Booting issues with DFI LANPARTY NFII

[nothing0011]

Hello,

I have just received this motherboard today along with a XP2600. Before installing all of my components I had done a test with the bare necessities for booting (keyboard, CPU/HSF, memory, and video card). All worked fine.

It was after I had installed all of my components into my case (note: not all to the motherboard at once) that I started to face booting issues. To sum things up, every time I made a change to the BIOS my computer would halt at POST. However, if I do not make any changes to the BIOS and continue without setting anything up, the PC will POST and boot up to the RAID but then shutdown. If I try to go back to that point, the time the computer stays on before shutting down becomes shorter.

I tried myriad hardware configurations to see if it may stop halting on POST, but no avail. Some things I tried were: a T-Bird 1.4, GF3 Ti200, PC2100 RAM, and even a different heatsink (yes changing heatsinks for some reasons worked for me in the past for troubled PC's.) Also keep in mind of the following hardware, this is what I intend to run: GF FX5600 Ultra, XP2600 @ 333 FSB, 1 stick of OC System PC3200 RAM, TT Volcano 7+. NOTE: I did reset my CMOS/BIOS before changing hardware and BIOS configurations.

I am thinking that I do need to RMA the board but I hope that there is a solution without me having to wait another week for a replacement. I really hope that someone can help me out with this problem as it was the replacement for my main PC.

 

[nothing0011]

Bump for desperation!

 

[DFITechsupport]

Nothing0011,

We received your E-mail last night.
If the board boot up fine on the test bench, theoretically, there shouldn't have any problem to put everything into the case. Please try to minimize the testing environment again. Then put one component back at a time if it works. Don't worry about the board. We'll test a new one make sure it work and send to you as a replacement if there is anything wrong with it.
In the meantime, we are going to send a BIOS to you by E-mail for testing.
Please check it out and keep us updated.
Thanks

DFI Techsupport

 

[nothing0011]

Thank you for the help DFITechsupport!

I do have an update to my status as of this afternoon. I have removed the motherboard from my case (Thermaltake Xaser II) and once again tested to see if it would boot. Yes it did with the bare necessities installed. However, I have not reinstalled my motherboard back into my case and will do so shortly and test. Here is the big problem though, I cannot set my FSB to 166 through the Genie setup. I can only set my motherboard to have the CPU and memory to run at 133 therefore making my XP2600 into an XP2000 at 1.67 Ghz. I tried to manually setup the CPU with 12.5 X Ratio and 166 FSB but the system would sometimes either halt at POST or halt after initializing my video card. Please keep in mind that I do have 1 DIMM of PC3200 RAM which is more than capable of running at 166.

 

[DFITechsupport]

nothing0011,

It seemed like the boot problem is OK now.
To make sure the board is good, please don't play CO but to load Optimized Default first and then load OS and applications. Until everything OK then start playing OC. You need to have a powerful CPU cooling fan even you've got a set of high-end memory. I think most of the AMD Athlon XP 2600+ are running 166 MHz FSB already. Even a 133 MHz FSB CPU, it can be overclocked to 166 MHz FSB without any problem. Please find out the real FSB and CPU ratio of your CPU and then slow down the multiplier (CPU Ratio) like (X10). Check how high the FSB can go. (Once the system won't boot, you need to clear the CMOS and try again). Sometimes, we also need to adjust the Vcore and VDIMM to make it work. Each M/B got its own OC capability. Most of the NFII can overclock a 133 MHz FSB to over 200 MHz FSB.

DFI Techsupport

 

[nothing0011]

I wasnt trying to perform an OC. I was setting the CPU settings manually to see if it would boot up properly. At first I did try the optimized defaults. The computer once again halted at POST but did not shut down.

As for the High Perf. HSF and memory both my PC3200 DIMM and Volcano 7+ are for overclocking.

However, I got my RMA granted and I will be getting replacements soon from where I bought the items. I hope that I will have better luck with those given that in this past week a total of 3 CPU's and 2 motherboards crapped out on me.

 

[DFITechsupport]

Yes, this is the easiest way to get the replacement. As a matter of fact, our quality is not that bad. But even one in a thousand, we still have the chance to get the defective one. Please keep us updated. We'll be always here to try our best to help.
Thanks

DFI Techsupport