[RPG1018]

To cut to the chase my PC of 1 1/2 years that i built will no longer boot. I has a beep code that is 1 long and 3 short. A simple check on the asus website points that this is an error code for somthing wrong with the ram. This upset's me because the ram has worked fine for over a year with no issue's.

Here is the basic set up..

Mobo Asus P5NSLI
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=331&model=1311&modelmenu=1

Ram PNY 2x 1gig kits (2x512mb)
http://www2.pny.com/1GB-Kit-2x512MB-PC2-5300-667MHz-DDR2-Desktop-DIMMs-P1763C31.aspx

PSU is Antec true power trio 650W
http://www.antec.com/usa/productDetails.php?lan=us&id=23650

The CPU is a regular P4 HT 3.2

Anyways what i have done so far is discconnected everything except the CPU,PSU,ram,mobo to make sure nothing else is causing the issue. After this i still get the error.

I have tried all 4 sticks in every combination that i can think of because i figured it might be either a defective stick or posible slot that has gone bad. This did not work either, i have borrowed two 1gig sticks of kingston ram and tried them in all slots and still get the code. Its posible those sticks werent compatible thought.

One thing of note is that when no sticks are present the error code turns to a solid beep, so it can tell when their is nothing in place which makes me think the slots might not be bad. What i dont get though is how all 4 sticks could be bad. This is the third time this has happend, the first time i was able to correct the problem after reseating all the ram and then pulling out the cmos battery since their is no jumper on this mobo. The second time was the same but it took around 4 trys and it only worked for a day.

The only thin i can think of at this point is that all 4 sticks are bad and i need to buy 100% compatible ram to make absolutley sure it is the ram. If not i will most likely by a new mobo and ram and rebuild. I have spent about 10 hours on this already and am already very frusterated, i tried to explain to my wife what it is like to not be able to fix something that you work for a living fixing and she doesnt get it :upset:.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Wrench97]

Do you have a psu to try?(outside chance)

 

[RPG1018]

I am going to go home and try that tonight, i was able to find the documentation on asus website for the board and where the actual jumper is located at, its tricky because it isnt isolated like on some boards. I will clear the CMOS and then try 1 stick of the PNY and then if that doesnt work i will clear and then use a kingston stick.

 

[RPG1018]

In response to your edit, i dont have a extra PSU laying around to test with so that might be a last resort thing to try. I should have mentioned though that when i press the power button all case fans power up and every device seems to get power. After about 15 seconds you get the beep code and no video is ever displayed.

 

[Wrench97]

There are 3 voltages 3.3,5,12 and in most psu today multiple 12v rails if 1 fails the others could still work like I said outside chance.
I changed it because I saw you already cleared the CMOS by removing the battery as long as it was unplugged it should have worked. But try it with the jumper.

 

[RPG1018]

Update: I tried clearing the CMOS with the jumper and i got the same result. It still looks like my only two options are buying new ram that is compatible or trying a new PSU to be sure.

 

[Wrench97]

Pick up a stick of the cheapest ram you can find that it will run and give it try.

 

[RPG1018]

(SOLVED)

It took me 4 months but i figured out what happened. I did try switching in new ram and that did not resolve the issue. Finnaly i took it to my job where we have spare parts laying around so i could switch in diffrent parts. It turns out the Video card was bad (Radeon 1650 PRO). Pulling out the VC and switching in a Geforce 9800 cleared the error. I tried putting the old VC back in and it worked on boot once but as soon as i rebooted the error came back. I am getting a new VC to replace the bad one now and have tested the VC i am buying so i know it works.

Thanks for all the help and i hope this helps someone else with a similar issue.

The code pointed to the ram but the error was in the VC the whole time.

 

[Wrench97]

Probably the ram on the video card, glad to hear you have it figured out.