Help Please (A7N8X-E Deluxe)

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Cyberdog

I have the above m/b with an AMD Athlon XP 2.8Ghz processor. It has
been running ok for a couple of months, but it has started shutting
down during bootup 4 out of five times. Also the bios is reporting the
FSB is set to 100 but when i go into BIOS it is set to 166. Apart from
that if i connect my network cable from my router to the m/b it will
just shut down. When the computer does shut down the green power led on
the fron of the case remains on, and i can`t do a re boot untill i hold
the power switch in for the 4 seconds to close it down.
I would apreciate some advice please, as i am stuck on this one.Thanks
 
Cyberdog said:
I have the above m/b with an AMD Athlon XP 2.8Ghz processor. It has
been running ok for a couple of months, but it has started shutting
down during bootup 4 out of five times. Also the bios is reporting the
FSB is set to 100 but when i go into BIOS it is set to 166. Apart from
that if i connect my network cable from my router to the m/b it will
just shut down. When the computer does shut down the green power led on
the fron of the case remains on, and i can`t do a re boot untill i hold
the power switch in for the 4 seconds to close it down.
I would apreciate some advice please, as i am stuck on this one.Thanks
Click to expand...

I would check the heatsink. The part of the heatsink that contacts
the silicon die on the processor has to line up with it. If the
heatsink is rotated 180 degrees from the correct position, it only
cools part of the die. The result is, part of the processor die
overheats. This may or may not be reflected in what you read in
the hardware monitor, as some Asus models read silicon die temp
and others read socket temp. The die temp is a better indicator
of health.

So, take of the heatsink and see whether it was installed
correctly.

Based on your symptoms, I see no reason to suspect the PSU.

The Nforce2 chipset is picky about RAM, and memory should be
thoroughly tested with memtest86 (memtest.org) and Prime95
(mersenne.org), before you consider the computer to be "working".
The computer should run the Prime95 "torture test" error free
in at least an eight hour run (overnight).

For RAM choices, visit nforcershq.com/forum and read about
the experience of others. Today I was reading about someone's
attempts to use PC4000 memory (the poster seemed to have
the same symptoms as with the lower speed ram that doesn't
work). There seems to be no central theme to what works or
doesn't work. Currently I'm using PC3200 Ballistix on mine,
and that works fine. But there has to be a cheaper solution.

http://nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=345597

HTH,
Paul
 
Hi,
I have also found that if I plug anything into a USB socket the
computer will just switch off .This is what made me think it might be
the PSU. Any ideas
 
Cyberdog said:
Hi,
I have also found that if I plug anything into a USB socket the
computer will just switch off .This is what made me think it might be
the PSU. Any ideas
Click to expand...

Disconnect everything but the video card. (remove USB devices, PCI
cards, etc. Then try rebooting.

Sounds like a power problem. Install ASUS Probe to see the voltages.

All this assumes that you havent been overclocking and changed the
voltages in the BIOS. If so, just reset to default values and try
again.

Chas
 
Hi,
With all USB devices unplugged the system starts and runs ok. The
voltages in this state are:
CPU core = 1.71v
VCore1 = 1.7v
+3.3v = 3.41v
+5v = 5.08v
+12v = 11.92v
Processor temp = 19.5 c
M/B temp = 40 C

It has now been running for two hours like this.
 
Cyberdog said:
Hi,
I have also found that if I plug anything into a USB socket the
computer will just switch off .This is what made me think it might be
the PSU. Any ideas
Click to expand...

Check these four headers:

KBPWR1, USBPW12, USBPW34, USBPW56

From the factory, these are set to +5V and not +5VSB.

If you need a "Wake on ..." function, then only set the
header that needs to run from +5VSB, to that setting.
Otherwise, any hardware you connect should be run from
+5V, and that output on the power supply puts out many more
amps than the +5VSB.

The +5VSB supply on a computer, is used to run the
startup circuitry of the motherboard, Wake on LAN,
Wake on USB/Keyboard/etc, standby power for a PCI
card (WOL cable) and so on. It also powers the DRAM
while the computer is in S3 Suspend to RAM mode
(sleep, not hibernate). You need to use the +5VSB
power sparingly, in order to stay within the limits
printed on the power supply label.

A good power supply will offer about 2 amps on the
+5VSB, which should be enough for most purposes. If
you had a USB DSL modem that draws 500mA (like the
Alcatel "Frog" modem), then setting the USB header
it was connected to, to run from +5VSB, means 25% of
the power output on +5VSB is used right there. So, any
device with high consumption, and having no need to
be powered when the computer is shut down, should be
connected to a USB interface that is powered by +5V.

Some power supplies, when they die, suffer from reduced
output current on +5VSB. A replacement might be in
order, if you find that even minimal use of +5VSB
results in shutdown. When +5VSB goes missing, the
power supply uses that power for itself internally,
for the supervisor circuit that controls the PSU.
So, a momentary winking out of +5VSB, due to overload,
can cause the PSU to shut off, because +5VSB is also
needed inside the PSU, to make the rest of the power
circuits operate.

HTH,
Paul
 
Cyberdog said:
Sorry for my ignorance, but what do I use to test these. Is it found in
software???
Click to expand...
I believe Paul is referring to how the jumpers on the motherboard have
been set (+5v or +5VSB), however, you would need a meter if you wanted
to physically check the voltage on these headers.
Rob
 
Cyberdog said:
Sorry for my ignorance, but what do I use to test these. Is it found in
software???
Click to expand...

In this case, the header consists of three pins. When the jumper
plug shorts pin 1 to pin 2, that selects +5. If the jumper is
moved to cause pin 2 to short to pin 3, that selects +5VSB.


---- +5V from PSU --------X

X------ to device like USB interface

---- +5VSB from PSU ------X

The jumper positions are documented in the manual. I recommend
going to the Asus download page and downloading the manual. You
can then use the names of the four headers above, and by doing
a text search in the manual, you'll eventually find a picture
of the header, and which position is for +5V and which is
for +5VSB. Setting a header to the +5VSB position, is reserved
for those times, when the connected device is going to be
used to wake up the computer. For example, say you have a PS/2
type keyboard and you've set the computer to wake up from
keyboard. Since the computer will be sleeping, the keyboard
needs a source of power, so a key press will send a signal
to the sleeping computer. Using +5VSB on the KBPWR1 header
for that is the right thing to do. Otherwise, the factory
default setting of +5V for each of those headers, is OK.

Page 36 of the manual, describes USB header and jumper settings.
ftp://www.asus.it/pub/ASUS/mb/socka/nforce2/a7n8x-e/e1465_a7n8x-e_deluxe.pdf

Most motherboards do not measure the value of +5VSB, so looking
in the hardware monitor, to see what is happening to that voltage,
won't work. To test it, you would need a voltmeter. To test
whether the PSU is working properly, you would need a load box
to connect to the PSU connector. A good load box is variable, so
you can crank the load until the device shuts down, and prove
whether it meets spec or not. The only place I had access to
that kind of gear, was in university. Even at work, we didn't
have stuff like that. Swapping out the PSU for another one,
is the next best substitute.

HTH,
Paul
 
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