Having trouble with first build MSI motherboard

[aleblanc4655]

I am working on my first build and have run into a hang up when starting, it is posting A2 (not really sure what it means). It does seem to regonize my disc drive, hard drive, the RAM, and the CPU, based on the POST screen. I have tried both Bios, resetting CMOS, changing out SATA cables and using different locations. I have tried RAM in all locations (Have to leave house soon but did just notice the two sets of RAM I have are different speeds, and I forget the boards minimum). I am currently leaving my sound and graphics card out, although they were in the first try. I can only access the Bios after I have cleared the CMOS, the second time it freezes on the MSI splash screen. I originally had a gigabyte motherboard that would freeze when trying to boot the Windows 7 disc, I sent it back and got the MSI board instead, this leads me to believe I might have an issue with something other then the motherboard, but being a noob I am a bit lost and everyone I know seems to think everything else is fine.

MSI z77 Big Bang Mpower
Intel i5 3570k
stock cpu fan
G.Skill Ripjaw DDR3 1333 4gb *2 (set currently in)
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (set I will try when I return)
LITE-ON Black Internal 12X Blu-ray Combo SATA Model ihes112-04 - OEM
EVGA 02G-P4-2678-KR GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 ST3000DM001 3TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
ASUS Xonar D1 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro Gold Series RSA00-80GAD3-US 1000W ATX 12V v2.3

While now noticing a possible issue with RAM (although I think I tried both sets seperately) being lower speed than I originally though, I think I could still have an issue. Any help will be greatly appreciated, and I will post back with the results of switching the RAM. Thank you all again, and sorry if I posted to the wrong spot, first time posting although so far reading the forums has been helpful.

 

[master_chen]

....hmmm...it's most likely that the problem is in your memory. It either detaches somewhere (not plugged completely enough), or it's because of the difference in your memory sticks. It is best for memory sticks to be exactly the same, it's not good to combine different memory sticks, especially if they have different timings and voltage.

It is also quite possible that your HDD simply dies, it's failing and thus cannot load anything beyond the splash screen. I had similar thing when my 7-year old 300GB Seagate HDD started failing heavily at the end days of it's life span (it completely died this January), not loading beyond Windows XP splash screen and sometimes hanging-up right on the first "device detection" screen. It's quite of a common thing, actually. I'd take a guess that it is likely the HDD/SATA port after all, not the memory. Or both at the same time (quite unlikely). :\
Seagate's "Barracudas" are ill-known as very unreliable HDDs: they can either work fine for 5+ years, or die almost instantly after the purchase, so it is a very high possibility that the problem is caused by that HDD of yours. If you want truly reliable, high-quality HDD from Seagate, "Constellation" line is the choice (especially "Constellation ES"), not "Barracuda".

 

[stickmansam]

the A2 is just the msi bios thing, different for me every boot

try updating the bios using a flash drive

 

[aleblanc4655]

I switched out the memory and still had the same issue. Both sticks are exact matches, but different than the first set I had in. It seems to be giving me an issue with booting into anything, leading me to believe there is a problem with SATA ports. Since I don't have windows installed I am trying to boot to the disc drive, but have tried booting to HDD, this is where it freezes, regardless of what I try and boot to. I will try and use a USB to update the Bios tomorrow. I believe the HDD is good since a while back when I was starting the build with a different motherboard I had it tested on another computer and was told it worked fine. Of course what was working then might not be working now. If I try and enter boot screen or bios before the MSI splash screen comes up it lets me into them, but still wont boot to disc or HDD. Would HDD issues prevent me from booting to disc even when disc is set to be the first boot option? Also would it be possible for the SATA ports to work to recognize both devices but not actually work well enough for them to run?

 

[stickmansam]

try booting to a sub as well, like make a usb install stick for windows 7 and see if that will work as well

$you can even try installing to a usb from a usb
you're tried the using all the sata ports?