P5N32-SLI Deluxe problem...

I just finished my first build yesterday. Despite the issues I've read about with this MB, it worked perfectly. Today I used ASUS' Windows-based update utility to update the BIOS from 0212 to 0313. Everything seemed to go just fine. The program flashed the BIOS and it checked out. It then gave me a dialog stating that the computer must be restarted. I clicked 'yes' and that was the end of my new computer.

I'm not sure what happened. I only get a blank screen, it will not POST, will not recognize the USB keyboard (although the cordless mouse's receiver is working) and it wont recognize the floppy drive. All of the fans are running, the graphics card has power and all of the drive lights(except for the floppy) come on when the power is turned on. I just got off the phone with ASUS' tech support and they told me I either have to RMA the MB or buy a new BIOS chip. While I don't doubt that they know what they are doing, I am hoping that someone here has had this happened and fixed it themselves.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark

is the bios chip removable or is it soldered to teh board? If it is soldered to the board, unless you feel like soldering, you should RMA it ASAP so that less time is wasted. I wouldn't trust the windows utility from the stories i've heard. The funny thing is i've used it many times on other motherboards without any problems, I can only guess as to why it messed yours up.

Once on my A7N8X - delux I corrupted the BIOS by overclocking too far. In order to fix it I ordered a bios chip online, they can ship the chip out to you very quickly with whatever bios you desire on it. After I got it I installed it, fired up the board and hotflashed my old chip back to life.

If the chip is removable and you know somebody with the exact same motherboard, you can hotflash your chip back to life. I would not recommend doing it unless you know what your doing.

It's removable. How do you hot flash it? It's not like I can damage it any further. I can always get a new BIOS chip.

Well, if its removable you can google for places to order a replacement bios chip. you can get them with speedy delivery and they only cost like 4 bucks. I would recommend this method as it is the safest and does not cost alot.

Hotflashing is when you start a computer that has a working bios, pop out its bios chip while its running, stick your dead bios chip in and flash the bios chip. If you are going to try it I recommend doing it with a system that has the same bios chip socket and you don't care if it is damaged. Definitely read guides on it as I have not done it in awhile.

This is indeed possible..... but I find it amazing that Asus support would recommend you buy additional parts for equipment that is clearly under warranty

RADCOM said:

This is indeed possible..... but I find it amazing that Asus support would recommend you buy additional parts for equipment that is clearly under warranty

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Nope. Sorry. My fault, They are only going to charge me shipping.

I'm going to RMA it. I got the new BIOS chip today and nothing. I cannot imagine how flashing the BIOS could trash an entire motherboard, but then I guess it really should not be a surprise with the MB I have.

Oh well.... I'll be upgrading soon anyway.

thats really odd, perhaps the bad flash caused the board to be damaged?

Have you reset the CMOS?

We do have a guy that flashes chips in the classies, but Asus is pretty good you just call there bios department and they will send you a chip for shipping ~5 bucks.

greenmaji said:

Have you reset the CMOS?

We do have a guy that flashes chips in the classies, but Asus is pretty good you just call there bios department and they will send you a chip for shipping ~5 bucks.

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I reset the CMOS before and after receiving the new BIOS chip from ASUS. Something tells me the BIOS issue was just the breaking point. No matter. I'll just get them to replace it.

I sent it out on 1/25 and got a message from ASUS yesterday. They said the MB will need to be replaced, but they are out of stock on the P5N32-SLI Deluxe and wanted to know if it would be OK to send me the next step up, the P5N32-SLI Premium with all of the accessories or if they should go ahead and try to repair the board I sent... Let me think about this one for a second.... Let's see here... I had a MB that only had the nVidia NForce 4 and could only support a Pentium 4. They want to upgrade me for free to one that has NForce 5 and supports Conroe... Naw, I think I'll pass...