Asus Crosshair V Formula Z Question

[z34type]

I've bought this board for 130 used on Craigslist. Seller said works fine, I happened to take a snap of his License plate before the deal just in case =)

So the thing is the motherboard seems to get power only when I press the "Go Button", even lights up. But it won't boot up. Hitting that power switch doesn't do anything. So I checked all the ram, gpu made sure they are all in place, as well as the wire for the Power SW. Everything is where they should be. I even cleared the bios,but nothing helped.

Now I noticed this mobo uses an extra 4 pin power connector labels as EATX12v. My Thermaltake TR2 700 Watt Bronze Psu only has the ATX 24 pin, 8 Pin and the rest are for the graphics card connectors. The 8 pin can be snapped into half making it 4/4 pins. I tried plugging in either of them computer will not even turn on as well as
plugging them both in including the 24 pin atx connector. However when I press the "go button" there are two red leds that are lit up and one flashing. Solid red on DRAM and Flashing VGA and Code FF.

 

[z34type]

Can no one shed any light my problem?

 

[Jovec]

1) If you don't have the manual, you can download online from Asus

2) You don't need to connect anything to the 4-pin EATX12v_2 connector.

3) FF is "reserved for future use" aka meaningless at this point.

4) The RAM led being solid red indicates a RAM issue. What RAM are you using? How many sticks? Take the RAM out and re-seat it. Try only 1 stick.

5) For reference, what CPU are you using?

 

[z34type]

1) If you don't have the manual, you can download online from Asus

2) You don't need to connect anything to the 4-pin EATX12v_2 connector.

3) FF is "reserved for future use" aka meaningless at this point.

4) The RAM led being solid red indicates a RAM issue. What RAM are you using? How many sticks? Take the RAM out and re-seat it. Try only 1 stick.

5) For reference, what CPU are you using?

I have a Patriot 3x4gb Sector 5 1600mhz. All ram is working in another build I'm using. I have tried reseating and using one ram in all slots and no results.

I am using a AMD FX-8350 CPU

 

[Burpo]

I've bought this board for 130 used on Craigslist. Seller said works fine, I happened to take a snap of his License plate before the deal just in case =)

Just in case what? You want to return it? If I can't see a board work, I'm not taking anyones word on it..

 

[Puffnstuff]

When the debug led reads ff the board is usually dead.

 

[Jovec]

I would try getting the board back to default settings by:
- Move the Slow Mode switch to Disable
- Move the Fast Boot switch to Disable
- Set the LN2_Mode jumber to Disable (Jump 1 & 2)
- Clear the BIOS settings via the Clear CMOS button on the rear panel

If that doesn't work, I'd try using the USB BIOS Flashback option (directions in the manual) which will reflash the BIOS without needing (AFAIK) CPU/RAM/Display, or at the very least without needing to boot into the BIOS itself.

Given the stagnation of AMD chipsets, I would be more suspect of this motherboard being sold by itself than I would be for different platforms. Someone selling a SB/6x board to move to a IB/7x board, someone selling a non-Z board moving to a Z board, etc, make more sense than selling arguably the top AM3+ board to move to...? Maybe the 8350 was used in another system, or maybe sold separately. Maybe the seller is moving to MicroATX. Or any number of perfectly valid reasons. Unfortunately, a bad mobo is likely too.

 

[z34type]

I would try getting the board back to default settings by:
- Move the Slow Mode switch to Disable
- Move the Fast Boot switch to Disable
- Set the LN2_Mode jumber to Disable (Jump 1 & 2)
- Clear the BIOS settings via the Clear CMOS button on the rear panel

If that doesn't work, I'd try using the USB BIOS Flashback option (directions in the manual) which will reflash the BIOS without needing (AFAIK) CPU/RAM/Display, or at the very least without needing to boot into the BIOS itself.

Given the stagnation of AMD chipsets, I would be more suspect of this motherboard being sold by itself than I would be for different platforms. Someone selling a SB/6x board to move to a IB/7x board, someone selling a non-Z board moving to a Z board, etc, make more sense than selling arguably the top AM3+ board to move to...? Maybe the 8350 was used in another system, or maybe sold separately. Maybe the seller is moving to MicroATX. Or any number of perfectly valid reasons. Unfortunately, a bad mobo is likely too.

I've tried most of the troubleshoot you mentioned except for the flashback option which I've yet to tried. I've also post a thread on Tomshardware and a lot of people are recommending the flashback option as well the 4 EATX12V pin needs to be plugged in able for the mobo to boot. I've had friends who also own a sabertooth and crosshair boards that needed that 4 pin plugged in able to boot. The weird part is I do not have that 4 pin extension on my psu.

I spoke to the owner of the board telling me to also flashback the bios since its probably not compatible with my psu or ram. Since he did have it setup for different things for his memory, psu and overclocking settings. He also mentioned that 4 pin needs to be plugged in. Since I've threatened him that I have his license plate and a picture of his face. I know I won't be able to do anything at this point even though I have his plate,but at least his getting a little scared.

UPDATE: I went ahead and proceed with the flashback so far not looking good. Not only the ROG button cover is missing,but there is no response from it at all. There are no indications of led flashing near the bios chip of any sort even holding it 3-5 seconds. I've tried 8. Did everything right, usb drive is on the flash port. The usb has been formatted to fat32, rename the file, its on the root of the usb drive. No response at all
Won't I be needing the original receipt or invoice for RMA request? I don't have that

 

[Jovec]

as well the 4 EATX12V pin needs to be plugged in able for the mobo to boot.

I just disconnected my 4-pin EATX12V_2 connector and booted into the BIOS on this same board.

You need to have the 8-pin EATX12V connected. If you have neither the 8-pin or the 4-pin connected I can see the board not booting. If you have only the 4-pin connected it's possible the board won't boot. The 4-pin is extra on this board and designed to help with 220w CPU models and high overclocks.

Most boards today, if not all, will include an 8pin EATX12V plug. Older boards came with 4-pin EATX12V plugs (and older still had none). If a PSU only has a 4-pin connector then it may be used in the 8-pin plug IF the CPU is lower power.

Your 8-pin plug is able to be split into two 4-pins. This is so it can be used in a board which only has 4-pin EATX12v. In your case, keep the two 4-pins connected and connect it to the 8-pin EATX12V_1 connector (which should be keyed to only connect one way).

It's likely the board is bad.