A8N-E Being Retarded

[mrSHEiK124]

This is supposed to be a video adapter beep code for Award BIOS; I tried a GeForce 8800 GTX, 7900GS, and 6600GT; they all return the same error.

The interesting thing is that this computer has one stick of 1 GB DDR400 and two sticks of 512 MB. 1 GB stick is in slot B1, 512s are A1 and 2. The motherboard only returns the beep code when we try to use DDR400. DDR200, 266, and 333 all post fine; 400 causes a long short short beep code.

The BIOS also reports that it's single channel, when in fact it isn't. All sticks pass Memtest at DDR400 when they're run alone, as well as when the two 512s are run in a pair.

This isn't my board, I'm trying to help a friend. I've got a newer A8N-E that I've never had problems with. His is HW revision 2.00, running the newest BIOS, I think it's 1.013

Other stats. Athlon FX60, X-Fi Platinum, and a whole bunch of drives, not that they really matter.

 

[Big Lar]

Sounds like compatibility. Maybe try a different PSU, but first a cmos clear.

Larry

 

[icingdeath88]

Thanks man

It's my computer in question here. The PSU might be a little underpowered, but i don't see one stick of ram making the difference between posting and not posting. Plus, with 2 sticks of ram (1 and .5 gigs) it runs at crazy loads. The CMOS is cleared every time it's unplugged, which was many when we were trying different combinations earlier today. I guess that could be an issue, the CMOS battery has been dead for about 6 months. Sorta embarrassing to admit i never changed it, but there you have it. The craziest thing in all of this is that it worked with the following setup before:
8800GTS (GTX in the first post was a typo)
2 gigs of ram: Slot A1-blocked by retardedly designed CPU fan, A2 1 gig, B1 512 mb, B2 512 stick (Left to right) I never thought to check the speed that it was running at the time, but I know it was single-channel.
FX55 @ 2.8 ghz (200x14 @ 1.375V) (FX60 was a typo as well)

Same mobo of course.


We really can't think of any reason it shouldn't work now, especially considering it worked before.

Any suggestions of things to check or try would be greatly appreciated.

 

[lopri]

How long have you had the board? A typical ASUS board doesn't last much longer than a year when overclocked.

 

[icingdeath88]

The board itself isn't overclocked, the FX-55 has an unlocked multiplier, so the board is still at stock frequency. Had the board for a year and a half.

It's not overclocked now that it's been giving problems. That was what I was hoping it was, it's an easy fix.

 

[Regalk]

Originally posted by: lopri
How long have you had the board? A typical ASUS board doesn't last much longer than a year when overclocked.

Lopri - you usually post fairly good comments - what the heck is the above about?
My A7N8X delux 1.04 and "E" version is still going after 4 years
My A8N-E has been overclocked from day 1 (coming up to close to 2 years) - I have rebuilt this several times with all kinds of RAM, video cards etc etce etc

To Icingdeath88
If other RAM checks out then your 400 stick could be bad
OR powersupply a bit weak (doubt it if it posts with other sticks) but if old you may still want to test it out barebones (do not connect too many drives when testing)
OR a RAM slot could need cleaning - did you try different slots
Also try not to mix DDR sticks since the bios will try to reset each time it sees a different stick (this is a recipe for problems)
Clear cmos and try the DDR400, with main HD connected, Video card

My A8N-E works solidly - haven't had a single problem with it since day 1 and am on my third cpu now (started out with 3000+, then Opty 144 now 3200+ - all overclocked. The board is just about to be on my pass on list)

 

[Big Lar]

I still think it is the PSU.

 

[icingdeath88]

I'll do some PSU testing later today, but I'm doubtful it's that. it's only 1.5 years old (got it with the mobo). and has managed a decent (but still very conservative) o/c on both the CPU and video card.

The ram slots can't be the problem, because it posts at up to ddr-333, just won't post at the 400 that all the sticks are rated for. Or am I wrong.
I think I tried all the slot combinations, but i'll continue to rearrange them just in case.

Channel A is the left two and channel B is the right two, correct? or is the ASUS manual wrong.
as for mixing the sticks, they're all DDR 400. The 1 gig stick has tighter timings than the two 512s. All same voltage, all PQI.
the 3 sticks together passes memtest 86 overnight like 20 times at 266 mhz. will try 333.

I'm thinking I can find the exact cutoff for where the RAM refuses to post by doing an old fashioned FSB o/c. lower the multi on the fx55 and see where the ram tops out. the board has hit ~220 mhz with the 3000+, about a year ago. Wasn't o/ced very long though, and I didn't up the voltage.

RegalK: I'm curious did you ever try a strange combination of ram like this one with your board?

Any other ideas?

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: Regalk

Originally posted by: lopri
How long have you had the board? A typical ASUS board doesn't last much longer than a year when overclocked.

Lopri - you usually post fairly good comments - what the heck is the above about?
My A7N8X delux 1.04 and "E" version is still going after 4 years
My A8N-E has been overclocked from day 1 (coming up to close to 2 years) - I have rebuilt this several times with all kinds of RAM, video cards etc etce etc

My A8N-E works solidly - haven't had a single problem with it since day 1 and am on my third cpu now (started out with 3000+, then Opty 144 now 3200+ - all overclocked. The board is just about to be on my pass on list)

My A7N8X-E Deluxe has been running a Mobile XP 2600+ for years now at 200x11 without problems; and before that it ran a regular XP 2500+ at 215 MHz FSB for a few months.

My A8N-E has been running an Athlon X2 4200+ at 227 MHz FSB for a while now, with the RAM running at 1:1 and Dual Channel works properly.

 

[icingdeath88]

bump, any more ideas?

 

[Regalk]

"RegalK: I'm curious did you ever try a strange combination of ram like this one with your board? "

As a rule I do not mix and match and I always buy mid to high end RAM to avoid problems (also mid to high end PSUs)
Having said that I did run the A8N-E for about 6 months with a no name 400W as an HTPC and had no problems.

Those beeps you need to look it up for possible causes.
Is the HS on the NB OK? I changed that whiney old fan to a Zalman HS in the first 2 weeks.
Assume that HS on CPU is on fine
Still say you should try barebones on the box and see what happens
If all else fails you have a bad stick of DDR 400 take the stick over to your firend and see what happens.
I will say it again do not mix and match DDRs - get dual channel ones

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: Regalk
Lopri - you usually post fairly good comments - what the heck is the above about?
My A7N8X delux 1.04 and "E" version is still going after 4 years
My A8N-E has been overclocked from day 1 (coming up to close to 2 years) - I have rebuilt this several times with all kinds of RAM, video cards etc etce etc

I must have been high. Didn't even know I had posted in this thread.

 

[v8envy]

Here's a thought. Make sure the BIOS is set to initialize the PCIe vs PCI video card first. One of my DS3Ls beeped the same way about video until I made that change, also with 4G vs 1G. Ram is fine, passes hours and hours of memtest86 and mprime.

Now if only I could fix the double cold boot problem that easily...

 

[icingdeath88]

v8envy: I had set it to PCI-e, so i guess that's not it.

Regalk: I tried disconnecting all of the drives, other than the cd-drive which i used to boot a ubuntu disc to do ram testing. no change. The nb hsf is in good shape, i wish i had a working windows installation to check the temps for sure, but it should be ok.

I think that because of the strange ram combination, there's just no way to get dual channel working at all on this mobo. using the 3 sticks to make 2 gigs, I tried using a 6600gt instead of the 8800gts. It boots at ddr-400, whereas with the 8800 it won't boot past ddr-333, although with a fsb oc, i got it to ddr-366 fine (didn't want to go any further and risk damage to the nb or something). It still refuses to be dual-channel, using any slot configuration, at any speed. made sure the cpu wasn't an issue by testing out the two 512 sticks - dual channel works fine at ddr-400 (didn't try with the 8800gts, gonna so that tomorrow hopefully). So now i'm thinking the strange ram configuration is just not gonna ever work properly. It works almost like it's supposed to with the 6600gt, just not dual channel. with the 8800gts, it works even less like it's supposed to, single channel and not even at the stock ram speed, with the loosest timings.

On the other hand, i can't really verify that it's not an issue of the PSU being too weak. I will work on getting my hands on a more powerful PSU to find out for sure

I have an idea though. I have a second computer that has a weaker psu. think i could use the combination of the two somehow to spread the load over them and see if it'll work like that? or is that retarded? I think i'll try that anyway, seems like it'd be an interesting thing to do anyway.

Thanks guys for all the input, I will get back on how all that turns out. If you have any other ideas of things that might be wrong or ways i could make it work, i would really appreciate it.

 

[icingdeath88]

Oh I forgot: i tried the ram in a foxconn nf4-u mobo with both the 6600gt and the 8800gts. works fine, dual channel at ddr-400 and everything. different cpu and psu though, so it's not exactly proving that it's a mobo issue 100%. I'll try it all out with just the different mobo being the variable and see how that turns out.

 

[v8envy]

Have you tried modprobing coretemp before running sensors-setup? For some inexplicable reason that gave me all the voltage and temp sensors (including the NB) whereas otherwise... not so much.

Also, did you make sure to lock the PCIe bus to 100 mhz? The 8800GT may communicate the desire to overclock PCIe to 115 mhz, and the board may comply and get confused.

I wonder if there'd be any interest in an overclocking on Linux addendum to the OC thread. Utilities, software, that sort of thing. I've been using ubuntu rather than windows for my OCing fun, so I could definitely publush my notes on doing that with a DS3L + ubuntu 7.10.

 

[NXIL]

bump, any more ideas?

Hi,

based on my experience with an A8N5X, a very similar motherboard, and the same beeps: I initially bought a new video card, and that is what the long short short code supposedly indicated. However, as it turned out, had to move the memory (matched Kingston HyperX 512s) onto just one memory channel to make it work.

I think the CPU in question was a San Diego core, like this one here:

http://www.motherboardpoint.co...-a8n5x-beep-codes.html

I think the CPU having an E6 San Diego core, a modified Toledo dual core (i.e. they made the CPU, and one half of it didn't work so great) was a factor, i.e. the on die memory controller was having some sort of an issue.

Anyway, I don't think the A8N series of motherboards likes odd memory configurations, and the one you have with 1GB + 2 x 512 may be the problem--you might try 2 x 512 in single channel mode, and see if that helps. If so, that is a clue....

A8N boards also really like one two sticks of ram--note that a lot of folks have trouble trying to run 4 sticks (speed drops to 333), and I have read that running three sticks on the nForce4 controller 'doesn't really work'--though you have been doing it for a while.

http://209.85.173.104/search?q...gl=us&client=firefox-a

http://www.techspot.com/vb/all...l-3-x-512-DDR-RAM.html

http://www.nforcershq.com/foru...6-759-am-vp582523.html

http://forums.hardwaresecrets....eb9d8ff1d1971b1a1&

under the "DDR RAM" installation section it does clearly state "DO NOT install 3 RAM modules in 3 slots, it may cause instabilities"

this is a reply i got from Corsair.com as to why putting a odd # of module in is a bad idea. hopefully this info will help everyone who have a question about this type of install (AMD athlon 64, with nForce4 chipset)

"Even if it does install without error (suspect), there is no doubt that you will be making the Northbridge work double-time and I personally would not run three banks. You will lose Dual Channel access but that is not the major event. The major event is system (Northbridge) longevity and speed via DRAM throughput and access timings. Since DRAM is so cheap, you may wish to sell all three (512) and buy 2 (1024). You will find a better DRAM speed and access timings with 2 sticks vs 4. You will also maintain Dual Channel. Your alternative, (in my view) is to populate all four banks with 512MB."

Note that for me the 2 x 512 dual channel configuration worked for a while, then stopped working after a few months. Said motherboard still doing fine in single channel mode, same memory, same CPU. Like the Corsair rep above said, I think that running the HyperX modules with very fast timings sort of cooked the San Diego CPU's on die memory controller.....

HTH

NXIL

 

[icingdeath88]

Thanks everyone for the input, you've all been very helpful.

What I've learned since last post: I was able to verify that there weren't issues with the psu hitting it's upward limit by testing an even weaker psu (i think 350 watt). The foxconn (also nforce 4) mobo consistently refused to detect at least one of the sticks. in fact, it specifically wouldn't detect ram in the 2nd or 4th slots (second channel).

NXIL: thank's for all that research, it really helped a lot. I guess I'm lucky it works at all, because from what i've read from your links (and asus's typical finicky-ness for ram), i shouldn't even expect it to work like this. Thankfully, it does though. It is a San Diego core, btw, i neglected to include that, but i really guess i should have.

Everyone and for future reference: What I settled on doing was leaving the memory set at 333 mhz, single channel, with stock timings (not messing around with that again) and using a regular old fsb o/c to get the ram as near to 400 mhz as possible. i got it to 220 so far for a final mem frequency of 366mhz. I'll keep pushing it till i get to a maximum stable. Unfortunately, this leaves the fx-55 in an unusual position of having it's stock multiplier of 13 times the 220 mhz yielding 2.86 ghz. I'm gonna keep tweaking stuff to get the fsb high and the cpu as close to 3ghz as i can get (been wanting to try for that for a while.) Any suggestions for a good 939 A8N-E cooler, btw? The one i have (zalman cnps 8000) sucks.

v8envy: I always lock the PCI-express bus at 100mhz. A linux OCing forum would be a really great addition to this, especially for those of us that want to prevent lost windows installations from corrupt disks. I've only been using the built-in mem-test-86 from the ubuntu cd, but i would use a lot more if i knew other utilities (and how to install things in linux, i still haven't figured out all that).

I guess we can all learn a lesson from this: DON'T use awkward ram configurations and expect it to work anywhere near properly.