p5k and p5k deluxe "wont post" workaround

[lumper]

Hi all.
Had an issue with my p5k board this week and I was able to resolve it, thought I would share.
When the sytem wouldnt even post, no beeps or anything, and I benchtested it with only a cpu, memory and a vid card I was not able to get anything at all.
I tried another mobo, another vid card, another power supply and I was about to try another cpu, then I read on Asu's site abotu a memory issue.
I went out andf bought some 667 ddr, pny 2 gigs for $50.00, I tried one stick and sure enough sytem posted.
I then, set the memory to the specs of my normal memory, the pc8500 I use and I shuit down, upon reboot , the system posted and I havent had a problem since.
Now that is strange.
All I did to initialy get no post, was I fired up the pc, saw I had forgotten to hook up a keyboard, so I rebooted and then shut down, I pulled the pc away from the wall to get the keys plugged in and when I moved it I felt it snag on the carpet slightly, this created a slight jolt.
It was after plugging in the keys that I was not able to re boot.
If anyone else is hgavign a posting issue with an asus p5k, or deluixe, I can verify this worked for me.
Now interesting is that the deliuxe board was brand new in the box and wouldnt post, with my memory, until after I ran the lower spec stuff first, it wasnt only my original board.
So I cant say if it is a mem issue with crucial ballistix or not.
I hoep this saves someone else from buying spare parts,m try the mem first you may save a few hundred bux.
The vids card I bought I was able to return, not the mobo though, so I had to eat that and I am using it actualy, since the wifi is coming in handy.
I had a house fire last monday and although we all got out safely, we cant live there anymore and I have been out of a hotel since, it was monday night my pc decided not to post.
After hooking up the deluxe and using the wifii I am so glad I did as I can now be online again without being home, paying for it, or running any lines or buying any parts.
Just wish I knew more about why the system wouldnt post.
anyway thats it, good luck, I hope this helps soemone else.
lump

 

[roadrunner197069]

When an Asus board doesnt post the best thing to do is unplug the power from the wall. This sets everything back to default.

 

[lumper]

lol, yeah well that did nothing, and I did the whole gammet.

After building high end gaming rigs for the last 7 years I am very well versed in diagnosing hardware and this was a first for me to find this particular condition.

Now I went to asus forums and found no less than a dozen other posters with exactly the same issue.

No post means no beeps from the mobo, no video at all, only fans spin, you are not getting the power on self test, so the bios never even comes into play.

So you and any other readers understand here is a rundown on the diagnosing that was done prior to finding the solution.

first thing, unplugged the rig, reset the cmos, and removed the battery, followed basic cmos reset guidlines and then rebooted, nothing.

then pulled the board out of the case and laid it on the bench, unbplugged everything from it and inspected each part and connection.

re installed the cpu and heat/sync with new thermal paste, pulled all the memory and then only put one stick in.

Pulled the vid card, checked the power to it, the connections and the board to look for any damage or obvious disconnects.

then put the card in, and hooked it up to a monitor.

Nothing else hooked up or plugged in, no drives, pci cards, usb, not even a mouse or keyboard.

Usualy in a build this is the first power on situation to verify post.

From there I then add a floppy, keys and mouse and flash the bios and keep building, but I digress.

In this case, a full strip to bench and power up had the same results, no beeps from the board, no nothing.

So to test it, I pulled all the memory out and rebooted, sure enough I got memory error beeps, then I pulled the vid card and repeated to verify the speaker is hooked up and that the warnings are working properly.

Then I put it all back.

Then I decided to try each of the 4 mem modules I had, one at a time, in each of the four slots, so 16 re starts in all to make sure that any module wouldnt work in any slot.

That still produced nothing.

So logicaly at this point, my first thought was, get a spare board that works, a chip, a vid card, and a psu all that are confirmed working.

One at a time try them, which I did.

Brand new board, psu, vid card, still nothing.

Then I was about to do the chip, when I decided to try somthing that makes no sense but I had stumbled upon on another board.

I went out and bought another rating ddr2 mem.

I ran in my build, crucial balistix pc 8500 @ 1066, so I bought 2 gigs, of pny 667 memory which will work but is under spec as this board can run 667 o 1333.
Ok so still on the bench, I put in one stick of the pny 667 with my vid cad, the new mobo and the new psu.

The system posted first try, as a matter of fact the initial beep came fast, then a second, then a post.

So I thought, well thats wierd, and I cant explain it but it worked.
so it s not the board, the ps, th evid card or the cpu at this point.

Now I sit down and put one stick of my memory back in and restarted, got nothing again, no beeps, nothing.

So I put the pny back in, posted right away, went into the bios and changed the memory from auto detect to 1066.

Then shut it down and put in one stick of my memory and sure enough it posted.

Then I shut it down again and added my other 3 sticks, 4 total and re started.
It came right on.

So I put the board back in the case, added my things back to it, all my drives, etc..

Started it up and it came on no problem.

It has been on now 24 hours since no issues at all.

I found a workaround for the "No post" but I cant tell you why it happend after running perectly for 6 months then all of a sudden just decided it cant post.

I cant tell you why the 1066 at any setting would not post, but a lower rated memory was immediately read and then in effect reset the boards ability to read the modules.

It is a first for me in 7 years and I have built a LOT of rigs.
So again, if you find your pc will not start, no video signal, no beeps at start up, fans spin, etc.. and after you test it you are stuck, try the simple memory work around, pull yours out, put one stick of another compatible memory in and see if that does it.

There are a lot of Asus owners on their website that are having random "No Post" issues and can not find an answer and Asus is not much help at this point publicly.

I wouldnt have posted this if I didnt think it were somthing most advanced users might not be a little stumped by.

I know when I first found a thread online discussing it and heard three people in that post say they tried the memory switch and it worked for them after reading the exact same problem as I was having I was very happy as I would not have thought to try that for a while yet and I did spend $$ I didnt have to.
The board I bought cant be returned and I dont need it, but live and learn.

Anyway I hope that is clearer and people who find they cant post while searching here for help will find this and that it will help another user.

Later
Lump

 

[insaneoctane]

In case I haven't confirmed this, I have the EXACT same problem...right down to the "I own Ballistix 8500 RAM that won't POST" and "I used slower RAM to FINALLY get my system to POST". I'd RMA the MB if I thought it was just a bad batch? Otherwise, maybe I should invest in some cheap DDR2 to keep around for when the P5K acts up? It certainly sucks and I doubt I'll every buy another ASUS!!!

 

[Marktime]

OK perhaps it is a RAM issue sometimes but like many people I too was having a problem getting my (P)ower (O)n (S)elf (T)est to come up...

Anyway no guarantees.. BUT there seems to be some weird conflicts with the P5K and certain video card chipsets, mine was a ATi 2600 chipset, but I don’t claim to know the entire list of others that might have similar issues..

I 1st tried other cables, LCD monitors, motherboards nothing.. even another 2600 chipset, and the only way I could get it to POST with a 2600 graphics card is via a DVI to VGA converter on the back of the graphics card as my LCD has the ability to use a DVI or VGA cable.. I suggest anyone with a similar issue try this if you are needing to get the POST and get into BIOS.

This past week I tried a video card from N Vidia and it posted fine with a DVI cable and no converter, go figure! I mean this chipset is designed to work in crossfire mode and that is only ATi chipsets… strange and ATi and ASUS pretend they have never heard of the issue, I will not be buying ASUS again they have poor customer service at best and with a multi billion dollar firm you think they could locate their customer service in an area with a better bandwidth.. Their website is horribly slow... if you want to get POST then you need to use a VGA plug converter for your graphics card. This is aggravating at best as the motherboard is designed for one to be able to tweak the BIOS, just ridiculous that one must put this stupid connector on every time should they want to get in BIOS. Other than this without this connector the PC will usually boot in 30 or 40 seconds direct to Windows welcome screen.

 

[raghav7519]

I am sooo glad I found this post - WOOHOO

I have had the same issues and its taken me days of trying to test and sort it out it makes me mad that custom pc recommend components to build a machine and dont even tell you about the issues using superfast OCZ reaper ram that I tried.

I am gonna buy your PNY ram and give it a go hopefully will be the answers to my prayers!!!

BTW the answer to why this happens - a little lightbulb went on when I was reading your post - is that in the manual for the MOBO I remember reading that if you install 1066MHZ memory that you have to set the bios for it???

I aint an expert but that would dictate that you use crap emmory to launch it and then reset to the fast memory like you have....good luck