A7N8X Deluxe board Random Power On

Since new I have had to use a combination of the reset and pwr buttons
to get this pc to boot. Any Idea's would be appreciated. thx, John

JohnD wrote:
Since new I have had to use a combination of the reset and pwr buttons
to get this pc to boot. Any Idea's would be appreciated. thx, John

Eh?

Do you mean that it doesn't power up, or that the screen doesn't initialise?

The screen initialisation is a known problem.

What Rev board do you have?

Ben
--
I'm not just a number. To many, I'm known as a String...

"Ben Pope" wrote in message
...
JohnD wrote:
Since new I have had to use a combination of the reset and pwr
buttons
to get this pc to boot. Any Idea's would be appreciated. thx,
John

Eh?

That sounds odd. I really doubt this is it, but i've seen a couple
instances where a faulty power or reset switch causes problems,
especially if a wire may have been bent sharply or something.

Try each switch(the power and reset switches are exactly the same)
separately on the PWR Switch pins without the reset hooked up.

Any difference?
jody

"Ben Pope" wrote in message ...
JohnD wrote:
Since new I have had to use a combination of the reset and pwr buttons
to get this pc to boot. Any Idea's would be appreciated. thx, John

Eh?

Do you mean that it doesn't power up, or that the screen doesn't initialise?

The screen initialisation is a known problem.

What Rev board do you have?

Ben

I will check on the rev. I have the pwr supply switch set to ON. When
I press the "On" button on the front of my case nothing happens.
After hitting the reset and On buttons randomly it will pwr on and
boot. I have just left the pc running basicly for weeks, but thats
the deal. thx

JohnD wrote:
I will check on the rev. I have the pwr supply switch set to ON. When
I press the "On" button on the front of my case nothing happens.
After hitting the reset and On buttons randomly it will pwr on and
boot. I have just left the pc running basicly for weeks, but thats
the deal. thx


Then I would suspect a problem with your PSU - either under rated (not able
to supply enough current) or something causing it to give less current than
it should... additionally, it could be the power on circuitry.

If you connect pin 14 to either 15 or 13 of the PSU ATX connector, does it
switch on consistantly?

http://www.hardwarebook.net/connecto.../atxpower.html

If it doesn't, then it's a PSU problem, otherwise it could be a lack of
current, or dodgy connections to the power/reset switches (possibly on the
motherboard, but not especially likely).

Ben
--
I'm not just a number. To many, I'm known as a String...

May I learn a bit more about this known problem ?

Thanks


Do you mean that it doesn't power up, or that the screen doesn't
initialise?

The screen initialisation is a known problem.

What Rev board do you have?

Ben

Zantafio wrote:
May I learn a bit more about this known problem ?

Don't have anything you can go away and read up about... but it's not the
first time I've heard it. It also happened on the first A7N8X I had, which
I got for a system I was building for a friend. Not had any time to have a
look at it.

Ben
--
I'm not just a number. To many, I'm known as a String...

Mine behaves strangely. Dunno if it's a problem of PSU or MoBo or disk.
Sometimes it says cpu fan failed then doesn't boot (no vid) or the video
keeps blank and typing the password it boots (blind), sometimes not.
Sometimes, it doesn't detect IDE drives, either with or without video. This
lasted for ten days two weeks ago and disappeared.
Sometimes the screen gets blank for 1 or 2 seconds during a session then
recovers.
I disconnected about half of the load (all SCSI drives, CD burner & CR Rom)
this didn't change anything. The steady-state voltages are within the
specified ranges (3-1/2 digit multimeter). Dunno about surges because the
board sinks a high current and might create voltage drops or ringing while
powering the MoBo On. I don't have an oscilloscope available to make the
test. Would like to find the electrical specs of the board !

Anyway, I'm far of being satisfied with this board. Too much heat from the
CPU (2400+) albeit well ventilated. The case must remain open. The 3COM lan
port doesn't work when the NVidia is enabled. I've the random problems
described above. No BSODs but random freezes, especially under IE 5.5 no
kbd, no mouse, no network. I can't install the Nvidia drivers (from the Asus
CDROM) on a fresh Win98 SE (on a separate partition), ... However it worked
the first time when the system was pristine. Today, the suspend button
doesn't suspend !

Very badly documented, problems are recurrent from the first rev to the
newer ones. Some softwares aren't supported by the NForce 2 chipset (Maxtor
PowerMax for example So I can't check my disks). The Asus site sucks. Never
they answer.

I've spent tens of hours on different sites. Everywhere this the same sounds
and feelings.



"Ben Pope" a écrit dans le message news:
...
Zantafio wrote:
May I learn a bit more about this known problem ?

Don't have anything you can go away and read up about... but it's not the
first time I've heard it. It also happened on the first A7N8X I had,
which
I got for a system I was building for a friend. Not had any time to have
a
look at it.

Ben
--
I'm not just a number. To many, I'm known as a String...

Gino Zantafio wrote:
Mine behaves strangely. Dunno if it's a problem of PSU or MoBo or
disk. Sometimes it says cpu fan failed then doesn't boot (no vid) or
the video keeps blank and typing the password it boots (blind),
sometimes not. Sometimes, it doesn't detect IDE drives, either with
or without video. This lasted for ten days two weeks ago and
disappeared.
Sometimes the screen gets blank for 1 or 2 seconds during a session
then recovers.

Up to here I would say PSU.

I disconnected about half of the load (all SCSI drives, CD burner &
CR Rom) this didn't change anything. The steady-state voltages are
within the specified ranges (3-1/2 digit multimeter). Dunno about
surges because the board sinks a high current and might create
voltage drops or ringing while powering the MoBo On. I don't have an
oscilloscope available to make the test. Would like to find the
electrical specs of the board !

When you remove load and still get the same problems with the same
regularity... possibly not PSU. At least.. the cpu can probably handle the
load - it could still be a dry joint in the psu or something.

Anyway, I'm far of being satisfied with this board. Too much heat
from the CPU (2400+) albeit well ventilated.

And thats board related?

The case must remain open.
The 3COM lan port doesn't work when the NVidia is enabled.

Have I spoken to you about this before? I still reckon it's likely to be
the routing table configuration in the bios. For example, when I enable a
certain combination of the NICs, it doesn't attempt to access the internet
through my dialup, prefering to attempt to use one of the NICs. This is a
problem with the routing table in Win2K... It's setting up the masks wrong
and using my NIC as a gateway, not my modem.

I've
the random problems described above. No BSODs but random freezes,
especially under IE 5.5 no kbd, no mouse, no network

You done a memtest86 on it to confirm memory stability?

I can't install
the Nvidia drivers (from the Asus CDROM) on a fresh Win98 SE (on a
separate partition), ... However it worked the first time when the
system was pristine. Today, the suspend button doesn't suspend !

You shopuldn't really be using Win98 these days, it's atrocious in
comparison to Win2K/XP. The memory management is poor, resources low and
stability is questionable.

Very badly documented

? Manual seems pretty complete to me.

problems are recurrent from the first rev to
the newer ones.

Yes, that is annoying, but I think some of the problems are software related
(some of which should be fixed in the 3.13s).

Some softwares aren't supported by the NForce 2
chipset (Maxtor PowerMax for example So I can't check my disks).

OK, but pretty rare.

The Asus site sucks. Never they answer.

Given, they could do some load balancing or something - having their website
throw SQL errors at you is annoying. As to support, you either need to RMA
the board or come here or nForcersHQ for advice.

I've spent tens of hours on different sites. Everywhere this the same
sounds and feelings.

Only from the people that are not happy with their board. There are many
people who do not need to go to these forums to complain, because their
board works flawlessly. My board hasn't caused me any problems whatsoever.

Ben
--
I'm not just a number. To many, I'm known as a String...

Lots of clues I've to investigate. I print out your message to process it
during the week.
Thanks

"Ben Pope" a écrit dans le message news:
...
Gino Zantafio wrote:
Mine behaves strangely. Dunno if it's a problem of PSU or MoBo or
disk. Sometimes it says cpu fan failed then doesn't boot (no vid) or

[ snip ]

Only from the people that are not happy with their board. There are many
people who do not need to go to these forums to complain, because their
board works flawlessly. My board hasn't caused me any problems
whatsoever.

Ben
--
I'm not just a number. To many, I'm known as a String...