P4C800 Deluxe startup/shutdown problems

[Ian]

Hi all,
I'm having problems with my Asus P4C800 deluxe based PC which I belive
are related to the motherboard. The machines has run without problems
for 12 months or so. There are a few symptoms, firstly the PC will
randomly shut down whilst in use, this is not like a windows shutdown
rather its as if someone has pulled the plug from the wall. Secondly
on occaisions after selecting to shut down windows via start>shutdown>
etc the pc closes down correctly but then immediately restarts in what
appears to be a low power state with fans running but thats about all,
in this state pressing the power button once will sometimes restart
the pc normally and then repeating the shutdown proceedure will shut
it down properly at other times however the pc remains in the lower
power state. Interestingly if he power button is held in the pc just
restarts in this low power state. Sometimes the only way to get the PC
back up is to keep pressing reset and holding in the power button
which results in the PC slowly coming back up. Disabling the power
management within the bios has reduced the frequency of these problems
but they do still occur.
So far I've updated the bios to the latest version and swapped out the
powersupply. The voltage monitoring features within the bios show them
to be stable as are the cpu and motherboard temperatures, the
shutdowns occur irrispective of temps. I've also run memtest for a
couple of hours with no errors reported. I've unplugged CD drives and
an extra HD incase the PSU was overloaded but still no improvment.
The other night the PC crashed in the midlle of updating my ipod which
resulted in a corrupted database...aaarrrg.
If anyone else has seen similar symptoms or can suggest possible
solutions I'd be interested to hear from them. I've so far contacted
the retailer where I bought the board from but they've suggested a
bios update, they may next offer a replacement but I'd rather not have
the hassle of getting hold of a new board and rebuilding this close to
Christmas.

thanks for listening......

System:
---------------
P4C800 deluxe
P4 3.0 gig
1gig corsair twinx memory
XFX 5950 ulta graphics
2x seagate 120gig (raid 0) sata
1x seagate 200gig sata
CDRW+ DVD+ CD
420W Hyperpower PSU
XP Pro SP2

 

[Paul]

Hi all,
I'm having problems with my Asus P4C800 deluxe based PC which I belive
are related to the motherboard. The machines has run without problems
for 12 months or so. There are a few symptoms, firstly the PC will
randomly shut down whilst in use, this is not like a windows shutdown
rather its as if someone has pulled the plug from the wall. Secondly
on occaisions after selecting to shut down windows via start>shutdown>
etc the pc closes down correctly but then immediately restarts in what
appears to be a low power state with fans running but thats about all,
in this state pressing the power button once will sometimes restart
the pc normally and then repeating the shutdown proceedure will shut
it down properly at other times however the pc remains in the lower
power state. Interestingly if he power button is held in the pc just
restarts in this low power state. Sometimes the only way to get the PC
back up is to keep pressing reset and holding in the power button
which results in the PC slowly coming back up. Disabling the power
management within the bios has reduced the frequency of these problems
but they do still occur.
So far I've updated the bios to the latest version and swapped out the
powersupply. The voltage monitoring features within the bios show them
to be stable as are the cpu and motherboard temperatures, the
shutdowns occur irrispective of temps. I've also run memtest for a
couple of hours with no errors reported. I've unplugged CD drives and
an extra HD incase the PSU was overloaded but still no improvment.
The other night the PC crashed in the midlle of updating my ipod which
resulted in a corrupted database...aaarrrg.
If anyone else has seen similar symptoms or can suggest possible
solutions I'd be interested to hear from them. I've so far contacted
the retailer where I bought the board from but they've suggested a
bios update, they may next offer a replacement but I'd rather not have
the hassle of getting hold of a new board and rebuilding this close to
Christmas.

thanks for listening......

System:
---------------
P4C800 deluxe
P4 3.0 gig
1gig corsair twinx memory
XFX 5950 ulta graphics
2x seagate 120gig (raid 0) sata
1x seagate 200gig sata
CDRW+ DVD+ CD
420W Hyperpower PSU
XP Pro SP2

In terms of failure rates, the power supply is a likely culprit.
It could be the +5VSB rail that is acting up. +5VSB is the standby
power source in the power supply, and it is used to power the
motherboard when it is sleeping, and that voltage also runs the
control circuits in the power supply.

If you watch the green LED on the motherboard, during a shutdown,
does the green LED ever wink out for a fraction of a second ? The
green LED should stay on solid, until the switch on the back of the
PSU is in the off position. Pressing the reset or the power buttons
on the front of the computer should make no difference to the
operation of that LED.

Have a look at the headers on the motherboard. For example, the
USB and keyboard have USBPWxx and KBPWR headers respectively.
These could be set to +5VSB, for any hardware that is used to
wake the computer from sleep. If you have any high power USB
devices, and they are sitting on a pair of ports running from
+5VSB, it could be that the load is too much for the current state
of health of the power supply. An Alcatel "Frog" USB ADSL modem
draws 500ma from a USB port, and it doesn't take too many devices
like that, to reach the 1.5 or 2A limit on your power supply.
Setting the headers to run from the much more powerful +5V will
help reduce the load on +5VSB.

But, in all likelyhood, the PSU needs to be replaced. You have a
fair electrical load there, so I'd want a good quality 380W or
higher PSU as a replacement. Something with more than 15A
capacity on the +12V output.

With the cutthroat nature of the power supply business, there is
no rhyme or reason to power supply failures. You'll find some
350W supplies that'll run forever, and some 550W that will fail
in a matter of days. While buying a brand name supply improves the
odds, there are no guarantees.

HTH,
Paul

 

[Bob Cronin]

Hi all,
I'm having problems with my Asus P4C800 deluxe based PC which I belive
are related to the motherboard. The machines has run without problems
for 12 months or so. There are a few symptoms, firstly the PC will
randomly shut down whilst in use, this is not like a windows shutdown
rather its as if someone has pulled the plug from the wall. Secondly
on occaisions after selecting to shut down windows via start>shutdown>
etc the pc closes down correctly but then immediately restarts in what
appears to be a low power state with fans running but thats about all,
in this state pressing the power button once will sometimes restart
the pc normally and then repeating the shutdown proceedure will shut
it down properly at other times however the pc remains in the lower
power state. Interestingly if he power button is held in the pc just
restarts in this low power state. Sometimes the only way to get the PC
back up is to keep pressing reset and holding in the power button
which results in the PC slowly coming back up. Disabling the power
management within the bios has reduced the frequency of these problems
but they do still occur.
So far I've updated the bios to the latest version and swapped out the
powersupply. The voltage monitoring features within the bios show them
to be stable as are the cpu and motherboard temperatures, the
shutdowns occur irrispective of temps. I've also run memtest for a
couple of hours with no errors reported. I've unplugged CD drives and
an extra HD incase the PSU was overloaded but still no improvment.
The other night the PC crashed in the midlle of updating my ipod which
resulted in a corrupted database...aaarrrg.
If anyone else has seen similar symptoms or can suggest possible
solutions I'd be interested to hear from them. I've so far contacted
the retailer where I bought the board from but they've suggested a
bios update, they may next offer a replacement but I'd rather not have
the hassle of getting hold of a new board and rebuilding this close to
Christmas.

thanks for listening......

System:
---------------
P4C800 deluxe
P4 3.0 gig
1gig corsair twinx memory
XFX 5950 ulta graphics
2x seagate 120gig (raid 0) sata
1x seagate 200gig sata
CDRW+ DVD+ CD
420W Hyperpower PSU
XP Pro SP2

See this link for one possible explanation ...

http://groups-
beta.google.com/group/alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus/browse_thread/thre
ad/22d3590f1a16be9d/524b07b4ef744e35?q=p4c800+socket+problem&_done=%
2Fgroups%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dp4c800+socket+problem%26qt_s%3DSearch+Groups%26
&_doneTitle=Back+to+Search&&d#524b07b4ef744e35

If you can't get that link to work, try this one:

http://www.techsupportforums.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=41955

and look for the posts by "Mechabouncer".

Happened to me. I decided to get a new P4C800E Deluxe rather than go the
RMA route. I could not afford to be without my system for an extended
period.

Bob Cronin

 

[ipbamford]

thanks for your postings Bob and Paul,

At the moment Bob, I think you're right on the money, I examined the
motherboard
and the two solder blobs are very deformed by the heatsink plate. I'm
currently discussing this
with the retailer but I think they'll want to return the board to Asus,
if they insist on that then I'll
be attempting to resolder the joint myself and probably void the
warranty.
Its appaling that Asus sent boards out with such a design flaw, there
must potentially be a lot of people out there affected by this problem.

My previously high opinion of Asus is severly dented.
thanks again...ian

 

[Paul]

thanks for your postings Bob and Paul,

At the moment Bob, I think you're right on the money, I examined the
motherboard
and the two solder blobs are very deformed by the heatsink plate. I'm
currently discussing this
with the retailer but I think they'll want to return the board to Asus,
if they insist on that then I'll
be attempting to resolder the joint myself and probably void the
warranty.
Its appaling that Asus sent boards out with such a design flaw, there
must potentially be a lot of people out there affected by this problem.

My previously high opinion of Asus is severly dented.
thanks again...ian

There were only a few thousand of those boards made that way.
They eventually figured it out. I'd completely forgotten about
that problem, as it has been a while since anyone posted with
a bad one.

The likely reason they missed it, is they wouldn't have a reason
to take the plate off and look underneath. Only if they caught
the failure on the manufacturing line, would they have a reason
to disassemble it. When a company is in a rush to introduce a
product, sometimes crap like this ships, because they cannot
afford to hold up the production line until the problem is
resolved. (The manufacturing people can see that more than the
normal number of boards are being rejected, but that wouldn't
stop them from shipping the ones that passed. But then, if
the board is flexed just a little bit, that could be enough
for the solder blob to touch and short out to the adjacent
solder. Voila! Pissed off customer.)

That fault is the first thing I checked for when I got my
P4C800-E a year ago

If the picture on the mbnet.fi site is gone, check here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20040227200251/http://koti.mbnet.fi/~nightops/eki/DSC00249.JPG

Paul

 

[Ian]

Hi did manage to get hold of the image although it wasnt until I tried
to spot the corresponding area of my own board that I realised how
magnified it was.
I'm going round to a friends house tonight who has the required
equipment to do the job ....ie a decent soldering iron, magnifying
quipment and a steady hand. wish me luck.
I've managed to removed a small section of the backplate around the
joints so that it wont in future press on the joints.