problems with 2200xp and my kr7a

[Xantec]

i just got back from my vacation, happy that my new upgrades arrived, put in all the ****, and the system doesn't post :mad:

ok, so i go through the steps of trouble shooting it, and narrow it down to some sort of issue between the mobo (abit kr7a) and the cpu (2200+ xp AIRDA stepping). after flashing the bios to the latest 9N rev. (released on 06/07 i think abit's site said), i was able to get it to post (don't ask me how), for just one night (it didn't work tho when the 80GB drive was connected :confused: ).

after some forum posts in the amd mobo - abit section, someone suggested i try unlocking it by connecting the L3 #5 bridge.

before taking such a drastic measure as that (still working up the nerve to void any warranties, as well as perhaps destroy my $260 chip), but before i try to get it exchanged at newegg for a 2100+ (based on a paly, i shouldn't have problems with that, right ?), i figured i'd post here to see if anyone else had such problems or other suggestions

thanks
(sorry about the length of the post)

[Milkman]

I have heard that you can just paint around the pits with defogger paint and try it, if it doesn't work just clean it off with acetone and you won't be able to see any signs and can return it if needed;)

[Yodums]

Well, the KR7A and KX7-333 are pretty much the same board and they do have the T-Bred issues with the higher multipliers. The guy at Xtreme Systems posted his problem and his fix was to do what mamer said, unlock the 5th L3 bridge. As mentioned, you can go around the bridge and not have to fill in the pit. Search for the huge thread about this.

[Xantec]

alright. thanks to both of you. i'll search for the thread and look into it some more