Chaintech VNF4 Ultra - beware of bad audio jacks

[tennesota]

I purchased a VNF4 Ultra board from ZipZoomFly recently. After fully installing the board into my rig I discovered the board has defective audio ports. I removed the board and arranged to RMA back to ZZF.

Since I did not know how long it would take to process an RMA from start-to-finish I decided to purchase another board. I thought it would be unwise to buy another board from ZZF because I figured they could have more defective boards in stock. I decided to order a board from Newegg believing I might have a shot at one of the newer blue colored PCB's with or without active cooling.

I received the new board today and it is the same black pcb with the new chip set heatsink and wouldn't you know...it also has the same defective audio ports. It turns out the difference in serial numbers between the two boards is 286 numbers [damn my luck].

I cannot recommend this board to anyone right now because I feel this is evidence of a quality control problem with the current black pcb's. Since i have not touched a blue pcb I cannot speak for it.

I warn all of you to choose your new boards carefully. I am thoroughly disgusted over this matter and I will not purchase another Chaintech VNF4 Ultra.

ZipZoomFly
PurchaseDate: 02/05/2005
Serial number: 0501084928

Newegg
PurchaseDate: 02/12/2005
Serial number: 0501085214

 

[Ackbar]

That's ridiculous! I've got the same problem (audio ports)! I'm about to send mine in for RMA due to defective audio ports as well. Wish me luck!

Edit: I'm going to submit my RMA, but anyone who this has happened to should post on this thread. Hopefully we can get your retailer to ENSURE that they send you the blue PCB version!

 

[tennesota]

I don't fault the vendors; they sell their stock to us in good faith. Chaintech is the one who needs to "step up to the plate". Chaintech has a batch of bad boards out there. I wonder if some folks have these boards and don't realize they are defective. Some folks do not use on-board sound.

 

[Ackbar]

Originally posted by: tennesota
I don't fault the vendors; they sell their stock to us in good faith. Chaintech is the one who needs to "step up to the plate". Chaintech has a batch of bad boards out there. I wonder if some folks have these boards and don't realize they are defective. Some folks do not use on-board sound.

I agree, I don't fault the resellers (I bought from newegg as well). But I'd like them to make a note that they should try and send us the blue PCB board. That way we don't have to RMA again if it doesn't work. Especially since newegg does not allow returns on this product, there's not much we can do...

Edit: what do you plan on doing now? Just RMAing again?

 

[MajorPayne]

Originally posted by: Ackbar

Originally posted by: tennesota
I don't fault the vendors; they sell their stock to us in good faith. Chaintech is the one who needs to "step up to the plate". Chaintech has a batch of bad boards out there. I wonder if some folks have these boards and don't realize they are defective. Some folks do not use on-board sound.

I agree, I don't fault the resellers (I bought from newegg as well). But I'd like them to make a note that they should try and send us the blue PCB board. That way we don't have to RMA again if it doesn't work. Especially since newegg does not allow returns on this product, there's not much we can do...

Edit: what do you plan on doing now? Just RMAing again?

Interesting... I never even tested my onboard Audio because I always slap a SB of some kind into the board. I currently use an Audigy2 soundcard.

I had heard from someone on another board that thier VNF4 Ultra had jumpers on the board that were set incorrectly, and cause 1 of thier sound ports to be non-functional. Have either of you checked (or played with) the jumpers on your board to see if they are set correctly. I would be inclined to play around with them, and see if they fix the problem if it were me.

 

[VirtualLarry]

If the onboard audio is using a newer Realtek ALC codec, then it may have "auto jack sensing" - I'm wondering if there is something that is screwing up there. Have your tried different (newer and older) ALC drivers? (Or perhaps I'm way off base here if the boards don't use the ALC chipsets, if so, please disregard.)

 

[tennesota]

Originally posted by: MajorPayne

Interesting... I never even tested my onboard Audio because I always slap a SB of some kind into the board. I currently use an Audigy2 soundcard.

I had heard from someone on another board that thier VNF4 Ultra had jumpers on the board that were set incorrectly, and cause 1 of thier sound ports to be non-functional. Have either of you checked (or played with) the jumpers on your board to see if they are set correctly. I would be inclined to play around with them, and see if they fix the problem if it were me.

I would guess you have working audio. I feel confident with that statement since you have one of the earliest boards; I bet your serial numbers begins with 0412xxxxxx. My very first VNF4 board [0412xxxxxx] had working audio jacks; my 2nd and 3rd boards have issues with the jacks and you see the serial numbers posted above.

 

[tennesota]

Originally posted by: Ackbar

Edit: what do you plan on doing now? Just RMAing again?

Yes, I am RMA'ing both boards. I shipped one back today to ZZF, the other goes back to Newegg tomorrow.

 

[tennesota]

Originally posted by: MajorPayne

Have either of you checked (or played with) the jumpers on your board to see if they are set correctly. I would be inclined to play around with them, and see if they fix the problem if it were me.

I did try with the jumpers ON and OFF

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

So, you tested the front panel audio connectors and they worked?

 

[tennesota]

Originally posted by: ChineseDemocracyGNR
So, you tested the front panel audio connectors and they worked?

I did not test the FP connections.