ASUS P5B New Build Problems...

[rem523]

Hi guys, I'm building my first PC at the moment, and after building all the way through, following all the instructions provided with my mobo, hdd, ram, and everything, I still have yet to get it to POST. I've tried doing an out of case build, just putting in the Pentium D 915 with the heatsink/fan, the 1GB pqi TURBO DDR2 800mhz, and the eVGA Geforce 7900gt, and it still will not POST.

The first time I booted up inside the case, all of the fans went on, the PSU fans, the CPU fan, and the GPU fan, and after staying on for a few seconds, it automatically powers down. When I booted it up with the mobo laying in its cardboard box, it does the same thing except it does not automatically shutdown and the hard switch must be flipped. There is no output to the monitor at anytime whatsoever, and it acts like it is in powersaving mode.

The only problems I encountered when I was piecing it together, was when I frst attempted to install the CPU fan/heatsink, some of the thermal pad rubbed off onto the CPU, it was only a small bit, less than a fifth of the substance. I used paper towels and rubbing alcohol to remove it. Now after doing the out of case boot, I removed the heatsink and found that more thermal pad was now on the CPU and instead of being the original square shape, both were now circular. The heatsink gets hot and does not remain off. Should I remove the thermal junk off the CPU or leave it? Please help, this is getting to the point of severe aggravation. Any suggestions or tips or whatever would be greatly appreciated...

I feel like an idiot...I looked it up and the thermal pad is supposed to melt, but besides that I have no idea what could be the problem. A standoff issue would have been resolved by doing the out of case boot. A very very remote possibility could have been the fact that when I tried to do that out of case boot, the GFX card became dislodged, that would be in compliance with the fact that there was nothing appearing on the screen.

 

[rem523]

Does anybody frequent these boards at all?

 

[mcnaugha]

I just began building a new PC today with the P5B Deluxe. I haven't finished yet so I can't comment on my experiences. I'll come back and let you know if I have similar problems.

Did you notice the BIOS version? The Pentium D 915 is quite new, and perhaps the BIOS in the P5B doesn't recognise it. Have you checked on support.asus.com for any BIOS update? There is definitely one for the P5B Deluxe... but I haven't yet found out if my MoBo has it already.

 

[rem523]

EDIT: Disregard this post, and I still have not found the source of my problems. Maybe this board does not have a BIOS capable of running a Pentium D.

 

[Wheels]

First of all new boards are picky about the ram you use. Try booting with one stick of memory.

 

[rem523]

Ok, after leaving the CMOS battery out for awhile and replacing it, I've finally got some output in the form of beeps. It's one long beep followed by two short beeps and it repeats. Thanks for the input about the RAM, from what I've read so far that seems to be a common answer. Also I've read that that beep code may be indicative of a memory issue. I'm getting closer now I think...

 

[mcnaugha]

So you checked the BIOS?

The P5B needs BIOS 0211 to support the 915. It's available from:
P5B BIOS Update 0211

The P5B Deluxe may need BIOS 0302 or newer. The latest at time of writing is 0502 (which allows an FSB of 650MHz!) Get that from:
P5B Deluxe BIOS Update 0502

 

[mcnaugha]

Update on my progress:

I did indeed encounter problems... and they do appear to be BIOS related. Mine's did POST, but then came up with a CPU uCode error. I guessed this means that the BIOS doesn't support my Core 2 Duo. Turns out the board had the original BIOS version. Thanks to the BIOS's utility, which allows you to flash the BIOS from a USB Flash Drive, I updated to the latest release (non-Beta). Now I'm up and running, but having to reinstall Windows... which is only to be expected.

If the EZ Update utility is not in the non-Deluxe board, you'd need to install an older CPU in order to get the BIOS updated.

 

[rem523]

What leads to me believe that it is not a lack of support of my proccessor is the fact that I can't even POST at all. Also the beeps I noted before were because my memory was not inserted fully. So without my memory being plugged in, the BIOS, though not displaying any output, acted correctly in giving off the beeps as warnings. Once I put the stick in, bam, no more output, neither beeps nor display.

 

[AODBOB]

May I ask what BIOS revision you had? I recieved my P5B Deluxe w/ revision 0206, which, according to the Asus website, doesn't support ANY processor. I know that has to be wrong, but if you had the same BIOS and was able to at least POST then I have hope!

RAM is coming Monday so I will make sure to update if it works for me.

 

[Storm1234]

Yea Id like to know also considering I will probably be buying this mobo shortly and putting in a Pentium D 805.

Iv'e never had to update a motherboards Bios Version, and the Pentium D 805 says it needs revision 0211 I beleive.

I was wondering will it come with 0211 already on it, and if not how do I go about updating it. If someone could give me a quick step by step that would be helpful escpecially if you need another processor to do so and or a floppy disk drive etc.



Thanks for any Help. Storm~

 

[AODBOB]

http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

According to Asus' website all the CPUs supported are supported from BIOS revision 0302+. This has to be somehow wrong.

storm: where did you read that it had to be BIOS 0211?


rem523:

First: Sorry for my irrelevant interjections.

Second: Do you have a friend with some DDR2 RAM you can try out? I know the P5B Deluxe does not like OCZ DDR2 RAM, or at least the kind that I bought. I am not sure how the board likes PQI, but if you can get a hold of a stick of someone elses DDR2 ram and try its worth testing out.

As for the starting up and then restarting it sounds like something is shorting the motherboard when its in the case, since it doesn't happen when its on the cardboard. Check to make sure all the little screws are aligned or whatnot.

Hope you get it working: A dead computer is not a computer.

 

[Storm1234]

Well not have to be 0211 but 0211 or later.

My question is when i order mine from newegg will I have to update my bios or will it come with 0211 or later?

http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5B-MX

Edit: Im not sure why it doesnt link it to the actual page, but put in P5B in the search on the left, then click on P5B and you'll see the support list.

Is where I see this.

 

[AODBOB]

As far as I know there is no way of absolutly knowing what BIOS you will get except actually calling the Newegg and asking them to verify the BIOS. I am not sure if they can/will do that but I guess its worth a try.

Look at me, I bought my P5B Deluxe last friday and it came with the 0206 BIOS and the newest is 0405. Kinda disappointing.

Please keep us informed on if you are able to call up and if they are able to verify the BIOS before shipping.

 

[PorkyTheClown]

Let me guess, it turns on for like a second then shuts off? Well, it happened to me too. I ended up fixing it. I might be able to give you an answer if I know what powers uplly you have.

 

[rem523]

AODBOB, I believe that the RAM is the problem. I've consulted other forums as well as this one and many people have said that the P5B is picky with many types of RAM. Most of them highly suggested using RAM that is on the QVL (Qualified Vendor List) that is produced by ASUS themselves, and is seen in the product manual available on the ASUS website. Also corsair lists a variety of their RAM as compatible with the P5B mobo, using the product compatibility tester on their website. One of the forums that I used is the official ASUS P5B forums, that although not moderated by ASUS employees, has a very knowledgeable and often quick responding user core.

Also the problem that I encountered upon first boot up was most likely resolved by doing the boot in a cardboard box, and then later I realized that upon first mounting in the case, I used two different length screws. After using uniform lengths, I achieved a snug fit that was not present earlier and the turn on/off problem was no longer present.

 

[AODBOB]

Good that you got the on/off problem fixed. Now you're in the same boat as me with having to RMA and ram and buy new stuff.

I RMA'd my OCZ RAM and purchased Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB Kit DDR2-800 XMS2-6400 (long name...) which will be arriving on Monday. It was on the QVL list so it should (better) work.

Side note: If you purchased your RAM from Zipzoomfly you can get half off the 15% restocking fee if you buy a similar product (the 1GB corsair ram). Not sure about Newegg or other places.

 

[rem523]

I got my stuff from newegg, and since there is a 30 day return period, I am just going to wait about a week and a half as I am going away on wednesday for 8 days. By the time I RMA the stuff and get the stuff I want, its going to come while I'm away. It's just as good to wait until I get back and know that I have the ability to be there when the package/materials arrive.

EDIT: Also, I've seen reports that if you are using a CPU with a FSB of 800Mhz it is pointless to use DDR2 800 because the CPU cannot utilize the full potential of the RAM without O/Cing. As I do not plan on overclocking at the moment, and I for a fact know that my Pentium D 915 has a FSB of 800Mhz, I am going to downgrade my ram to DDR2 667. Is this indeed true? If you are using a 800Mhz FSB, maybe you could save some money by getting DDR2 667, as that's what I plan on doing.

 

[Storm1234]

Thats the same ram AODBOB, I have picked out for my build using the P5B board and a Pentium D 805 till I can get a C2D in a year or so. I'm pretty sure that RAM will work with it.

I dont have a phone available at the moment to call newegg and ask if I would beable to know the Bios Revision before I order it, so if someone would like to give them a call and ask them. I surely would like to know.

Thanks Storm

 

[mcnaugha]

To be fair to ASUS, this board's BIOS has been revised quickly over the course of three weeks. This isn't enough time for manufacturing to change.

Thanks to the EZ Flash Utility in the BIOS, it's super easy to upgrade the BIOS without needing to boot to an OS. I even used my Apple iPod shuffle... can you believe it!?! :lol:

Although, if this is your only system you will need a friend with Internet access to download the newest BIOS.

 

[AODBOB]

ipod shuffle... now thats pretty cool.

Well if that was your only system then how are you talking or reading stuff on here :lol:

RAM should be coming within the hour!... yay!

mcnaugha: I was talking to Asus representatives on the phone the other day and they said that the BIOS updates won't help the support OCZ ram... it just doesn't work which is kinda sad.

 

[AODBOB]

UPDATE: Corsair ram arrived and the board POSTed perfectly. (it actually arrived late monday but I've been busy installing drivers, games, apps, etc). Everything is running smoothly. BIOS has been updated, Prime95 has been run and I've even overclocked a bit.

 

[marcusanton]

Don't worry. I just received mine and same problem. No display, no boot, no nothing. I tried different psu, RAM, CPU, GFX. nothing. So I sent it back and now I am awaiting new one. (BTW I tried my friend's piece and it is working. So it seems, ASUS is having quality problems ....

 

[Storm1234]

Im probably gonna receive my P5B tomorrow with everything else, Corsair Memory so hopefully I dont have any problems with memory wise.

What has you all's P5B bios ver came with?

With the P5B, Corsair memory ** ( Link Below to it ) **, and a Pentium D 805 do you think I will have any problems? Bios wise or other wise?

Thanks Storm

 

[AODBOB]

Mine arrived with BIOS 0206 and booted a Celeron D 326 with no problem at all.

My only small problem was that the Asus flash utility for flashing the BIOS in windows could not automatically find the new BIOS to flash so I had to go to the Asus website to download it. Then with the .ROM file I was able to flash in it windows with no problems at all. BIOS now loads up with BIOS version 0507.

Now all thats left is waiting for the E6600..... waiting... until then I have the 2.53Ghz celeron D oc'd to 3.2Ghz just so it doesn't feel slow.