I killed my PC.

[THERESONATOR]

BTW How do I safely remove the CMOS Battery (it seems quite stuck into place)? That DIY Factory link suggested not to remove the battery from Expert mobos

 

[THERESONATOR]

Right I finally tested all the suggestions given and they do not work. There is no way to tell that the CMOS was properly reset as nothing is being displayed and all red lights remain lit and no beeps are heard. I switched my memory around and even moved the individual dimms to slot 2 where they are supposed to work best. I've not tried using other memory but I don't have any additional atm. So, is it more likely that I've CLucked up?

 

[Quiksilver]

Well if I go by this (was in the online manual)
http://i16.tinypic.com/6p9d4t0.jpg

I would have to assume the BIOS didn't save properly and you now have a motherboard with a corrupted BIOS chip on it. You can either a) order a new BIOS chip with current BIOS on it. or b) buy a new motherboard.

Then again I don't quite understand the hierarchy of it samed "boot up" and "start up" can be used interchangeably, so I don't know if it starts with the 4 leds lit up and works its way down to none, or is it in reverse order.

 

[THERESONATOR]

Yeah basically its in a perpetual state of "System Startup". How and from where do I obtain a new BIOS chip and how do I install it? Price? But this board is discontinued :/ ARGH help?

 

[Quiksilver]

http://www.biosman.com/replacement.htm

 

[THERESONATOR]

Thanks. Hope they ship to UK?

 

[Quiksilver]

Your also going to need
http://www.biosman.com/Merchan...=CTGY&Category_Code=BE

and yes they ship international according to this
http://www.biosman.com/shipping.html

Also for the sake of me being wrong, why don't you wait a bit and see if anyone else has something you should/could try.

 

[THERESONATOR]

I will. Also I'll try switching the memory around with a stick from another rig. Doubt it'll work seeing as it doesn't even register the memory, but worth a try.

 

[Amaroque]

To remove the CMOS battery, you need to press a little release on one side or the other, I dont have pics. Just Google it.

 

[aigomorla]

try swaping the ram stick slot

if worse comes to worse, you might have the infamous DFI-SLI DR Cold bug.

If thats the case, time for a new system. Cuz it means your bios is borked. I lost my old board this way.

 

[Regalk]

Happened to me a year ago. I thought it died (memory issue except I swapped memory and the old settings that were there did not work well with the new memory) - result dead bios chip
When DFI street was active lots of good recommendations there inluding the clear cmos procedure for 24 hours - not the ones mentioned here. There is a long procedure to clear cmos and perhaps if you google you may still find it.
I have 2 DFI NF4 ULtra-D UT boards and I was able to hot swap the bios and flash - so both boards are still working a year later and both overclocked to 325 FSB. Still the best Skt 939 boards in my opinion but you have to know your stuff
So yours can be reflashed - all you need is someone with a similar board

 

[Rich3077]

Instead of going to a 3rd party for a BIOS you can probably call DFI support and order a new chip for a very low price, about $20 shipped. I have done this a couple of times.. but not with DFI. It will come already flashed with the latest BIOS revision.

 

[imported_Iketh]

i've killed 2 athlon xp boards (both asus) just by going into the bios to do normal setting changes (no overclocking)... both were normal-use computers for a long time (2+ years)and just by entering the bios and saving changes, the bios chips died...

im assuming bios chips are higher quality today than a few years ago... anyone confirm?

 

[THERESONATOR]

So the general consensus is to replace my BIOS chip? Are we really sure it isn't a dead processor?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Can't read through all these posts, but follow what AigoMorla says.

Only thing I must add to that is this.

You said you'd set memory timings to something like 2,3,2,2. You need to bone up on the meaning of latency settings. As old as it is, and addressing only DDR technology, there's a nice article at Tom's Hardware posted sometime in 2003 or 2004 per tweaking latencies. It explains the timings in conjunction with the basic steps in a single memory operation.

Expressed as tCL, tRCD, tRP, tRAS in that sequence, it's best to follow the following guidelines:

DDR:
tRAS >= tCL + tRCD

[Sof if RAM runs at CAS/tCL of 2 with tRCD=3, then tRAS can't be lower than 5]

DDR2:
tRAS >= tCL + tRCD + 2

Here, some strange things have developed. There's something called additive latency in the DDR2 technology, with the column access strobe overlapping another operation where it wouldn't do so in DDR.

You'll see some people setting DDR2 to things like 3,3,3,5, and it seems to work. But after burning out a Crucial Ballistix, I started following the "+2" prescription.

 

[MarcVenice]

Dude, setting the voltage of your CPU to 1.56v might actually have killed it. I haven't fed my x2 3800+ that much, not even 1.5v, in fact, I can do 2.5ghz with 1.35v. And even if you didn't kill it, and replace your bios chip, for heavens sake, don't go past 1.5v if you ask me.

 

[Peelback79]

Ugh. Feeling for you. I wish I knew more about computers so I could help you.

5 stars and a bump is the best I can do.

 

[imported_Iketh]

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
Can't read through all these posts, but follow what AigoMorla says.

Only thing I must add to that is this.

You said you'd set memory timings to something like 2,3,2,2. You need to bone up on the meaning of latency settings. As old as it is, and addressing only DDR technology, there's a nice article at Tom's Hardware posted sometime in 2003 or 2004 per tweaking latencies. It explains the timings in conjunction with the basic steps in a single memory operation.

Expressed as tCL, tRCD, tRP, tRAS in that sequence, it's best to follow the following guidelines:

DDR:
tRAS >= tCL + tRCD

[Sof if RAM runs at CAS/tCL of 2 with tRCD=3, then tRAS can't be lower than 5]

DDR2:
tRAS >= tCL + tRCD + 2

Here, some strange things have developed. There's something called additive latency in the DDR2 technology, with the column access strobe overlapping another operation where it wouldn't do so in DDR.

You'll see some people setting DDR2 to things like 3,3,3,5, and it seems to work. But after burning out a Crucial Ballistix, I started following the "+2" prescription.

what's funny is my g.skill pc2-6400 is rated 400mhz 4-4-3-5 @ 2.1v

 

[Amaroque]

Originally posted by: Iketh
i've killed 2 athlon xp boards (both asus) just by going into the bios to do normal setting changes (no overclocking)... both were normal-use computers for a long time (2+ years)and just by entering the bios and saving changes, the bios chips died...

im assuming bios chips are higher quality today than a few years ago... anyone confirm?

Never killed an ASUS board, but I've killed quite a few ABIT boards.

 

[konceptz]

Sorry if this sounds silly, but there are two suggestions that I have.


First is, please slow down. I felt like you were flying around like crazy just reading your posts. I understand how it feels, as we all have, but this is how we learn sometimes.

Second is , have you unplugged everything else?

Whenever I'm in doubt I like to unplug everything that isn't needed for a video signal.

Helps simplify my life.

 

[nerp]

Crap. I was hoping to be the savior.

 

[THERESONATOR]

Mate. I can't set the f-ing latency settings. I can't get into the BIOS. THE SCREEN REMAINS BLACK ON POWER UP. No memory test. No POST beep. Nothing! The machine does nothing. It sits there, the components stay the exact same cold heat and the fans whirl away. I think you should've read the posts.

Edit: this is in reply to the guy who said "change your latency, read a latency article".

 

[THERESONATOR]

Originally posted by: konceptz
Sorry if this sounds silly, but there are two suggestions that I have.


First is, please slow down. I felt like you were flying around like crazy just reading your posts. I understand how it feels, as we all have, but this is how we learn sometimes.

Second is , have you unplugged everything else?

Whenever I'm in doubt I like to unplug everything that isn't needed for a video signal.

Helps simplify my life.

Only DVI->VGA Adaptor + VGA lead, keyboard and power cable plugged in. My system doesn't boot without keyboard btw.

 

[THERESONATOR]

I'll reiterate this: So the general consensus is to replace my BIOS chip? Are we really sure it isn't a dead processor?

 

[nerp]

I'd swap in _any_ spare CPU you might be able to get your hands on before ordering a BIOS chip.