Argh!!! New Mobo Problem :(

[axissally]

Ok, so I've installed my new mobo (Asus P5W DH Deluxe). I get into the bios & about 5 seconds later it freezes & I can't do anything :\

I managed to get to the hardware monitor & cpu temp was low. Any ideas?
I don't get any system beeps as the P180 case has no speaker to plug into mobo.

Please help!

 

[plankmeister]

Well, if you can get into BIOS, then it's POSTED, so I doubt you'll get any error beeps.

You *will* need a speaker, unless the board comes with a debug header with a backplate with indicator LEDs on it...

Try unplugging everything except for the CPU and the two mainboard power connectors, and try booting. Then add one memory stick. Then the VGA card. Listen to the beeps/watch the lights each time. Look in the manual. This way you'll probably be able to figure out where the fault lies. Perhaps a bad memory stick?

And anyway... give a full system spec, including which PSU you have.

 

[evongugg]

Remove the battery and short the jumpers to clear the Bios.
Then try again.
If you have set the jumpers on your IDE drives incorrectly this can happen also.
If you need a speaker, call Antec Technical support, they will mail you one for free.

 

[axissally]

The rest of the components aren't new & have worked fine. It is only the mobo that I have changed as my previous board didn't work well with my memory.

Current Specs are:

Mobo: Asus P5W DH Deluxe
CPU: C2D 6300 (stock speeds)
Memory: Corsair 2048 XMS2 6400C4D
Gfx: Evga 7900gt KO
PSU: Antec NeoHE 550watt
HDD: 3x160 & 1x320 seagate sata's.

I checked the Bios (1503) and asus says that the C2D's began working on Bios 1103, so that shouldn't be the problem.

I will pull the hardware out & try going through them systematically, I was just hoping that it was a common event that is a simple thing I am missing. I did rush getting it together as I'm on night shifts & time is short for a few days.

 

[gondo]

This can be very difficult to troubleshoot.

Check everything out. Make sure the board is mounted good, the heatsink and CPU are properly mounted. These shouldn't be problems since you post.

Check hard drives, jumpers, clear the CMOS, reseat the RAM. Pull out all cards and boot without anything than only video. I've had many boards that need to boot without video than with just to get a post. Go to a local shop and get a speaker for your board, they'll probably lend it to you free. They make little tiny piezo speakers with a 2 inch lead and connector on it. great for troubleshooting boards, you don't need the big old fashion car speaker in he case. I think I always got a speaker with my Antec cases...can't remember.
Or rip a speaker out of an older case if you have one hanging around or out of a friends case.

Damn Asus boards, for a company that's supposed to make the best boards I always had the hardest time getting Asus boards up and running for the first time. I gave up on Asus and hate them now.

Good luck to you and exercise patience. Patience is the #1 trate of any good PC tech.

 

[axissally]

I probably won't get any beeps at all. Before I bag asus I will say it is user error. I've used asus for alot of builds without trouble, but going to intel has seen more hiccups than all my time put together building pc's.

Edit* - Soo busy at work...So far I plan to try: 1)Different keyboard...apparently the extra usbs on my G15 could be an issue. 2)Setting my Zalman 9700 cooler to the mobo instead of its adjustable fan box. 3)Getting hammer & bashing the crap out of it.

 

[axissally]

well it didnt take too long to find the culprit. My 4th sata was connected to the EZ backup port which it doesn't like I guess (haven't read up on it yet tbh) I don't use raid so atm it isn't helpful for me.

On the topic of this board & non raid sata's. Where should my 4th one go? Right now it isn't plugged in anywhere & I'd prefer to be able to access its contents (naturally).

All up, once i got into the bios, set it up & installed windows it all seems good. The Nth & Sth bridge certainly get warm, my mobo is warmer than my cpu!

 

[misry]

3)Getting hammer & bashing the crap out of it.

Only use that particular troubleshooting technique if you are working for someone else who'll pay for it. Otherwise do the smart thing, dump it on ebay so someone else inherits your problem.

Congrats on an easy fix.

 

[gondo]

I was jsut about to reply check if you have an external hard drive liek firewire or USB attached when you said it was the ez backup.

You say you have 4 hard drives? but no room to plug them in? Is this correct. If you don't have enough SATA ports its time to ditch out $15 and get a SATA controller card or get a chassis and convert a drive to external.