I HATE when this happens.

[Jammer53]

Let me tell you what happened, and see what you think caused it.

We're talking about an MSI K7T Pro motherboard and Duron 700, which I have been running for 14 months without so much as a hiccup. Computer is fine/normal.

I install a 1ghz Tbird. Apply arctic silver, hs/f rated to 1.5Ghz, etc. Boot up. Beautiful! Everything is fine. Sees the chip, all is normal.

Open Sisoft Sandra to monitor temps, etc. Had it on for like 4min, tops. Running fine. First temp was like 34C/93.4, etc.

Last one I looked at was like 40.1C/104.4F. (Temps are from memory, so if not technically accurate, close). Then it crashed. Just died. I immediately pulled the plug.

Waited about 10 min. Plugged it back in, dead as a doornail. I can hear it power up, but I'm looking at 4 red LED's on the MSI D-LED. Look in the book for the code, says cpu/socket is dead.

So I take out the Tbird, reassemble the Duron 700, and, nothing. Same 4 red LED's. So I have to assume:

A) The chip is fried or;
B) The motherboard is cooked or;
C) Both

So, I pull it all apart, take out the MSI K7T Pro, and put in an MSI K7T Turbo. Reassemble it all, boot up.

Initially got a checksum error, but went into the bios and set to all defaults.

Now I spend like 4 1/2 hours getting everything to work, but I get it done.


Only thing is, during boot up,

1) I still get a message "Boot from ATAPI CDRom = failure"

2) Also, it only sees the 3 1/2" floppy as a 5 1/4" floppy.

3) And finally, during boot up, it counts the ram, non-stop, but only intermittently. You have to hit escape, as it just runs all the way up to the max and then goes back to zero, starts all over again. It just continues to do that until you hit escape. Then boots up normally.

So, any ideas on what went wrong, and how to cure 1, 2 and 3?

BTW, Newegg gave me an RMA for the Tbird, no problems. I sent it back to them today, and await whatever action they take.

Thanks for your time folks.

Jammer53

 

[AkumaBao]

FSB maybe? Does your BIOS have a temperature feature that let's you know how hot it's running? I wouldn't rely on Sandra for your temps. Also the drive errors are probably just from resetting you BIOS config. Just run through it again. Let's see the 1Ghz only comes in 200FSB right? I think so. So you wouldn't have to change your FSB, but make sure your multipliers are set right also. Just clearing the air.

 

[Jammer53]

Right. Board is strictly 100/200 fsb, and that is how I ordered the chip. I believe you're correct re: bios settings. I'll have to check the manual for the Turbo.

Could the chip have fried the board? I was afraid to put the Tbird in the Turbo (replacement board) for fear it would burn that board too.

It's running right now with the Duron, allowing me to talk to you.

J53

 

[Duvie]

1) I believe this is because in the bios you have it to boot off of the cd-rom first before hdd0...If this is the case it only means it searched the cd-rom and there is no system disk or bootable disk present in the drive...I believe mine does that message unless I have windows disk in it...

2)Go into bios and first menu and make sure it list the a drive as 3-1/2" floppy...you can manually change it ther to 5-1/4" or none if you are like me and don't have a FDD like 90 percent of the time...

3) see how many times it does it...maybe like 3 times??? If so I remeber that being common with older boards if you had some setting checked in bios...maybe move the sticks around and try that...


One other thing did you get the checksum error when you placed the duron in after the tbird ot the tbird after the duron??? Otherwise that maybe a sign of the cmos battery going bad...

Edit: regarding the first board...have you troubleshooted that anymore? Using the same power supply on the other board? With which chip?

 

[Jammer53]

Update:

OK. 1 & 2 are resolved. #3 is not.

In the bios, under "Advanced Chipset Features" the last item is "Memory Parity/ECC check". It is set at disabled.
Is this what counts the ram, non-stop? If so, how do I get rid of it if it is already set at diabled?

It's the only reference I found to memory checking issue in the motherboard manual.


DUVIE:

To answer your questions:




<< One other thing did you get the checksum error when you placed the duron in after the tbird ot the tbird after the duron??? Otherwise that maybe a sign of the cmos battery going bad... >>



I bought the board used (4 months) from a very good friend/trader. I got the checksum error message the very first time I tried to boot with the new (Turbo) board and my Duron 700. Restarted, held down the delete key, entered the bios, and used the "Load Fail-Safe Defaults" entry. Rebooted and never saw it again. But that's very astute, as when I picked up the board at his house, the battery was missing and he put one in. So that could very well have been the problem.





<< Edit: regarding the first board...have you troubleshooted that anymore? Using the same power supply on the other board? With which chip? >>



No. After my initial installation of the Tbird and the board croaking, I did try to restart it using the Duron 700, but got the same 4 red LED's. This indicated that the board was probably cooked, at least in my mind.

After installing the new (used) Turbo board and Duron 700, all is well. Power supply is less than a month old (Enlight 300w). So I don't think it's an issue here.

So, what do you think? My estimation is that the chip was bad and killed the board.

Thanks.

J53

 

[Duvie]

< So, what do you think? My estimation is that the chip was bad and killed the board. >

I would think most likely other way around...I have never heard of a bad chip frying board, but I have heard of bad board supplying the wrong juice to the chip and frying them both...

So the 1ghz tbird is dead now as well???



Is any of that memory new to that board?? Like I said maybe try swapping the memory into different slots...I had it happen with my old p-pro board about 4 years but my friend went into bios changed something and t never happened again...So I am stumped on that one...

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

3) And finally, during boot up, it counts the ram, non-stop, but only intermittently. You have to hit escape, as it just runs all the way up to the max and then goes back to zero, starts all over again. It just continues to do that until you hit escape. Then boots up normally.

Enable "quick post" in BIOS...Mem counting will be gone.

 

[Jammer53]

Gonzo

Thanks. I'm at work now, but I'll try it tomorrow morning.

Duvie

The thing is, I dont know if the 1ghz is dead or not. I assumed it killed the 1st board, and was obviously very reluctant to put it in the 2d board. At any rate, Newegg has agreed to let me RMA it.

I firmly believe that the tbird killed the 1st board, and here's why. I ran that board with my Duron 700 for over 14 months, and never had a problem. As soon as I installed the Tbird, :::OOOF:::::, dead board.

I know the board is dead because when I reinstalled the Duron 700 in the 1st board, it would do nothing. Same 4 red LED's as with the T-bird. However, when I install the Duron in the 2d board, it's all good. So I know the Duron is good, but the 1st board is not.

Isn't this right?

J53

 

[AA0]

those MSI boards are well known for just dying on people, it is the main reason why I avoid them, as they are not a reliable product. I still wouldn't have put the 1Ghz in the board though, even though I haven't heard of a chip frying a board.

 

[Jammer53]

<< those MSI boards are well known for just dying on people, it is the main reason why I avoid them, as they are not a reliable product >>



Really? Everything I had read indictated that MSI makes one of the most stable and reliable boards available. I suppose the more you make and sell the greater the increase in probability that some will crap out. But like I said, I ran this board for 14 months without a problem. So, what boards do you recommend?

Thanks.

J53

 

[AA0]

right now, I'd choose a kt266a chipset. The boards I'd pick are Abit, Asus, and maybe the Soyo or Soltek. I've never used a Soyo, but everyone else says they are great.

I think anand's was one of the boards that actually died. There was a large number that all of a sudden, after a few months just died. No RMA, replacement, nothing, I'd be quite pissed if I bought one and that happened. If they refused to replace it, I'd never even consider them again.

Most people like MSI because they are the first boards out, they are never the fastest, or have great options, but they are available before others, which makes them great for impatient people. The only MSI board I've bought was a piece of garbage.

 

[gaidin123]

<<
I think anand's was one of the boards that actually died. There was a large number that all of a sudden, after a few months just died. No RMA, replacement, nothing, I'd be quite pissed if I bought one and that happened. If they refused to replace it, I'd never even consider them again. >>



I think you're right. In one of the Anandtech Servers articles I believe Anand mentioned that one or more of their MSI boards just up and died on them one day without them doing anything to the system.

Gaidin

 

[JohnnyFever]

<< those MSI boards are well known for just dying on people, it is the main reason why I avoid them, as they are not a reliable product. I still wouldn't have put the 1Ghz in the board though, even though I haven't heard of a chip frying a board. >>



I don't know how widespread the MSI Athlon problem is--though I've read several accounts--but here's my experience. I bought two MSI K7T Turbo 2a boards with retail Tbird 900s when the boards first came out. One was my primary home pc, the other at work. After 8-10 months both boards just died. The one at work happened overnight. A couple months later my home pc died while I was using it.

Both systems had good cooling, PC Power and Cooling power supplies, Crucial memory and were not overclocked. MSI gave me an rma replacement for the first board. I installed the tbird 900 and it wouldn't work. I put a working tbird 700 in it and it was still dead. I put the 700 back in its original system and it's fine. The replacement board was not new so I assume it was working when MSI sent it out, but can't verify.

I tried installing the tbird from the second system in an old board--the board was flaky but it previously worked. Not with the tbird.

I assume both cpus are dead as well as the boards.

The reviews of the MSI boards said they were stable--but these are only short-term tests. The reported problems seem to occur after several months of use. Apparently something in MSI's design or quality of specific components.

Needless to say I am also leery of MSI Athlon boards at this point.

 

[Jammer53]

Hmmm. Then it would seem that as long as I left the Duron 700 in, and kept the Athlon Tbird out, I probably wouldn't have had this problem. That's what I get for not leaving well enough alone.

Unfortunately, the board is 14 months old (bought it in Nov 00), so the one year warranty is up.

Live and learn.


J53