ASUS P4C800 Deluxe Problems & Solutions - Page 3

wackhack · 08-20-2003, 06:40 AM

Pascal, also, memory modules make a significant difference, look into in whether or not your modules are supported by ASUS board. Memory compatibility list can be found at ASUS website,
http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/sock...DDR400_QVL.pdf

vmail · 08-20-2003, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pascal_d

3. No floppy-disk with drivers for RAID included...how should someone build one without an existing system...I know that on other Asus boards, there are only cd's too. Abit is there better.

I agree with you, what you could do(what i did), is install windows on a non RAID array then copy the files reconfigure the hdd on RAID the install windows again

Pascal_d · 08-21-2003, 06:34 AM

Ok the raid-drivers aren't the problem, I've made a floppy disk on another computer.

@wackhack
This board doesn't really need 550 Watt of energy, you must be jocking. I've written that it works with my 350W noname but not with a overdimensioned 431W Enermax. There must something else be wrong.

Also the RAM couldn't be the problem because I've testet the P/S without RAM inserted.

Greets Pascal_d

wackhack · 08-21-2003, 07:18 AM

ah, misread your posting, however, inadequate power has been known to causes problem, but that doesnt seem to be the case in your situation.

The majority of the problem tends to be the ram or the power supply.

Have you tried with minimal parts and default settings. Set bios to default, install just ram and videocard, if everything goes as it should, proceed to add one HW at a time. If everything goes well, install driver for each device, restart before you install another driver.
If something went wrong when u add a HW and restart, see if u can swap it with a known working part.

MechaBouncer · 08-22-2003, 04:45 PM

Hello everyone, this is my first time posting into this forum. I came across this topic from a Google search while trying to find out why my co-workers and myself have been having so many problems with the Asus P4C800 Deluxe model motherboard as we have had an excellent track record with Asus in the past. However, since we moved to this platform, we have had stacks of motherboards that will run for a while and then fail to post, refuse to install, and so on.

Now we are using 300W and 350W power supplies and stock P4 CPU fans. Not to mention that some of the mounting brackets for the CPU fans needed to be tightened as the were so loose they were falling off of the board. However, I think we have discovered that the source of our problems is not from the CPU heatsink being too tight, but rather a mistake on Asus' part during manufacturing.

I do not know what compelled my co-worker to do this, but he took one of the supposedly "dead" boards and removed the CPU heatsink mounting bracket to get a good look at the circuitry. There, located beneath the bracket on the underside of the board, he found the problem. There is a small glob of solder located beneath where the bracket sits that, when pressure from the bracket is applied, shorts the motherboard. Upon cleaning the glob from the contact and resoldering it, the board now runs perfectly fine with the 350W power supply we have testing.

This is not a one-time thing, either. Every motherboard we have looked at since has had this same glob that was not cleaned in manufacturing. There are 2 other contact points near it that have been cleaned, but this particular one seems to be the source of all the boards that refuse to post. We have even been in contact with representatives of Asus and they have informed us that the mounting bracket design has been changed to get around this.

I suggest that everyone having a problem take a look at the board for yourself and see if you have it as well. If you're not comfortable with a soldering iron, please do not try and fix it yourself, but still take a look. I also suggest that anyone visiting other forums for such information spread what we have learned and see how far this issue pans out. It could just be a bad batch that we received from our vendor, but it could also be present on all of the P4C800s.

Thank you all for your time and I will post again if we find out any other problems. Have a good day and good luck.

Jso-2 · 08-24-2003, 09:06 AM

Unbelievable , MechaBouncer you solved my problem. Thanks man!:D

The solding was the problem why my screen wouldnt power up...

picture of the bad solding

vmail · 08-24-2003, 03:05 PM

that is bad

MechaBouncer · 08-25-2003, 07:08 AM

Jso-2, you're very welcome. That's why I posted this information here as it seems nobody knew about this problem and now the word is out. Hopefully it will continue to spread to other people across the Internet who are having trouble. And thank you for the picture as it clearly shows what I'm talking about. That glob was smushed out of place by the mounting bracket and is making contact with that solder point next to it, thus shorting out the board. Well, perhaps not shorting it out completely, but enough that a 300W power supply will not push enough power to get past it. The more power you throw at it, the more likely it will overcome the drain that comes from the short and run normally. So even if you are using a 500+W power supply, I still recommend taking a look at it as it may not be necessary after all.

However, I must warn that modifying your motherboard in any way WILL void the warranty. I did not stress this in my previous post, but it must be said. So if you are worried about this, contact Asus and RMA it. You will have to wait, but you will retain your warranty. So I recommend that you take a look, but whether you take action yourself to fix it or return it is up to you. Good luck.

JoeyL · 08-25-2003, 09:23 PM

Could you please repost the picture.
Thanks.
Joe

vmail · 08-26-2003, 03:47 AM

goto http://koti.mbnet.fi/~nightops/eki/DSC00249.JPG there is loads of bugs in this forum

vmail · 08-26-2003, 03:48 AM

dont click on the link, just copy it

Mithras K · 08-26-2003, 06:02 AM

THANKS MECHABOUNCER!!!!
That was the source of all my problems.

I used an Xacto knife instead of messing with solder. I just cut a small channel between the two smushed solder points to seperate the lead...and it worked!

I wonder how many problems this causes with the board. I have seen posts about people having memory problems, S-ATA problems, and many more with this board. I think ASUS should put a notice on their website under the page for this board but I guess that's bad publicity.

Now how do we get the word out to the rest of the users on this forum?

Pascal_d · 08-26-2003, 06:18 AM

I`ve written in my first post:
"2. The board doesn't power up with my Hercules 4500 (Kyro 2). Not even a second of fan moving, nothing. The card works fine in any other system I've checked. So now I uses a crappy GeForce2."

The Manual says:
"Install only +0,8V or +1,5V AGP cards. This motherboard does not support 3,3V AGP cards."

But on more annoyance:
The Intel Application Accelerator wich normaly boost the performance doesn`t matter if RAID-system or not supports in its new version (needed for my chipset) only RAID-systems [1].
So my sytem lags, and is in its end slower than my old AbitKT7A. Trying to use a TT-DVB-S shows TV hooking up every 20 seconds.

[1]
http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa_raid/raidonly.htm

^^no link cause the [ url ] thing doesn`t work.

tribologist · 08-28-2003, 08:55 PM

I have a really odd experience when putting a new system together with an ASUS P4C800 board. Could the solder blob syndrome do this???

The computer does not start or give any signs of life when powered up. All fans starts, the power on LED's on the board and on the front turns on but there is no responce from the board, no spin-up of drives or any video out. The reset has no function and it does not react on any keys pressed down. All voltages are as specified when I checkad with a digital voltmeter. If power is left on for several hours (4+) the system will start to boot by itself with an over clock message and work properly.

It is then possible to boot from disk, edit BIOS etc. It also respond on reset and control alt delete.

If the system is shut down with the power switch at that stage it will again take hours for it before it boots again after power is restored.

TKC · 08-28-2003, 09:13 PM

I've been follwoing this tread closely and I was suprised that the computer I built actually worked first time around, it gave no problems whatsoever.
PS: I built this computer for someone and he chose a cas3 memory.

Specs:
Asus p4c800 deluxe
P4 2.8cGHZ 800mhz fsb
512mb ddr400 Kingston KVR400X64C3AK2/512 512MB Kit (2x 256MB)
Asus Geforce FX 5600 128mb ddr
Maxtor 120gb hard drive
western digital 20gb
Lite on 52x24x52
Enermax case with powerup 350 watt PSU( soon to be thermaltake 480 watt)
Samgsung 19" crt 955df

Question: what should the average cpu temp be, I'm gettin around 44 degrees with the stock heatsink?
The bios is pretty much default except for raid(disabled). If I set performance mode to turbo the computer wont boot , why is that?

Mithras K · 08-29-2003, 05:53 AM

Read post from MechaBouncer above.

I had the same problem as you and after fixing the solder the board POSTed fine. Remember: Messing with the board will void your warrenty from ASUS. I went ahead and fixed the bad solder with and Xacto knife because I didn't want to wait for ASUS to repair/replace my board.

You probably have a 90% chance that the bad solder is why your board won't POST.

By the way, I hate how sloooooowwww the ASUS website is.

wackhack · 08-29-2003, 06:15 AM

TKC,

I'm not sure what the average temp is when running with stock intel fan, my average temp is 32 with vantec aeroflow. I have the same problem, if i set performance to turbo, it gets as far as showing the XP logo, and then just keep on restarting. If anyone know why its doing that ?

vmail · 08-29-2003, 06:19 AM

I got turbo on, no problems.
Temp before turbo 58Degrees
Temp after turbo 53Degrees

wackhack · 08-29-2003, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by vmail
I got turbo on, no problems.
Temp before turbo 58Degrees
Temp after turbo 53Degrees

It actually lowered the temp if you have turbo on ?

vmail · 08-29-2003, 06:29 AM

Nope no difference its now at 57Degrees with Turbo on

08-21-2003, 07:18 AM	#44 (permalink)
wackhack Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 23 OS: redhat 8.0	Re: more problems ah, misread your posting, however, inadequate power has been known to causes problem, but that doesnt seem to be the case in your situation. The majority of the problem tends to be the ram or the power supply. Have you tried with minimal parts and default settings. Set bios to default, install just ram and videocard, if everything goes as it should, proceed to add one HW at a time. If everything goes well, install driver for each device, restart before you install another driver. If something went wrong when u add a HW and restart, see if u can swap it with a known working part.

08-22-2003, 04:45 PM	#45 (permalink)
MechaBouncer Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 17 OS: Win2000	Possible Source of Many Problems Hello everyone, this is my first time posting into this forum. I came across this topic from a Google search while trying to find out why my co-workers and myself have been having so many problems with the Asus P4C800 Deluxe model motherboard as we have had an excellent track record with Asus in the past. However, since we moved to this platform, we have had stacks of motherboards that will run for a while and then fail to post, refuse to install, and so on. Now we are using 300W and 350W power supplies and stock P4 CPU fans. Not to mention that some of the mounting brackets for the CPU fans needed to be tightened as the were so loose they were falling off of the board. However, I think we have discovered that the source of our problems is not from the CPU heatsink being too tight, but rather a mistake on Asus' part during manufacturing. I do not know what compelled my co-worker to do this, but he took one of the supposedly "dead" boards and removed the CPU heatsink mounting bracket to get a good look at the circuitry. There, located beneath the bracket on the underside of the board, he found the problem. There is a small glob of solder located beneath where the bracket sits that, when pressure from the bracket is applied, shorts the motherboard. Upon cleaning the glob from the contact and resoldering it, the board now runs perfectly fine with the 350W power supply we have testing. This is not a one-time thing, either. Every motherboard we have looked at since has had this same glob that was not cleaned in manufacturing. There are 2 other contact points near it that have been cleaned, but this particular one seems to be the source of all the boards that refuse to post. We have even been in contact with representatives of Asus and they have informed us that the mounting bracket design has been changed to get around this. I suggest that everyone having a problem take a look at the board for yourself and see if you have it as well. If you're not comfortable with a soldering iron, please do not try and fix it yourself, but still take a look. I also suggest that anyone visiting other forums for such information spread what we have learned and see how far this issue pans out. It could just be a bad batch that we received from our vendor, but it could also be present on all of the P4C800s. Thank you all for your time and I will post again if we find out any other problems. Have a good day and good luck. __________________ -MB out.

08-24-2003, 09:06 AM	#46 (permalink)
Jso-2 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Finland Posts: 1 OS: Windows XP	Thx. MechaBouncer Unbelievable , MechaBouncer you solved my problem. Thanks man!:D The solding was the problem why my screen wouldnt power up... picture of the bad solding Last edited by Jso-2; 08-24-2003 at 09:07 AM.

08-25-2003, 07:08 AM	#48 (permalink)
MechaBouncer Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 17 OS: Win2000	Exactly Jso-2, you're very welcome. That's why I posted this information here as it seems nobody knew about this problem and now the word is out. Hopefully it will continue to spread to other people across the Internet who are having trouble. And thank you for the picture as it clearly shows what I'm talking about. That glob was smushed out of place by the mounting bracket and is making contact with that solder point next to it, thus shorting out the board. Well, perhaps not shorting it out completely, but enough that a 300W power supply will not push enough power to get past it. The more power you throw at it, the more likely it will overcome the drain that comes from the short and run normally. So even if you are using a 500+W power supply, I still recommend taking a look at it as it may not be necessary after all. However, I must warn that modifying your motherboard in any way WILL void the warranty. I did not stress this in my previous post, but it must be said. So if you are worried about this, contact Asus and RMA it. You will have to wait, but you will retain your warranty. So I recommend that you take a look, but whether you take action yourself to fix it or return it is up to you. Good luck. __________________ -MB out. Last edited by MechaBouncer; 08-25-2003 at 11:16 AM.

08-26-2003, 06:18 AM	#53 (permalink)
Pascal_d Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: de Posts: 3 OS: Win2000	some solution I`ve written in my first post: "2. The board doesn't power up with my Hercules 4500 (Kyro 2). Not even a second of fan moving, nothing. The card works fine in any other system I've checked. So now I uses a crappy GeForce2." The Manual says: "Install only +0,8V or +1,5V AGP cards. This motherboard does not support 3,3V AGP cards." But on more annoyance: The Intel Application Accelerator wich normaly boost the performance doesn`t matter if RAID-system or not supports in its new version (needed for my chipset) only RAID-systems [1]. So my sytem lags, and is in its end slower than my old AbitKT7A. Trying to use a TT-DVB-S shows TV hooking up every 20 seconds. [1] http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa_raid/raidonly.htm ^^no link cause the [ url ] thing doesn`t work.

08-20-2003, 06:40 AM	#41 (permalink)
wackhack Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 23 OS: redhat 8.0	Pascal, also, memory modules make a significant difference, look into in whether or not your modules are supported by ASUS board. Memory compatibility list can be found at ASUS website, http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/sock...DDR400_QVL.pdf

08-21-2003, 06:34 AM	#43 (permalink)
Pascal_d Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: de Posts: 3 OS: Win2000	Ok the raid-drivers aren't the problem, I've made a floppy disk on another computer. @wackhack This board doesn't really need 550 Watt of energy, you must be jocking. I've written that it works with my 350W noname but not with a overdimensioned 431W Enermax. There must something else be wrong. Also the RAM couldn't be the problem because I've testet the P/S without RAM inserted. Greets Pascal_d

08-24-2003, 03:05 PM	#47 (permalink)
vmail Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Manchester Posts: 277 OS: XP 2K3	that is bad

08-25-2003, 09:23 PM	#49 (permalink)
JoeyL Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 5 OS: Win98se	Could you please repost the picture. Thanks. Joe

08-26-2003, 03:47 AM	#50 (permalink)
vmail Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Manchester Posts: 277 OS: XP 2K3	goto http://koti.mbnet.fi/~nightops/eki/DSC00249.JPG there is loads of bugs in this forum

08-26-2003, 03:48 AM	#51 (permalink)
vmail Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Manchester Posts: 277 OS: XP 2K3	dont click on the link, just copy it

08-26-2003, 06:02 AM	#52 (permalink)
Mithras K Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 3 OS: xp	THANKS MECHABOUNCER!!!! That was the source of all my problems. I used an Xacto knife instead of messing with solder. I just cut a small channel between the two smushed solder points to seperate the lead...and it worked! I wonder how many problems this causes with the board. I have seen posts about people having memory problems, S-ATA problems, and many more with this board. I think ASUS should put a notice on their website under the page for this board but I guess that's bad publicity. Now how do we get the word out to the rest of the users on this forum?

08-28-2003, 08:55 PM	#54 (permalink)
tribologist Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 2 OS: Win98	I have a really odd experience when putting a new system together with an ASUS P4C800 board. Could the solder blob syndrome do this??? The computer does not start or give any signs of life when powered up. All fans starts, the power on LED's on the board and on the front turns on but there is no responce from the board, no spin-up of drives or any video out. The reset has no function and it does not react on any keys pressed down. All voltages are as specified when I checkad with a digital voltmeter. If power is left on for several hours (4+) the system will start to boot by itself with an over clock message and work properly. It is then possible to boot from disk, edit BIOS etc. It also respond on reset and control alt delete. If the system is shut down with the power switch at that stage it will again take hours for it before it boots again after power is restored.

08-28-2003, 09:13 PM	#55 (permalink)
TKC Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: BX, NY. Posts: 1 OS: XP	I've been follwoing this tread closely and I was suprised that the computer I built actually worked first time around, it gave no problems whatsoever. PS: I built this computer for someone and he chose a cas3 memory. Specs: Asus p4c800 deluxe P4 2.8cGHZ 800mhz fsb 512mb ddr400 Kingston KVR400X64C3AK2/512 512MB Kit (2x 256MB) Asus Geforce FX 5600 128mb ddr Maxtor 120gb hard drive western digital 20gb Lite on 52x24x52 Enermax case with powerup 350 watt PSU( soon to be thermaltake 480 watt) Samgsung 19" crt 955df Question: what should the average cpu temp be, I'm gettin around 44 degrees with the stock heatsink? The bios is pretty much default except for raid(disabled). If I set performance mode to turbo the computer wont boot , why is that? Last edited by TKC; 08-28-2003 at 09:14 PM.

08-29-2003, 05:53 AM	#56 (permalink)
Mithras K Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 3 OS: xp	Read post from MechaBouncer above. I had the same problem as you and after fixing the solder the board POSTed fine. Remember: Messing with the board will void your warrenty from ASUS. I went ahead and fixed the bad solder with and Xacto knife because I didn't want to wait for ASUS to repair/replace my board. You probably have a 90% chance that the bad solder is why your board won't POST. By the way, I hate how sloooooowwww the ASUS website is.

08-29-2003, 06:15 AM	#57 (permalink)
wackhack Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 23 OS: redhat 8.0	TKC, I'm not sure what the average temp is when running with stock intel fan, my average temp is 32 with vantec aeroflow. I have the same problem, if i set performance to turbo, it gets as far as showing the XP logo, and then just keep on restarting. If anyone know why its doing that ?

08-29-2003, 06:19 AM	#58 (permalink)
vmail Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Manchester Posts: 277 OS: XP 2K3	I got turbo on, no problems. Temp before turbo 58Degrees Temp after turbo 53Degrees

08-29-2003, 06:29 AM	#60 (permalink)
vmail Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Manchester Posts: 277 OS: XP 2K3	Nope no difference its now at 57Degrees with Turbo on