Disaster and heartbreak - advice appreciated - with A8V Deluxe ...

[hafner]

If anybody has the time and the patience, would they mind flipping some
advice my way? I completed (I thought) my build and was gearing up to
deal with the XP/SATA driver issue when I began to hit problems -
initially limited to my floppy not recognizing disks and now escalated
to the point that when I turn my computer on, the green light on the
motherboard is the only sign of life.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

My system is:
Asus A8V Deluxe (refurb but looks brand new)
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
2X Mushkin PC3200 512 MB
2X SATA Seagate Barracuda 160GB, hooked up in Raid0 through the
on-board VIA SATA controller
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
Rosewill 52X etc. CD-RW
NEC DL DVD/CD-RW
Sony 1.44MB Floppy
Enlight case (don't have model number at the moment) w/ 360W PSU

OK - so despite my lack of knowledge, the system seemed to go together
OK. Sure, I couldn't seem to get the front power switch to work
(despite trying it in every possible configuration on the designated
pins), but the system POSTed just fine, I was able to set up the HD
array in the VIA utility, BIOS recognized the RAM and the optical
drives, floppy drive, etc. just peachy.

Perfect, right? So I started to install Win XP Pro w/ SP2 and hit F6 at
the appropriate time to load the floppy with the SATA RAID VIA drivers
- created by the makedisk utility on the ASUS cd. Unfortunately, the XP
Install program didn't recognize the disk - it kept asking me to put
the right disk in no matter how many times I hit enter.

That's when I started to get the idea that something was up with my
floppy drive - it didn't even let me navigate, it kept turning down
each disk. So I created a book disk from another machine (Win98),
restarted it, and tried to boot from it - no go. It just kept asking
for a path to a boot disk. The floppy light came on at the appropriate
time, I could hear it trying to read the disk, but there was nobody
home.

Everything pointed to a floppy problem, so since I always have trouble
with floppy cables, I tried flipping it upside down and all that. No
help there - I just got the "light permanently on or no light at all"
scenarios. So restored the cable orientation and returned to the point
where the drive appeared to work great, it just didn't read disks.

Then I went online and tried to find others who suffered from this
problem - one person had, and had cleared CMOS by changing the CLRTC
jumper to 2&3 instead of 1&2 and removing the battery. That had solved
their problem, strangely enough. So I tried that - I figured at worst,
I'd just have to redo the one or two changes I had made in the BIOS
settings (boot order and that sort of thing).

The only problem, is that after I did that and set the jumper back to
the default 1&2, when I tried to power back on, absolutely nothing
happened. The green light on the motherboard came on, but no fans, no
lights, no activity, no nothing. I'm completely lost on what problem
this could be or what I could do to solve it. I'm just hoping I didn't
somehow fry everything - though I'm not sure how that could be.

I've now Googled for a solution to *this* problem, but without any
luck. I figure I'm better off throwing myself on the mercy of Usenet
with a specific issue and hope for the best.

If anybody has any suggestions, I'd *love* to hear them - both on
getting my system to POST or even show any kind of activity again, and
on what my floppy problem might be. If the CLRTC hadn't worked, I was
going to swap my floppy out of my other machine (major pain), but now
that there's no activity at all, there doesn't seem to be any point!

Cheers,
Chris Hafner

 

[No6]

Have you tried disconnecting the floppy (both data and power cables) and
then booting it up? I've had a bad drive once that caused the behaviour
that you describe.

It should take only a few minutes to pull the two cables. If it boots,
then you can test it with another floppy (or just replace the thing).

-6

(e-mail address removed) wrote in @l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

 

[Paul]

If anybody has the time and the patience, would they mind flipping some
advice my way? I completed (I thought) my build and was gearing up to
deal with the XP/SATA driver issue when I began to hit problems -
initially limited to my floppy not recognizing disks and now escalated
to the point that when I turn my computer on, the green light on the
motherboard is the only sign of life.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

My system is:
Asus A8V Deluxe (refurb but looks brand new)
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
2X Mushkin PC3200 512 MB
2X SATA Seagate Barracuda 160GB, hooked up in Raid0 through the
on-board VIA SATA controller
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
Rosewill 52X etc. CD-RW
NEC DL DVD/CD-RW
Sony 1.44MB Floppy
Enlight case (don't have model number at the moment) w/ 360W PSU

OK - so despite my lack of knowledge, the system seemed to go together
OK. Sure, I couldn't seem to get the front power switch to work
(despite trying it in every possible configuration on the designated
pins), but the system POSTed just fine, I was able to set up the HD
array in the VIA utility, BIOS recognized the RAM and the optical
drives, floppy drive, etc. just peachy.

Perfect, right? So I started to install Win XP Pro w/ SP2 and hit F6 at
the appropriate time to load the floppy with the SATA RAID VIA drivers
- created by the makedisk utility on the ASUS cd. Unfortunately, the XP
Install program didn't recognize the disk - it kept asking me to put
the right disk in no matter how many times I hit enter.

That's when I started to get the idea that something was up with my
floppy drive - it didn't even let me navigate, it kept turning down
each disk. So I created a book disk from another machine (Win98),
restarted it, and tried to boot from it - no go. It just kept asking
for a path to a boot disk. The floppy light came on at the appropriate
time, I could hear it trying to read the disk, but there was nobody
home.

Everything pointed to a floppy problem, so since I always have trouble
with floppy cables, I tried flipping it upside down and all that. No
help there - I just got the "light permanently on or no light at all"
scenarios. So restored the cable orientation and returned to the point
where the drive appeared to work great, it just didn't read disks.

Then I went online and tried to find others who suffered from this
problem - one person had, and had cleared CMOS by changing the CLRTC
jumper to 2&3 instead of 1&2 and removing the battery. That had solved
their problem, strangely enough. So I tried that - I figured at worst,
I'd just have to redo the one or two changes I had made in the BIOS
settings (boot order and that sort of thing).

The only problem, is that after I did that and set the jumper back to
the default 1&2, when I tried to power back on, absolutely nothing
happened. The green light on the motherboard came on, but no fans, no
lights, no activity, no nothing. I'm completely lost on what problem
this could be or what I could do to solve it. I'm just hoping I didn't
somehow fry everything - though I'm not sure how that could be.

I've now Googled for a solution to *this* problem, but without any
luck. I figure I'm better off throwing myself on the mercy of Usenet
with a specific issue and hope for the best.

If anybody has any suggestions, I'd *love* to hear them - both on
getting my system to POST or even show any kind of activity again, and
on what my floppy problem might be. If the CLRTC hadn't worked, I was
going to swap my floppy out of my other machine (major pain), but now
that there's no activity at all, there doesn't seem to be any point!

Cheers,
Chris Hafner

Did you unplug the computer while doing the clear cmos procedure ?
You can damage the board, if you use the jumper while the green LED
is lit on the board. While not all boards wire the CMOS/battery the
same way, some of them are set up so if you use the jumper, it
shorts some part of +5VSB through the jumper, burning a three pin
ORing diode in the process. The safe conservative procedure, is to
unplug the computer before doing any work in there.

Usually the procedure in the manual, will make unplugging the computer
the first step. There are several Asus manuals that have incorrect
procedures in them, and for those, the only warning about this can be
found in Google or on a private forum.

I would put that mobo back in the box and RMA. It sounds like your
floppy port was dead to start with.

Paul

 

[Jan Alter]

Hi,
Can't help noticing the Asus is a refurb. I wouldn't be surprised if it's
already in Florida, because simply clearing the bios settings by changing
the jumper should not have any drastic effects on the thing starting up. And
I agree with you that nothing you've been doing should cause a catastrophic
meltdown of any component, and the initial problem was most likely a bad
floppy drive. It seems like they simply don't make those drives even
reasonably dependable anymore.

OK. Sure, I couldn't seem to get the front power switch to work

How do you start the machine if the power switch isn't working? Do you
short the two power on pins together on the mb? You didn't say. By the way
check the voltage on the CMOS battery. If the battery is bad there's a
remote possiblitly that powering up could be a problem. I'm assuming it
should be 3 volts.

I'll be interested in hearing the outcome to this story.

 

[Chris Hafner]

Hi,
Can't help noticing the Asus is a refurb. I wouldn't be surprised if it's
already in Florida, because simply clearing the bios settings by changing
the jumper should not have any drastic effects on the thing starting up. And
I agree with you that nothing you've been doing should cause a catastrophic
meltdown of any component, and the initial problem was most likely a bad
floppy drive. It seems like they simply don't make those drives even
reasonably dependable anymore.

Thanks, Jan. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the problem is with
the motherboard; but then I'm also confused as to why everything could
be working perfectly (with the exception of the floppy controller or
floppy drive problem) and then clearing CMOS would render the board
completely helpless. The whole thing has me positively flummoxed.

How do you start the machine if the power switch isn't working? Do you
short the two power on pins together on the mb? You didn't say.

I just used the power switch on the back. And bizarrely enough, reset
button worked like a charm.

By the way
check the voltage on the CMOS battery. If the battery is bad there's a
remote possiblitly that powering up could be a problem. I'm assuming it
should be 3 volts.

I don't have the means to do this, but I'll try to figure something
out.

I'll be interested in hearing the outcome to this story.

Me too ...

Thansk for your help.

Cheers,
Chris Hafner

 

[Chris Hafner]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:

Did you unplug the computer while doing the clear cmos procedure ?
You can damage the board, if you use the jumper while the green LED
is lit on the board. While not all boards wire the CMOS/battery the
same way, some of them are set up so if you use the jumper, it
shorts some part of +5VSB through the jumper, burning a three pin
ORing diode in the process. The safe conservative procedure, is to
unplug the computer before doing any work in there.

Usually the procedure in the manual, will make unplugging the computer
the first step. There are several Asus manuals that have incorrect
procedures in them, and for those, the only warning about this can be

found in Google or on a private forum.

Actually, *anything* I do inside the box is with the power plug
unplugged - though normally my safety concern is for me, not the
machine.

It's a possibility that I forgot when I changed the jumper, but I doubt
it.

I would put that mobo back in the box and RMA. It sounds like your
floppy port was dead to start with.

This may be exactly right. Although if the floppy reads at the right
time and uses its LED correctly, it sounds more like a drive problem to
me than anything else.

I appreciate the help, Paul.

Cheers,
Chris Hafner

 

[Michael Hawes]

If anybody has the time and the patience, would they mind flipping some
advice my way? I completed (I thought) my build and was gearing up to
deal with the XP/SATA driver issue when I began to hit problems -
initially limited to my floppy not recognizing disks and now escalated
to the point that when I turn my computer on, the green light on the
motherboard is the only sign of life.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

My system is:
Asus A8V Deluxe (refurb but looks brand new)
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
2X Mushkin PC3200 512 MB
2X SATA Seagate Barracuda 160GB, hooked up in Raid0 through the
on-board VIA SATA controller
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
Rosewill 52X etc. CD-RW
NEC DL DVD/CD-RW
Sony 1.44MB Floppy
Enlight case (don't have model number at the moment) w/ 360W PSU

OK - so despite my lack of knowledge, the system seemed to go together
OK. Sure, I couldn't seem to get the front power switch to work
(despite trying it in every possible configuration on the designated
pins), but the system POSTed just fine, I was able to set up the HD
array in the VIA utility, BIOS recognized the RAM and the optical
drives, floppy drive, etc. just peachy.

Perfect, right? So I started to install Win XP Pro w/ SP2 and hit F6 at
the appropriate time to load the floppy with the SATA RAID VIA drivers
- created by the makedisk utility on the ASUS cd. Unfortunately, the XP
Install program didn't recognize the disk - it kept asking me to put
the right disk in no matter how many times I hit enter.

That's when I started to get the idea that something was up with my
floppy drive - it didn't even let me navigate, it kept turning down
each disk. So I created a book disk from another machine (Win98),
restarted it, and tried to boot from it - no go. It just kept asking
for a path to a boot disk. The floppy light came on at the appropriate
time, I could hear it trying to read the disk, but there was nobody
home.

Everything pointed to a floppy problem, so since I always have trouble
with floppy cables, I tried flipping it upside down and all that. No
help there - I just got the "light permanently on or no light at all"
scenarios. So restored the cable orientation and returned to the point
where the drive appeared to work great, it just didn't read disks.

Then I went online and tried to find others who suffered from this
problem - one person had, and had cleared CMOS by changing the CLRTC
jumper to 2&3 instead of 1&2 and removing the battery. That had solved
their problem, strangely enough. So I tried that - I figured at worst,
I'd just have to redo the one or two changes I had made in the BIOS
settings (boot order and that sort of thing).

The only problem, is that after I did that and set the jumper back to
the default 1&2, when I tried to power back on, absolutely nothing
happened. The green light on the motherboard came on, but no fans, no
lights, no activity, no nothing. I'm completely lost on what problem
this could be or what I could do to solve it. I'm just hoping I didn't
somehow fry everything - though I'm not sure how that could be.

I've now Googled for a solution to *this* problem, but without any
luck. I figure I'm better off throwing myself on the mercy of Usenet
with a specific issue and hope for the best.

If anybody has any suggestions, I'd *love* to hear them - both on
getting my system to POST or even show any kind of activity again, and
on what my floppy problem might be. If the CLRTC hadn't worked, I was
going to swap my floppy out of my other machine (major pain), but now
that there's no activity at all, there doesn't seem to be any point!

Cheers,
Chris Hafner

Did you take anti-static precautions while working on motherboard? Check
that jumper is REALLY on 1&2. If still no joy, disconnect ALL drive cables
and adapters from motherboard. Try with only video connected.
Mike.

 

[AndrewJ]

Asus A8V Deluxe (refurb but looks brand new)
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
2X Mushkin PC3200 512 MB
2X SATA Seagate Barracuda 160GB, hooked up in Raid0 through the
on-board VIA SATA controller
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
Rosewill 52X etc. CD-RW
NEC DL DVD/CD-RW
Sony 1.44MB Floppy
Enlight case (don't have model number at the moment) w/ 360W PSU

Right off the bat I have problems with the PSU. Everything you list
puts a huge strain on the power supply for about 2 seconds. Run of the
mill PSU that ship with cases won't cut it. The green light on the
mobo being lit, does not mean the PSU has enough juice to get
everything powered up.

 

[kony]

Right off the bat I have problems with the PSU. Everything you list
puts a huge strain on the power supply for about 2 seconds. Run of the
mill PSU that ship with cases won't cut it. The green light on the
mobo being lit, does not mean the PSU has enough juice to get
everything powered up.

It's true that the typical generic comes-with-case PSU isn't
too good, but Enlights' (Sirtec, aka Thermaltake) aren't too
bad in the 340W+ sizes, maybe (small) notch below Antec.
However, their older PSU designs were targeted more at 5V
amperage, so the Enlight 360W might be pretty good for a
360W PSU, and yet not optimal, low 12V capacity for this
specific system due to it's use of 12V for CPU power.

No point in considering all the components though, since
system should be stripped down to nothing but bare
essentials to troubleshoot, and of course voltage readings
of PSU should pinpoint any deficiencies... since it's not
necessarily about PSU quality in this case but rather
whether the PSU has ample 12V capacity.

 

[johns]

Sure does sound like you have the reset and power
pins reversed. However, I don't know how to stress
this enough. ASUS mobos are pure kid stuff, and a
refurb is bad kid stuff. ASUS simply will not admit
that they build flakey mobos, and then load them up
with way too many toys. When something goes wrong,
they blame it on the kid who bought it, and ship it right
back out the door as a refurb. I won't work on one
anymore.

johns

 

[kony]

Sure does sound like you have the reset and power
pins reversed. However, I don't know how to stress
this enough. ASUS mobos are pure kid stuff, and a
refurb is bad kid stuff. ASUS simply will not admit
that they build flakey mobos, and then load them up
with way too many toys. When something goes wrong,
they blame it on the kid who bought it, and ship it right
back out the door as a refurb. I won't work on one
anymore.

johns

Yeah but you've already estabished an illogical bios against
them. There is nothing in particular, different about
setup, use, or troubleshooting Asus board, except that they
might have a few more jumpers than average.

For all the vague implications you make, multiple times as
many people disagree, evidenced by the mass numbers of
repeat customers if nothing else. Trying to be constructive
I suggest you figure out where YOU are doing something wrong
because nobody is unlucky enough to get that many bad boards
when everyone else isn't. There are counterfeit Asus boards
out there from what I've heard, maybe you need a different
supplier.