ASUS A7N8X Deluxe Problems

[mechBgon]

The Deluxe has the MCP-T southbridge and does have the Soundstorm setup. From Evan's shootout...

Lastly, we need to note that you can install the v. 2.00 drivers on all of the nForce2 motherboards tested here today except for the Chaintech 7NJS and ASUS A7N8X Deluxe. In the 7NJS's case, you can install the v. 2.00 drivers, but the audio portion of the install will be skipped entirely, meaning your sound won't be operational, but the rest of the v. 2.00 driver package will be successful. This is due to the fact that Chaintech uses C-Media's CMI8738 instead of the nForce2 APU.

In the A7N8X's case, you CAN install the v. 2.00 drivers, but the audio portion of the install will fail (i.e. it will be skipped entirely) because ASUS decided to assign different device ID's/product codes to the SoundStorm audio. However, the A7N8X's SoundStorm is still the same as any other SoundStorm audio found on any other nForce2 motherboard. We suggest you install the SoundStorm drivers that come with the A7N8X motherboard for best functionality.

So it sounds like Asus just shuffled the deck a little differently and the default drivers from nVidia will look in the wrong place and not see the hardware. This is a bit of an annoyance, since Asus is not very timely in adopting updated drivers (their A7V333 page still has VIA's 4.37 4-in-1's, for instance, and we're up to 4.45's now). Nothing's perfect, I guess...

Random comment: one of the Soundstorm prerequisites is evidently that there's some way to hook up 5.1 output, and Asus has an RCA-style outlet in the rear panel, as you know. EPoX has everything but this with their 8RDA+, so they don't get an official Soundstorm stamp of approval but the module can be purchased separately (at a hefty $35US, ouch). Hopefully the 8RDA2+ will address that.

 

[JonElfson]

Hmmm... well ASUS drivers site only has these drivers
- NForce2 all in one version 1.16 driver for WinXP
- 3COM PCI Lan WHQL Driver version 5.4 English Version
- Silicon Image Serial ATA driver version V1.0.0.21 and Utility V1.0.0.10
- A7N8X BIOS 1001G
- Award Flash utility for A7N8X only to update the motherboard flash BIOS (DOS)

NVIDIA's site has 2.00 Drivers and ASUS' site doesn't even have Audio Drivers... why must I have to resort to CD Drivers... ewww

But if the ASUS board needs there own Audio Drivers why does there site only have the 1.16 Drivers? Does the Audio driver work with that? I wouldn't think so, because of the ID numbers... yawn, silly ASUS.

 

[mechBgon]

I would expect the all-in-one driver that Asus lists is the one on the CD as well, tweaked for their board. After installing that to get the sound driver, you could install nVidia's 2.00 drivers over the top of them to update the other drivers. Incidentally, there used to be a warning aimed especially at Win98 and ME users, recommending them strongly NOT to install the SATA utilities unless they did, in fact, have SATA drives.

 

[JonElfson]

Yeah, I read that in the manual too... anyways I need a working motherboard to see if any off this stuff will work

I'll be back here with more news tomorrow

 

[mechBgon]

Good luck!





(whee, I passed 6000 posts today! )

 

[mechBgon]

I did think of a few more brainstorms to throw at you:

• double-check that the CLRTC1 jumper that clears the CMOS isn't in the "clear" position. If it is, pull the power cord, punch the Power button on the case to drain the PSU, menace the motherboard a little bit with a hammer or maybe a pipe wrench, switch the jumper to the "run" position, and try powering up.
• Set the CPU_FSB jumper to the bottom two pins (200MHz FSB) to relax the timings on the RAM, in case the RAM is holding you back from a successful POST (probably not the case, but hey, it's easy enough to try). Page 21 of the manual has both of these jumpers pictured.
• If the SATA controller's jumper is enabled, might want to disable it for the heck of it... page 19 shows that one.

Good luck!

 

[JonElfson]

Congrats on the posting frenzy

Well I want to take it back this morning only to find that the store is closed all weekend and will be open again on Monday

So I decided to test my PSU on this box, and it fires up fine, so the only thing left that can stop it from booting is the mobo. :disgust:

 

[JonElfson]

Oh yeah, should I wait intill DDRII, what's the story on that?

 

[HowAboutBob]

Qutoe from Jon 12/26/2002 10:40 PM
-------------------------------------
... I was thinking of getting new RAM anyways the Corsair CMX512-3500C2PT kinda caught my eye at newegg.com. I was wondering about the DualDDR or whatever on the nForce2 Boards... does that mean if I get 2 sticks of RAM I'll have 1024 MB of RAM plus the nForce2 thing or is it just a faster 512 MB?
-------------------------------------

Jon
I'd say you are better off just getting one stick if you are using your own video card.
If you are using the onboard graphics ( IGP) then two sticks of RAM would be best. Hence the excellent specviewperf scores,as linked by mechBgon immediately after your post.

I have just purcheased A7NX deluxe, too. But I bought Crucial memory (512MB PC2700 CL2.5).
I will be building this weekend, if my kids let me.
Also,
Althon XP 2100+
GeForce3
Two WD 80GB HD (7200 rp JB series)
Ricoh CD-RW/DVD
Floppy Drive (old)
Plextor CD-R (SCSI)
Adaptec SCSI card
Zip drive (maybe)
CMS Tape backup - SCSI (maybe)
SBLIVE
WinXP home

Ill let you know if I have difficulties.

Bob

EDIT
-----
Sorry, mechBgon
After re-reading your post I must admit you covered my points well enough.
But I will still let Jon know how I did building my PC.
Sorry mechBgon

Jon
BTW you could always sell your RAM on eBay if the retailer will not take it back.

EDIT AGAIN
--------------
My system is up and running.
No hidden switches.... very straight forward.
I still have to do a burn-in and stats test (ie. sisoft sandra)

 

[JonElfson]

When did I say I was selling my RAM?

When I get my Corsair I will put the Generic in my other box to make it complete. I was talking about returning the motherboard because it didn't work at all.

I was reading the manual though and I saw something about a ACR (Advanced Communications Riser Card), want to explain what that's all about?

Anyways I hope you have better luck then me Bob.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: HowAboutBob
Qutoe from Jon 12/26/2002 10:40 PM
-------------------------------------
... I was thinking of getting new RAM anyways the Corsair CMX512-3500C2PT kinda caught my eye at newegg.com. I was wondering about the DualDDR or whatever on the nForce2 Boards... does that mean if I get 2 sticks of RAM I'll have 1024 MB of RAM plus the nForce2 thing or is it just a faster 512 MB?
-------------------------------------

Jon
I'd say you are better off just getting one stick if you are using your own video card.
If you are using the onboard graphics ( IGP) then two sticks of RAM would be best. Hence the excellent specviewperf scores,as linked by mechBgon immediately after your post.

I have just purcheased A7NX deluxe, too. But I bought Crucial memory (512MB PC2700 CL2.5).
I will be building this weekend, if my kids let me.
Also,
Althon XP 2100+
GeForce3
Two WD 80GB HD (7200 rp JB series)
Ricoh CD-RW/DVD
Floppy Drive (old)
Plextor CD-R (SCSI)
Adaptec SCSI card
Zip drive (maybe)
CMS Tape backup - SCSI (maybe)
SBLIVE
WinXP home

Ill let you know if I have difficulties.

Bob

EDIT
-----
Sorry, mechBgon
After re-reading your post I must admit you covered my points well enough.
But I will still let Jon know how I did building my PC.
Sorry mechBgon

Jon
BTW you could always sell your RAM on eBay if the retailer will not take it back.

Don't be sorry, your post is worth it just so I can drool at your system specs! Mmmm, SCSI = frosting

 

[JonElfson]

This reviews also says something about the ACR under the SoundStorm Audio section... do I need one? The site says in most cases it will require one... what does it do?

 

[mechBgon]

The Audio/Communications Riser basically is like those little Realtek CODECs that the board has... they don't do the processing, they just hook up the audio processor to the jacks, and the ACR connects onboard NICs, modems and audio processors to jacks you can plug stuff into. Or that's my understanding, anyway. An ACR built for your board might, for example, give you an optical S/PDIF outlet, and/or additional speaker jacks, or a RJ45 network jack (except the board's already got two). Nothing really necessary about them.

This is, however, where the A7N8X is different in that everything is already built in on the mainboard level. Given the issues with the A7N266-E and getting the 6-channel sound to work properly, this is an excellent choice

 

[PlatinumGold]

jonelfson

i have the same board and it ran fine for me w/ my generic hynix ram. ram running at 133 and fsb running at 166. then i switched the ram out w/ my corsair xms 2400 (which obviously is not state of the art but was when i bought it a while back but should still do 133) and guess what, it won't boot. NOTHING.

actually if i turn on my speakers they say something about not posting due to ram incompatibilities.

check it out. i bet that your problem is your ram.

 

[Caveman2001]

I would at least try a stick of ram (Crucial most likely) that is known to be the most compatible with Asus motherboards. Might save yourself the RMA hastle. It's doubtful the board is DOA, but possible.

 

[JonElfson]

With speakers, no sound, no nothing, I'm pretty sure it's dead as the do-do.

I've tested EVERYTHING; the CPU, RAM, PSU, Video Card, etc.

I plugged different ones of everything in, nothing on the screen and not even a sound.

 

[PlatinumGold]

jonelfson

i went from my generic to my corsair and i got "memory test failed" speaker voice message. then i went back to my generic no problem. then i tried setting memory settings and went back to my corsair, "memory test failed" again, so i go back to my generic and nothing. just like you, nothing at all, so i cleared cmos and it boots up just fine w/ generic.

moral of story, wait for the crucial ram.

 

[JonElfson]

Actually I'm thinking of getting my money back... or not getting RAM, I want to wait for the 64-bit chip and DDR2... is that a good idea?

 

[mechBgon]

The AMD Athlon 64 will use DDR333 and will realistically be available probably in the middle of the summer.

 

[JonElfson]

Then what's the story with DDRII? I thought it was coming soon too.

 

[TourGuide]

I would guess that QBM is going to push the adoption of DDRII back even further than it was originally slated for.

 

[Jerry944T]

Don't overlook the obvious. I had the exact same circumstance with a different board and it turned out that when when I changed the heat-sink to the new board I took a small corner of the CPU. Didn't look like it should harm anything but a new chip made everything good. Expensive lesson but it's so easy to damage the CPU when transitioning to a different board.
Jerry

 

[nick1985]

I HAD THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM AS YOU!!!! SAME ONE!!!! I KNOW HOW TO FIX IT. BELIEVE IT OR NOT YOUR CD-ROM IS BAD!!!!! RY YOUR OLD ONE AND YOUR COMPUTER WILL BOOT UP! I GARUNTEE!!!!!!

 

[nick1985]

read!!!

 

[JonElfson]

PROBLEM SOVLED!!!

No, it's not the CDROM... but thanks for your input. I decided to plug my mobo in again on Sunday for 1 last try and I heard a "Woof Woof" in my speakers, I thought oh no please don't work . I turned them up more and the woman SCREAMED at me "MEMORY FAILED SYSTEM TEST". So the motherboard works. Then I tried my other computer's stick of the exact same Generic RAM and it worked...

Weird.