Boot problems and no POST with new P5N32-E

techmonkey · 26 Jan 2007 at 15:10

Hi all,

I upgraded my motherboard from a P5W DH Deluxe to the P5N32-E due to switching to Vista 64-bit Business Edition OEM. Since I purchased it last week I have been haveing boot problems with it. Basically, the board will either bring up the good old "NTLDR is corrupt or missing" error or not display any POST information at all on the screen (as if there is no video to my monitor). Every time the NTLDR message comes up I have to use the OS installation DVD to repair the boot files of the system but this random problem of no signal to the monitor is really getting on my nerves as a new component shouldn't be doing this.

I have done the usual memtest86 for the RAM which passed and have tried my 7950GX2 in my house mate's system numerous times with no problems. The board came with the latest 0602 BIOS and I have even tried the 0702 Beta BIOS found on Asus Homepage. I'm thinking about returning it for a replacement but thought I'd post here to see if anyone else knew of anything more I could try. :confused:

Any help is appreciated.

dave2kdh · 26 Jan 2007 at 18:41

Hi. I've certainly had my fair share of issues with this board since i got (mine was shipped with the 0602 bios and it wouldnt boot, reflashed with 0602 off the asus website and it worked no probs :confused:

) , memory was the biggest ar** as i'm sure you'll read on the asus webby. I can though assure you the 0702 bios is certainly worth using, that is in my opinion as it solved my x-fi issue and i am now able to run my memory at it's correct timings.

a lot of users have a few mixed feelings 0702, there is good post on the asus website about it, i suggest reading that and the forums before flashing: http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...id=1&model=P5N32-E+SLI&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

In regards to the graphics card issue, i'd check the voltage settings on your board and/or see if the 2nd pci-e slot yields any different results.

matt1 · 27 Jan 2007 at 12:43

My dads just got this board and I've come home for the weekend to help build it.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 2.66GHz
RAM: Corsair 2GB DDR2 Dominator 6400C4

Can't get it to POST at all. Tried some cheap 4200 44412 stuff from a Dell we have and no joy. I can't get a visual on the screen at all, any suggestions? PSU is a Tagan 900W so it's not underpowered.

techmonkey · 27 Jan 2007 at 16:59

My board continues to have the same problem but I have noticed that after leaveing the system running with no signal to the monitor, eventually the POST does infact come up and Windows boots as normal. However the fact that this seems to take anywhere between ten and twenty minutes is rather annoying. Even if my system isn't overclocked this issue still occurs. :mad:

Oh well, at least everything works eventually and I'm sure Asus will fix this issue with a BIOS update, though I think I'll be having a natter with my motherboard retailer to see if they mind switching this for the P5N32-E Plus, if that revised (and exactly same price) board doesn't have this issue. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the link dave2kdh, I'll have a scan through it now and I'll be sure to make a post there at some point to try and alert them to my issues as I'm evidently not the only person with this problem.

matt1 said:
Can't get it to POST at all. Tried some cheap 4200 44412 stuff from a Dell we have and no joy. I can't get a visual on the screen at all, any suggestions? PSU is a Tagan 900W so it's not underpowered.

If you're unable to even power the system on, be sure to remove the cap that's covering 4 of the 8-pins that power the CPU. You'll see what I mean, it's right near the top-left of the motherboard. This board needs an 8-pin CPU power connector rather than the usual 4-pin. I had this little problem when I first installed the motherboard as I thought that the cover over 4 of the pins was there for a reason.

james32 · 27 Jan 2007 at 20:53

matt1 said:
My dads just got this board and I've come home for the weekend to help build it.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 2.66GHz
RAM: Corsair 2GB DDR2 Dominator 6400C4

Can't get it to POST at all. Tried some cheap 4200 44412 stuff from a Dell we have and no joy. I can't get a visual on the screen at all, any suggestions? PSU is a Tagan 900W so it's not underpowered.

have you tried the other memory slots apparantly it seems that asus
put out boards with faulty ram slots.

matt1 · 27 Jan 2007 at 21:23

It seems the 8-pin power connector was an issue, as in my absence my dad connected it (still using the corsair) but didn't get it to work. I then cleared the CMOS, put some PC2-4200 in slot B1 (second closest to CPU) and it booted no problem. Knew that Dell would come in useful

Thanks techmonkey for the suggestion, spot on, thought that connector looked odd.

james32 it's about the vdimm, not the board really. You need to use RAM that will POST at low vdimm, not sure what it is by default, then up it in the BIOS to boot with other RAM. The corsair stuff wants 2.1v :rolleyes:

techmonkey · 28 Jan 2007 at 02:51

I've sussed what the issue was with my motherboard!

I have a Saitek USB control pad which I normally plu into the back of my system. This is what was stopping my system from bringing up the POST! All I have to do is make sure that I leave it unplugged when I'm not useing it in a game.

Now to get round to overclocking, I'm at 3.2Ghz now with 1425Mhz FSB and 1.4375 CPU vCore. My memory is unlinked but I've raised it from 800Mhz to 825Mhz with defaul timeings but 2.0v, it should be able to handle that tiny bit extra. I can't seem to get any higher yet as I'm not sure what a safe CPU vCore or Northbridge vCore is for 3.4Ghz.