Bad mobo?

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Vtecaddict

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 25, 2005
Messages
139
My setup
Antec SmartPower2.0 450 power supply
venice 3200+
epox ep-9npa+ ultra mobo
crucial 1gig pc3200
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6B200S0 200GB Serial ATA
HIS x800xl

I started to put this computer together back in july. I ended up finishing it late in August because I had to RMA two parts. I had to RMA the heatsink fan on the cpu and I had to RMA the video card. This was my first build so right from the get go I was kind of regretting the entire thing. I've never been able to get the computer to actually run perfect. Over the months i've been having random startup problems where the computer will simply not start up. Now things are worse than ever. The computer will start 1 out of every 10 times i try and turn it on and if i'm playing WOW it'll crash in the middle of the game. When i try to start it, it'll go to the windows screen with the blue bar scrolling across then go back to a screen that wants me to select "start windows normally" or "safe mode" or "start windows from previous settings that worked".

I had my friend that knows more about troubleshooting than me put my computer under a stress test. He put it under a stress test for 6-8 hours and it did perfectly fine. I'm guessing he used prime95? but I dont really know. It showed no signs of failure. He said at first he thought it was the harddrive or the mobo. Now we both really think that it's the mobo. I'm going to call up epox tommorow and ask them what they think. Basicaly what are you guys opinions? I'm ready to throw this computer off my roof becuase I've had so much trouble with it. 3 RMA's for my first build!! :mad: Any opinions on what could possibly be the problem would be great. I believe we're going to try and start swapping out parts and testing it that way starting with the video card. :(

Does anyone know if newegg will crossship for an RMA? I am going to be mega pist if I'm out of a computer for another 3weeks or so.
 
Anyone have any opinions on what it could be, do you think it's the mobo? I cant even get it to start now and i've reststarted it about 25+ times.

If a mod sees this can you possibly move this over to the general hardware section? I will probably get further if it's over there sorry. :eek:
 
is your mb running the latest bios? 12/05 i think
have you tried a full reinstall?


i'd remove any pci cards and usb devices
also don't install the nvidia firewall stuff or the sw ide
 
I have tried a full reinstall and it is the latest bios. I really feel that it's a hardware problem not software. I dont have any pci cards in other than the Video card which is pci-e. No usb devices other than a wireless adapter but acts the same either way.

Epox tech support is horrible. If you get lucky and do get a reply it's totally unhelpful and it's usually an email in broken english. :(
 
Everything looks great on the mobo visually. The LED readout is giving a code of FF. After checked the epox manual FF stands for.

1. Bios Chip inserted incorrectly
2. Incorrect BIOS update version
3. Mainboard problem
4. Add-on card inserted incorrectly

So basically i'm about 95% sure this mobo is trash. I've tried flashing the newest bios twice. I dont have any add-on cards other than the VGA but that will read out a different error code.

Feelings after my first build = extremely frusterated
 
FF code means the mb has passed all control to the OS.

how exactly are you installing the OS and all the drivers and the format and be specific
 
powrslave said:
FF code means the mb has passed all control to the OS.

how exactly are you installing the OS and all the drivers and the format and be specific
Click to expand...

Why does the owners manual say it means those things?

Honestly I dont really remember because it was a few months ago the last time I did it and I still have the same problems as before except now they have gotten much worse. But I'm I didnt install the OS/drivers etc wrong. I had my friend help me do those things both times I did a full install and he knows what hes doing. The problem has gotten significantly worse from the time I did the last install... My computer would have this error maybe once every week and now it wont even start up. It isnt a software problem, i'm about 99% sure on that.
 
i recently troubleshot a epox board the same as yours.i spent several days being very careful with my tests.i am an a+ certified tech and build computers for a living so im not the best but i think im decent at what i do.the ff code on the epoc board in my experience after trying all things as far as reseating and removing just the basics to run.using a dvom to check voltages on startup and running idle,under load.if all things check out.remove the mobo from the case and reassemble with minimal components and all stays the same ,the motherboard needs to be replaced.i have replaced numerous epox boards with the same code and as far back as i can remember its almost always been a defective board.i have found a couple that the power supply was weak and had the ff code and very unstable boards.ive read alot of good things about epox but personnally ive had bad luck with mine,but deep down i believe they put out a good product,ive just been unlucky i guess.your instability and getting worse as time goes by and with all the things you have tryed,im willing to bet you mobo is in need of replacement.its sometimes a hard call on a mobo but some problems with computers are try another part and see if it solves your problem.newegg dosent cross ship but you can buy another one and they will credit you the rma to your card so it comes out to a wash.buy one and return one for credit to your card.call them and explain what you want to do.ive done it before with them and it worked well.i was up and running in 3 days.you can bet the next board will most likely be fine.by all accounts its a good board and your choise was a good one but you like me had the bad luck to get a bad one.
i almost bought one of these boards for myself but under neweggs customer reviews there seemed to be alot of DOA boards and it made me think so i ordered an asus,my personal favorite,but really ive put some together for customers and all have been fine,and you never know with the newegg reviews if the person assemblying them know what there doing,its probubly not a good judge of what a board is really is like.just rma it back and be patient and your next board will be fine.you made a good choise.2nd day air your replacement
and youll be up and running in 48-72 hours.it takes newegg about a week to get it credited back to your card.they are very good to deal with,and like i said call them for an rma and purchase another board 2nd day air and tell them to credit the board to your card,that you are purchasing the same board to replace the rma......only thing your out is the shipping and ill pay that price to be up and running in 2-3 days....good luck,i wish you the best...ive been there and know what it feels like...............
 
Thanks for the advice man, very appreciated. I found someone with a video card/memory/harddrive I can try out. So I'm going to try and swap those out tommorow to eliminate those from being the possible prob. After I do that I'll probably end up just RMAing it, I know newegg has great customer service so I'll give them a call tommorow once I've ruled out these other things.
 
Just got off the phone with a newegg rep...

They said they wont cross-ship it and that I cant even return this one for credit because it's past the 30days. I offered to pay the 15% restocking fee and even then they said no. :mad: My only option is to RMA this one and then just sit and wait... shipping to them 2-3days + 3days (RMA process)+ shipping back(1day).
 
I just RMAed the motherboard to newegg. It's supposed to get there next weds for only 26$ in shipping costs! What a deal. :(

As long as I dont have problems with the new mobo I'll be happy. :D
 
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