Asus A7v880 noboot/nobeep

[nonchron]

My situation is the following..

I bought a motherboard from ZipZoomFly, Asus A7v880. I install it with everything, even all the little front-audio connectors and everything.. but I wasted my time because it won't boot and doesn't throw a beep code.

I call up Asus tech sup, and follow the faq.. pull the thing from the case so there's no short circuit going on, gradually remove components until there's a beep code.. Eventually got down to just the cpu, and the thing still threw no codes. It threw no codes without the cpu in there as well, but I've heard mixed things about whether it should or not - there wasn't a code listed for 'no cpu' in the a7v880 beep codes, so.. ;p

Anyways, the asus tech said my cpu was compatible, and since all my stuff was known good from my previous computer, he said it looked like I had a bad board and so I got an RMA and payed $15 to send this thing back in the mail.

About three weeks later I get (Which is way too fvicking long. I'm superpissed at ZZF.) an email that they tested the board good and are waiting for me to let them know to send the motherboard back to me, or whether I want to get a refund (minus restocking fee).

Should I call them up and yell at them that they did not test the board with my hardware which is listed as compatible and that the board -is- bad and they need to send me a different one, not the same board again?

This makes me wish I went with the n8x after all since so many people have that board.. blah. Anyways, I tried it with two CPUs, one Athlon XP 2500 Mobile and another unknown from further back. Neither worked. Yes, I'm listenning to the correct output, btw.

Oh, and one more interesting note. The motherboard box was not shrinkwrapped when I received it from Zip Zoom Fly, leading me to believe it was previously RMA'd. I think I'll bitch about that too when I call.

Your input&/sympathy appreciated,
--Non

 

[mrSHEiK124]

since when does asus shrinkwrap mobo boxes

 

[nonchron]

Well, it was my first asus, so someone else would have to answer that one.

 

[mechBgon]

Asus doesn't shrink-wrap motherboard boxes, nopers.

As for the problem, please post an exhaustive list of your specs, including (yes!) brand/model of power supply and what exact symptoms you were experiencing. No beep codes, ok... but did it run fans and just not POST, or did it shut itself off again, or did it spout molten metal and smoke, or what?

 

[nonchron]

Thing just kept running.. Memmory was Crucial PC2700 (not sure of exact model), Antec 430Watt power supply, Radeon 9600XT. Fans spin, nothing shuts off, and nothing goes anywhere.

 

[Boonesmi]

did you verifiy you had the correct fsb setting? if you were trying to run a 200mhz fsb it probably wouldnt post with that pc2700 ram

 

[mechBgon]

Hmmms, but they find the board operational. You're not getting your heatsink installed backwards, are you? although I would expect the CPU to turn the motherboard off completely if that were the case.

Beyond that, try verifying each of the other parts in another computer. It's possible that the PSU, video card or RAM is the issue too. I have a whole pile more things you can check out in a document here (top link there). Good luck.

 

[nonchron]

I can't even get to the BIOS in order to change fsb settings, and I don't believe it can be set with jumpers.
Heatsync was on straight, and yeah.. I've made some chipkilling mistakes in the past so I don't think it's overheating.
I'm just miffed because if the cpu is in and the ram is not, it should definitly be throwing a beep code - which means it's not even getting that far, which makes me worry that it's some CPU compatibility issue -- but the cpu is listed as compatible. So angry.

 

[Boonesmi]

did you do the obvious stuff like make sure the jumpers on the mobo were set correctly? (ie. the cmos jumper not set to "clear")

ive also heard of some asus boards not posting when the overvolt jumper is enabled on the mobo


if it tested ok for them at zzf then most likely your problem was either

1 a faulty (or not supported) cpu... that includes a cpu that needs a bios update for support
2 faulty powersupply
3 incorrect jumper settings


by the way did you have a little speaker pluged into the mobo so you would head beepcodes? cause if you couldnt hear the beepcode then it could also be faulty memory or vidcard

 

[nonchron]

I left pretty much all of the jumpers stock, but did clear the cmos a couple times through my attempt to get the thing working. I'm pretty sure I didn't leave it in the clear position, after clearing once it did it the first few times, but that's a good call because the board did have similar symptoms.

It's really killing me because Asus said my cpu was supported and it works in other boards, and since I didn't play with the jumpers really, it probably shouldn't be that. I've heard that some board just don't like certain power supplies, but.. gah. I think I'm gonna call them up today and see if I can get them to send me a fresh board one more time before I nut it and return.

A bad feature of the Antec Lanboy case is it has no speaker, but I did plug the speaker from another case into the mobo, and I had headphones in the onboard audio out - which is where asus said the board throws codes.

Thanks for the help, but it looks like this may just be a case of picking hardware that's just too new. :/ Doesn't look like anyone else out there has the board or is willing to post their experiences.

 

[The Beamey]

Hey, Nonchron,

The A7880 bios has a "fastboot" option (default) which bypasses the POST (and the beep). If you disable it, you should get your beep ok--but the boot will take much longer.

The Beaney

 

[nonchron]

Got a new mobo, this one is functional, although very hot. Thanks for the help.

Oh, and just browsing through firmware updates, I found this interesting entry in v1003 release notes

"Fixed some Duron CPU can not boot will hand post code "C1h" issue."