MemOK problem, Asus M4A88T-M

[dansos12]

Hello. I've built a PC 3 weeks ago and it worked fine until 2 days ago. I changed the angle of the wireless antenna at the back of the pc and after I go back up, the screen is blank. Since then, every time I turn the pc on, there is no monitor signal, there is a solid red memOK light. I've tried booting with 1 stick, moving sticks about into different slots, no luck.

I know that solid memOK light means memory isnt compatible. But it doesnt make sense how pc worked for almost 3 weeks without problems and suddenly decided that it isnt compatible. Any suggestions?

Specs:
Asus M4A88T-M mobo
Corsair 4gb (2x 2gb) 1333 Mhz DDR3 Unbuffered (9-9-9-24)
Corsair TX 750 Watt psu
AMD 960T Black Edition 3.0GHz Socket AM3 6MB L3 Cache
Radeon HD 6950 IceQ X


Quick response would be appreciated.

 

[alvine]

have you tried resetting cmos?

 

[dansos12]

Nope as I have no idea how to do it. Could you explain please ?

 

[alvine]

take out the watch sized battery from the motherboard, it should be located on the bottom right corner of the motherboard ( the video card might be in the way)

unplug the power supply from the wall outlet. give it 5 minutes and put the battery back in, connect the psu to the wall outlet

 

[Rockdpm]

Try that first, if it doesn't work. We will go back to the drawing board and analyze this issue

 

[Rockdpm]

also means your RAM or RAM slots are malfunctioning (or not functioning at all), and worse case the motherboard...
get out your manual to the motherboard in it are directions to clear CMOS, also remove the battery for a short period if clearing the CMOS doesn't work first try.
(I have a variation of this motherboard: ASUS M4A88TD-M/USB3 880G)

Its important to read the Manual when building a computer for the first time. best way to learn something is reading, the beast way to test something is hands on

 

[boju]

Press and hold the memok button. Your manual will show where it is. This will automatically set your bios memory frequencies to achieve most compatibility.

Will need to read your manual for more information on how long the button on the motherboard needs to be pressed and if there are any changes in blinking lights during its automated process. I would guess for atleast a few seconds or atleast a distinctive change in the led light inside the memok button.

If memok button still doesn’t work then considering you had a working computer for 3 weeks without hassles means one of the memory modules is failing.

 

[dansos12]

I've taken the battery out for a couple of mintues, unplugged the psu cable. No luck, red solid light remains.
I thought that it's the RAM, but it doesnt make sense as it worked and just suddenly stopped.
I'm ready to order new ram if I'm sure that this is the problem.

 

[dansos12]

Press and hold the memok button. Your manual will show where it is. This will automatically set your bios memory frequencies to achieve most compatibility.

Will need to read your manual for more information on how long the button on the motherboard needs to be pressed and if there are any changes in blinking lights during its automated process. I would guess for atleast a few seconds or atleast a distinctive change in the led light inside the memok button.

If memok button still doesn’t work then considering you had a working computer for 3 weeks without hassles means one of the memory modules is failing.

OK, the manual said "Hold the MemOK button until the solid light starts blinking, that will start the automatic memory compatibility tuning". I held the button for a good minute, I even tried pressing it repeatadely, light remains solid. So the MemOK didnt fix it.

I don't have anyone that I could borrow RAM from.

 

[boju]

ok, the automatic memory compatibility tuning process will try to restart the computer itself probably more than once if allowed to, given enough time.

If it is a simple adjustment setting the memok button should, by rights, find the right settings and run. Otherwise, if nothing else is happening and you’re sure you’ve triggered memok right then more than likely this automatic process is dealing with other problems and possible dead memory.

 

[dansos12]

I've set MemOK as explained in the manual. It should work fine. It didn't change a thing. I'm still amazed how the hell changing the angle of wifi antenna would kill my RAM

 

[Rockdpm]

Yep, or it could have just be a coinsidence that it happend right when you moved ur Wifi thing

 

[dansos12]

No one touched it
But this doesn't really matter how RAM died (if it did). It's more important to know if it's RAM for sure. Don't want to throw money away.

 

[boju]

lets look at it at a different angle.

It is possible the memok light has always been on and only just noticed it after having these problems. In some circumstances the memok light will be lit but the system will still boot into windows. Quick question - the memory sticks are in the blue slots?

I would suggest look at anything that could’ve been bumped (even slightly) that could have dislodged a cord, monitor cable. Look inside make sure everything is seated and screwed properly.

 

[dansos12]

Red light definitely wasn't on - I have a case with a window on the side panel. Would've definitely noticed that.
Memory sticks are in slots 2 and 4, so it looks like that [ ][X][ ][X]. Tried other combinations too.
http://cdn4.pcadvisor.co.uk/cmsdata/products/3254986/Asus_M4A88T-M_550.jpg
That's the image of the mobo, so one stick is in black slot, other one is in blue.
I can borrow a monitor cable from someone to check if that isn't broken, although I doubt it is.

 

[dansos12]

I'm 90% certain that mobo manual said to put them either in A1 and A2 or B1 and B2
the slots are numbered as follows
A1B1A2B2

But I might be wrong.

 

[dansos12]

Okay, I shall try that, but I can't believe I would make such a silly mistake, I checked the manual twice.
God, I feel silly now.

 

[dansos12]

I tried the combo's that you suggested, both of them in the blue slots first and then both of them in black slots second, both times to no avail. I seem to be running out of ideas that i can think of, do you guys have any more suggestions?

 

[boju]

tried removing the wireless network card?

 

[dansos12]

Tried removing the card already. No luck.

 

[boju]

Last suggestion from me, this is getting ridiculously bizarre, it’s an unfortunate silly problem ay

To expand on alvine's suggestion to clear cmos, it may help if you follow this guide based on your motherboard. I think its yours. Removing of the battery itself should have been enough, but to be sure, try resetting it using the jumper switch.

http://support.asus.com/Troubleshooting/detail.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=1&m=M4A88T-M/USB3&s=24&hashedid=Gu2wNGbZ0LY8zKvu&os=&no=1723

Just might be lucky. Last resort i guess before buying new ram.

I do hope for your sake is just the ram. How inconvenient both ram sticks going x-file.

Good luck, please update when you solve it.

 

[dansos12]

Solved it. The solution was to loosen the screws that hold the mobo. It was screwed in too tight which made it bend a little bit. Everything works fine now.
Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[dansos12]

I know, right?
I would never think of that, I only realised after I took the mobo out, that it was screwed in too tightly.

 

[hulettk]

MEMok seems to be very problematic, as I have run into this issue on several ASUS motherboards. Solution I find - remove the auto-configuration process. Look up the brand/model of your memory and the proper timing settings, then change the BIOS settings to match. Problem will likely be solved. Not sure why ASUS likes to tout MEMok as if it's a great feature when it seems to cause more headaches.

Just remember to change the settings if you change the memory to another brand/model. Or switch it back to Auto and see if MEMok works with that brand/model better.

 

[Peter Nickles]

could that be whats wrong with mine i to have the same issue but it didnt happen until i install the internal wifi adapter.my dram light blinks red twice but my pc works fine i installed the os did a memtest 86 ram checked out okay did a memok and reset cmos it did nothing.