Asus Maximus III Formula will crash on post screen

[Lzingano]

Hey all...

I bought me 6 months ago an Asus Maximus III Formula, an intel i5 760, 4Gb of a Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M2A1600C7, 2 1Tb samsung hard drives (which are in Raid, and that is one of my issues), a EVGA GTX460 768Mb video card and a Corsair 850W PSU ( dont remember the model of it). maby one month ago, the PC started to show some crashed on startup. it got alwys worse, crashing more and more frequently, but i thought it would not happen what hapened. last week i decided to send the board to warranty, which goes up to march 24th. i bought it from São Paulo (Brazil), so, it will take maby 2 days by post to arrive to the vendor. i am desperate, more with my data than the problem with the mobo.

what happens is the following:
when i turn the mobo on, it will post, but it freezes on that ROG image. sometimes, it works when i press the memOk button, but i could only make it work once yesterday, but could not boot the system. i cant even access the bios. i suspect of the mobo being damaged, or maby the memories (most unlikely). i can send it to warranty, but my biggest issue is my data. i have my 2 HDs full, and they are in raid 0. i have lots of important things there that i cant lose. what can i do to save my files? anyone knows of some issues of this board with memories and so on? couldnt it be the processor?

about the raid, is there a way of saving my data? this is the most important for now, i bought me a 2Tb HD yesterday, so that i could put my data from my PC to it, but since it will not boot anyway... i could not do anything. would the raid work if i put my hard drives in another PC, in order to recovery the data? or maybe if i get another mobo like my old one from the vendor, it is likely to work?

help me please, i am desperate


regards
Leonardo

 

[COLGeek]

If you are overclocking, drop back to a stock speeds and see if that helps. Also, how are your temperatures when the system is running?

 

[jaquith]

Welcome to Tom's Forum!

NEVER EVER - NO WAY - Have Important data on a RAID 0!!! If you loose either the RAID or either 1TB HDD then 'poof' goes your data!

I hopes of salvaging your DATA:
Q - What exact BIOS changes have you made?

I assume the RAID is off the Intel Matrix / SATA Ports, and in the BIOS I assume SATA Configuration -> Enhanced & Configure SATA as -> RAID, and Ctrl - I / RAID 0.

1. For now, try a SINGLE stick of RAM in 'DIMM A1' -> CPU | DIMM A2 | DIMM A1 | DIMM B2 | DIMM B1 |

2. Connect the 2TB HDD

3. BIOS Undo any OC, in the risk of the RAID don't Load Defaults but if needed then correct {prior to rebooting}:
a. SATA Configuration -> Enhanced
b. Configure SATA as -> RAID
c. Verify Ctrl - I / RAID 0 is still configured

4. Pray and Reboot and copy ALL important DATA to 2TB HDD.

5. Failure, swap the other RAM stick in 'DIMM A1'.

Good Luck!

 

[Lzingano]

If you are overclocking, drop back to a stock speeds and see if that helps. Also, how are your temperatures when the system is running?

temps are ok and i have never made an overclock on this PC. i had to buy first a decent CPU cooler to do so. was planing to make an overclock maby about next month...

 

[Lzingano]

Welcome to Tom's Forum!

NEVER EVER - NO WAY - Have Important data on a RAID 0!!! If you loose either the RAID or either 1TB HDD then 'poof' goes your data!

I hopes of salvaging your DATA:
Q - What exact BIOS changes have you made?

I assume the RAID is off the Intel Matrix / SATA Ports, and in the BIOS I assume SATA Configuration -> Enhanced & Configure SATA as -> RAID, and Ctrl - I / RAID 0.

1. For now, try a SINGLE stick of RAM in 'DIMM A1' -> CPU | DIMM A2 | DIMM A1 | DIMM B2 | DIMM B1 |

2. Connect the 2TB HDD

3. BIOS Undo any OC, in the risk of the RAID don't Load Defaults but if needed then correct {prior to rebooting}:
a. SATA Configuration -> Enhanced
b. Configure SATA as -> RAID
c. Verify Ctrl - I / RAID 0 is still configured

4. Pray and Reboot and copy ALL important DATA to 2TB HDD.

5. Failure, swap the other RAM stick in 'DIMM A1'.

Good Luck!

ok... lets go... first of all... now i know that i should not store important data on RAID... too late to figure out. but will try to recover.

i have no changes made on the BIOS but a upgrade, which i made after the PC starting to crash, it worked fine before, and i was happy that way. i know it is risky, so, i have attempted to do it as a last hope. and it worked fine, the bios worked nicely (all the times it started )

yes, your assumption is correct about RAID, it is on that 6 sata conectors on the board, my RAID disks are on connector SATA 1 and SATA 3.

i have tried it with single stick on all connectors, with the two sticks, but have never tried wit another memory, just with my ones. one big problem, is that it will crash on the screen where you should press del to enter BIOS, it just freezes. if i press tab, it will show the information, but if some presses del, it will not load. sometimes it works, but almost never. when i manage to enter bios, it is always by pressing the MemOK button, thus reseting also the BIOS (should it really reset it?)

on which port do you sugest attaching the 2TB HDD? in one of that 6?


Regards
Leonardo Zingano

 

[COLGeek]

temps are ok and i have never made an overclock on this PC. i had to buy first a decent CPU cooler to do so. was planing to make an overclock maby about next month...

Understood. Be sure to look at jaquith's excellent advice. You definitely want to look at your RAID config as he suggests.

 

[Lzingano]

Understood. Be sure to look at jaquith's excellent advice. You definitely want to look at your RAID config as he suggests.

problem is: my biggest problem is loosing the data, but the real issue is the bricked mobo... i have no problem with my HDDs, the problem is that if i loose my mobo, i will consequently loose my data, right?

 

[jaquith]

It doesn't matter which SATA Ports, but the 'best' choice for now is to keep off the first 4 SATA Ports - this includes the ODD {DVD}.

Also, if your after-market CPU FAN lacks non-conductive mounts {Plastic/Rubber - Mount and/or washers} -- you might be getting a partial short/grounding. Meaning you never want metal on MOBO.

Next, you can try to rule-out an I/O short -- unscrew all of the MOBO and PCIe screws to the case and dangle the MOBO with a towel.

Let us know.

 

[COLGeek]

problem is: my biggest problem is loosing the data, but the real issue is the bricked mobo... i have no problem with my HDDs, the problem is that if i loose my mobo, i will consequently loose my data, right?

If you replace the RAID controller with the same chipset you will be fine recovering the RAID itself. So, swapping the mobo, if the mobo is the problem, with the same model/RAID controller should not be a problem.

 

[jaquith]

problem is: my biggest problem is loosing the data, but the real issue is the bricked mobo... i have no problem with my HDDs, the problem is that if i loose my mobo, i will consequently loose my data, right?

The Intel Matrix with the same MOBO has a recovery procedure -- you'd need to repeat the process and use the RECOVER in the Ctrl - I / Option 4. NEVER allow "All DATA on Selected Disks will be Lost" with a = Y/Yes; choose N/No. No guarantees.

 

[Lzingano]

i do not use an aftermarket fan... my fan is a stock one, i was sayed that i was willing to buy me one

i have spoken to the guy that has sold me the mobo... just one question, how hard is it to make this raid work on another board, let say, gigabyte? i dont know if he has one of these board anymore... sad, but having my data, i would be happy with a gigabite, really. well... an equivalent one. i will try today when i arrive home from college, to turn it on once more. if i succeed, i will remove that weight, at least. is that RAID menu common to the chipset, or is it exclusive from the mobo?


Regards

 

[jaquith]

The Intel RAID is limited, in your case, to the Intel P55. Moving around a RAID 0 is risky -- it 'should' transfer to another Intel P55 that has the same Intel Matrix RAID, and using the RAID Recovery. I do a lot of RAID and I've seen RAID transfers work more often than fail. I haven't a clue to whether or not your current RAID is corrupted or not.

The 'safest' option is the same RAID Controller and next the same MOBO onboard RAID and after that the same RAID 'type' e.g. Intel ICH10R or Intel P55. Moving from one type or another is a hit or miss -- more miss.

If the MemOK is working and if it keeps clearing the CMOS then chances are you're corrupting the RAID without setting/checking SATA Configuration -> Enhanced ; Configure SATA as -> RAID ; Verify Ctrl - I / RAID 0 is still configured each time prior to a reboot.

The fact MemOK helps suggests the next thing is to try NEW RAM -- then worry about RMA or exchange. If your computer you're posting from also has DDR3 RAM 'borrow' a stick.

 

[Lzingano]

all right... maby some good news, but not that good... just tried to start the PC, and it worked ok, the only problem is that my RAID is gone... will try to recover it using a ubuntu live CD.

and no, my second computer does not works with DDR3, in fact it does not works with desktop mem sticks, since it is a netbook i really would have tried that before, believe me

well, lets see what happens now...

regards

 

[jaquith]

Use the BIOS recovery first...

Good Luck!

 

[Lzingano]

well... suddenly, somehow it started to work propperly again, have no idea why. i recovered all my data, but the RAID just worked twice. it is kinda corrupted, i think. hope it is not about the board... i will format it today and reinstall windows, i am affraid that the board will stop working in 2 or 3 days again, and since my warranty expires today, i will be screwed.

let's see what i will do now, but i hope it is working again, maby it was just a bad contact... who knows just hope it was...

 

[COLGeek]

well... suddenly, somehow it started to work propperly again, have no idea why. i recovered all my data, but the RAID just worked twice. it is kinda corrupted, i think. hope it is not about the board... i will format it today and reinstall windows, i am affraid that the board will stop working in 2 or 3 days again, and since my warranty expires today, i will be screwed.

let's see what i will do now, but i hope it is working again, maby it was just a bad contact... who knows just hope it was...

Good luck, but you are describing an ailing system. Make sure you make a good backup of all critical files as soon as you can, I suspect this problem will not get better. If all is configured properly and the RAID is still unstable (sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't), then there must be a hardware error in the RAID config (cables, HDDs, controller). Double check all connections, to include getting good locking SATA cables to securely fasten to the HDD and mobo.

Have fun!

 

[jaquith]

Bottom-Line - Eureka you have recovered your DATA!!! Everything else is down hill from there.

In my case it's the same, my data is worth many times what the PC is worth. NOW you've got a GOOD reason to buy at the very least a back-up drive. Assuming the data isn't going to reside on the RAID 0 you'll need another Drive. My Desktops are SSD + HDD RAID 1, Gaming SSD RAID 0 + HDD RAID 1 - plus I have a home network for backups; and attached HDD does the same. You need to take 'snap shots' of your DATA. Even in my RAID 1 if the HDD gets corrupted then I have 'cloned corruption' BUT I do have then 'snap shot'. {My financials are also backed-up after each use on a Flash Drive}.

If your Warranty is 'up' and since you've had 'problems' AND if you can wait 2~3 weeks use ASUS's warranty.

 

[Lzingano]

everything up and running now, hope it stays this way for at least some good 6 years

only problem is that i have lost one 1Tb HDD, but have all my data backed up. will try to fix it though. if I fail to do so, will buy maby one more 2Tb HDD and hopefully, one SSD. the only problem is that theese are REALLY expensive here in Brazil, something like $200 for a 64Gb one.... scarry

regards

 

[jaquith]

Yeah that's crazy expensive!!! Is there any US company that can ship it to you instead?

 

[Lzingano]

dont think so, already tried Newegg, but never e-bay or amazon, will take a look there. just to note, i had never had any trouble since the PC started to work again... hope i have no more... just have to ask to replace my dead HD.

 

[Lzingano]

Best answer selected by Lzingano.