asrock z77 error 55 (ram not installed) went away

swaps · 23 Sep 2013 at 02:18

I've been BSOD'n since the 17th, I've been working on debugging it. 10 hours CHKDSK later, countless driver clean uninstall/reinstalls later, countless OS reverting later, my computer would power on and instantly off. Normally it would reboot just fine, I looked at the error code and it's 55 which means memory not installed, yet it is.

I will get around to running memtest soon, I'm stressed up and caked up on work so I'm trying to not get any downtime (I have no other backup machine for work, dammit).

Here are my minidumps for the mean time: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80210058/Computer/minidump/Minidumps.zip

My HDD is fine, my GPU is fine, my processor is fine, I really do think it's the ram. I have yet to take out the sticks and run tests and run memtest for 24hours+ - I will try my best to keep this thread updated in the mean time.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80210058/Computer/minidump/memorydump/MEMORY.DMP - memory.dmp - it's big, over 600MB.

Does anyone have some sort of idea what is going on? Thanks in advanced for people who bother to check the minidump/memory.dmp

NOTE: The error 55 only started to appear after I cleared the CMOS, it took about 20mins to get back into windows (the error 55 randomly decided to go away after I pulled out the PSU plug for a while).

NOTE: I ran about 6 passes of memtest a few months ago, so I'm going to be really upset if it is the ram.

Specs:

jeffa123 · 25 Sep 2013 at 22:49

Your issue seems to point to the Motherboard. I had a brand new system delivered in May. I spent the weekend setting it up but never got it started. I purchased a seconds MB and CPU of the same configuration only a leeser CPU. I tested the CPU and Ram in the backup Motherboard and it worked. I returned the other CPU Motherboard and Ram because it was part of the same bundle for a replacement. It took over a week for a new one to arrive. Unless you have had a significant change in your configuration the problem I believe should be Motherboard related. I obviously tested my PSU so it wasn't that.

swaps · 26 Sep 2013 at 02:15

jeffa123 said:
Your issue seems to point to the Motherboard. I had a brand new system delivered in May. I spent the weekend setting it up but never got it started. I purchased a seconds MB and CPU of the same configuration only a leeser CPU. I tested the CPU and Ram in the backup Motherboard and it worked. I returned the other CPU Motherboard and Ram because it was part of the same bundle for a replacement. It took over a week for a new one to arrive. Unless you have had a significant change in your configuration the problem I believe should be Motherboard related. I obviously tested my PSU so it wasn't that.

Thanks for your reply. ocUK seem to think it's either the mobo or cpu as well. I have no hardware change at all with my system so I've sent it back and they're looking into it

!

swaps · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:53

Update: Getting my computer back on the 2nd, they seem to think it's the user config (so my windows install?). I'm not too sure but we'll see soon.

8 Pack · 2 Oct 2013 at 09:58

55 is either memory cant reach the timings or frequency set or a contact problem with a warped board or bent pins in the socket. Its often caused by over tightened cooler or motherboard stand offs.

swaps · 3 Oct 2013 at 05:15

Update: Turns out it was the PSU. My 600W PSU doesn't have enough power to everything inside my rig. Currently on two HDDs for now till I get a new PSU.

jeffa123 · 3 Oct 2013 at 08:58

I know a lot of people say that 650W is enough to power everything in a rig but it depends on power distribution. You have to check how much of your 12 volt rail is going to be active and is it dedicated. A true Modular PSU has a dedicated 12V rail which supports the CPU and FSB functionality. Also you have to remember that a motherboard requires a precharge these days because it often can have up to 10 or more phases to become active. This means that it has a 10 phase protection circuit onboard. Some MB's as little as 4, each phase requiring a bank of Capacitors to safeguard the voltage level so it doesn't get a feedback or short.
next to a capacitor you will often see a coil which serves as a govenor to make sure the current is not over the peak capacity and diodes to prevent the common shorts of the past which blew so many motherboard up.
If you want a decent PSU which submits to most scrutiny then look at an average size of 750W a minimum Bronze certification and good air circulation.
Basically it is better to have too much than too little the actual PSU should have a good control mechanism in self governance (power saving) which is the trend with the more modern set of PSU arriving.
One PSU I let go recently I purchased from OCUK back in 2007 I passed onto a friend recently which was fully modular and is still working and still providing a well controlled system of delivery. I upgraded my own PSU with my system which is still 750W and operates at the same level. The problem with PSU's sometimes they show correct voltages but they have little or no guts to the power they provide. So you may have a 12V rail which adds up to 350W and a 5V rail patched down to 3.3 or 1.5 which takes 400W because the power is going nowhere and as such the PSU packs up because it cannot provide the correct voltages to the correct areas. It is these that draw power which often causes blow outs. You get some older nasty ATX PSU's doing this and because they drop voltage at the wrong time applications like windows has issues whereby it cannot shutdown or even go into power save modes because of voltage scatter. This builds up until you get a discharge of the current through its quickest way to Earth, The Motherboard, Hard Disk or even out through the keyboard sometimes. I have seen USB and PS2 keyboards on fire due to this. Many think that wearing the precautionary strap on the wrist to Earth yourself before touching a rig a bit of over precautionist, but when you think of how much money and how much of yourself you have put into your personal computer, are you really going to throw things away by not taking those precautions?
Stupidity is for idiots preparation is for the wary,