Aus A8N Sli Premium doesn't POST for the first time

[Dvorak]

Hello guys, I'm new around here so please be tolerant with me
I have an Asus a8n Sli Premium board. It's working ok, but I have a small problem with it. It's somehow bothering me. When I first time power up the pc, it doesn't POST. The fans from the cpu, vid card and case are starting, but that's it. Then, if I make a restart, it does POST and everything starts to move smoothly and fine. If I make a restart from Windows, everthing is perfect, it does restart, post and load OS. So, the only problem is when I first time start the pc.
Is there someone who had this problem too? Any advice please? Thank you !

 

[Cobragt88]

recheck that ram is in correctly all your connections are tight and correctly installed, enter bios disable all un needed crap um, it does to meh as I've had pcs to fix with thisa type of problem that its a loose connection, ram isn't in right. try 1 ram stick at a time as well. see if that helps. just throwing ideas at ya

 

[Dvorak]

Thanks for the response. The ram seems to be corectly instaled, and also I've checked with only 1 ram stick. It does the same thing

 

[Cobragt88]

um ok, do u have dual channel set installed in the blue slots, and have you flashed your bios to the lastest version?

 

[Dvorak]

Yes, I'm using the blue slots for memory. For bios I didn't update it, it is rev. 1008. Are you suggesting to upgrade it?
And, somehow off topic, do you know what the max temp is for this board? SpeedFan shows me a max of 39 C full loaded and 37 C idle , I hope is ok.

 

[gahleon]

Make sure that you have two things atxe power connector 24 pin but also don't forget to connect the 4pin aux connector as well on the board. If you forget to connect the 4 pin aux connector then your board won't post. Everything will start up fine but it needs the extra power to post. Anyhow, I hope that helps and your symptoms sound to be those of this problem. Good luck!

 

[Dvorak]

As I wrote before, only the first time when I power up the pc, it doesn't post. After I make a reset from the case button, all is normal. Anyway, I have a psu with 24 pins which powers up the mobo as well the auxiliary 4 pin connector. So the problem has to be from somewhere else. I'll make a bios update, hope that this will resolve it.

 

[gahleon]

nah dude, sorry I was out of it yesterday. It should still post even without a bios update. That doesn't make sense. You sure you have everything set up right? Hdd/s on the sata and not the raid connectors right? Put them mem in the right slots right? The two blue slots? what kinda memory do ya gots?
Those are the only things I can ask. I mean my stuff fired up on the first try. I don't know why yours didn't so I guess I look for the hardware.

 

[suras]

Hi!

Since I dont know how used you are to build your own systems this comment may be TOO obvius, so please if it is dont take it in a bad way...

One thing that would cause the problem you are talking about is if you enable Q-fan. Your CPU temps will then be sub 25C when starting up which gives a fanspeed below 800rpm. And if you havent disabled warnings, the mobo wont allow a boot to protect your CPU. This is accompanied with a errormessage, so if you dont see anything (no error messages) this isnt the problem.

Good luck
Suras

 

[Dvorak]

I'm sorry for not posting anymore, but I had a one week holliday and I was away. Hdd is on the sata connectors, and I don't have raid anyway. I thought that it had to post even without a bios update too.
For @suras, it doesn't post me any error message. The fans start and that's all. The monitor shows me as if it were on standby. After this, I press the reset button and that's it, it starts normaly as if nothing happened. It is for the first time when I'm facing a problem like this. And I built a lot of configurations.
About bios update... I decided to wait a little longer, to see if I can figure out what's the problem in fact. If I'll ever meet with such a thing, I'll know what to do. Thank you so much for trying to help. Any other ideas?

 

[lesterf1020]

Try posting your system specs. It might help narrow the problem. Make sure and specify the brand and wattage of your powersupply

 

[Dvorak]

Ok, you're right, I don't know why I haven't thought at this aspect. So, here they are:
Amd 64 3200+ with XP-120/Panaflo 120 mm vent
Asus A8N Sli Premium
PQI 1 giga (2 X 512)
Leadtek GeForce 7800GT
Hdd Seagate 160 SATA
Dvd Writer Asus
Creative Audigy 2 ZS
PSU Hiper Power 450 w
Case Antec SLK 3700 AMB with 2 Nexus 120 mm (one in front, pushing the air into the case, one at the back, flushing the air outside of the case)

If I forgot something please let me know.

 

[lesterf1020]

Are you using the default memory and cpu bios settings or are you using manual settings, overclocking or using ASUS AI NOS? It is possible this board doesn't like your ram and it takes 2 tries to revert to stock settings.

 

[smedlin]

this is an extreme noob question, and probalby should not be asked under this guys topic...

But what do you mean by "post" in regards to "doesn't post". I see this a lot in the forums. I checked the sticky facts for a description and could not find anything.

 

[lesterf1020]

When a machine first starts the bios does a check of the components and the setup and if everything is fine it gives a single beep in most cases and begins to load the operating system. This is called a successful "Post". Any thing else is a failure to "Post"

 

[smedlin]

Ah! I understand. I knew it checked the components and gave a beep if everything checked out. I did not know it was called "Posting" though. Thanks!

 

[Sheps87]

POST - Power On Self Test

Dvorak, I'd try the good ol' elimination test... remove anything non-vital, i.e. everything except mainboard, cpu, ram, gfx and psu.

Clear the CMOS, theres a little jumper at the bottom of the board, nr the battery (see ur manual for instructions)

Try booting it a couple of times, see if the errors go away... then start pluggin bits back in, one at a time.

If it starts acting up after u install, say the sound card, then it must be a problem with the sound card/pci slot/compatibility issue.

Have fun

 

[Dvorak]

Are you using the default memory and cpu bios settings or are you using manual settings, overclocking or using ASUS AI NOS? It is possible this board doesn't like your ram and it takes 2 tries to revert to stock settings.

I'm not overclocking a thing nor using ASUS Ai Nos. I'm using default timers for memory, also default settings for cpu.

But what do you mean by "post" in regards to "doesn't post".

I saw that lesterf1020 and Sheps87 responded you

Dvorak, I'd try the good ol' elimination test... remove anything non-vital, i.e. everything except mainboard, cpu, ram, gfx and psu.

Clear the CMOS, theres a little jumper at the bottom of the board, nr the battery (see ur manual for instructions)

Try booting it a couple of times, see if the errors go away... then start pluggin bits back in, one at a time.

If it starts acting up after u install, say the sound card, then it must be a problem with the sound card/pci slot/compatibility issue.

The problem is somehow more difficult. You see, as I said before the first time when I power on the computer, the problem described happens. After this, even if I power off the pc and then immediately power it on, or reset it, the problem doesn't apper. After I power it off and let it the whole night, the next day when I power it on, the problem appears, only the first time. This started to driving me nuts !!! It's like it says "Hmmm, I'm so sleepy now, let me sleep until the next restart"
Anyway, I thought at the elimination test too, but as you see I'll have to do it in like a week or something I was somehow lazy and I hoped that you guys encountered such a problem already.... Ok, I'll start with the elimination test, hope not to become old enough by the end of this test

 

[lesterf1020]

When you shut down your machine do you disconnect the power? Try to see if you can make the error repeatable by disconnecting power when you shut off. Even when you power down, the motherboard is still getting power. If you can consistently reproduce the error solving it will be a lot easier.

 

[gahleon]

Well the test is a pain in the ass thats for sure however you will be that much smarter the next time around!

 

[Dvorak]

When you shut down your machine do you disconnect the power? Try to see if you can make the error repeatable by disconnecting power when you shut off. Even when you power down, the motherboard is still getting power. If you can consistently reproduce the error solving it will be a lot easier.

Good idea, I'll do it for sure!
Last evening when I reached from my job, I removed the sound card (Creative Audigy 2 ZS). Still the same phenomenon. Tonight I want to remove a 512 M PQI stick (let only one), after this I'll remove ASUS DVD Writer, and ... I think that's it ! I will not have anything else to remove ! Btw, I forgot to tell you.... is not the video card, because I allready test with 2 other pci-x vid cards (2 asus, one on nvidia gpu and one on ati gpu). I had each of these 2 vid cards for about a week in my pc, and the same problem appeared.

 

[RicoSuave]

Dvorak, you have a very interesting problem. My A8N-SLI Premium did that from time to time until I remembered something I learned long ago in one of my Solid State Device classes. The conductive properties of semiconductors change greatly with temperature. It's backwards to what metals do. As temperature increases, so does conductivity.

After a while of being powered down, my system did/does have the same symptoms that you described. I found it was caused by, in essense, too cool of a chip 8) ... opposite of what you might think at first. The resistance was too high in the chip for such a high overclock that I had. My fix is that I have to start the compy up with no o/c, then after a few micro-moments it's obviously warm enough to be pumped up, usually during the first part of a POST.

Now I'm not sure if your clockspeed has the same EXACT effect that occurs on my board, but your symptoms are identical. Therefore, I suggest you try at first what I did, then branch out and see what your system prefers. I guess it all comes down to if you mind keeping your compy powered on all the time, putting your friend in a warmer room, or not using an o/c... if you are using one.

I'd be interested in knowing what happens when you keep your computer powered off for a while, and warm the CPU with your hands or a warm towel or something, then try powering it up... I could get it warm enough with my hands about 20% of the time. (I did this just as an experiment).

 

[Dvorak]

Dvorak, you have a very interesting problem. My A8N-SLI Premium did that from time to time until I remembered something I learned long ago in one of my Solid State Device classes. The conductive properties of semiconductors change greatly with temperature. It's backwards to what metals do. As temperature increases, so does conductivity.

After a while of being powered down, my system did/does have the same symptoms that you described. I found it was caused by, in essense, too cool of a chip 8) ... opposite of what you might think at first. The resistance was too high in the chip for such a high overclock that I had. My fix is that I have to start the compy up with no o/c, then after a few micro-moments it's obviously warm enough to be pumped up, usually during the first part of a POST.

Now I'm not sure if your clockspeed has the same EXACT effect that occurs on my board, but your symptoms are identical. Therefore, I suggest you try at first what I did, then branch out and see what your system prefers. I guess it all comes down to if you mind keeping your compy powered on all the time, putting your friend in a warmer room, or not using an o/c... if you are using one.

I'd be interested in knowing what happens when you keep your computer powered off for a while, and warm the CPU with your hands or a warm towel or something, then try powering it up... I could get it warm enough with my hands about 20% of the time. (I did this just as an experiment).

Wow.... somehow a complex one
Well, as I said, I'm not overclocking a thing in my pc. I'll try to use a hair drier and worm something there (cpu and/or northbridge etc) (despite that al my thoughts were "vice-versa", to cool as much as I can in it). Thanks a lot ! I'll let you know the results.

 

[Radioblaster]

You're not alone!
I'm having the same problem. When I boot my pc in the morning I get POST beep codes and I have to hit the reset button 3 or 4 times before it finally boots. Once it's booted it works perfrectly until the next time I completely shut down my pc. I actually have a post on this forum about it because I figured it was a video card issue (tried 3 different 6800 GT's and non worked, but a 7800GT does work!)
My specs are:
Asus A8N-SLI Premium (bios 1009)
500W Enermax Liberty ps
Venice 3000+ (no o/c)
1gig OCZ 3200 2-3-2-5 Platinum D/C Ram
BFG 7800GT (my 6800GT's are what is causing the problem)
SB Audigy 2 ZS
200gig Maxtor DM10
Plextor PX-716A
APC Backups 800

If anyone has any idea how to fix this please let us know.
I've been talking to BFG about this and they have no idea whats going on.

 

[RicoSuave]

Oops! I guess I should have left my specs:

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
AMD 3700+ (San Diego core)
eVGA 7800GT (ver __-516)
Micron's 2x512MB Ballistix (3200)
HDD: WD's 74GB Raptor & WD's WD4000KD 400GB
Antec 550W TruePower 2
HP DVD+-RW (external)
generic DVD-ROM
generic floppy