Maximus IV Extreme post code 00 on power up

[zipperfacefirst]

Greetings,

Hardware Summary:
CPU: i7-2600K (Quad w Hyperthreading)
CPU Fan: ThermalTake CLP0575 (2x130mm)
MotherBoard: Maximus IV Extreme B3
Boot Disk: PNY P-SSD2S064GB-CT01RB (4xRaid 5)
Hard Disk: Seagate ST2000DL003 (1x2TB)
RAM: Corsair CT2KIT51264BA1339 (4x4GB)
Video: Radeon HD 6770 ( 2xDVI in PCI Express x16 slot)
DVD/CD RW: Plextor PX-L89SA SW
Power Supply: VisionTek 900349 (800W)
Case: Cooler Master RC-534-KKN2-GP
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate with XP Compatibility Mode

I just built the above PC in a Black ATX Mid Tower case. On power up the motherboard immediately displays a post code=00, and nothing else happens. To progress beyond this point, I resort to clearing the CMOS which takes me to the BIOS. In the BIOS (which has been reset by clearing the CMOS, I change only one thing: The Sata mode is changed to RAID. Then I save, exit, reset, and the system boots to Windows (in about 17ish seconds). From this point the system seems stable. If I reboot, the reboot is OK, and I get back into Windows 7. If I shutdown, then power back up, I am right back where I started with a post code of 00.

Do I have a faulty motherboard, or am I missing something in the BIOS that could fix this?

 

[jaquith]

Welcome to Tom's Forum!

Pff - this could be several things. I assume that you properly set-up the RAID using more than SATA -> RAID and the RAID is all on the Intel {Ctrl + I}. Next, IF Windows isn't also set correctly then you'll have boot problems.

To begin, verify that the Start = 0 = {AHCI/RAID} in Windows -> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976
Verify the registry values look like:

 

[ko888]

Your problem is happening after the POST (Power On Self Test) has completed.

AMI BIOS POST Code 00 is Call to Interrupt 19 for boot loader

This is the point where after a successful POST control is then passed to the boot loader on first bootable device (i.e. your SSD RAID Array) to load the operating system.

Are the four SSDs connected to SATA3G_3, SATA3G_4, SATA3G_5 and SATA3G_6?

From your problem description the problem only seems to happen during a cold boot (i.e. from shutdown to power up). There seems to be an unacceptable delay from the time the system is powered up to when the RAID5 array reports it's ready for use.

Does the problem only happen with 4 SSDs in RAID5? What about 3 SSD's in RAID5?

 

[zipperfacefirst]

This is a reply to ko888, and jaquith and to anybody who might be experiencing the same issue. First, my thanks to both of you for your posts!

I found a solution on my own, and here is what I did that solved the boot issue. This mothercard has several spst switches that do various things. One of them (labeled LN2 in the manual) was enabled when I received the mothercard. This switch is supposed to 'solve' a boot issue. According to the manual: 'with LN2 mode activated, the ROG (republic of gamers) motherboard is optimized to remedy the cold-boot bug during POST at an extremely low temperature and help the system boot successfully'. By default this switch is enabled, but I found that my system would not boot until I disabled this switch. Once the switch was disabled the motherboard would boot without the need to enter and change the BIOS. I also found that the stability of my system was improved by changing the RAM speed from 'auto' in the BIOS, to the actual speed of the RAM I purchased (1333MHz in my case). Hope this helps anyone experiencing the same issue!