• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Oh NOOOO! I think I fried my MSI 845 Ultra-ARU last night!

P

Pauli

Senior member
Well, I was screwing around with my 1.6A system last night, trying to overclock higher than the 2.133Ghz that has been running incredibly stable for the past few weeks. I suspected my 2 256MB sticks of Kingston RAM were the reason I could not go any higher than 137FSB, so I set the FSB to 140 and upped the RAM voltage from 2.5 to 2.6 and took out one stick of the RAM. No luck - it crashed in 3DMark after 5 seconds or so. Then, I switched that stick with the other and turned on the machine. What? No video? So I go to look inside the case and am greeted with the smell of fried electronics! I kill power immediately and then am thinking AWWWWW! Then I notice the stick of RAM was not fully seated. I'm thinking, god, what have I done?

Since that incident, I have tried many things but have unable to get the machine to fully boot, except from floppy to a DOS prompt or the Win98 DOS prompt only mode. And finally, after much trying, I can't even get the machine to POST at all.

Here is what I have tried:
After making sure the RAM was installed correctly, I proceeded to try and get everything going again. I was somewhat encouraged because the machine would get to the Win98 logo screen but then would hang there. First, I physically removed every card except for video. Reboot after reboot, I tried many things, but they all failed. I tried moving memory from the first slot to the second. I cleared the BIOS settings. Sometimes I would get through the memory test, sometimes not. Finally, I just cannot get the machine to POST. The diagnostic LEDs indicate that a failure has occurred during the RAM recognition. No RAM slot seems to work now with either of the 2 sticks that I have. I am thinking I need a new motherboard, but it could also be the RAM that is to blame. I'm not sure. Can anyone help me out here?

I feel like I just got knocked to the ground with a blow to the head :-(
 
I would check to see if it's the HD first, you might get lucky. Overclocking can kill hd's sometimes, and the smell of smoke would only usualy come from you power supply or the HD.
 
Clear the Cmos with a jumper pin, or take the battery out for a few seconds to clear it and load defaults.
Try booting then.
 
bdog231 - I don't think it's the harddrive because I tried a couple of different ones (both configured for that machine) with the same result. The second one was not even in the machine when I fried it. Also, I replaced the Power Supply and it made no difference, although I believe the smell did appear to be coming from the original PS (that's why I replaced it in the first place).

billyjak - Yeah, I cleared the CMOS several times and reloaded defaults, but still was not able to boot.

Good suggestions though, thanks guys. Man this is depressing. Looks like I'm going to have to shell out another $150 buck for a new board. Stupid me. I should have just enjoyed the great overclock I had instead of being greedy and trying for more. I blame all of the people here who have been getting 2.4Ghz (and up) on their 1.6As;-)
 
Update: I bit the bullet and hopped on over to Fry's and bought a new MSI 845 Ultra-ARU and replaced my old one with it ---- and everything booted up just fine. So, I guess the board really is fried. Thank god the RAM sticks still work. That stupid move of not making sure the RAM was completely in place cost me US$150 :-/
 


<< That stupid move of not making sure the RAM was completely in place cost me US$150 :-/ >>


But a thumb's-up for having the integrity to accept responsibility. Far too many people would try to return the board even knowing it's their fault.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top