ASUS P5ND2 SLi Won't Boot

[VampyreUK]

I have just bought an Asus P5ND2 SLi board and used it to construct a base system:

* Asus P5ND2 SLi
* Intel P4 3.4 650/775
* ThermalTake copper based fan
* GeCube Radeon X800GTO DDR3 256Mb PCI-X video
* 1 x 1Gb PC4200/667 DDR2 memory (I have 2 but only used one so far)
* ColorSit 550W PSU

First of all, I am aware of some stability issues that requires drivers and patching to be done in the correct order but it doesn't (as someone on another forum suggested) sound logical that there is a generic fault with the motherboard not only because it has had some superb reviews but because ASUS has (to my mind) a fairly good name and I sincerely doubt they'd release a board in that state.

Anyway the system won't boot (I've never successfully started the system, I only put the system together 3 days ago) ... it does nothing for about 10 seconds, gives 1 long beep (5 to 10 seconds at a guess) and then does nothing else. Despite the fact that fitting the ThermalTake fan to the board was a pain (I had to disassemble the fan to do it, probably more an issue of case design than anything else) I'm fairly sure the CPU must be working as the fan starts up and the system issues some kind of POST beep code and I would have though that implied the CPU was fitted OK.

I've tried looking up the POST beep code and can't find this particular one but I suspect that the memory is the problem for several reasons (in my defence I bought the memory before I had the board and manual):

* If I remove the memory from the system I get the same beep code.
* The manual says the following, "This motherboard does not support memory modules made up of 128Mb chips or double sided x16 memory modules" and the memory I have has 8 chip either side so I'm guessing that would be a problem.

Although the video doesn't work yet I'm guessing that's just because the system never got that far.

So I'm posting this to ask if anyone has any better ideas as to what the problem is?

If I am right (the board won't have damaged the memory will it?) the situation is entirely recoverable as the memory was purchased at a very reasonable price from the US and with luck I should at least make enough to come out even, perhaps even ahead and get myself closer to buying the 4 SATA2 drives I want.

Any advice or guidance greatly appreciated.

 

[electronicsfreak]

What type of bios are you using?

 

[VampyreUK]

According to the manual the BIOS is a Phoenix Award ... I can't confirm this directly as I haven't seen it on screen yet.

 

[electronicsfreak]

Give this link a try.

http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml

Also if you think you have a memory problem use this program below to test one memory stick at a time. Otherwords use it with only one stick of ram in the board.

http://www.memtest86.com/

 

[VampyreUK]

Hmmm ... that's weird!

I tried the system with no memory ... I got about 6 seconds silence followed by a 13 second beep, a short pause and then a continuous beep.

When I put the memory back in (in the A1 slot) I got about 40 seconds silence followed by a continuous series of 3 to 4 second beeps with short pauses in between.

And I still can't tell what that means (trust the board I chose to have a really complicated BIOS)!!!!

 

[electronicsfreak]

Heres another link that looks a little better written.

http://www.bioscentral.com/beepcodes/phoenixbeep.htm

 

[paparazi]

New build senario's

1) You have placed one or more brass standoff posts in the wrong positions on the motherboard so shorting it to earth (unlikely given your symptoms)

2) You have not used ALL the necessary power connections on the motherboard, some newer mainboards have one or MORE EXTRA power connections that must be used

3) You haven't given your graphics card the additional power connection it needs.

4) IDE/Floppy cables are orientated incorrectly, just one twisted or not fully home.

5) Floppy drive pins bent by forcing on the cable at an angle

6) Power supply failure or insufficient for the system requirements. This brand (colorsit) is pretty poor quality! so it wouldn't suprise me that you have a new but faulty unit.

7) Front panel switch fault, reset or power (stuck in?)

8) Compatibility with components (as you say, is the ram correct for this board)

9) Clear cmos, make sure it is in the "running position"

8) HDD/CDrom/addon card damage preventing boot, basically disconnect anything that is not necessary, to eliminate addon's from the equation. Infact take the system back to an absolute minimum, pull off everything, just leave the motherboard/CPU/cooler/1 stick of ram and the power supply, even pull off front panel connections.
Touch pwr (power pin headers) momentarilty with a small flat blade screw driver to start.

Lastly it would help to have a spare graphics card, a stick of known good ram and a good power supply.

Martin


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[VampyreUK]

Hi Martin,

You have placed one or more brass standoff posts in the wrong positions on the motherboard so shorting it to earth (unlikely given your symptoms)

Fairly sure there are 9 posts and 9 aligning holes ... I also take the precaution of super-gluing one of those cardboard washers on top of each post so as to provide additional insulation for the motherboard from the case (I started that several years ago when I got exactly that problem). To be fair I haven't done the same with all the screws (on account of running out of washers that fit them so a short is still possible.

You have not used ALL the necessary power connections on the motherboard, some newer mainboards have one or MORE EXTRA power connections that must be used

I am using a COLORSit PSU with a 24 pin ATX style connector and the additional 4 pin power connector sited near the CPU ... I don't think there are any other power connectors but I will check.

You haven't given your graphics card the additional power connection it needs.

Even though my last video card had one and I fully expected this one to, I can't see one.

Power supply failure or insufficient for the system requirements. This brand (colorsit) is pretty poor quality! so it wouldn't suprise me that you have a new but faulty unit.

Gah! I was told (by Gigabyte) to avoid QTEC which is why I ended up with a COLORSit in my previous computer and why I bought this one. The one in my previous computer never cause me issues and I tested this one in that computer (admittedly it was an older ATX board so only tested 20 of the 24 pins, the connector is designed so it can work with 20 & 24 pin boards) first and it worked AOK.

Front panel switch fault, reset or power (stuck in?)

Possibly ... I had no issues on my previous build (same case) but I can disconnect the line to make sure it's not an issue.

Compatibility with components (as you say, is the ram correct for this board)

This is what I am thinking ... in fact I have just put the RAM up on eBay so that I can use the money to buy something more compatible. Someone here at work is building a 775 system and has offered to test the RAM.

Clear cmos, make sure it is in the "running position"

Will try that.

4) IDE/Floppy cables are orientated incorrectly, just one twisted or not fully home.
5) Floppy drive pins bent by forcing on the cable at an angle
8) HDD/CDrom/addon card damage preventing boot, basically disconnect anything that is not necessary, to eliminate addon's from the equation. Infact take the system back to an absolute minimum, pull off everything, just leave the motherboard/CPU/cooler/1 stick of ram and the power supply, even pull off front panel connections.

These aren't an issue since the system is base and has no devices apart from video in place.

Touch pwr (power pin headers) momentarilty with a small flat blade screw driver to start.

I have done that with other systems but, rather than use the power switch? The system does power up ... it just doesn't boot to OS.

Lastly it would help to have a spare graphics card, a stick of known good ram and a good power supply.

Therein lies one of my problems ... this is the first of its kind in my house. Nothing else uses DDR2, PCI-X or socket 775 CPU's and none of my friends have anything compatible. The board has no AGP socket and I wasn't sure if the system would run with an older style PCI card if it fails to find a PCI-X one.

Thanks for posting ... I will try some of those things

 

[VampyreUK]

Good news!

A colleague at work has a similar system and not only has he tested the memory I bought as working but his memory works fine in mine!

The system boots ... yay!

So now I have a plan ... the memory I bought is on sale on eBay and as soon as it sells I will buy the 667MHz equivalent of his memory (Crucial) instead.

Thanks for the replies

 

[paparazi]

Thats great, always nice to see a problem solved, it's a real shame when you see all this money spent and a dead PC.
Thankfully now you have it sorted.
Martin

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