problems with first boot

[neilm]

From what I described on my previous msg, does that still give the indication of a dead motherboard?

 

[shootinyou]

Originally posted by: neilm

Originally posted by: shootinyou
As climb4 said, time for RMA, sounds like MB died.

Did you get power switch to work. BTW

Ya mean the F_PANEL pins correctly fitted? If so, yea, must have reinstalled those like 10 times, but when you turn on the only way to turn off is through the psu switch.

The motherboard seems like it is still running, hsf is spinning, case fan is spinning, ram led is on, power led is on.. wouldn't they be not working if the motherboard had died? I'm just wondering..

The funny thing is that I bought my motherboard a while back, about 3 months ago (stupid thing to do I know), but I emailed them requesting a RMA replacement, so hopefully they do get back to me with good news tomorrow morning.

When powering off from failed boot you need to push and hold power button in untill it powers off (4 ceconds I believe)

The motherboard could be shorting to the case somewhere, although not likely if it booted once. You could try removing the MB from the case, setting it on the MB box and try to boot out of the case. If F_Panel wiring isn't long enough you can short the 2 pwr button pins with a screw driver to pwr on.

I'm going to PM mechBgon and see if he can shed some light here.

 

[mechBgon]

Howdy nielm Good to see you picked high-quality hardware and not cheapie stuff, that's a good start. Here are a few shotgun brainstorms to check:

• Make sure your PS/2 keyboard is plugged into the "bottom" PS/2 port, the one closest to the surface of the mobo. It's usually color-coded green.
  
• I was poking along in the 8INXP manual for starters, because I already have it downloaded. Being a sister board to yours, this may be relevant:
  
  

  GA-8INXP includes 4 DIMM sockets, and each Channel has two DIMM sockets as following:
  
  Channel A : DIMM 1, DIMM 3
  Channel B : DIMM 2, DIMM 4
  
  If you want to operate the Dual Channel Technology, please note the following explanations
  due to the limitation of Intel chipset specifications.
  
  1. [When] Only one DDR memory module is installed: The Dual Channel Technology can't operate
  when only one DDR memory module is installed. Additionally, you can boot the system
  only when the memory module is inserted into Channel A. Meaning, the memory
  module must be inserted into DIMM1 or DIMM3 sockets.
  2. Two DDR memory modules are installed (the same memory size and type): The Dual
  Channel Technology will operate when two memory modules are inserted individually into
  Channel A and B. If you install two memory modules in the same channel, the Dual
  Channel Technology will not operate. pb]Additionally, you can boot the system only when
  one of the memory modules is inserted into Channel A[/b].

  So at least one memory module must be in Slot 1 or Slot 3. Slot 1 is the slot closest to the CPU, and the slots are numbered 2, 3, and 4 as you progress to the right. This could be something you've already got covered, but it looked like an easy thing to try.
  
• Secondly, do you have your 4-pin secondary power plug connected to the motherboard? This is the one with two black and two yellow wires and a square connector.
  
• Thirdly, do you have a 4-pin plug connected to the R9700 to provide its auxiliary power? Also, I know it's a bit obvious, but really seat that card in the slot firmly! New mobos' AGP slots can be stiff, and there are two layers of contacts in there, so don't be shy If you can see the gold contacts at the edge of your card, it's only halfway in.
  
• Fourthly, remove the Dual-Power card as a troubleshooting step. Some folks reported Trouble with their DPS on the 8INXP's, as I recall.
  
• If you have any of your extra fans plugged into the mobo's 3-pin fan headers, also disconnect them for now. They're low-rpm fans and sometimes motherboards get boggled by the very slow RPM signal. This includes the blue/black fan-RPM wire from your Antec power supply, disconnect it too.
  
• If you have your case's front-USB wiring plugged into the board, disconnect that for now also.

And if I were in your shoes, I would definitely do what shootinyou is suggesting:

The mother could be shorting to the case somewhere, although not likely if it booted once. You could try removing the MB from the case, setting it on the MB box and try to boot out of the case. If F_Panel wiring isn't long enough you can short the 2 pwr button pins with a screw driver to pwr on.

If none of that works, you might try the DualBIOS recovery method described in your manual, which uses the backup BIOS chip. If the regular one were corrupted, this might help.

 

[neilm]

Okay, I sent my base unit to a local computer shop to see if they can find anything and solve the mysteries problem, I'll be picking it back up tomorrow morning.
Also the reply got back for my RMA request, and they said okay since it is under warranty BUT, they said they are sending it to the manufacturers for repair and will take about 4-6 WEEKS! and to make it worse I have to pay for shipping and returns, so that would be a last resort

Edit: If there is anything else you can think of or even know what the cause might be, I'd be happy to hear them.

Originally posted by: shootinyou
When powering off from failed boot you need to push and hold power button in untill it powers off (4 ceconds I believe)

The motherboard could be shorting to the case somewhere, although not likely if it booted once. You could try removing the MB from the case, setting it on the MB box and try to boot out of the case. If F_Panel wiring isn't long enough you can short the 2 pwr button pins with a screw driver to pwr on.

I'm going to PM mechBgon and see if he can shed some light here.

Yea, held the button for ages and nothing seemed to happen, pressing reset button just made the power light turn off and on again.

I tried last night taking the motherboard out of the case, I put it on the table over its orginal protective wrapping, there wasn't any change I'm afraid to say. That was when I tried to see if it would beep when having no ram and no video card installed, never beeped.

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Howdy nielm Good to see you picked high-quality hardware and not cheapie stuff, that's a good start. Here are a few shotgun brainstorms to check:

• Make sure your PS/2 keyboard is plugged into the "bottom" PS/2 port, the one closest to the surface of the mobo. It's usually color-coded green.
  
• I was poking along in the 8INXP manual for starters, because I already have it downloaded. Being a sister board to yours, this may be relevant:
  
  So at least one memory module must be in Slot 1 or Slot 3. Slot 1 is the slot closest to the CPU, and the slots are numbered 2, 3, and 4 as you progress to the right. This could be something you've already got covered, but it looked like an easy thing to try.
  
• Secondly, do you have your 4-pin secondary power plug connected to the motherboard? This is the one with two black and two yellow wires and a square connector.
  
• Thirdly, do you have a 4-pin plug connected to the R9700 to provide its auxiliary power? Also, I know it's a bit obvious, but really seat that card in the slot firmly! New mobos' AGP slots can be stiff, and there are two layers of contacts in there, so don't be shy If you can see the gold contacts at the edge of your card, it's only halfway in.
  
• Fourthly, remove the Dual-Power card as a troubleshooting step. Some folks reported Trouble with their DPS on the 8INXP's, as I recall.
  
• If you have any of your extra fans plugged into the mobo's 3-pin fan headers, also disconnect them for now. They're low-rpm fans and sometimes motherboards get boggled by the very slow RPM signal. This includes the blue/black fan-RPM wire from your Antec power supply, disconnect it too.
  
• If you have your case's front-USB wiring plugged into the board, disconnect that for now also.

And if I were in your shoes, I would definitely do what shootinyou is suggesting:

If none of that works, you might try the DualBIOS recovery method described in your manual, which uses the backup BIOS chip. If the regular one were corrupted, this might help.

I stuck in no ram, no beep.
I stuck in one ram stick in ddr1, 2, 3, 4 slots, no beep.
I stuck in two ram sticks in ddr1, 2, no beep.
Only time it beeped was when I had fresh out of case ram installed, that was until I got that dos display (pasted it a few messages ago).

I forgot to see if there were any gold contacts showing in the R9700NP, but I did press with some force to make sure everything was installed. But it was showing a screen when I had a new piece of ram in, so shouldn't be that I would think.

I didn't see any dual-power cards, but when I get it back I'll be sure to look more deeply.

Testing fans with none plugged in (motherboard and psu), still no joy.

I disconnected everything apart from CPU/HSF, RAM, Video card, PSU. Nothing

It should have automatically went into the backup BIOS, it says in the manual if I read right.

The mainboard will operate normally with the main BIOS, however, if the main BIOS is corrupt or damaged for various reasons, the backup BIOS will be automatically used when the system powered-On. Your PC will operate as before the main BIOS was damaged and is completely transparent to the user.

I wanna thank you all for the help so for, it really is appreicated

 

[mechBgon]

One more quick suggestion: confirm that the voltage switch on the outside rear of the power supply is set for the proper voltage (since you're in the UK, this is 220V, correct?).

 

[neilm]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
One more quick suggestion: confirm that the voltage switch on the outside rear of the power supply is set for the proper voltage (since you're in the UK, this is 220V, correct?).

No red switch on the psu like you see in enermax, but I read what was on the label and it said something like
AC Input
230V/5A
So that would make it okay I assume.


This is a big update here, please read
The local shop just got back to me, says the motherboard works fine.. and he seems to think there is a incompatibility issue with the motherboard and my memory (WHAT??), he tried my memory on his machine they worked, he tried my motherboard on different memory it worked.

Why is this? I read Evan's review and he used pc3200 corsair memory (or was he using the ULTRA2 board?), but it still says on my box it supports DDR400. What should I do here?

 

[mechBgon]

I think you're up against a little impasse that also affects some nForce2 and i865/i875 owners: you need to manually slacken the memory timings, but to do that, you need to be able to get into the BIOS.

Buy a third stick of DDR400 that comes programmed with slacker timings than your LL stuff, and use it just to get into the BIOS and manually set the timings and raise the memory voltage to 2.7 volts. Then put in your low-latency modules instead of this other module. Alternately, ask the shop if they will manually set your RAM timings to 2.5-3-3-8 and your voltage to 2.7-2.8 volts using their memory, and see if it will subsequently run the LL modules.

If it were me, I'd get that third DDR400 module so you have it on hand if you need it. Crucial PC3200 comes programmed with looser timings, and is easy to get, so that's my first pick. Good luck!

 

[shootinyou]

neilm, I wonder if its something with the PSUs main MB or aux connectors.

Look at both plugs to see that all of the wires are still in place, and the MB
pins as well.

(edit) OOhh I think Mech just nailed it. I was just reading this again at ABXzone.
I forgot till I read Mech's post.

 

[neilm]

Thanks guys, that seems to be the problemo. I think I may take your advice and get a 3rd stick of RAM (will any of these do? [one] [two])

I was in BIOS an hour ago, must have changed something when I exited, cause now I can't post... least I know what the problem is, but seriously, is it always going to be this unstable or will there be a BIOS update to fix this nightmare?


Hehe, my first ever build, who would've guessed things would go upside down. Think I gain a lot of experience trouble shooting through the setup which is a plus I guess. But have to say if none here answered I would have been really stuck!

 

[shootinyou]

Hey neilm,

Glad to here it posted, I'd go with choice #2 for memory, you shouldn't need the ECC stuff.

There may be a bios update already out to fix this issue, check Gigabyte's web site.
if not post back and I'll see what I can find.

Sucks to happen on first build, but a great way to learn albeit stressfull.