of tricks though I'm guessing it already is.

Thanks again for all your assistance on the Inspiron.

Locked Topics – Desktops General

Alert! ... boot fails at checkpoint [0032]

Was this post helpful?