ABIT AN8-Ultra Troubleshooting

[OrangeKangaroo]

I've dug around in a lot of forums and there seems to be a lot of fuss about ABIT's AN8-Ultra motherboard. In my case the mobo has suffered from random lock ups, that seem to be related to the USB 2.0 feature. What was your problem with your AN8-Ultra and you fix? What is your config?

To be more specific, I had issues where enabling USB 2.0 support would result in whatever was runing to lock up. Linux included. I've been working on this since October and I've finally stablized things some. Sometimes the computer gets a bit jittery, but otherwise no freeze ups.

My solution:
I've moved all the USB port pwr jumpers to the off position. Possibly related is moving my two SATA drives to a single SATA controller and disabling the unused controller? I've also had better results with keeping the audio card in the middle PCI slot. I suspect the USB power did the trick. Also be sure to use a power supply with good 3.3 and 5 volt specs.

I'm using Bios 19 too.

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ABIT AN8-Ultra
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester
Antec TruePower 2.0 TP2-550 EPS12V 550W Power Supply
OCZ Value Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM
Rosewill 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM
MSI RX800-TD256E Video Card
Creative Audigy 2 sound card
DVico Fusion 3 Gold HDTV tuner
TDK Indi DVD 4x
Foxconn CR-06 7-in-1 USB 2.0 removable Card Reader/Writer
2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823AS 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
Maxtor 6Y080P0 80GB PATA hard drive

 

[Heidfirst]

To be even more specific it seems like there is a problem with X2s & nf4 USB for some people (apparently it's been seen on Shuttle & EPoX nF4 boards too). There's a big thread on Abit-USA's forum about it.

On the other hand mine has been flawless with my Opty 146 & the 3200+ before that.

 

[chocoruacal]

Run dual instances of Prime95 and run 3DMark05 several times, this should put a healthy strain on the power supply. If you've ruled out the power supply (by testing or simply swapping in a different unit), I don't see why you haven't simply RMAd the board? You mention users reporting similar problems, yet there are others running dual core + AN8 Ultra without issue, so perhaps you simply got a bum board? Let us know what you find!

 

[OrangeKangaroo]

I'm beginning to think RMA is an option. Gonna try my ASRock board again. Otherwise, any folks out there had good results with the AMD x2 3800+ and their MB? What make/model?

 

[chocoruacal]

Originally posted by: OrangeKangaroo
I'm beginning to think RMA is an option. Gonna try my ASRock board again. Otherwise, any folks out there had good results with the AMD x2 3800+ and their MB? What make/model?

Google: AMD Errata 123. Evidently the dual core + USB bug might be in teh chip itself. Some people are affected, some not. AMD recommends a BIOS update, but I don't recall seeing that option in either the 19 or Beta 20 BIOS for the AN8-Ultra. Could have missed it though, see if its in there.

As far as my Googling skills are concerned, Asus, Abit, DFI, Epox users have ALL reported problems with dual core and their USB. DFI added has the 'errata 123' option in their latest BIOSes, but it doesn't seem to work. I tried my X2 3800 and a DFI Ultra-D and sure enough, if I transfer large amounts of data via my external USB enclosure it locks up! However, I found reports from other DFI users that have no problems. Sooo...looks like its luck of the draw. Thanks AMD :roll:

 

[OrangeKangaroo]

There does seem to be a systemic problem with AMD X2 folks and nForce4 boards. That's why I bought a cheap ULi alternative.

Doesn't look like the bios 20 is beta any more. I'll flash the BIOS tonight to see if it helps at all. :

Thanks for the info!

 

[skdevnath]

I too have AN8-Ultra and has same problem. I am now moving to A8N-Ultra Premium.

I tried lots of stuffs to find the exact problem and finally I found that the problem is with onboard USB 2.0 connectors, if you don't use them, then there is no lockup.

You can read more about this from my posting in abit forum
http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?t=97686&page=19

 

[skdevnath]

Search for
"mobo USB connectors are picky about cables"

in the thread

 

[OrangeKangaroo]

I'm giving up on the AN8-Ultra. There really doesn't seem to be a reliable solution for AMD 64 3800+ x2 owners on the AN8-Ultra. My cheapo ASRock 939DualSATA2 works fine once I get it to boot. No glitches, no freezing. That with the SYBA SD-SA2PEX-2IR (SiI 3132) SATA controller I've dropped in make for a nice config.

To compare the two boards, I noticed that the ASRock does a much better job of resource management. The Abit seems to run out of steam with IRQ's and such.