Strange Motherboard??? Issue

[AllanAdams]

I am in the process of building a new machine and have run into a problem. The
parts are:
ASUS P4G800-V rev 1.02 Motherboard
Intel P4 3.0E 800 FSB, 1MB Cache Processor
Corsair PC3200 512 MB RAM
WD 80 GB Hard Drive

I got everything hooked up and went to power on and there is no output to the
monitor. It sounds like it is starting to go through the memory test and then
stops. I have tried Kingston memory in there also. The place I bought the
Kingston memory at builds systems with this motherboard all the time and has no
problems. I checked the ASUS website and it says that I need to have bios rev
1.07 to handle this processor. I can't even get booted up to see what revision
it is or to flash it if I need to. I actually have two processors and
motherboards (building 1, upgrading 1) and I have tried about every combination
of doing things and to no avail. I do not have a socket 478 processor to be
able to see if it is a bios compatibility issue.

Does anyone have any suggestions, other than to take it to a computer shop for
them to look at? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Allan Adams

 

[Dave C.]

I am in the process of building a new machine and have run into a problem. The
parts are:
ASUS P4G800-V rev 1.02 Motherboard
Intel P4 3.0E 800 FSB, 1MB Cache Processor
Corsair PC3200 512 MB RAM
WD 80 GB Hard Drive

I got everything hooked up and went to power on and there is no output to the
monitor. It sounds like it is starting to go through the memory test and then
stops. I have tried Kingston memory in there also. The place I bought the
Kingston memory at builds systems with this motherboard all the time and has no
problems. I checked the ASUS website and it says that I need to have bios rev
1.07 to handle this processor. I can't even get booted up to see what revision
it is or to flash it if I need to. I actually have two processors and
motherboards (building 1, upgrading 1) and I have tried about every combination
of doing things and to no avail. I do not have a socket 478 processor to be
able to see if it is a bios compatibility issue.

Does anyone have any suggestions, other than to take it to a computer shop for
them to look at? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Allan Adams

To get video, you need
-good power
-good CPU
-good connections between power supply, motherboard and CPU
-if not using on-board video, you also need a good video card with good
connections between (motherboard and video card) and (video card and
monitor)

Chances are, the BIOS upgrade issue is just so your particular CPU will be
identified correctly. That is, without the BIOS upgrade, the computer would
boot OK but tell you that you have a different CPU than you actually do.

Recheck all connections, especially those between (power supply and
motherboard) and (motherboard and case). Then clear CMOS. Then clear CMOS
again. Then clear it a third time. Physically remove and reinstall the
CPU. Physically remove and reinstall the video card. If none of that
works, try swapping components one at a time. I'd suggest you go in order
of power supply, video card, then CPU. If the video card has a power
connector, make sure THAT connection is good, also. Good luck, -Dave

 

[Allan]

Dave,

Thanks for your response! I am using the onboard video. I have not tried
clearing the CMOS, but will be the first thing I do. I have tried swapping
motherboards, cpus, have seated and reseated cpu, looked at power supply
amperages, have checked and rechecked all connections, and have even tried
cussing at it. Nothing worked. I bought most parts from websites, but where I
got the case from is a local shop. They use the same case, motherboard, and
cpu combinations that I have and have not had any problems. I even tried
hooking up MB, CPU, and RAM in an older pc and still had the same problem.
When it is trying to boot up, it never beeps and never gets to the point of
sending a video signal to the monitor. It doesn't make any sense to me at all.
The only two things I could think of would be a clash between the BIOS and the
CPU or the Memory. I would have at least thought it would have booted up and
like you said, told me I had a different cpu or memory than what I have.

Anyway, thank you again for your suggestions and I will try them out. Whenever
I eventually get this figured out, I will post back here and let you know.

Thanks,
Allan

 

[Dave C.]

Dave,

Thanks for your response! I am using the onboard video. I have not tried
clearing the CMOS, but will be the first thing I do. I have tried swapping
motherboards, cpus, have seated and reseated cpu, looked at power supply
amperages, have checked and rechecked all connections, and have even tried
cussing at it. Nothing worked. I bought most parts from websites, but where I
got the case from is a local shop. They use the same case, motherboard, and
cpu combinations that I have and have not had any problems. I even tried
hooking up MB, CPU, and RAM in an older pc and still had the same problem.

Is this a P4? If so, have you hooked up the extra power connector? -Dave

 

[JAD]

I have tried swapping
motherboards, CPUs, have seated and reseated cpu, looked at power
supply
amperages, have checked and rechecked all connections, and have even
tried
cussing at it. Nothing worked.<

motherboard swap was with brand new, never been booted before boards?
looks as though the only thing left is the PSU, you checked voltages
with a load on them?



Try kicking the ....... clear the Cmos as Dave said....

 

[Allan]

Dave,

Yes, it is a P4 3.0 and on the new case, I did hook up the extra power
connector. I don't have one on my old case, so I didn't. I did go ahead and
clear the CMOS as suggested and it still doesn't work. It may be something
else, but I am still thinking that the BIOS is an older version and is not
allowing the POST. I started thinking that it could be the extra power cable,
but would you have any power at all if the PS was bad? That didn't make any
sense to me. I thought about getting the multimeter out and testing it, but I
think I will take it back to the place I bought the case and let them test it.

I will let you know when the problem is resolved.

Thanks,
Allan

 

[Allan]

I have tried clearing CMOS. It is a brand new case with 300W power supply. I
have a DVD burner, CDRW, HD, and floppy attached along with the Motherboard. I
would surely think it has enough power. The shop where I bought the case at
uses the same motherboard and everything that I am using and has no issues. I
am thinking about taking it into them today and see if they see any obvious
problems or if they have heard of something like this before.

Thanks for your help,
Allan

 

[jon]

yeah, i've heard of this before-i think it's called prescott chips suck.
i assume with the 1mg cache, you are using prescott. i am going on
1 month now, trying to figure it out. look at my posts. i think every
possibility has been exhausted, i am waiting on my 2nd mobo, the only
other thing i haven't replaced. my 2nd cpu, i get the no video signal
thing. the first wouldn't boot right. a guy that is a tech for a major
computer company sent me this a few days ago:


" Hello, I do warranty work for *&*****. IBM, Apple, and I have seen
problems with the Prescott chip set. Don't know about the mobo... I see
chips dead right out of the box... Many times 2 or 3 in a row... They
are having a few problems, but not as widespread as you may think...
Seems to me the original chip installed is good, The replacements are
usually the ones that are bad...

The reason I asked about the bus speed, is some mobos' are backwards
compatible and will not run with the faster chip bus speed.. In fact
they just beep or do nothing,,, Sometimes you can get them into the
bios, but not usually... you should make sure the mobo is compatible
with chip and bus speed, and not either or.. (like saying they will run
up to 3.0 gig 400 - 800 bus speed) Make sure it runs that bus speed only...

Just my thoughts... any questions, shoot me a message.. "

 

[Allan]

Dave and others,

Thank you for your help. The issue has been resolved. It was an issue between
the BIOS and the processor. I called the shop where I bought the case and the
technician said he had an older Celeron laying there that we could try out. I
took everything in, we dropped the Celeron in the board and it booted right up.
After dinking around with a boot disk, we finally got the BIOS flashed from
version 1003 to version 1008. We dropped the new processor back in and it
booted up without any problems. So, I am happy that the issue is resolved.

It is irritating though, that there was no mention of this sort of problem on
the ASUS website. The money I saved by purchasing the MB on the internet was
taken up by the labor get the BIOS flashed. It really wasn't the reseller's
fault though, they should not be responsible for making sure the BIOS is the
correct version. When I am actually building a computer for myself in the near
future, it will probably be with the same hardware, so I guess I may as well
buy the MB from my local shop and let them know that the price includes a free
flashing of the BIOS.

Anyway, in case anyone is interested, the Processors ($178/ea), Motherboards
($89/ea), and Windows XP Pro OEM ($114/ea) were purchased at
www.comp-u-plus.com. The case, modem, floppy drives, and keyboard were
purchased at a local store. The rest of the items, Hard drive, CD burner, DVD
burner, and Memory were purchased through www.computergate.com. Comp-u-plus
has some outrageous shipping charges, but even so, they were quite a bit
cheaper than any place else I looked.

Well, thanks again for the help. Hopefully if anyone else runs into the same
problem, they will be helped.

Thanks,
Allan

 

[Kitsune]

I have found that at least a third of the cheapo power supplies that
come bundled with ATX cases are faulty in some form or another.
Voltages may read correctly, but problems can still persist. Power
supplies are probably the most overlooked component of a system, even
though it's one of the most vital.

Take it back to the place from which you purchased it, and have them
swap the PS with once confirmed to work. If that is indeed the source
of your problem, I would recommend that instead of taking a
replacement power supply of similar quality, you ask them to take the
cost of that cheapo PS off the cost of a decent-quality one, or at
the very least give you a discount on the new supply. It's one area
of your system you really shouldn;t cut corners on, so don't go with
a low-end model.

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