Matt,
I just returned a P4C800-E Deluxe M/B to ASUS due to problems not all that
different from yours. My problem was manifested by the BIOS apparently
"forgetting" data during restarts. Power-off reboots were especially
problematic. On every restart I'd get a BIOS problem. Most of the time it
said that a new CPU was installed and forced me into either accepting
default settings OR going in an manually cleaning up the BIOS settings.
Typically, the BIOS wouldn't do an IDE scan properly and miss the RAID 0
boot-up array.
http://helpdesk.asus.com said the problem sounded like "EMI" interference
and/or improper grounding and suggested removing the motherboard from the
case and power-up just CPU, video card, keyboard, and monitor (no memory).
That produced nothing so I installed the memory and the machine would start.
I then hooked up the floppy disk and found that I could boot to an A-prompt
without exception. Based on this result ASUS recommended electrically
isolating the M/B from the PC case (to a degree) by installing "red paper"
washers under the ten M/B mounting screws AND overlaying the tops of the ten
PC case M/B stand-offs with electricians tape. Be dammed if it didn't seem
to work, ... for awhile. So, I reinstalled all equipment into the Lian-Li
PC-60 case and found that it'd boot w/o incident to XP. Great. I thought I
was home free. So, I then went on to install lots 'o software (lots of
reboots w/o incident) to the point that I was ready to swap the old PC for
this new one. However, after just unplugging, moving, and reconnecting in
the new location (a delta distance of about 10 feet) the BIOS problem return
with a vengeance. I experienced the same 'Black Screen" you described. I
was able to get a display after a few cold reboots, but the display said the
system had halted due to "CPU overclocking". I removed the PC to the
workbench (again), removed the M/B mounting tray from the case and hooked up
everything. After a few boot-ups while manually restoring the BIOS settings
the dam thing would boot to Windows w/o incident. Its at that point that I
got
http://helpdesk.asus.com to admit that the board is probably defective.
However, they said that I might try adding MORE electricians tape between
the M/B and when it contacts the mounting tray along the back side around
the connectors. I said thanks, but no thanks and returned the M/B today to
the people who sold it to me, New Egg.Com. New Egg.Com says they'll
cross-ship items (ship replacement items before receipt of old items) other
than CPUs within 30 days of invoice date. ASUS said they wouldn't
cross-ship and that it'd take three to four weeks for a warrantee exchange.
I'd definitely recommend that you remove the M/B from the case, place it on
a non-conducting surface such as a wooden workbench, phone book, or on the
box it came in (be sure to save the box until you're confident the M/B
works) and apply just power, memory, video card, keyboard, and monitor and
see if it'll fire up. If it does, add the pointer, then add a floppy (and a
bootable floppy disk) and test after each step. If it works then try the
red-paper washer and tape over the stand-offs routine and reinstall in the
case. Hopefully, you get a reliable system unlike mine.
BTW Anyone else out there having "EMI/grounding" problems with ASUS M/Bs?
If yes, what's the workaround?
Good luck, -pgm
