MSI Neo2 Fis2r

[Prok]

I recently purchased an MSI Neo2 Fis2r board with a 2.6ghz p4. I installed the MSI Live Update 3 from their website and proceeded to find new drivers for the board. The first one that I found was for the bios, to update it from v 1.0 to v 1.5 MSI's program recommended to update the bios through windows and to make a recovery disk - I did this. After updating the bios I restarted my computer to find an immediate error stating "cmos settings wrong". I checked them and loaded the default settings in the bios. After restarting again I found the same error message, this time followed with a "boot disk error" - Windows XP would no loner load. So... I proceeded to use the recovery disk I had created a few minutes earlier. This did not help, I only received the same results. I cleared the cmos, I even pulled out the batteries. The bios would continue to post, it even had the updated version listed! Using another computer I followed MSI's recovery instructions, none of which worked (loading the bios through a floppy). I thought that was bad, but it gets worse. At this point my bios won't even post. My computer turns on, no beeps or anything, the monitor displays nothing. So now that someone may have actually read through my entire post (which I appreciate greatly!), has anyone had a similar experience, or any advice for me? The board is only two days old. While it made good benchmarks, I am hesitant to replace it with the same board for fear of going through the same thing with something else... Thanks.

 

[ChipDeath]

hmmm... if it now won't POST at all, I'm afraid you'll probably either have to RMA the board, or you might be able to actually order another BIOS chip (from MSI, or there are companies that specialise in this sort of thing), & replace yours.

Flashing the BIOS is only really necessary if you have a specific problem which you find is fixed in a later BIOS, or you're <i>very</i> into overclocking and read that a particular BIOS is better than your current one.
As you've sadly discovered, when it goes wrong it's not a pretty sight :frown: .

When you've got it sorted, do chipset & display driver updates whenever you like, but don't flash the BIOS unless you know you have to.

Sorry I can't really help beyond this, but I think it sounds beyond easy recovery (the chip is probably physically fine, but the data on it is junk).

[EDIT]
It's not that you've acidentally left the CLEAR CMOS jumper in the wrong position is it? it might not boot at all if you've left it in the reset position....
[/EDIT]

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<font color=red>The preceding text is assembled from information stored in an unreliable organic storage medium. As such it may be innacurate, incomplete, or completely wrong</font color=red> <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by ChipDeath on 10/01/03 04:10 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Prok]

Funny that you mention the cmos jumpers. I did forget once to put it back into the memory retain position once and it wouldn't turn on. But no, it is in the correct position now and the bios still doesn't post. Thanks for the advice though.

 

[simleep]

Sad to say I have had similar problems with this mobo. In fact to date I have had to send the board back to MSI 3 times to have them fix the bios.
One particular problem I had was after flashing the bios the computer failed to post and I had a blank screen (sound familiar). In my case it eventually turned out that with the new BIOS version, my corsair memory became incompatible. Took me ages to track the problem down, and had to manually set the memory timings. One thing I did find useful was the D (for diagnostic) bracket which can help you pinpoint where the problem is. Have you tried this, if so what does it indicate?

 

[Incitatus]

It specifically states in the manual that this can damage the bios.

 

[Prok]

I have already replaced the board. I updated the bios manually - it now works fine. I have been having problems with the dynamic overclocking - when I set it to its highest fsb overclock and run a benchmark the system crashes. Has anyone had experience with this yet? I am also having problems with the MAT function ("performance mode" in the bios) - I get a message upon startup that says "dram settings too tight" - I assume it means that I have to relax my RAM settings a bit, but I don't know by how much. Any ideas?