boot problem (another one)

Hi,

similar messages have been posted but mine is when pc will not boot.
fans are working on processor, graphic card but no display and no m/b
beeps. updated bios, removed second stick of ram, disconnected 2nd
drive and 2nd opitcal drive.

after switching on ten times it springs into life

puzzelled. initial problem was blue screen in bf2 about a month ago.

any suggestions?

a7v880
ati 9600xt
amd 3200 xp

In article .com,
wrote:

Hi,

similar messages have been posted but mine is when pc will not boot.
fans are working on processor, graphic card but no display and no m/b
beeps. updated bios, removed second stick of ram, disconnected 2nd
drive and 2nd opitcal drive.

after switching on ten times it springs into life

puzzelled. initial problem was blue screen in bf2 about a month ago.

any suggestions?

a7v880
ati 9600xt
amd 3200 xp

Does that thing have a power supply ? You should list the
model number, and if possible, the current ratings printed
on the label (3.3@30A 5V@25A 12V@15A and so on).

Run Asus Probe and see what the readings are for 3.3V, 5V,
and 12V supply. If any of those are low by 5% or more, that
would contribute to your problem.

Paul

Hi,

300w Power supply is as follows 5v @ 25A, 3.3V @ 6A, 12V @ 10A

Pcprobe reports back everything ok.

On my latest re-boot, initially the processor was detected by bios as
1100Mhz and not the 2200Mhz (AMD 3200+). So i re-boot and it then
detected the processor correctly.

Beginnging to think the processor might be on its way out! Took about
8 times today before system detected everything ok.

In article ,
lid (d.blakemore) wrote:

Hi,300w Power supply is as follows 5v @ 25A, 3.3V @ 6A, 12V @ 10A
Pcprobe reports back everything ok. On my latest re-boot, initially
the processor was detected by bios as 1100Mhz and not the 2200Mhz
(AMD 3200+). So i re-boot and it thendetected the processor correctly.
Beginnging to think the processor might be on its way out! Took about
8 times today before system detected everything ok.

I've been looking at a picture of the motherboard for a few minutes,
and I cannot tell if the processor vcore switching regulator uses
+5V or +12V. Now, logically speaking, it would be pretty stupid
to power a high end AthlonXP processor via a single +12V pin, so
that means Asus likely uses +5V there. Your power supply has
the rating I would look for, namely 25 amps on +5V, to comfortably
run a good video card and a 3200+, with some dual channel memory.
(The 12V @ 10A would not be good for a P4 processor, so that power
supply is truly "AthlonXP only ready".)

In terms of your symptoms, the operation at 1100MHz, was the
BIOS recovering from a crash. The BIOS uses safe settings if
it thinks the computer crashed during the previous session.
So, it might be easy to explain a startup at 1100MHz. That
would be the fixed multiplier of 11x, combined with a clock
choice of 100MHz.

Your problem description reads like a power supply problem.
Maybe the power supply got fried by the loading of playing
BF2, or perhaps it was the combination of that load, plus
not enough air moving through the PSU. I tend to think
PSUs have gone a bit too far, reducing the fan speed, to
keep noise low, and the elevated temperature does not help
component life inside the PSU.

Try the following experiment (as I'm running out of things to
suggest). Download and install Asus Probe. Go to support.asus.com,
click download, type in "tools" as the name of the motherboard,
and you can get the latest version from the software listed 2.24.10.
Start up Asus Probe. Read and record the +3.3V, +5V, and +12V.
They should not dip more than 5%. The lowest acceptable voltages
would be 3.14V, 4.75V, and 11.4V. One output will have more loading
than the other two, and that might indicate which rail is used
to power the processor.

Now, download a copy of Prime95 from mersenne.org . Install and
select "torture test" from the options. (You could also use CPUburn
or a similar 100% CPU loading program, if they are easier to use.)
When the program starts to run, have a look at Asus Probe again.
Have any of the voltages gone out of spec ? One rail should really
be getting hammered at this point - but it must pass the voltage
spec.

What I'm trying to do here, is collect some evidence the power
supply is defective. If the PSU simply refuses to fall over
with this kind of testing, and yet you have startup problems,
it could be a bad motherboard. But the odds say, motherboards
are way more reliable than power supplies, so suspect the power
supply first. If you have a spare ATX PSU, by all means swap it
in, even if only to prove that the computer can be started into
the BIOS without a problem. I don't really want to send you to the
store, just blindly replacing the power supply, unless you can find
some kind of proof that it really needs to be replaced. Building
your own computer isn't a lot of fun, if you have to buy two
of everything - ask me how I know that :-(

Paul

Thanks very much for your comments.

Could be the PSU and i'll try your sugegstions above.

Might also be the GPU as i cannot play any 3D game longer than 15mins
before the system freezes.

I also download asus smartdoctor and it reports back that the voltage
is not correct but becuase the system is flashing (as in the
smartdoctor pop-up) i cannot clearly identify which voltage is
problematic.

This suggests as you say its either graphic card or PSU - but which
one?

Once again thanks for your comments.

In article . com,
wrote:

Thanks very much for your comments.

Could be the PSU and i'll try your sugegstions above.

Might also be the GPU as i cannot play any 3D game longer than 15mins
before the system freezes.

I also download asus smartdoctor and it reports back that the voltage
is not correct but becuase the system is flashing (as in the
smartdoctor pop-up) i cannot clearly identify which voltage is
problematic.

This suggests as you say its either graphic card or PSU - but which
one?

Once again thanks for your comments.

You could try pulling the 20 pin power supply connector,
then reseat it, making sure the latch is engaged. That
would be a possible reason for a low supply reading
(connector not fully seated).

I don't know anything about Smart Doctor, as to whether there
is a way to get the main window to show up, instead of some
kind of alarm popup.

If Asus Probe is giving good readings for the ATX PSU, then
it could be your video card.

The video card draws little power, and uses 24W under load. It
uses 3.5 amps from +3.3V pins in the AGP slot, which is quite
reasonable. At least it should not be the source of a voltage
problem, but it could be the victim of a problem else where
in the system.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...wercons_9.html

If the video card has a fan, check that it is spinning when you
are using it. You might also want to pull the video card, and
visually check that the heatsink is making contact with the GPU.

Paul

"" wrote:
Hi,

similar messages have been posted but mine is when pc will not
boot.
fans are working on processor, graphic card but no display and
no m/b
beeps. updated bios, removed second stick of ram, disconnected
2nd
drive and 2nd opitcal drive.

after switching on ten times it springs into life

puzzelled. initial problem was blue screen in bf2 about a
month ago.

any suggestions?

a7v880
ati 9600xt
amd 3200 xp

Interesting that you mention when the system is powered up that there
is no picture. How many beeps exactly?
Your motherboard manual will tell you what those beeps mean.
Did you say you have tested the system with another video card?

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"" wrote:
Hi,

similar messages have been posted but mine is when pc will not
boot.
fans are working on processor, graphic card but no display and
no m/b
beeps. updated bios, removed second stick of ram, disconnected
2nd
drive and 2nd opitcal drive.

after switching on ten times it springs into life

puzzelled. initial problem was blue screen in bf2 about a
month ago.

any suggestions?

a7v880
ati 9600xt
amd 3200 xp

I would like to suggest an experiment that techs use.
It’s called the exchange experiment, especially when it comes to
power
supplies......
If it’s in doubt try the exchange experiment to rule it out
I realise not everyone have components they can install just to
test the
system but sometimes it’s very handy...

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Articles individually checked for conformance to usenet standards
Topic URL: http://www.hardwareforumz.com/ASUS-b...pict60857.html
Visit Topic URL to contact author (reg. req'd). Report abuse: http://www.hardwareforumz.com/eform.php?p=308736