A7V333 Minor upgrade leads to major problem

[torpid]

Hello,

I have an A7v333 with a relatively recent BIOS. I was formerly running an XP 1800+. I received an XP 2400+ (retail) and upon installing it, the computer does not boot. The power led on the motherboard is lit. When I turn on the power, everything "seems" to turn on, but nothing happens. I've taken the board out of the case and placed it into cardboard with just the video card and ram. Still no luck.

Figuring maybe the processor was dead, I then went back to the old processor. No luck.

Since I didn't have the manual, the only thing I haven't done is "short" the RTC Ram jumper by touching it with a screwdriver while the battery for the CMOS was out. I did remove the battery, though.

My first attempt when I go back home will be to try that. I'm wondering, though, if anyone has other suggestions. Neither of my computers at home will work so I guess I'd like to have all the options laid out before me in case that doesn't work. The processor was pretty cheap. My local computer companies charge about $75/hr for labor. Which would make it absurd to take it in, since I could probably buy a new motherboard / processor for that price. No local stores will let me return a motherboard without a restocking fee. Basically all my hopes for not getting bent over on this upgrade hinge on the RTC Ram reset.

But, is it really possible that I blew two processors in this ordeal? I am a little bit concerned about the thermal compound on the fans. One is a bit loose and the other a bit sparse. However, the MOBO quickly powers off if it senses the CPU will overheat. Which is a good sign, because that means SOMETHING is working, but a bad sign, because not everything is.

Enough rambling. Any advice?

A7V333 newish BIOS (3 months or so old)
XP1800 / XP2400
512mb Crucial DDR 2700 and/or 256mb Mushkin Green
ATI 9700pro

 

[nanaki333]

if you touched something on the board and shocked yourself, i'm sure you killed something.

 

[torpid]

No shock received. Closest thing would be retrieving a screw that fell into the MOBO area with power disconnected.

 

[imported_Bunter]

Any chance something on the motherboard got damaged when you removed the heat sink/fan? People have cut traces on motherboards in that process before. Usually, though, that will trigger some sort of POST error, like beep codes for failed memory test or something similar.

You might try connecting the speaker to the motherboard and removing the video card. Fire it up to see if you get the right beep code for a missing video card. If that works, power down, remove the memory and try the same thing.

Sorry if you've already done this and I'm asking the obvious. Just trying to eliminate possibilities.

 

[torpid]

Tried the RTC ram, no luck.

I've tried several combinations. No video, no CPU, no memory, all with the speaker attached. No luck. I have reached my limit of frustration and have taken it to a nearby computer shop that charges me about $40 for diagnosis + 1/2 hour of labor to "fix" the problem. I am guessing at this point it is a mobo problem, but no point in obsessing over what it might be at this point...

 

[pcmodem]

HOLD IT!


Verify what version of the A7V333 you have?

It says it on the motherboard.

Pre 2.0 A7V333 does not support faster than a XP2100+ or XP2200+, if I recall.





Good luck,
PCM

 

[torpid]

I checked the asus website again, it does support the 2400 if I have the right BIOS version, which I do.

Anyway, it was quite an eventful day yesterday. The computer store I took it into didn't get around to it, and I found out my friend had an extra motherboard (that he bought thinking his mobo was bad but then didn't need - and there was a high restocking fee).

This time I was extremely careful. I cleaned the processor and heat sink with isopropyl alcohol and dried it using a lens cloth. I applied arctic silver as per the instructions on their web site. I then attached the new processor to the new motherboard - an A7N8X-E.

With just a memory stick & video card attached, the machine booted!

After installing all of the components again, I tried booting into Windows XP. It kept rebooting when loading some driver (IPVNMon.sys I think). At this point in time I began panicking, because I did not know that this is extremely common after installing a new motherboard.

The only resolution was to do a setup repair in windows XP. This too caused some errors, e.g. "An entry point could not be found" in one file, and system hangs in a couple of places. I remember my system hanging once during the initial install too.

Well, after multiple reboots and windows setup runs, I finally got the machine up and running, and most of the drivers installed.

Now I just need to find some good diagnostic tools to make sure everything "really" works.