I have an odd problem with an Asus P5N32-E SLI. The board is an RMA replacement direct (I believe) from Asus to replace a board which wouldn't POST. This board has problems of its own though.
If I boot from a cleared CMOS, I can get into BIOS. If I stay in BIOS any length of time (more than about two minutes), the system freezes. If I then reboot, the system hangs on a blank screen with a continuous tone from the speaker. Not long beeps, but a single beep lasting forever or until you pull the plug. If I switch off, but leave the power on to the PSU, any further attempts to power up, no matter how long I wait will result in the same never-ending beep. If I turn the PSU off, I can then get back into BIOS if I wait about two minutes. If I wait less, the system freezes at the video BIOS screen. Generally, the longer I wait, the longer it stays stable. If I clear CMOS, again I can get into BIOS after a couple of minutes, but I'm guessing that this is because I have to turn the power off. However, once in BIOS, the system freezes again. I have a bout a minute to make a change or two to settings, and then save and reboot. The reboot however, will result in the beep, no matter what I change, or what to, unless the total time "up" is short. But reboot often enough and the system locks.
Now my first thought was RAM settings, but the RAM is running at 667 by default, and changing to 800 makes no difference, and neither does changing the RAM voltage. PC1066 RAM does exactly the same. And why would it then boot again after a few minutes off? The same thought suggests that the CPU is fine. I've tried another power supply which happily runs an IP35 and E2180 at 3.2GHz - same problem.
Next thought was heating - the northbridge of the 680i chipset gets hot - in this case about 50oC. So I placed a fairly good 60mm fan right over the top of it, and now it hardly gets hot at all, the the problem is unchanged. I can't find anything in or on the board which is getting hot. BIOS says (until it freezes) that the CPU is at 35oC.
I've tried booting with everything except gfx, CPU and RAM connected - still does it. I can't flash the BIOS because the rig isn't stable long enough.
My feeling is that there's something wrong with the power rails on the motherboard itself, and probably in one of more capacitors, which is why you need to power off completely to fix it. I have two 80mm fans plugged into the board (yes, I've tried without them) and when the power up it's not at full speed. After about twenty seconds they suddenly speed up.
Hardware:
Asus P5N32-E SLI
1 x 1GB Geil PC2-6400 4-4-4-12
Antec TruePower Trio 650W
OcUK GeForce 8400GS
Plus 80GB Maxtor HDD, DVD-ROM and floppy drive. Four 80mm fans, Antec SOHO 1040 case.
So..
1) Does anyone know what a never-ending beep on this board means? For certain. BIOS is Phoenix/Award, version 1103.
2) Anyone have any other ideas, apart from RMAing it. Since that would mean replacing a second P5N32-E SLI with a third one, I'm not a fan of that idea.
Cheers
M
If I boot from a cleared CMOS, I can get into BIOS. If I stay in BIOS any length of time (more than about two minutes), the system freezes. If I then reboot, the system hangs on a blank screen with a continuous tone from the speaker. Not long beeps, but a single beep lasting forever or until you pull the plug. If I switch off, but leave the power on to the PSU, any further attempts to power up, no matter how long I wait will result in the same never-ending beep. If I turn the PSU off, I can then get back into BIOS if I wait about two minutes. If I wait less, the system freezes at the video BIOS screen. Generally, the longer I wait, the longer it stays stable. If I clear CMOS, again I can get into BIOS after a couple of minutes, but I'm guessing that this is because I have to turn the power off. However, once in BIOS, the system freezes again. I have a bout a minute to make a change or two to settings, and then save and reboot. The reboot however, will result in the beep, no matter what I change, or what to, unless the total time "up" is short. But reboot often enough and the system locks.
Now my first thought was RAM settings, but the RAM is running at 667 by default, and changing to 800 makes no difference, and neither does changing the RAM voltage. PC1066 RAM does exactly the same. And why would it then boot again after a few minutes off? The same thought suggests that the CPU is fine. I've tried another power supply which happily runs an IP35 and E2180 at 3.2GHz - same problem.
Next thought was heating - the northbridge of the 680i chipset gets hot - in this case about 50oC. So I placed a fairly good 60mm fan right over the top of it, and now it hardly gets hot at all, the the problem is unchanged. I can't find anything in or on the board which is getting hot. BIOS says (until it freezes) that the CPU is at 35oC.
I've tried booting with everything except gfx, CPU and RAM connected - still does it. I can't flash the BIOS because the rig isn't stable long enough.
My feeling is that there's something wrong with the power rails on the motherboard itself, and probably in one of more capacitors, which is why you need to power off completely to fix it. I have two 80mm fans plugged into the board (yes, I've tried without them) and when the power up it's not at full speed. After about twenty seconds they suddenly speed up.
Hardware:
Asus P5N32-E SLI
1 x 1GB Geil PC2-6400 4-4-4-12
Antec TruePower Trio 650W
OcUK GeForce 8400GS
Plus 80GB Maxtor HDD, DVD-ROM and floppy drive. Four 80mm fans, Antec SOHO 1040 case.
So..
1) Does anyone know what a never-ending beep on this board means? For certain. BIOS is Phoenix/Award, version 1103.
2) Anyone have any other ideas, apart from RMAing it. Since that would mean replacing a second P5N32-E SLI with a third one, I'm not a fan of that idea.
Cheers
M
