Is it my A8N or my PSU?

Mr. Lennon

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2004
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I restarted my comp after doing some things in msconfig. The computer turned on but no signal to the monitor. I thought it must of been one of my 6800 GTs, so i switched the one from the bottom to the top and ran single card mode. Still no signal. I just let it sit there for about 5 minutes, finally it turned on. I resarted the computer once again after I changed some bios settings...no signal again. I keep on hearing this clicking coming from the dvd rom drive and the light will blink on and off every 2 minutes. Its like the drive keeps turning on then off. I dont know if its the psu or the mobo, because the computer still turns on. Can a broken psu still turn on, but just not have the juice to get it fully functional?
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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From the delayed startup, it sounds like the PSU might be strained. From the optical drive's seeking activity, it might be trying to recover from a corrupted BIOS too (insert Asus CD-ROM, let it chew on it). Is the power supply appropriate for a dual-6800GT SLI system?
 

Mr. Lennon

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Jul 2, 2004
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Originally posted by: mechBgon
From the delayed startup, it sounds like the PSU might be strained. From the optical drive's seeking activity, it might be trying to recover from a corrupted BIOS too (insert Asus CD-ROM, let it chew on it). Is the power supply appropriate for a dual-6800GT SLI system?


Yeah its a 530 watt and sli ready. Its no longer in SLI since I removed one of the cards and set it to the single card setting. Maybe its damaged some how. Im going to pop in the cd and see if that does anything.
 

Mr. Lennon

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2004
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Well just went to the store and picked up a neopower 480, still no boot and hear the cd rom clicking. How could I fix a corrupted bios? (already tried putting the asus cd in there)
 
Jan 15, 2005
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Try resetting the cmos. There is a little jumper near the battery. Turn off your computer, unplug the power cord.. make sure there is ZERO power to the motherboard. Pop out the battery on the motherboard (they say to in the Asus manual anyway). Move the jumper from prongs 1 and 2 to 2 and 3. Let it sit for about 10 seconds, then switch the jumper back to prongs 1 and 2. Reinstall the battery, plug power back in, try booting up.
 

seattledesi

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Nov 16, 2004
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to clarify, you say you dont get a signal to the monitor.. how did you change bios settings then?

does the internal speaker beep a long time when posting? connect some speakers to the front audio out to hear post messages..

are you getting a "system failed vga test"?
 

Mr. Lennon

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2004
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Well tried it out, this time no clicking noise from the cdrom, but still no video. Im going to swap in another video card and see if the problem persists. If it does I think it might be the mobo.
 

Mr. Lennon

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2004
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Originally posted by: seattledesi
to clarify, you say you dont get a signal to the monitor.. how did you change bios settings then?

does the internal speaker beep a long time when posting? connect some speakers to the front audio out to hear post messages..

are you getting a "system failed vga test"?


It worked for a couple minutes then after I restarted, i was back to the same problems. I just plugged in the speaker and it does a long beep every 5 seconds.
 

Idleuser

Senior member
Sep 22, 2004
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sounds like a motherboard problem :( did you try reseating the cpu? sometimes motherboard are weird like that. My friends computer will beep with bios code but it's still dead after troubleshooting down to the last string..
 

Mr. Lennon

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Jul 2, 2004
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damn this is going to suck waiting for an RMA. I cant think of anything else that might fix it. Even thought I am not running SLI, I guess I can try plugging a molex into the EZ-plug to see if that helps anything.

update: tried the EZ-Plug, still long beeps every 5 seconds : (
 
Jan 15, 2005
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So.. nothing is turning on but fans and such? If so, I had this exact same problem after updating the bios using the Asus Update Utility. I tried everything; new PSU, resetting the cmos a hundred times, etc. Nothing seemed to work. Something went wrong that was unrecoverable. I had to RMA and be patient. Hope you have better luck though.
 

Mr. Lennon

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Jul 2, 2004
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Originally posted by: GodLovesPunk12345
So.. nothing is turning on but fans and such? If so, I had this exact same problem after updating the bios using the Asus Update Utility. I tried everything; new PSU, resetting the cmos a hundred times, etc. Nothing seemed to work. Something went wrong that was unrecoverable. I had to RMA and be patient. Hope you have better luck though.


I just updated my bios as well, but its been working for about 3 days after the update. Maybe now it just decided to give up. Ohwell. How long did it take for your RMA?
 
Jan 15, 2005
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Right before it stopped working, did you cut power to the motherboard.. like turn off your PSU using the back switch, or unplug the cable? Supposedly back when the board came out this was a problem after updating the bios using Asus Update Utility.. me and a few other people had this problem anyway. Concerning the RMA, it took about a week. I purchased my board thorugh Micer.com (was cheapest place at the time).. they were really nice and quick about the RMA.
 

Mr. Lennon

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2004
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Originally posted by: GodLovesPunk12345
Right before it stopped working, did you cut power to the motherboard.. like turn off your PSU using the back switch, or unplug the cable? Supposedly back when the board came out this was a problem after updating the bios using Asus Update Utility.. me and a few other people had this problem anyway. Concerning the RMA, it took about a week. I purchased my board thorugh Micer.com (was cheapest place at the time).. they were really nice and quick about the RMA.


Ahhh man thats exactly what I did! I bought it from Axent Micro and they say this: Item or items not found to be defective: Minimum 1 hour labor at $50.00/hr. So if they get it and it somehow works, those biatches are going to charge me $50 bucks! Im going to RMA it anyways and hopefully it will stay broken lol.
 

smc13

Senior member
Jan 5, 2005
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Did you switch the ez card around when you went from two video cards to one? Did you make sure it was in properly when you switched it around? The long beeps every 5 seconds sound to me like it is an ez card issue. You can boot up with it out if you are using one video card. Try it.
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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Originally posted by: Zeppelin2282
damn this is going to suck waiting for an RMA. I cant think of anything else that might fix it. Even thought I am not running SLI, I guess I can try plugging a molex into the EZ-plug to see if that helps anything.

update: tried the EZ-Plug, still long beeps every 5 seconds : (
You weren't using the EZ-Plug?! Instructions, man, read the instructions! :p

 

Mr. Lennon

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Jul 2, 2004
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I switched the EZ card around and it is properly seated. No where in the instructions does it say use the ezplug with a single card.
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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Originally posted by: Zeppelin2282
I switched the EZ card around and it is properly seated. No where in the instructions does it say use the ezplug with a single card.
Right. But you have (or had) two, didn't you? Anyway, carry on :p

 

Mr. Lennon

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2004
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Well after I clear CMOS it works for about 20 minutes, then back to the same symptoms. I just got in my ati x850xt pe and i cant even try it out. I hope asus doesnt take forever to return it back to me.