Epox 8RDA+ Problems... Any ideas?

[mboy]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: MichaelD
I swear I will send the damn thing back and get a P4 and an Intel board. I am so done w/these type of problems. Getting IDE drives detected is a BASIC MOBO FUNCTION>>>>if that doesn't work, you can KEEP that PCI/AGP lock!

You know, that's how i feel too. I swear, no one today can build a f*cking motherboard that works. Brands that were good 5 years ago like abit and asus suck turds now.

I'm thinking about buying an Intel branded motherboard. It's not even about what AMD or Intel platform anymore, I swear these damn Taiwanese companies couldn't build a lot of working motherboards if their lives depended on it.

I bought a used Intel Atlanta LX board and a P2 350 off someone from AT and it works perfectly. Everything worked right the first time I formatted and that's the way it should be.

LOL, try an Asus A7N266-VM with Win2000 Pro. Ok, there is ONE glitch... when you boot from CD for Setup, the monitor blinks out for two minutes while Win2000 Setup rummages for a video driver it likes, then it pops up at the normal "To set up Windows 2000 now..." screen. Other than that one (which sometimes doesn't happen), it is a very straightforward experience, judging by the ones I've got.

oh, and aphex, how about just setting the refresh rate to something you know your monitor can handle, then booting up and trying other refresh rates? 60Hz is safe...

Very nice inexpensive board. NIce experience with the one I just built for my dad for his office. I experirnced no issue with the video tho.
Too bad my old man doesnt know what anice little PC I built him for $300 or so bucks with t hat board (got everything on sale)

 

[mechBgon]

Hehe, I'm a subscriber with full-search abilities and have been tackling quite a few nForce2-problem threads. So far, the majority are due to cheap PSUs, cheap RAM, backwards heatsinks, unpatched software or user error. Sorry you're having troubles, but if you can't bother to post your PSU and RAM at the very least, then I have to wonder if one of those other components of your system could be sabotaging your success. Go ahead, try the Asus or ABIT if you are convinced that multiple EPoX boards are definitely the issue, and not one of the other parts of the system.

edit: this reply was to mister Dolphin with the bad EPoXes, not the people between.

 

[Cybordolphin]

Tell ya what 3d..... ya lil brainiac you....

Put your money where your type is....

If you figure out what the problem is (as in user error), you can have this board. On the other hand....
if you figure out that the board is just a POS, you owe me the board of my choice.

Deal?

 

[Cybordolphin]

Crucial
Samsung

Antec
Fortron
And a generic that has been running an MSI Kt3 with 2100 XP overclocked rock solid for 6 months.

Keep diggin.

Its still a dog.

Software causing you to unplug a used/new (and in between) hard drive, just to have use of your keyboard, and to get into bios?? Don't think so.

 

[mechBgon]

*removed my smart-aleck comment... sorry, I'm just in a contrary mood :Q Must be the solar flares...*

edit: ok, thanks, we gots some info now

 

[Insane3D]

No deal on that...I already have one in my main system running my 2400+ @ 2.2ghz, 200mhz FSB with 4-2-2, CL2 timings and nothing but a Panaflo on my Alpha and one Panaflo case fan...runs great for me. In fact, I may buy another or pick up a 8RDA2+ when it comes out.


If you would detail your problems a little more, I would be glad to do my best to solve your problem.

 

[mechBgon]

BTW, have you tried running it outside the case yet? Wonder if something could be touching the underside of the board where it shouldn't...

 

[Insane3D]

One thought off the top of my head. Are you running a WD drive on it's own channel? If so you usually need to remove the jumper on the back of the drive completely for Award bioses to sense it right. It seems to be a WD specific problem...

 

[Cybordolphin]

Gee guys... c'mon... what more do you want to know?

Slapped in one of my 2100XP's (removed and installed back where it belongs-on a decent motherboard)
now running a 1700XP TBred.

Thermalthake volcano9 (and yes it has been seated properly at all times) Although the 8RDA+ will insist you install the heatsink before you put your motherboard in the case (another nice lil touch). Artic silver.

Assorted video cards - ATI's mostly 7000 series (that by the way run flawless on other boards).

Brand new Maxtor drive (that ran flawless in another recent build)

I gave the ram tried (crucial and samsung). Hope you approve. Although I prefer Mushkin myself.

I gave you the PS's tried.

Heck I even swapped keyboards for ya...... you know...... just to be sure.

Ran the motherboard outside the case to troubleshoot (made no difference).

Tried hard drive on its own channel, with a cdrom, on channels one and two to no avail.
Tried different IDE cables to no avail.
Different outlets.
With and without any other fans other than the CPU's.

Its the motherboard guys. I am not the first to have this happen either. Others are finding the same or similar trouble from what I have been reading. None have found solutions other than EPOX telling them it was the motherboard and to RMA.

Anyway..... by all means ask me anything else..... anything at all..

(Oh.. and I have been building computers since 1984) first one had a whole half a meg of ram , and a huge 30 MB hard drive (I did make it hot swappable)

Believe me guys..... I like a challenge more than anyone.....
But when the day is done... junk is junk.

 

[Cybordolphin]

And I would never own a WD hard drive. Sorry. They are junk too. Always have been. I used to have friends use them as room heaters... though... I heard they were pretty good for that. Guess they fixed that little problem though (you know..... running red hot).

 

[mechBgon]

Hmm, now let me see if I have this right... you're HOT-plugging the IDE drives into the motherboard after arriving in the BIOS? Or am I misinterpreting this:

The only way I could get it to find the hard drive was to go into bios with the hard drives unplugged, and then do as you all said. My bigger problem is that I can't even get into bios with my hard drives plugged in OR get out either because as soon as I plug in my hard drive(s) I lose all keyboard functions.

That doesn't sound like a good idea. :Q Incidentally, have you tried updating the BIOS on either board yet to see if it had an effect, or did you have problems with it recognizing the floppy drive?

 

[Insane3D]

Well, Mr. Dolphin. It appears you are firm in your belief that the Epox is junk and a "dog", as you put it, so I have a feeling even if your problems were fixed, you would feel the same.

It sounds like you should just RMA the board and get your reliable Abit instead that will magically make it all ok.


:Q:Q:Q:Q


OMG, I just realized this is the first time I have ever put "Abit" and "reliable" in the same sentence... :Q

***shudder***


Oh, on a side note...is the Abit Nforce 2 board one of the ones Abit outsources to ECS?

 

[Cybordolphin]

No.... I would lay down all arms if the board worked out to be a good board. I don't hold much of a grudge. As long as the board proves to be worthy.

Yes I have had it recognize the floppy drive. But remember..... I have no use of the keyboard unless the Hard drive is disconnected.

One thing I have thought of trying is download the latest bios on another system, and flash from the floppy without a hard drive installed. That will be my next attempt (and likely final).

Do you really think that should be neccessary.... I mean come on. If it is neccessary.... then it reafirms my suspicions. The board is.... dare I say it again.... junk?

And no.... normally I would NEVER remove and install an IDE cable on a running machine.... ever. It just so happens that that was one of the only ways others found that worked to get the motherboards bios to recognize their hard drive. It really was not a solution for me though..... as I said.... I lose all keyboard function once anthing is plugged into the IDE channels.

The Abit I am uncertain will be any better. The last Abit I owned was a great board (BH6) for me. But I am getting the feeling that many of the motherboard manufacturers are just plain churning out crap lately..... so I am open to anything right now.

 

[mechBgon]

It can't be junk, there's an X-Ray of a cheetah on the box! Well that would be the thing I would try, flash BIOS from floppy and see if anything improves. Good luck.

 

[Cybordolphin]

Yea.... Mechbegon.... that is likely what I will try next. I just hate waisting my time, and having a system that ain't damn perfect. If the bios fixes the problem (have not found anyone that it has worked for yet), then I will still wonder a bit about the quality, and if I could have made a better choice. Like I said, a system should go together without much grief.

 

[mechBgon]

I just thought of one more thing... ok, two more things that you may already have tried. How about a brand new IDE cable for the heck of it... and put the drive on the end connector and not the middle one, if you hadn't already (eliminates signal bounce on the vacant section of cable).

 

[Insane3D]

Do you really think that should be neccessary.... I mean come on. If it is neccessary.... then it reafirms my suspicions. The board is.... dare I say it again.... junk?

If all of the 8RDA's did it, then yes, I might tend to agree with you that there was a problem. However, you are the first person to date I have seen mention this, and the 8RDA+ is quite a popular board. If this was such a widespread problem as you seem to be saying, I would think we would have people posting up the wazoo with 8RDA+ problem threads.

Also, you might want to check a thread I posted a little further down. There is a new 1/15 BETA bios you could try.

 

[Cybordolphin]

No.... I would not expect ALL of the 8RDA+ boards to have this be the problem. However, you are wrong. There are more and more forums posting this exact problem. There is obviously an issue with the board. (read post one and two and five and follow the link(s) for starters).

I have reflashed the BIOS. The problem still exist. Once a hard drive (or anything) is plugged into one of the IDE channels the keyboard goes cold.

I have gotten around the problem others have had with the hard drive(s) not being recognized, but the keyboard thing is actually kind of comical.

 

[Cybordolphin]

So far.... I am finding a ton of post in forums with regard to this exact same problem. With the 8RDA+ as well as other Epox boards.

Some are finding that if the don't use the CPU fan header on the 8RDA+ the problem goes away. Boy thats neat....

.

 

[farscape]

I've had a few probs with WD drives - didn't matter what the MB was. For some reason, WDs don't like their jumper set at primary if they are the only drive in the system - you have to leave the jumper in the spare position or as set the jumper as slave, and then it boots OK. This drove me nuts on a few occasions - wouldn't boot or took f o r e v e r

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Cybordolphin
So far.... I am finding a ton of post in forums with regard to this exact same problem. With the 8RDA+ as well as other Epox boards.

Some are finding that if the don't use the CPU fan header on the 8RDA+ the problem goes away. Boy thats neat....

.

That does remind me of an older system that I rebuilt for a co-worker. Set it up with an 80mm adjustable-RPM Enermax case fan, and of course I cranked it down to minimum RPM for low noise. Guess what...? System wouldn't POST! Pull fan off 3-pin header, plug it into a 3-pin-to-4-pin adapter... bingo, system runs fine again. Something about the low RPMs was boggling something on the mobo...

 

[SpideyCU]

According to EPoX tech, the problem's with the reported RPMs, especially with variable-speed fans; something about significant changes in reported speeds to the board will cause issues. They're well aware of the issue, and all the EPoX tech folks could say on various forums was that they're trying to see if it's something that can be fixed in an updated BIOS release. In the meantime, if you still want to use a fan on that header rather than from the power supply, it'll be fine as long as you don't connect the RPM-reporting line. How one wants to do that, if they really want to use the fan headers, is up to the user.

 

[Cybordolphin]

Thanks Spidey....

I really don't want to RMA the board if I can find the problem.

I am not happy with the issues on this motherboard, as they waste far too much of my time. I expect to be able to put together a system and not have to deal with a lot of problems..... like this.

Anyway.... I just reflashed the bios again (what the heck), and still have to unplug the hard drives to get the keyboards to work. I also just installed a brand new ANTEC 430 true power just to see if my prior PS's were playing tricks on me. Nothing.

I am going to maybe try a stock heatsink/fan, as the Volcano is an adjustable rpm'r (via the dial an rpm remote dial). Maybe I will get lucky.

Once again, I should not have to deal with this kinda garbage on a new board. Shame on Epox. All three of the 8RDA+ boards I have built have had differing inconvenient problems (time consuming).
The only differing item (on this build), in the equation come to think of it..... is the fan/heatsink.

 

[mechBgon]

Keep us posted. It would be aggravating but valuable to know if the board gets flustered by low-rpm fans or something.

 

[Insane3D]

Once again, I should not have to deal with this kinda garbage on a new board. Shame on Epox. All three of the 8RDA+ boards I have built have had differing inconvenient problems (time consuming).
The only differing item (on this build), in the equation come to think of it..... is the fan/heatsink.

Once again...it seems to be mostly you who has these issues. I saw your posts over at AOA too, and there were not any other posts, at that time, that had similar problems that you had.

It's funny. You keep talking how junky this mobo is, but yet, they keep selling out, and I've yet to see a large number, or even a small number of people have this problem. I think the Asus A7N8X Deluxe is also a nice motherboard, but you see more posts about that than the Epox.

I guess I don't understand why if this mobo is such a PITA piece of junk (according to you), and you have had problems with all of the ones you have used (3), you still bought one for yourself. Why don't you just return it where you got it and buy something else in your search for the perfect, non junky, easy to set up, does windows, floors, laundry, cooking and comes with the kitchen sink too mobo.


I even tried to recreate your problem on my 8RDA+ 1.0 (first batch), going as far as pulling the Maxtor from my other system and switching my USB keyboards for PS/2 ones, and no matter what I did, I had no such issues. Guess I just got super duper lucky...maybe I should play the lottery this week.



:disgust: