Help Please

[ab11]

I just installed my new P5Q motherboard (p45 chipset), intel 8400, radeon 4500, and 4gigs of ram.

On boot, the computer gets stuck at the bios loading screen.

I have tried with the 4 gigs of mushkin ram i originally ordered and with 4 gigs of ocz, 800 mhz, pc6400, that i just picked up from frys

help please!!!!!

 

[level101]

Is bios showing hard drive? Is OS installed on hard drive? Might have to reinstall OS

 

[ab11]

OS is installed, but doesn't matter, doesn't get to bios, added image of screen where it freezes:
http://img507.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1208lk3.jpg

 

[lxskllr]

Try taking out some of the ram. It looks like BIOS isn't recognizing all of it, and it's hanging.

Edit:
If that fixes the problem, go into BIOS and enable memory remapping so you can use all of the ram, and try putting the rest in.

 

[ab11]

i have 4 2gb sticks. started wtih 2 muskin, got 2 ocz. i have tried one at a time in all 4 different slots. no combination works.

 

[lxskllr]

Any beep codes? Maybe try resetting CMOS.

 

[ab11]

no beep codes, cmos?

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: ab11
no beep codes, cmos?

Take out the coincell battery, then move the CMOS jumper(look in owners manual for it's location) to the reset position for about 10 minutes. That resets BIOS back to default. I really don't think it'll help, but that at least rules out a non-standard BIOS setting.

Edit:
Then try booting with only 1 stick of ram, and gfx card. See if it gets past where you're at now. If it does, shut the system down and add your HD.

 

[DSF]

What voltage do your various memory modules specify. I would consider it unlikely that voltage would completely prevent a boot with only one stick, but you never know.

 

[ab11]

i'm optimistic that reseting cmos fixed it, it seems to be doing stuff now

not sure though



computer showed a couple of random screens, but ended up back frozen on black screen.

i reset it, now i'm back to frozen on original screen

 

[ab11]

"what voltage does your memory modules require"

not sure how to get this information

 

[ab11]

booting without hd and cdrom drive plugged in was inconsequential

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: ab11
booting without hd and cdrom drive plugged in was inconsequential

I'm not sure what you mean here. Did you get farther in the POST sequence than you did before? In any case try upping your Vdimm to 2.0V That's not high enough to hurt anything, but it should be high enough to boot if the voltage is too low.

 

[ab11]

sorry, means that it had no change. could you instruct me on how to up vdimm?

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: ab11
sorry, means that it had no change. could you instruct me on how to up vdimm?

If I remember right, it should be in BIOS under chipset features. I think you press Del on that board to get into BIOS. It should tell you in the owners manual under advanced configuration.

Addendum:
You may have to disable Auto detect setting for ram to access Vdimm, but I can't remember.

Edit:
See this page for some Bios screenshots. Dram is 5 screens down on the left.

 

[ab11]

Originally posted by: lxskllr

Originally posted by: ab11
sorry, means that it had no change. could you instruct me on how to up vdimm?

If I remember right, it should be in BIOS under chipset features. I think you press Del on that board to get into BIOS. It should tell you in the owners manual under advanced configuration.

Addendum:
You may have to disable Auto detect setting for ram to access Vdimm, but I can't remember.

the issue is that my system freezes while trying to load the bios, making adjustments from the bios is not an option

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: ab11


the issue is that my system freezes while trying to load the bios, making adjustments from the bios is not an option

Ah, so you can't even enter BIOS then... Well that makes things more difficult. You could try contacting OCZ support. Some friends of mine have had very good experiences dealing with them. They may know some magic setting to get the board to POST. They helped a buddy of mine get his computer going even though ram wasn't the issue.

 

[ab11]

Originally posted by: lxskllr

Originally posted by: ab11


the issue is that my system freezes while trying to load the bios, making adjustments from the bios is not an option

Ah, so you can't even enter BIOS then... Well that makes things more difficult. You could try contacting OCZ support. Some friends of mine have had very good experiences dealing with them. They may know some magic setting to get the board to POST. They helped a buddy of mine get his computer going even though ram wasn't the issue.

i'll try that, thanks

 

[ab11]

update:

if i wait about 5 mins at the first screen, it will continue. i can enter bios or attempt to boot windows.

if i enter bios, bios will load and i can modify them, although the bios screen is EXTREMELY laggy.

if i boot windows, eventually the windows boot screen will come up, and then it blue screens with a "irql_not_less_or_equal" error.

thoughts?

 

[lxskllr]

I almost want to say something's physically damaged. I've never heard of BIOS being laggy :^/ The only thing I can suggest now is to tear the whole computer down and rebuild it. Maybe somethings loose, and causing problems. Check your cpu heatsink to make sure it's clipped down tight. The stock Intel hs can be a little tricky to get seated.