Help! K7N2 Delta-ILSR BIOS won't work!

[Crashman]

I pushed this board just barely far enough that the memory would no longer function. Retested the memory in another board. Replaced the RAM anyway because it was my RAM and someone else's board. I've tried every method known to man to fix it, including:

1) JBAT (Clear CMOS jumper)
2) Reversing the battery for a while to ground the board, then switching it back
3) Unpowering the system, removing the CPU, reconnecting power, and turning it on (to force clear CPU settings). Upon putting it right again, it still won't boot.

I've tried it with the overclocking jumper set to the block position, with the FSB jumper at 100, and 133, and all combinations. Nothing works.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[markgun]

I've had bad experiences with three AMD-based MSI boards and loose DIMMs. Like just brushing against the memory module would set it loose, and I'd have to wiggle the module just right to get it to make proper contact. Sometimes it's taken me 10 to 15 tries to get it to seat right! Very annoying. This might be worth looking into if you're getting a memory-error beep code (or whatever the DLED displays). THat's the only thing I can think of that you may not have tried.

<b>Qui habet aures audiendi audiat</b>

 

[Crashman]

Nope. In fact, I was using <A HREF="http://www.sysopt.com/reviews/Corsair_TwinX1024-4000Pro/index.html" target="_new">This Ram</A> when I first experienced the problem, and the indicator lights would show that the system was starting, getting to BIOS, and hanging just before POST.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[ad_rach]

I was building a pc for a friend in september using a K7N2-Delta L and i was overclocking an XP1700 in it for him.At one point the motherboard did stop posting for a while and no amount of CMOS clearing would fix it,so i was at a loss as to what was wrong(and s**tting myself coz i was in France and i live in the UK, so if i had been unable to fix it i would have had to leave him without a pc!).
In the end what i did to fix it was quite random and i have no idea why it worked but i shall try and recall it for you, since the ILSR is almost identical isn't it(?).I am just downloading the manual for it to see if i can remember what i did.
Please bear in mind that i am waaaaaaaaay beneath you in terms of hardware knowledge but i shall try to help nonetheless, since i got the feeling that the fix i used was a complete fluke .

no matter how hard you try, you can't polish a turd. :]<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by ad_rach on 11/20/03 08:23 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[ad_rach]

Ok.I will tell you what i think i did but i'm pretty sure you have tried it(can't hurt though ).
Anyway, i cleared the CMOS, then i set J10 to safe mode- 100MHz (i.e.joining pins 2 and 3) and removed J11 altogether.I'm pretty sure i then started it up and went straight to the bios and set the cpu fsb values to what they should be manually, turned off the computer, and then i think i reset J10 to 'user mode' and put back J11 before restarting.(I may actually have let it boot up all the way with those 'safe' settings and then moved the jumpers back before restarting again and manually selecting the fsb.Can't be 100% sure.)


no matter how hard you try, you can't polish a turd. :]

 

[Coyote]

Well this is prolly stupid but here goes. I had problem when I set the FSB too high my MSI/amd board. I did what you did in items one through three. Several times to no avail. It was late at night, so I ste the cmos jumper to clear and removed battery over night. In the morning, success. It seems that waiting even 5 minutes for it to clear was not enough time. Overnight did the trick.



XP 2000+
MSI KT3 ULTRA-2 KT333
Maxtor 60GB ATA 133 7200RPM
512MB PC2700
ABIT G4 Ti4200 OTES 64MB
Win98SE

 

[phsstpok]

Sounds like the nForce2 BIOS corruption issue. Overclock too high and the system won't POST. There was a rumor that clearing CMOS doesn't work because the FSB setting gets stored in a place that isn't cleared. (I'm not sure how that would be possible but plenty of people have had your problem)

There are a few alleged fixes but I can only remember two.

One you have already tried, setting the FSB jumper to 100 Mhz and clearing CMOS.

The second fix is install an Athlon/Duron (200 FSB) which forces the motherboard to reset multiplier and FSB.


<b>56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!</b>

 

[Crashman]

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. So I tried posting it with a Duron at the 100MHz setting and BIOS clock adjustments turned off by J10, still no go. Talked to MSI today, they said it's a bad BIOS chip and they'd request one be sent to me at no charge. That sounds odd too, but as long as the new one works I won't complain.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Crashman]

Yep, tried all that.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[phsstpok]

I didn't realize the BIOS literally becomes corrupted! I thought the settings became corrupted.

<b>56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!</b>

 

[Crashman]

Yes, well, I've seen BIOS chips go bad, but this is more likely a problem clearing a setting written to ROM!

It happened when I set the thing to CPURAM of 1:2 and a bus speed of 120MHz. I was trying to push the RAM. It worked with that ratio at a lower bus speed.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>