ASUS CROSSHAIR : POST Errors and Boot Issues

[DannyBoy27]

First:
AMD X2 6000+ (266 x 12 @ 3192Mhz)
OCZ 1066 Nvidia SLI Ram 2x1Gb Dual Channel
Asus CROSSHAIR Mobo ( 0702 default bios )
Asus Geforce 8800 768 ULTRA (standard)
1 x 76Gb Raptor X Hdd, 2 x Hitachi 500Gb
Antec 182 with 5 fans
Zalman 7900 cpu cooler
Seasonic 700w

I build a new system 1 month ago and it has been running well with zero issues to date... until this morning. I tried to wake it up from standby but the screen was black but did have mouse movement available. I restarted and all of a sudden BAM - no post boot screen or anything. It was just hanging before POST. On the back of the mobo I have an LCD Post Screen that displays errors etc. It just hangs on DET DRAM so Im going out on a limb here and going to assume that the problem lies in my ram.

I troubleshooted extensively and tried different ram positions, clear cmos's, remove cmos battery, single pieces of ram - posting with F2, del button F2 and insert etc. Still not getting anything. Its just hanging.
The thing is I havent used my front USB ports or anything so Im dismissing the infamous CROSSHAIR front usb mobo kill issue.

The Ram was on 2.3v and 5.5.5.15 2t which is the suggested from the OCZ site.
Has my ram ( which is meant to be good and stable and reliable for years ) maybe miraculously died overnight?

Any similar issues or ideas on how I should proceed?!?!?!?

 

[o1die]

I would power down and unplug all power supply connectors, and re-connect each one starting with both the 24 pin and 4 pin first, then power down and reconnect the others for the optical and hardrives one at a time. You might pinpoint the problem this way.

 

[DannyBoy27]

Thanks o1die, I'll give it a try when I get back from work tonight.
As a precaution and because I have no intention of not being able to play Hellgate London Beta this week while I wait for another RMA - I ordered another 2gbs ram delivered tomorrow morning in case my ram died for whatever reason...

 

[DannyBoy27]

A combination of your and my solutions eventually worked - It booted into windows as normal and was running fine. The ram module is so unstable however. My new ram came and when I put in all 4 modules in the correct dual sockets it gave me the same DET DRAM error. after playing around it gave me several more but was freezing in the post picture screen on MSINSTALL error and various DET USB errors etc. I have narrowed it down by playing with all the ram slot combos and will run a memtest86 tonight for final clarification. My first PSU blew when I intially built my rig so Im guessing this is just another casualy ( as I already had to replace the mobo first ).
If the test confirms its damaged guess I am RMAing and will go back to 2gbs in the meantime
Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[DannyBoy27]

BUMP

Damn - this is giving me the same error. After giving me the same DET DRAM issue with the BRAND new OCZ ram I have given up. I can get it to work on 1gb ram. Even then it is so tempermental that if I shutdown and restart it just hangs in a black screen before post.

I have ruled out faulty ram. The cpu doesnt appear to be faulty as when it gets into windows on 1gb ram it is stable (dont want 1gb forever though).
Im left with either this being ANOTHER faulty crosshair mobo or some kind of compatibility issue with my 1066 SLI ready OCZ ram modules.

As a final clutching at straws could it be something like the auto/defualt voltages set for the ram in the bios are incorrect and I might need to change them. I have made sure that the timings are on 2t and 5-5-5-15 like they are supposed to be.

Any ideas - im running on empty here, again....
I just want a stable uber PC>

 

[fletch420]

if you get it going again you could consider updating the bios- maybe the version that is loading at default is corrupted, I only say that cause it does work some of the time. good luck

 

[DannyBoy27]

worth trying. Its strange - when it fails and I have to shutdown and reboot no combination of ram will work. Not even 1. I have been thinking about it loads and reading a good deal of forums - again - and my conclusion is that the ram is 100%.
Its this damn 590i chipset and the OCZ ram ( or the fact that it is 1066 and not 800 - seems to cause issues ). I have already recieved 1 replacement crosshair and after sending in my 4gbs ram, 6000+ and NEW crosshair mobo AGAIN they have just phoned me and claimed "another faulty Crosshair". To be honest I dont think they know what they are doing at all. They are just getting stumped and sending me new ones. Im going to have to resolve this myself - except it is becoming apparent that this might never happen....
Cant wait to get another new crosshair.

Im going to set all the voltages and speeds myself to a standard stock stable setting and then just install windows/vista and incrementally add the sticks of ram.

I cant be the only one on THW with these RAM/Crosshair/POST issues???
Can I - maybe im a noob - who knows.

 

[marius26]

Hey guys, i have:

MotherBorad: Asus Crosshair
RAM: Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 DHX PC2-6400C4DHX TwinX (2x1GB)

it all worked fine untill yesturday, suddenly when i tryied to start pc it didnt start, it started ok, the back LCD says, CPU INIT, then went to DET DRAM and bam, stuck on that, i gotmy friend to test ram on his comp and he says there is no problem with my ram, so i have to assume its motherboard, i tryied clear CMOS, same this still stuck on DRAM , i'v contacted overclockers tech rma dept and going to wait for reply see what they say, they may say to send it to them or to asus, i'l let you know guys when i'l hear from em.

 

[DannyBoy27]

Hi Marius.

I have had some luck - but mostly after reading 1million forums and tech posts Ive had a little more joy on my issue.
Steps:
pull out power cord
Take out ram
take out cmos battery
swap jumpers and clear cmos
put in battery and swap back the jumper
put in 1 stick of ram into the far left blue slot
restart and go into bios
set your ram timings etc 4-4-4-12 2t; about 2.1 to 2.2 on the ram voltage
restart ( hopefully it should post to boot this time with 1 stick
hard boot ( shutdown+ restart ) and see if it posts again
shutdown and stick in another ram module in the other blue slot.
if it works you should be stable now
just rinse and repeat for more ram. If you are happy then play around with the skew (like 600 or so) and tighten your timings to whatever works well for you. Or just leave as is if it works.( like your profile says )

It might be worth flashing your bios first as soon as you can get in to a more current version. Mine came default at march 07. Changed it to the latest and its helped loads( 8.02 i think )

I hate that DET DRAM error - if i see it again Im smashing that LCD screen
I have had cpr error, Det USB, CPU Fail, CPU init(stuck on it) and loads of others. Also thought my ram was fried so bought new stuff. Just turns out that it is the older bios settings/ wrong default bios settings.

Im having/had a lot more issues due to the crosshair not liking OCZ ( hasnt explicitly been fully tested according to their site ) as well as my ram being SLI-Ready.
I had to enable SLI OC and set it to Maximum Performance.

Good luck - im still working on other issues with my build.
Glad to see its not only me in this boat

 

[marius26]

i have received today a Brand new Motherboard.

 

[righteous]

For those with the Det Dram error on post:

You should keep a cheap stick of ddr2 667 on hand, as what is failing is the voltage parameter in the BIOS I believe, regardless of whether it show it's set at that or not.

Also New RAM will run at the default 1.85 volts for a while in this board and then all of a sudden will not post with the det dram error.

This is when you need the cheap 667 stick to boot up in the first slot with. Set it in BIOS as ddr800 with maybe a 5-5-5-15 timing, a 64 bit width, and 2t manually. When the system boots, shut it back down, replace the stick of original RAM and reboot, it should POST and then go into BIOS, set the specified settings of the RAM you are using, then boot on the one stick, shut down, and reboot with both.

This board also doesn't seem to like more than 2 gig of ram and there is no reason to use more than that anyway.

If anyone needs help, please PM me.

 

[righteous]

Oh, as a sidenote, don't bother with the "SLI-Ready" Stuff in BIOS.
You can do anything it can do with manual settings.

All SLI-Ready means is that it sets most things for you, which could cause a problem here and there depending.

In my systems, I have everything set manually, and with a combination of multipliers and FSB have a great stable overclock, albeit with an unlocked mult in the chip.

 

[mcanas]

pffft, stupid board.

I have the same error as Danny. DET DRAM, no boot. Called ASUS, they had me clear the CMOS... Didn't fix anything. So they said RMA the board... However, before I send it back, I'm going to try what righteous suggests...

It bothers me that I have $200+ board that screws up randomly. Can anybody recommend a solid replacement for the ASUS Crosshair? I have the following components:

1 x COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
2 x Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD5000ABYS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
1 x EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI
1 x AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX6000CZBOX
1 x SeaSonic M12 SS-700HM ATX12V / EPS12V 700W Power Supply
1 x SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S203N
1 x CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
1 x CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit

Suggestions appreciated! Thanks

 

[AZZA5000]

I had this same problem det Dram would not even post Init CPU just straight to Det Dram. Most people think that it is memory problems, in most cases this is not true. I ordered my motherboard in May 2008 (1 month ago)
I eventually managed to get it too boot to the bios, i checked the bios version and found that it was on 0803, this bios does not support most of the latest OCZ memory, this makes sense as i have got 4GB of OCZ Reaper X HPC 10666.
I downloaded bios 0905!!!!!!!! as this is the bios with the memory updates, i installed the update via a USB stick which is possible with most of the latest ASUS boards via EZ Flash 2.0 on my ASUS MAximius Extreme mobo and plugged the USB stick into one of the usb slots on the back of the mobo and powered up.
I went to EZ Flash 2.0 and scrolled to the ME0905 file and pressed enter, the update was quick and ran smoothly.
I no longer have the Det Dram problem, i thought i would make sure, so i powered up and powered down 10 times and all 10 times i booted smoothly with no errors!!.

P.S. unzip the file anf place the ME0905 file on your stick, DO NOT try and update the bios with the zip file (It probably will not even see the updated version on your stick)

PP.S. There is also later version's 1004, 1007 i have not tried these yet, but do not see the point as everything is running fine with 0905.

Last one, to get to the bios with the Det Dram error, Power up Clr Cmos and keep your finger on the button for at least 10 seconds, then turn off your power supply wait 1 minute to be sure that there is no power left in the system, then turn the power supply back on,power up and i found this method worked NEARLY every time.

PM with any probs.

 

[AZZA5000]

Heres a list of the bios you need for the following boards so that you can run the latest memory without the Det Dram error.

ASUS MAXIMUS EXTREME: Old Bios: 0803 You need at least bios 0905
ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA: Bios 1201 is needed
ASUS MAXIMUS 2 FORMULA: Should already support newer memory.
BLITZ EXTREME: Bios 1005
BLITZ FORMULA: Bios 1101
P5E3 Deluxe\DDR3 1333 2G: Bios 1001

I have just listed a few but please go to the ASUS support page and download at least the bios that solves memory compatibility problems with your mobo first.
PM me if you still have any problems.