IC7-Max3

IC7-Max3 boot problem (no video)

Purchased a used IC7_max3 and having a problem. I swapped all my good hardware over to the Max3 which is a Gainward 6800GT and SB 2 ZS, as well as a 3.0E with a SP94 and 1GB of OCZ3200.

When I boot everything powers up but I get no video. I went with my trusty but crusty Matrox Mill II PCI card and managed a good boot after about 20 unsuccefull tries (all the hardware looks good in BIOS when it actually gets me to that point). I've reseated everything a hundred times now and maybe 1 out of every 20-30 boots will get me BIOS screen or even boot windows. And I'm not sure whats changing to allow it to boot. However I power off after a successful start and power back on with no hardware change and I'm right back to square one with no video.

With the AGP card I've had 0 successful boots.

Any ideas on what this may be? I'm going to try pulling the CPU tonight and reseat it but it's odd that it would boot at all if that was the case. The fact it does boot up every once in a while tells me it's not fried but far from working normal.

If you haven't already, reset your CMOS. The little jumper is next to the SATA 1~2 ports. Unplug your rig, move the jumper from 1~2 and put it on 2~3 for about 5 mins. Put it back and plug in and power up. If you can get into the BIOS increase your mem voltage to 2.8v. I don't know anything about your vid card. If it has Aux power connector like the ATI, be sure it is plugged in. Try booting with just 1 stick of mem.

BigStan said:

If you haven't already, reset your CMOS. The little jumper is next to the SATA 1~2 ports. Unplug your rig, move the jumper from 1~2 and put it on 2~3 for about 5 mins. Put it back and plug in and power up. If you can get into the BIOS increase your mem voltage to 2.8v. I don't know anything about your vid card. If it has Aux power connector like the ATI, be sure it is plugged in. Try booting with just 1 stick of mem.

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I tried the CMOS reset although I didn't wait 5 minutes, more like 30 seconds. The couple of times I did manage to get into BIOS it was reset as everything was factory settings.

The 6800GT does utilize a molex connector. I did have it hooked up. I also tried the 1 stick of memory and pulling other associated accesories not needed like floppy and CDROM. Although they appear to cycle fine at first power up and when you hit the reset button.

Really stumped as it's so sparatic when it works and as to why it works when it does baffles me even more. I have heard/read the ABIT boards don't like through the board retension brackets and if they are to tight it causes strange behavior although it isn't that tight as I was using a eyeglasses screwdriver set and it worked flawlessly on my Intel board.

I'll try the extended CMOS reset time as you recommened.

Your sig. doesn't specify which PSU you are using, but maybe you're problem lies here?
I remember (back in the early days of the Max3), ppl having all sorts of weird problems with too weak PSU's...

Don: I'm using a Thermatake 560W. It's a ok power supply, defiantly adequete to handle the job.

I did resolve the problem. It was as I had heard that the through board mounted heatsinks cause problems for (some) of the Abit boards. I tested this by slightly pulling outward on the Heatsink and thus the mobo while booting and everything came up.

To permantly resolve the issue I used a Isolater pad I had from one of my D4 pumps. It's a thick 1/4" dense pad that has adhesive on one side. I adhered it to the back plate of the heatsink and reinserted the board. Thus it keeps the board straight even with the tension of the heatsink trying to pull down on it.

Hopefully this helps someone else down the road as it surely kicked my *** for while.

Glad you found the problem and that you posted a solution. Good thinking. This may help others in the future. BTW, were you using the original backplate for your SP-94 (solid pad in the middle, plate bolts to board)? I had better results from the neo backplate (the one that comes with the SLK-948, open center plate, doesn't attach to board = less flex). You can purchase this backplate separately from places like FrozenCPU for about $6. Just an idea.

KrisMCool said:

Glad you found the problem and that you posted a solution. Good thinking. This may help others in the future. BTW, were you using the original backplate for your SP-94 (solid pad in the middle, plate bolts to board)? I had better results from the neo backplate (the one that comes with the SLK-948, open center plate, doesn't attach to board = less flex). You can purchase this backplate separately from places like FrozenCPU for about $6. Just an idea.

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It's the backplate that came with the SP94. Now that I have the problem corrected I think i'm going to leave it. This system is going to my old lady anyway. I got one heck of a beast I'm building for myself now, unfortantly it's not quite done yet. ie: waiting on parts.