Asus A8N SLI Deluxe and Maxtor Diamondmax10 - ASUS Reply

[ajmiles]

------- My message ----------

Hi,

Thanks for replying so quickly, I appreciate you must have lots of
enquiries to deal with so I'll keep it a bit shorter.

With regard to 1), as far as I'm aware it isn't possible to update the
firmware of a Hard Drive, at least not the Maxtor Diamondmax 10. I
search Maxtor's website and also googled for things such as
"diamondmax 10 firmware" with no luck. I have used all the BIOS
revisions since 1002 including the 1002 beta, 1003, 1003 betas, and
1004.001 and have "lost" my Maxtor drives on at least 10 occasions.

Often after the PC crashes or restarts one or both of my 300gb DM10
drives will be gone, and the PC won't even boot from a third drive.
Assuming ASUS is aware of the issue, do you know where I can get such
a "firmware update"? I am already using 1003.

Lastly, I know the board only officially supports up to DDR400, but it
also officially supports overclocking as evidenced by all the options
in the BIOS. It is an "overclockers board", and the "240mhz at 1T"
issue is the biggest issue we all have with the board at the moment.
Obviously ASUS wouldn't put overclocking options in the BIOS (and
advertise it as such) if it didn't want them to work? Change to 2T
command rate and I can hit 300mhz DDR600 which is very impressive, but
there is this issue with 1T that holds the board back.

Thanks again,

-------- End of My Message -------


------- ASUS Reply --------

Thank you for contacting ASUSTek UK Technical Support.

The Maxtor is a known issue, but you have to actually request the firmware from them due to the risk involved in updating it (like updating BIOS). There is however a new BIOS with updated SATA Bootrom information due out very soon...I don't know any further information than that though.

With regards to the overclockability, it has AI Overclock, PEG link, and other options, the extent of the overclockability was not promised and unfortunately some customers expect amazing overclocking abilities when the 1T overclock is still a good feature and is overclocking in action.

Regards

---------- End of ASUS Reply ---------

 

[MrVeedo]

With regards to the overclockability, it has AI Overclock, PEG link, and other options, the extent of the overclockability was not promised and unfortunately some customers expect amazing overclocking abilities when the 1T overclock is still a good feature and is overclocking in action.

that isnt exactly what i wanted to hear...

 

[ajmiles]

Indeed, it isn't ideal that they don't seem to care too much. Hopefully the guys in Taiwan are working on this issue, but the support guys just can't promise anything. Sounds too like the new BIOS will have this updated SATA Boot ROM which means Maxtor DM10s won't disappear. We'll just have to wait.

 

[MrVeedo]

ive seen a couple posts with people saying there will be a rev. 2.0 version of the board released. that might be their way of fixing the 1t problems with this board. im not sure if that rumor is total b.s. , but asus has always done the rev 2.0 thing, so i wouldnt doubt it.

 

[stickybytes]

Originally posted by: MrVeedo

With regards to the overclockability, it has AI Overclock, PEG link, and other options, the extent of the overclockability was not promised and unfortunately some customers expect amazing overclocking abilities when the 1T overclock is still a good feature and is overclocking in action.

that isnt exactly what i wanted to hear...

certainly not. asus was billing this motherboard as the elite, the flagship model of all the other motherboards. the dfi we know overclocks to insane speeds and the msi is also a very good overclocker. for asus to take such a stand on such an issue especially when competitor boards are besting it certainly doesn't bid too well for company rep.

 

[MP421]

Hi all,

Im having the same issues with my A8N-SLI... my Maxtor 120GB 6Y120MO drive is not detected durning the IDE detection sequence... my Samsung drive works perfectly.

Ive logged this issue with Maxtor and asked for a Firmware upgrade and I got the following reply:

"Unfortunately the issue cannot be resolved by a drive firmware update, it
can only be resolved when Asus issue a motherboard BIOS update resolving
the problem. Please ensure that you have the latest BIOS update for your
motherboard, and keep an eye on Asus' website for any updates that may
correct the problem

If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us
again.

Kind Regards,
Technical Support, Maxtor Ireland Ltd."

When I asked if they could confirm it was a known issue I got the following reply:

"Yes - the issue is motherboard-dependant and can only be resolved through a BIOS update release from the manufacturer. The drive is not faulty as you have seen yourself on the other system. Be warned that Asus will probably try to convince you that it is a drive firmware issue. This is NOT the case."

So.... does anyone have a firmware update form the Maxtor 6Y120MO drive or know where I can get one as Asus and Maxtor cant seem to agree where the problem lies.

I`m currently running bios 1007-002 (and have run every on up to this version) and the drives are still not detected :'(

Thanks in advance.
MP

 

[davidos]

PM me your email and I can forward you the firmware Maxtor emailed me...

 

[MP421]

Originally posted by: davidos
PM me your email and I can forward you the firmware Maxtor emailed me...

Cool, thanks for that.
Ive pm`d you now.

Cheers.

 

[century child]

Originally posted by: stickybytes

certainly not. asus was billing this motherboard as the elite, the flagship model of all the other motherboards. the dfi we know overclocks to insane speeds and the msi is also a very good overclocker. for asus to take such a stand on such an issue especially when competitor boards are besting it certainly doesn't bid too well for company rep.

You can say that again. I previously had the Asus board but made the switch to the DFI about a month and a half ago. It is so much more fun and productive to overclock than the Asus. I occasionally come back to this forum to read about the frustration I don't have to put up with any more. I for one do not regret the switch in the least and was very impressed with the overall quality of the board and extremely thorough BIOS. There are plenty that will disagree with me but I highly recommend anyone who's fed up with the Asus to give the DFI a try if you have the means. If you are a tweaker at heart, you will be very glad you did.

 

[mikepro]

Have you tried pluuging your SATA drives into ports 3 (and 4 if you have multiple) of the nVidia RAID controller? Once I did that, I've never had another problem with them.

 

[theMan]

i dont know what the hell is wrong with asus, this is the same problem with the a8v deluxe. all the new bios releases 1t doesnt work, and there hasnt been an updated sata bootrom since 6 months before i got the mobo. what are they doing?

 

[mikepro]

Originally posted by: theman"I'm sorry, the fingers you have used to dial are too fat. To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm now."

"If you know the number of the crime being committed, please enter it now... You have selected: Regicde"

 

[qbackin]

Great...just got an Asus sli board and I just happen to have a DiamondMax10