Nothing but problems with ASUS

[Farabomb]

I thought ASUS boards were stable. I've had nothing but trouble with my a7v266-e. It was never really stable, I had problems with the BIOS and when I sent for a new BIOS chip they called back saying they had no more and I had to send the board back or hotflash it. Now I shut it down to change the fan on the heatsink (can't sleep with the delta anymore) and when I try to boot it up I get no video. WTF? I'm not ruling out me doing something wrong but I doubt it. Did I just get a bad board? I did nothing but take the hsf off and change the fan. I makes all the right noises and no error beeps while posting. I changed the vid card and nothing. With the radeon at least the monitor will click on and off when I hit reset. The pci matrox card I tried did nothing. I don't know what to do now but go buy a ABIT or Epox board and sent this p.o.s. back to ASUS and hope they don't rape me on the price to fix it. Any thoughts are welcome even outright laughter at my sorry arse. Thanks.

Alex :confused: :mad: :confused:

[mdzcpa]

Troubles like this are a real bummer for sure. But let's think this through. You're right, in and of itself, changing the HSF would not give you this trouble.

A few thoughts:

Remember, you should be getting at least the one "short beep" during boot indicating a good boot. You said you are getting all the right noises but no error beeps. If you are not getting the one short beep this would indicate that the mobo is powering up (fans running), but no CPU activity. And no CPU activity can only mean a few things. Dead CPU, a not properly seated CPU, an overheated CPU, or a short on the mobo.

When you changed the HSF did you get a good seating? Is it possible the HSF mount is uneven causing the CPU to overheat quickly (it only takes seconds)? Have you tried re-applying the HSF again? And if or when you do, check to make sure the core is not cracked?

Check to make sure the CPU is fully inserted into the socket. This is usually not a problem with the Asus mobos because they do not have the temp probe that "sticks up" like some other mobos, but worth the check.

Is it possible you have a short somewhere in the case on one of the studs? Maybe the slight jossling around of the system to remove/re-apply the HSF caused a previously bad mobo mounting to now short out. Check to make sure all your studs are in the right position.

Now if I misunderstood you and you are getting the one beep, I would have a bunch of very different suggestions for you. Let me know.

[Farabomb]

I'm not getting the beep but the cpu seems to be working. It gets up to 45 or so. At least thats what the tempprobe form the digidoc says. I've seen the problem where it's the board shortine out on the posts as a matter of fact Synthohol had that exact problem and his would'nt do anything. I'm going to try to take everything out today and test it on the bench not on the case. Thanks.

[jamal327]

First, mdzcpa is right check your cpu for burn marks, Thunderbird on top, XP's on bottom side. As far as the board goes stay away from ASUS my bro-in-law has an ASUS A7A266 been nothing but trouble the DDR slots don't work I't won't overclock even with the bridges fused from factory on the cpu. These boards are very poorly designed in my book, just my opnion. As far as a new board Abit is a good choice I perfer the SOYO DRAGON+,or the IWILL XP333. But more than likely you've blown the cpu. Check that then go from there.

[Pistol]

if you think your bios is bad you can get a new one from www.badflash.com and have them put any version you want on it

[Farabomb]

Well the CPU looks fine. No burn marks, no chips I've used a shim on this chip at all times (I look at my 800 and wonder how it boots) everything looks good. I hotflashed my bios using synthohols board so I don't think it's the bios. When I press the power button I get a short chirp, the monitor turns on then shuts off everything spins, HD led lights for a while then shuts off and I get nothing on the screen. I'm going to take the board out and start from scratch. Now if IS the board and not my dumb arse how can I recoup the loss? How much do you think ASUS will charge me? Will they even do it and I get to add a $160.00 MB to my collection of pistol targets? Any comments are welcome, Even outright laughter at my situation. Glad my ABIT still works. Might have to get one of them. Thanks ALL.

Alex :xthinker:

[Farabomb]

OK I'm not pissed at ASUS anymore. Now I have to be pissed at myself. I seemed to fry my CPU. My athlon 800 boots fine in the ASUS but the XP is dead. I'm taking the defroster paint off and seeinr if that's it. Well at least I can now say I burned a CPU. F$#@^* that cpu cost me $208.00 u.s. live and learn. AMD won't do anything for me will they? I seem to be at fault here but I can't really see how I did it. Well off to go get a 1600+ :xdunce: :xviolin:

[NorthernYankee]

Thats why i buy Retail CPU's, I burned an XP1600+ the day I got it and AMD sent me a new one FedEx Priority Overnight.

--NY

[Farabomb]

looks like I got to get a new one. Any suggestions where to get it? There is a comp show this weekend but I want to get one from a retailer on-line in case I have any probs. I will get a retail one now NY do you know of any good places in NJ? I want to get a new one tonight or at least get one in the mail tonight. Thanks

[Farabomb]

What CPU should I go for now? should I spend the $$ on a 1800+ or get a slower one and o/c it later? Anyone with suggestions on where to order it from. newegg.com has good prices and I see them lower on pricewatch but I don't want to get stuck with some shady retailer. I still have no Idea how I managed to fry the CPU adn it doesn't look like anything happened to it. Ive taken the hsf off and on a lot and I did it the same way but I guess I got unlucky. now what do I do with this hunk of $200 melted sand?

[mdzcpa]

Originally posted by Farabomb
now what do I do with this hunk of $200 melted sand?

It would make a really cool keychain!:)

Seriously, though, sorry to hear about your misfortune. Probably just a bad HSF installation. Sometimes its hard to line up the cut away from the HSF with the raised lip of the ZIF socket. It doesn't take much to cause a problem.

A few good reputable online retailes may be:
Monarch
Axion
ATACOM
Azzo

All these guys have taken RMA stuff from me without question in the past, and they have never screwed me on filling the order. No gaurantees, but these guys are pretty good.

[Farabomb]

I allready have allmost a whole computer on my keychain but it's all old stuff (486dx33 2meg edo ect.) Damn that's an expenisve keychain. I think going to order from newegg or pcnut.

[Farabomb]

well I got my 1600+ from newegg. It's not a agoga :( but it's running at 145 fsb. Something my 1800 would'nt do so I'm still very happy. Next I'll be asking how to go faster. Thanks All.