*** Official ASUS A7N8X/Deluxe (nForce2) Thread ***

[Atrail]

Originally posted by: PUN
I received the $79 refurb from newegg and here is my spec
AMD 1600XP @ 2000XP with retail HSF
768mb (512mb Crucial PC2700 + 256mb Corsair XMS PC2400)
Running at 6-3-3-2 @160mhz
40Gig Maxtor 7200rpm
52x CDRW
16x Toshiba DVD
SB Audigy2 Platinum

Thats a sweet deal!

 

[chizow]

Here's an XP fix to high IDE CPU utilization for those having HDD performance issues:

Fix and Discussion courtesy of John.

There seems to be some discord over its effectiveness, and I haven't tried it myself (my main array doesn't run through the IDE headers), but its worth a shot for those with issues.

 

[MARMADUKE]

I think the alt2 flash method is faulty on the 8rda, if any of you guys have had problems with the alt2 method please post in my 8rda bios thread with your thoughts.

 

[touchmyichi]

Something I don't like is how when you boot up this board it doesn't show the clock speed your processor is running at, just the model number. Is there anyway to show this?

 

[yomasterace]

any one know the current bios ver. ??? thanks just set up my board

 

[yomasterace]

Textshow the clock speed your processor is running at, just the model number. Is there anyway to show this?

hit the tab button on boot to see it it goes quick .maybe a setting in bios.any help

 

[yomasterace]

anyone know how to adjust fsb in bios 1mhz at a time ?the only options i see are 100,133,166.

 

[Oumouri]

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone is using the ATI all in wonder9700pro with ASUS A7N8X delux. I have tried and failed. I returned the card, but I would like to try again.
One of the problems I encountered is trying to update the MOBO BIOS. ASUS website is completely helpless, and I could not find a telephone number to call for support. I called ATI and someone there told me that they were not yet aware of any problem regarding the the ASUS A7N8X motherboard and their ATI AIW 9700PRO card. They suggested updating the BIOS. Oh well, that is almost an impossible task. The newest BIOS I could get anywhere matched the ones that came with board. Here is the version I have: ACPI BIOS Rev 1002.
I will very much appreciate any help I can get on this.
ThanksText

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: yomasterace
anyone know how to adjust fsb in bios 1mhz at a time ?the only options i see are 100,133,166.

Change your external frequency setting or cpu interface to "user defined"

Chiz

 

[yomasterace]

thanx for the tip Chiz

 

[iamfried]

I just got this board today and am having severe difficulties setting it up. Any help would be appreciated... Here was my purchases for the day and it doesn't work:
non deluxe bios = 1001.e
xp 2500+
2 * 512MB PC-3000
wd 80gb 8mb cache
ati 9700 pro and then some other minor pieces
So my problem is, I need to flash the bios before it will recognize the cpu. Therefore, I can't install an os b/c it says it is at 1100MHz. I downloaded the bios I needed and went to install it with a bootable floppy, it didn't work. It said that my floppy was not working, something like "boot device error, check cable".

So I thought it might be my new floppy drive (yeah, I checked cable directions and everything) so I put in my old floppy drive, same problem, so I swithced floppy cables, same problem...

So I figured, I would just blow off the whole floppy thing and install win2000 with the cdrom and worry about the floppy later. (When the bios boots, it recognizes the fact that I have a floppy, hard drive, and cd burner (all correctly recognized by the bios)

The windows startup begins, but then about 1 min into it, after it checks some things, it says that it couldn't find a hard drive on my computer and it exits and restarts my computer.

So what is my problem? Do I have a defective mother board?? Like the ide controller is bad??? but the bios recognizes everything???

One more thing, is there a tutorial on how to make a bootable cdrom (ie what files need to be put on the cdrom) so that I don't need the floppy anyways.

Any help would be appreciated.
One more thing, way at the beginning of my problems it gave me the error, floppy drive failure(40) what ever that means, but maybe that would help someone help me. It hasn't given me this error ever since I changed out the floppy...

GW

 

[touchmyichi]

Man guys I'm still having trouble getting my 8x burner to work. It is an old 'Ricoh' burner I got in 2000. I don't see any reason why this should work. I currently have it set to master and its the only drive in its channel. I installed the ASPI layer. I am also using the recommended 80 ide ribbon cable on it. Do you think this has something to do w/ my old burner? It worked fine on my old P3 system. If it does is there any good burner I should get that I would know for sure would work w/ this? Alright thanks for helping a total idiot lol.

 

[floccus]

What are the problems that you're having with the drive exactly?

What I mean is, does the BIOS recognize it as an optical device, does Windows recognize it?
More discreet information on the problem would really help us out.

Also, Lite-on makes really great drives that are pretty inexpensive. You could upgrade for about maybe $50 to one of the newest RW drives and gain the performance boost which is always nice.

 

[rickn]

any word on the Rev 2.0? I've been holding off getttng this board until a few revisions down the road

 

[J3anyus]

Originally posted by: rickn
any word on the Rev 2.0? I've been holding off getttng this board until a few revisions down the road

I've mostly heard it fixes problems people were having with the firewire. Other than that, no major changes AFAIK. My rev 1.06 is working fine for me, although I don't have any firewire devices to test that with.

Edit: Forgot to mention, Rev 2.0 is shipping now. A buddy of mine ordered a board from Newegg just a few days ago and received it on Friday, it was Rev 2.0. I guess Newegg has a few in stock and that other resellers will start stocking them soon also.

 

[touchmyichi]

floocus, I cannnot burn a single CD. IT can read CD's fine, just not write. Windows recognizes it and everything.

 

[FearoftheNight]

what kind of fsb can this board do generally? 200? 190s? 180s?

 

[floccus]

floocus, I cannnot burn a single CD. IT can read CD's fine, just not write. Windows recognizes it and everything.

For one.. its FLOCCUS, beyond that, is the buffer running low or does it not even start or what?

Just from what you've said so far I'd really recommend gettin a Lite-on drive, they're cheap and you'll appreciate the faster brun rates and read rates.

 

[touchmyichi]

I don't even think it starts floccus (haha sry about spelling ur name wrong). So do you have any other suggestions or should I just go out and get a Lite on?

 

[floccus]

With how cheap burners are becoming, I'd have to say just get a new one. Mine started wackin' out over the summer and I was able to get a sweet deal on a Samsung from Comp USA ($110 for the drive, $20 instant rebate, $60 in mail-in rebates). If you can't find a sweet deal like that then I would def. say get a Lite-on. Even for the fastest they're pretty cheap and very reliable. That, and once you move up, you wonder how you ever coped with 8X.

 

[Hikari]

I know I'm a few days late to reply, but... I noticed a 5% reduction in CPU usage. Not great, but beats nothing...

Originally posted by: chizow
Here's an XP fix to high IDE CPU utilization for those having HDD performance issues:

Fix and Discussion courtesy of John.

There seems to be some discord over its effectiveness, and I haven't tried it myself (my main array doesn't run through the IDE headers), but its worth a shot for those with issues.

 

[Hikari]

I have a problem w/intermittent detection of my 180GB WD too... So we're not alone, but I don't know exactly what is causing the problem. At least I almost never turn my computer off.

Check the jumper settings on the drive. It should be Cable select if there is another drive as slave on it's cable, but the jumper should be moved to the master position if its the only drive. CS by itself makes my drive think it's a single slave.

Not sure on the floppy. You're sure the cable is connected right, has power, etc.?

As for a bootable CD-ROM. Nero supports making them. You'll need to find a floppy image (www.bootdisk.com). I got a floppy image, and then edited it w/winimage (do another search) and dropped the award flash and the bios files into the image, made it a 2.88mb image, and burned to CD with Nero. Boots fine...

Originally posted by: iamfried
I just got this board today and am having severe difficulties setting it up. Any help would be appreciated... Here was my purchases for the day and it doesn't work:
non deluxe bios = 1001.e
xp 2500+
2 * 512MB PC-3000
wd 80gb 8mb cache
ati 9700 pro and then some other minor pieces
So my problem is, I need to flash the bios before it will recognize the cpu. Therefore, I can't install an os b/c it says it is at 1100MHz. I downloaded the bios I needed and went to install it with a bootable floppy, it didn't work. It said that my floppy was not working, something like "boot device error, check cable".

So I thought it might be my new floppy drive (yeah, I checked cable directions and everything) so I put in my old floppy drive, same problem, so I swithced floppy cables, same problem...

So I figured, I would just blow off the whole floppy thing and install win2000 with the cdrom and worry about the floppy later. (When the bios boots, it recognizes the fact that I have a floppy, hard drive, and cd burner (all correctly recognized by the bios)

The windows startup begins, but then about 1 min into it, after it checks some things, it says that it couldn't find a hard drive on my computer and it exits and restarts my computer.

So what is my problem? Do I have a defective mother board?? Like the ide controller is bad??? but the bios recognizes everything???

One more thing, is there a tutorial on how to make a bootable cdrom (ie what files need to be put on the cdrom) so that I don't need the floppy anyways.

Any help would be appreciated.
One more thing, way at the beginning of my problems it gave me the error, floppy drive failure(40) what ever that means, but maybe that would help someone help me. It hasn't given me this error ever since I changed out the floppy...

GW

 

[EGGHplayer]

Since I am a newbie I hope this posts to the right place. If not . . . hang loose.

I need info regarding the A7N8X. My recently installed EPoX 8RDA+ does not support full duples MIDI input and output; it renders my new system moot since I need it for music making. What can I do? Does the A7N8X or any other Asus board support MIDI full duplexing through the game port?

Thanks --

 

[iamfried]

Hikari, thanks for the information.
I thought that the motherboard might be bad so I took it back today and they were able to get it to work on their test bench so...
If anyone knows what I can do to get this thing working, please respond.
Right now all I have plugged in is my floppy drive, memory, cpu, and video card and when it boots, it says:
"Media test failure, check cable
Exiting NVIDIA boot agent
DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER"
I know the disk is good - it works in my other computer, and I have checked the cable repeatedly, please help me think of something I may have missed (ie a specific jumper or something)
GW

 

[patrickc]

Double check your cmos and make sure you have it set to boot from floppy? If the floppy drive is good, if the floppy is good and bootable, if the cable is good, if the cable is plugged in properly, then I would say it has to be the cmos setting or motherboard (having the cable plugged into the floppy backwards always seems to get me)...