• Registered: 2002-09-20
  • Posts: 4,312

Topic: At an ends =[

So I finally got all my parts and slapped em' together and just as I thought I'd be good to go, everything doesn't turn out alright.
To start things off this is what happens step by step when I try booting:
- Powers up everything seems fine all fans are spinning
- Powers down (as if it instantly shutdown)
- Powers back up (without my intervention)
- Then a cycle of powering up then down again happens for about 3-6 cycles until I finally get to a POST.

The post unfortunately shows in a red font:
"Warning !!! The previous performance of overclocking is failed, and the system is restored to the default settings, Press any key except "DEL" to enter setup ......."

Yet I haven't even began overclocking yet!

So after pressing any key except "DEL", I get into the BIOS setup. After examining the setting and seeing that all is well in terms of FSB and Multiplier  I proceed to Exit without saving changes.

Now I get the idea that maybe it's a BIOS issue that can be fixed with a BIOS update.
So I bust out the Windows XP CD in hopes to install the OS, update the BIOS and be good to go.

NOT SO!

As it begins loading the files needed for XP is stops at:
"Setup is loading files (Kernel Debugger DLL)..."

And just hangs there. I left it for approximately 45 minutes with no change in status.
So I thought maybe it's a bad CD, so I popped in the Windows Vista DVD I had prepared for a later time.
Which turned out to be more revealing about my problem than the XP installation.

I got 2 BSOD one saying that I simply had a Stop: 0x0000007e error, then on the second one I got a Stop: 0x0000007e with PFN_LIST_CORRUPT message.
I've read that the PFN_LIST_CORRUPT is most likely faulty hardward.

I've tried a plethora of things:
Stripped everything down to barebone: Motherboard, CPU, Video Card, HDD, DVD-Drive.
2 Different Windows installation Disks.
All 4 of my 1GB DIMMs one by one. (2x Dual Channel Kits)
I even tried using my current PC's HDD just to even try to get into Windows.

From the info that I've gathered from all that I've tried it seems that the likely candidate of my problems is my motherboard.
Although I don't know if I can rule out the CPU or the RAM.

If anyone can help me out to figure out which is the problem, it would be much appreciated I don't want to RMA something that was actually not the cause of the problem.

My hardware list is here: http://www.blizzpub.net/forums/thread.php?pid=730732#pid730732

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2 Reply by Crast

  • Registered: 2002-11-01
  • Posts: 2,784

Re: At an ends =[

the "overclock failed" message also comes up when the BIOS battery is dead and you lose all settings.   However, the XP install issue wouldn't come from that, most likely.   The constant shutdown/powerup sounds pretty scary, but given you have a 620w power supply, it's highly unlikely your PSU is too weak, though it could be faulty.  *boggle*

I have no specific recommendation at this time, other than if you have a spare BIOS battery from another motherboard and it's the exact same size/voltage, I'd pop it in there.

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  • Errrrrrr
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  • Registered: 2002-03-09
  • Posts: 4,439

Re: At an ends =[

Have you made sure the FSB/RAM timings are correctly set in the BIOS? It sounds like a problem with either the timings, or the voltage settings not matching that of the hardware. It could be due to the BIOS not having the right default settings for your hardware or isn't detecting your hardware correctly. It's worth the effort to look closely into the detailed settings in BIOS.

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  • Registered: 2002-09-20
  • Posts: 4,312

Re: At an ends =[

So anyways I tried another stick of DDR3 from a friend of mine which wielded the exact same result. So heres my thought process:
- Not the CPU I don't think the computer would even post if there was a problem with it.
- Not the RAM I tried 5 different DIMMs one by one, the 5th borrowed from a FULLY functioning computer.
- Not the Video Card I spent quite a while fiddling with BIOS settings to try to fix the problem.
- Not the HDD I haven't tested it throughly as the problems so far don't seem to be HDD based.
So I'm just about 99% sure my motherboard is a dud.

Curiously thought the Windows Installation had gotten past the loading Kernel DLLs but alas got halted by a BSOD with a pci.sys error.
Ohh and if you do a Google search it mentions something about a slipstream installation bypassing problem but thats for Service Pack installation issues.
Also there would be no guarantees that a BIOS update would remedy problem #1 as the change log for the latest BIOS showed nothing involving my problem.

So anyways now I'm just sitting here going through the instructions to RMA as I'm not interested in troubleshooting much longer.

Originally posted by: Crast
the "overclock failed" message also comes up when the BIOS battery is dead and you lose all settings.   However, the XP install issue wouldn't come from that, most likely.   The constant shutdown/powerup sounds pretty scary, but given you have a 620w power supply, it's highly unlikely your PSU is too weak, though it could be faulty.  *boggle*

I have no specific recommendation at this time, other than if you have a spare BIOS battery from another motherboard and it's the exact same size/voltage, I'd pop it in there.

I don't have another battery of the same size and format so that wasn't possible.
Also I found out that the shutdown/powerup sequences of the motherboard is actually a safeguard to failed overclocking hence the warning message, which again is very odd since I did not even overclock to begin with.

Originally posted by: Errrrrrr
Have you made sure the FSB/RAM timings are correctly set in the BIOS? It sounds like a problem with either the timings, or the voltage settings not matching that of the hardware. It could be due to the BIOS not having the right default settings for your hardware or isn't detecting your hardware correctly. It's worth the effort to look closely into the detailed settings in BIOS.

The FSB is set to 333MHz with a 7.5 multiplier which is the correct setting for the CPU and the timings should be fine as they are all set to auto detect from the RAM's built in specifications.

Looking on the brighter side of things though (gotta keep the moral up somehow), I'm extremely happy my LG 22" monitor came with no dead pixels (which was my biggest fear) and the motherboard (if it was working) seems pretty impressive. I love the little quirks high end motherboards get:
- 8 back panel USB ports plus an extra 2 with optional bracket leaving 2 for front panel for a total of 12! (I'm a sucker when it comes to USB ports I have too many gadgets to hookup to my PC).
- Power and Reset switches on the board itself (Helped tremendously when I was troubleshooting.
- The Chipset cooling seemed like it was designed for the Heatsink Errrrrrr recommended. As the fan sucks in air in creates a strong current on the chipset heatsink cooling both the CPU and Chipset simultaneously. Also it directs the air out the 200mm fan on the top of the Antec Nine Hundred
- The amount of option available for overclocking open up lots of option for the future in adjusting my computer when the need arises.
- This particular motherboard had something extremely useful I had never seen before. These little stand for the power, HDD led and reset cables that had it all labeled for you so you could first connect the case to the stands then connect the stands to the motherboard! Ridiculously convenient!

Had the computer worked on the first shot I'd probably recommend this board to everyone I knew putting together a new computer. The on board power/reset switches and the little cable stands are ridiculously good ideas and had me completely sold.

Thanks for your help.

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  • Registered: 2005-06-02
  • Posts: 586

Re: At an ends =[

What are you going to do with the computer?

EDIT: saw the other thread n/m

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