Asus P5K-Deluxe: Flashed BIOS - Boots Fine but "NO SCREEN!"

Hi everyone:

It makes me feel like a complete noob to start a thread like this but I think my problem with this motherboard is quite unusual and it isn't those common "NO BOOT after BIOS Flash" that we all got sick and tired of reading everyday...

First of all, let's skip all those common assumption like
1. cables fully plugged in?
2. Rams properly seated?
3. Ram defective? (Ran Memtest/Orthos blend prior BIOS flash and were FREE of errors.)
4. Video card related issues? (it was working perfectly fine, PCI-E 6pin plugged)
Etc, etc...

System Specs: Ram Highlight - 2x1GB Crucial Ballistix 8500. For the rest, please check my signature.

Flash Method: USB drive and EZ Flash under BIOS
The P5K-DLX came with 0123 bios originally. As usual, I always flash the BIOS ONE by ONE.

1. ~ I began updating the the BIOS to 0202 and the flash went well during the process. System auto reboots after successful flash. System booted up fine. Screen shows the usual F1 to enter setup or F2 to load default and continue and again I hit F1 as usual, entered BIOS, hit load to default. System shuts down and restarted, now this is the point where I get BLACK SCREEN.

No problem, I turned the system off and shuts down the PSU, unplugged it for 30 secs. DONE THE CLEAR CMOS procedures PROPERLY (I had a millions times of SUCCESSFUL experience with this, no doubt about that, this is my 6th mobo). I turn the system on again, it BOOTED and POSTED fine and NO black screen. As usual, hit F1 and went into BIOS. Hit Load default, Save and exit. System booted up fine but again I see the black screen. Shuts the system off, turn off the PSU, wait 30 secs, turn them back on, and booted&posted fine. Got the Overclocked failed...blah blah...I then again entered the BIOS and DIDN'T change anything but go straight to load default AGAIN...this time I DID NOT GET the BLACK SCREEN. and I DID NOT GET the Overclock Failed...

So I thought it went ok there, but it wasn't. I want to make sure it does reboot ok. I didn't change anything and go straight to save and exit. NOW I GOT the black screen again...

OK, not to panic here, I shut down the system, off the PSU, turn it back on, it booted/posted fine, got the Overclock failed msg again.. entered BIOS hit Load Default save and exit, booted/posted fine, entered BIOS and thought, it may be that 0202 is still an older BIOS so I used EZflash again to continue update BIOS to the newest official BIOS - 0311

EXACTLY done the same way as from 0123 to 0202. I got the Black Screen after save and exit without changing anything. DID the CMOS clear AGAIN...waited for 5 mins...and it's still happening with the LOOOOOOOONG weird sometimes black screen problem.
OK and becouse I'm not a noob so I know the "overclock failed msg meant something " I bumped the ram voltage to 2.2v, divider set to DDRII800, 5-5-5-15 timings, the new 0311 BIOS has 1T/2T option and of course I selected 2T, CPU voltage...NB voltage...all adjusted as usual....and STILL having this werid bad sometimes no screen cycle.

I know the flash went successfully and I can go into windows and stresstest everything NO ERROR, everything seems stable but if I go into BIOS and hit save and exit or load to default...I'll get no screen crap.

I tried to troubleshoot the problem but to no avail, if you know the possible adjustment(s) under BIOS to remedy this, please make a reply here.

Why in the world would you flash one-by-one?

It doesn't get "upgraded!" It gets erased and rewritten.

If I want to go from Windows 3.11 to Vista, I don't format, install Win95, format, install Win98, format, install....



In any case, set your PCI-e frequency to 102MHz, disable transaction booster and make sure vram voltage is not on auto.

See if that makes a difference!

Also, check the modified date on your BIOS - is it 5/28/07? (10PM I believe)

Thanks for the quick reply calebb

1. I know my post was long and I mentioned that I've set the correct voltage for my rams/cpu/NB...etc accordingly and black screen still hits me after I hit save and exit...I'm preety sure this is RAM related but I know my rams are working perfectly...weird....

2. Tried PCI-E Freq 100...

3. BIOS 0311...I just downloaded it like few hours ago...and I see the date is 05/25/97....did they just update the newest bios like a hour ago ?! still same BIOS file name 0311??

Originally Posted by Tiramisu

Thanks for the quick reply calebb

1. I know my post was long and I mentioned that I've set the correct voltage for my rams/cpu/NB...etc accordingly and black screen still hits me after I hit save and exit...I'm preety sure this is RAM related but I know my rams are working perfectly...weird....

2. Tried PCI-E Freq 100...

3. BIOS 0311...I just downloaded it like few hours ago...and I see the date is 05/25/97....did they just update the newest bios like a hour ago ?! still same BIOS file name 0311??

I didn't say PCI-E freq 100.... :-D

The official 0311 comes in a .zip archive. The beta version floating around is just a .bin. You should be able to inspect the modified date inside the archive.

OK...this is very GAY...I didn't even OC my system and I still get the black screen crap like I've OC'ed it....

I download the newest official bios 0311 from Asus site, under bios it reads 05/25/07. It was in a zipped file. I unzipped it the bios ROM to my flash drive. *OK I check the BIOS file in the USB flash drive, it's dated 05/28/07 and it matches with the bios file 0311 I just downloaded now.

Here's what I've tried:

FSB 266
Multi x10
CPU Voltage stock
Mem voltage upped to 2.2v
Ram Divider AUTO
Timings: 5-5-5-15
Command Rate 2T
PCI-E freq upped to 102 as per suggested


Rest AUTO..if these kind settings were on other boards, I'm sure I wouldn't get this crap....

Have you tried PCI-E Frequency 102 yet?

Just sayin... it's worth a shot!

Also, I remember my system would always hang for 15 seconds after "checking NVRAM." I'm not exactly sure how I finally fixed it (I assumed it was searching for HDD's or something?). But the only setting I changed when that problem finally went away was DRAM voltage from auto -> 2.1v.

I put it back to auto and the long delay never came back...

I never posted about it because it was only an issue for ~1 day or so....

Originally Posted by Tiramisu

OK...this is very GAY.....

Not to stir up anything here, but what in the hell does gayness have to do with your computer's problem? Exactly which characteristics of the situation are of a gay nature? What kind of a connection is there between sexual preferences and computer malfunctions? Just curious.

CB

Dont know much about that board but..... always flash from good old floppy..... doesnt matter what everyone says, its a $5 drive that will save a alot of potential headache.... Also before flashing, clear cmos, up your vdimm to 2.2v, doesnt matter how high those sticks will go or what theyre rated at but D9GMH is happiest at 2.2v... well theyre happier at higher volts but theyre not too comfy at the default 1.8v.....

BTW, just ordered 4x1g of ballistix 5300 at ATIC for $112 per 2x1g .... these firestix 8000 are otta here......

holy jesus.....I literally tried every possible configuration and I just cannot pass that overclocking failed crap.

Now is it me being so incompetent or is it this mobo is playing up?!
This is my 6th mobo to work with and I've never get this kind of crap..

Originally Posted by Curious142

Not to stir up anything here, but what in the hell does gayness have to do with your computer's problem? Exactly which characteristics of the situation are of a gay nature? What kind of a connection is there between sexual preferences and computer malfunctions? Just curious.

CB

Gay = happy actually.


And did you try upping your PCI-E frequency to 102 yet?

Originally Posted by luihed

Dont know much about that board but..... always flash from good old floppy..... doesnt matter what everyone says, its a $5 drive that will save a alot of potential headache.... Also before flashing, clear cmos, up your vdimm to 2.2v, doesnt matter how high those sticks will go or what theyre rated at but D9GMH is happiest at 2.2v... well theyre happier at higher volts but theyre not too comfy at the default 1.8v.....

BTW, just ordered 4x1g of ballistix 5300 at ATIC for $112 per 2x1g .... these firestix 8000 are otta here......

Hey Lui, before I even bothered setting anything manually...everything worked like a charm with the 0123 bios. I didn't have to upped the voltage on the Vdimm to run Orthos Blend and Memtest stable at stock.

I've tried PCI-E Freq 102/103/105 is to no avail. I upped the Vdimm to 2.2v, NB 1.4v, FSB 1.4v, 5-5-5-15, 2T, 266 FSB, Auto Divider, dissabled the "usuals"...

Originally Posted by Tiramisu

Hey Lui, before I even bothered setting anything manually...everything worked like a charm with the 0123 bios. I didn't have to upped the voltage on the Vdimm to run Orthos Blend and Memtest stable at stock.

I've tried PCI-E Freq 102/103/105 is to no avail. I upped the Vdimm to 2.2v, NB 1.4v, FSB 1.4v, 5-5-5-15, 2T, 266 FSB, Auto Divider, dissabled the "usuals"...

K - I have a few more suggestions still! Just wanted to make sure you tried that.


Are you using the 4 pin or 8 pin mobo connector?

Have you tried with just one stick of RAM? (in diff slots)

Originally Posted by calebb

K - I have a few more suggestions still! Just wanted to make sure you tried that.


Are you using the 4 pin or 8 pin mobo connector?

Have you tried with just one stick of RAM? (in diff slots)

Hey Calebb, if I saw this reply like few hours ago, It would have helped and made a big progress.

I actually had the 1 stick trial by error testing method in mind but I didn't do it becouse I never had to. Before I saw your last reply, I tried ONE stick in each yellow/black/yellow/black slot and surprisingly I GOT RID of the unbelieable "overclocking failed & black screen" crap.

I went again and tried with the 2nd stick in all 4 slots and same good result...

The result turned out to be that BOTH sticks were working perfectly fine and this also correspond to the Orthos blend and memtests I've tested.

The same problem arised again when I put both sticks back in DDR configuration. Black screen. This confirmed that the problem has nothing to do with the settings I configured.

I've never had a mobo gives such kind of problem BUT I've being awared and heard of this kind problem in other people's case and I just never thought it would happened to me.

As for the 4 or 8 pin CPU mobo connector. My OCZ 600w GameXstream PSU only has 4pin cpu power connector and it doesn't have 8pin EVP 12v. I know from here you probably will tell me to get a 8pin EVP 12v cpu mobo connector and try again. In fact, I actually just bought another new PSU - Corsair HX620w, which is the best in its category and supports 8pin EVP 12v. I bought it solely becouse I want to utilize the 8pin mobo connector and it's sitting right next to me sealed

HOWEVER...before I switch the power supply, I must tell you that I've had TWO 8pin connection mobos in the past and my current PSU with its 4pin CPU connector was working flawlessly even under OC'ed and Orthos stress condition for several hours.

The manual states either use 1x 4pin connector (not 2 x 4pin!) or just 1 x 8pin EVP 12v. Other P5K owners are also using 4 pin connectors and it's working flawlessly for them and not causing this problem I was experiencing...

Any more thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks so much

Conclusion: 1. Nothing to do with me being incompetence 2. Both sticks of RAMs are OK 3. Faulty Motherboard?

Yep, faulty mobo

And yes, the 8 pin connector is only really necessary for stability with quad core procs...


And I have the 620HX as well It rocks!

Originally Posted by Tiramisu

Hey Calebb, if I saw this reply like few hours ago, It would have helped and made a big progress.

Sorry for not laying down all my cards at once. whenever I do that, the person I'm helping only tries one or two suggestions... I've had threads go on for days because I assumed the person tried EVERY suggestion I made in my first post.... but they didn't try the one thing that ended up helping...

So, rather than waste either of our time, I offer 1-2 suggestions at a time, and I do not offer further suggestions until I receive confirmation that you tried those...

Originally Posted by calebb

Yep, faulty mobo

And yes, the 8 pin connector is only really necessary for stability with quad core procs...


And I have the 620HX as well It rocks!




Sorry for not laying down all my cards at once. whenever I do that, the person I'm helping only tries one or two suggestions... I've had threads go on for days because I assumed the person tried EVERY suggestion I made in my first post.... but they didn't try the one thing that ended up helping...

So, rather than waste either of our time, I offer 1-2 suggestions at a time, and I do not offer further suggestions until I receive confirmation that you tried those...

Hey Calebb, no problem, I truely appreciate your help even at this hour...
If I were you, I'd do the same to help others. I know not all people will perceive the 10+ suggestions all at once when they're in panic mode...

Ok now back to topic.......faulty motherboard eh? please tell me again if this for sure...

I had high hopes for the P5K-Dlx but it looks like it's not giving me one chance.........this is pushing to me to joing the Giga P35 family...

Well any suggestions from now on?

Well, I guess it's possible that your RAM has an improperly programmed SPD chip!

So - did you try manually setting all the sub-timings?

Dual channel mode will definitely not work if those are set improperly from the SPD.

(BTW, I also have Ballistix PC8500)

Let me get the correct sub-timings for you for 800MHz CAS 4-4-4-12 - gimme a couple minutes.


If this doesn't help, I am putting my bets on a faulty motherboard... normally dual channel mode works without making any configuration changes.

Ok, here are some very relaxed settings for 800MHz with that memory:

DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS Latency: 4
RAS to CAS Delay: 4
RAS Precharge: 4
RAS Activate to Precharge: 12
TWR: 6
TRFC: 42
TWTR: 10
TRRD: 10
TRTP: 10
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled

Originally Posted by calebb

Gay = happy actually....

Somehow I don't think that any of his posts/remarks in this thread are motivated by happiness. You should be commended though for all of the suggestions that you're providing.

CB

You know I gotta give you lots of credits for providing me so much help but I hate to tell you that your suggested subtimings didn't help either.

I even set the primary timings to 5-5-5-15 and use the subtimings that you suggested @ 2.2v. underclocked to DDRII 800. Switched the pair to the black slots just bcos I read another thread that P5K-Dlx OCs better on black slots but I havn't even started any OCing for crist sake...LOL

But you know what? before we conclude that the mobo is actually faulty, I have to remind you and anyone else who's reading this that I didn't get the "failed overclocked...etc" and "black screen" when it was still in original 0123 BIOS.

It seems to me that the flash does went successful and when I try each stick of RAM, it worked flawlessly in all FOUR slots. However, the black screen appears everytime I set my RAMs in dual channel and it doesn't matter if I put them in yellow or black slots...

If it's really mobo's fault, then why it didn't reject dual channel configuration when it was still on original 0123 earliest BIOS??

Could possible that the 0311 is BUGGY?! or only to me?!.....

Originally Posted by calebb

Well, I guess it's possible that your RAM has an improperly programmed SPD chip!

So - did you try manually setting all the sub-timings?

Dual channel mode will definitely not work if those are set improperly from the SPD.

(BTW, I also have Ballistix PC8500)

Let me get the correct sub-timings for you for 800MHz CAS 4-4-4-12 - gimme a couple minutes.


If this doesn't help, I am putting my bets on a faulty motherboard... normally dual channel mode works without making any configuration changes.

Originally Posted by calebb

Ok, here are some very relaxed settings for 800MHz with that memory:

DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS Latency: 4
RAS to CAS Delay: 4
RAS Precharge: 4
RAS Activate to Precharge: 12
TWR: 6
TRFC: 42
TWTR: 10
TRRD: 10
TRTP: 10
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled