Replacing the BIOS on my A8R32-MVP

[VERTIGGO]

Recently my pc wouldn't boot, it would just power on and wait, no display, beep or HDD activity as far as I could tell.

I have a replacement BIOS chip, but before I break everything down again, is there anything else that might be wrong? I've been running every component on my other motherboard just fine. Is it likely that the entire motherboard just went bad?

 

[ch33zw1z]

In your situation, there could be any number of faulty devices causing it to do this. What you need to do is unplug everything not required to boot. IE: hdd, cdrom, floppy. What you NEED to boot the pc is the memory, cpu, vga, and obviously the power sup. Do that and see what you get, if still the same issue then start pulling required devices to see if the board will give POST errors.

 

[motorbikeking1]

i had that problem a few months ago, turned out to be a faulty stick of ram, helps to have some spair parts to check with. if you can, use different parts and see if it boots, then replace them one by one and then when it fails you found the problem.

 

[VERTIGGO]

I don't know if you misread, but I'm running every other component perfectly fine on my other (A8N32) mobo right now. It seriously doubt the ram or other peripheral. I'm just asking if on a motherboard that the BIOS could burn out without other parts of the mobo being damaged.

The situation was that I plugged in one of those 24 pin adapters that lets a mobo connect to 2 power supplies (250W thermaltake dedicated GPU power). I plugged it in correctly before giving the rig any juice, but that's all I think of as the cause.

 

[motorbikeking1]

it can be the ram, thats what my problem was. just try spair components (if you have any) and check every component. its best to be thorough when your pc is faulty, even the most unsuspected components can be the cause sometimes.

 

[VERTIGGO]

But I'm using the ram right now! Is there something you're getting at I don't understand?

 

[ch33zw1z]

Vertiggo, that detail is easily overlooked in your original post. If you're running everything in another mobo with no problems, then why are you posting this thread! If you're not getting ANY POST errors with nothing installed then the boards dead. You can swap out the BIOS EEPROM whenever you want and THEN try to get POST errors again. There's no need to install anything, either the symptom changes or it doesn't.

 

[VERTIGGO]

because I have one CPU. I don't want to break down my only rig only to find that I have to rebuild it again. I'm not worried about windows, I just think if it's a waste of time trying a new BIOS chip and ruin my paste job and hardware install, then I won't bother.

 

[ch33zw1z]

ok, so what am I not clear on. As I understand it, right now with only the PSU plugged into your possibly bad mobo, you get no POST errors. correct? Also, you currently have all your parts installed in another mobo, with the problem mobo having nothing installed anymore. You don't NEEEED to put anything in the problem mobo to see if the symptoms change. With absolutely nothing installed in the problem mobo(other than power supply) you will get POST errors when missing critical components, including CPU, RAM, and VGA. So basically, if your symptom does not change with the new BIOS chip(AKA STILL NO POST ERRORS), then you can be sure the mobo is having more problems than that. Therefore, you won't have to tear down the current install AT ALL.

 

[VERTIGGO]

The bad one didn't try to POST at all. And it has nothing plugged into it right now. I can't attempt a boot without my CPU in it. That means a transplant with my working mobo. That means a potentially tremendous waste of time effort and AS5, especially if there's another way to test that the mobo isn't burned out before going to the trouble of ruining my current setup.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Originally posted by: VERTIGGO
The bad one didn't try to POST at all. And it has nothing plugged into it right now. I can't attempt a boot without my CPU in it. That means a transplant with my working mobo. That means a potentially tremendous waste of time effort and AS5, especially if there's another way to test that the mobo isn't burned out before going to the trouble of ruining my current setup.

That's what I'm saying. You don't NEED the CPU to test the board. Just a power supply. A missing CPU will return POST errors, which means a change in symptom...which means the BIOS EEPROM would be the problem and you fixed it. Do you have a spare power supply?

 

[VERTIGGO]

oh thanks! I had no idea I've never tried that. And yes I can plug in a PSU to it. I'll try that.

 

[VERTIGGO]

well i tested many times, and I'm pretty sure the board is "dead" as in SB failure or burnout of some component. No POST, display, beep, or anything. tried multiple video cards (that I know are good), 1, 2, and 0 ram sticks, cpu and no cpu, and no change. It just sits there, with the GPU dustbusting away, but no POSTing or beeping (i did plug in a speaker).

While I'm at it, do you guys recommend the P5K Deluxe at this point for crossfire? I'd probably go all the way to SLI, but I just bought the 2900, and it's not bad.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Good troubleshooting :thumbsup: I can offer no advice on the P5K Deluxe though, I haven't upgraded in a long time.

 

[VERTIGGO]

I guess I should give a sort of warning because of my experience with this:

I installed the THERMALTAKE 250W dedicated GPU power supply, and when I used the included 24 pin adapter and correctly installed the 4 pin to the 4 pin etc., my motherboard became toast. I know it's probably my fault, but I'm still leery of trying that adapter again. My workaround was just to short out the black and green wires on the 4 pin of the Thermaltake, and remember to hit the extra power switch along with that of my main PSU.