965P DS3 - OC'd Memory

[vespa2112]

Attempted to OC my memory slightly, just changed the System Memory Multiplier from 2.00 to 2.5 so it would be OC'd from 800mhz to about 900.
Corsair should be able to handle that, right?
So I reboot and nothing - no post - no beep.
Cleared CMOS, removed battery. Still nothing. Can't get it to POST again.
Ideas? Did I fry something? I didn't think it was that easy to fry something.

[CrazyIrish]

Try booting with only one stick. Try this with both sticks.

[vespa2112]

Is this the infamous cold boot problem????
How can one tell?

[Atomic Dawg]

...changed the System Memory Multiplier from 2.00 to 2.5 so it would be OC'd from 800mhz to about 900.
If all you did was change the memory multiplier, at 2.5 the memory would be running at 1000, not 900. 400x2=800, 400x2.5=1000

Try this to get the system to boot again:

Physically unplug the power cord and wait a couple of minutes.
Short the CMOS reset jumper for about 10 seconds.
See if you computer will boot.

[vespa2112]

Tried each of these with no results:
shorting cmos jumper
removed battery and physically unplugged for one hour
unplugged psu from mb
tried one memory stick at a time
unplugged all drives
removed video card
reseated video card
unplugged all usb devices
....
All fans power up, drives spin up, lights come on (although, isnt there an LED somewhere on the MB itself to let you know its getting power? I'm not seeing that)-no video - no beep
Shouldnt it at least beep with no memory and no video card???
Down to CPU or MB now... huh??

[rainless]

For future reference FORGET about changing the memory using the multiplier... Just change the memory speed manually by running it at 1:1 and increasing the FSB.

I used this to get the memory up to 520mhz or 1040mhz DDR2.

After much experimenting, I wouldn't trust any other method.

[Atomic Dawg]

vespa2112 - Sorry to hear things aren't working. My DS3 does what you described all the time. I'll push it too far and it will automatically try to boot a bunch of times. After about the third time, I'll hold down the power switch until it completely shuts down. Then, I'll press my reset switch which is hooked up to the clear CMOS jumper and hold that down for about 5 seconds.

Quite often when I hit the power switch, the power LED will light up, the fans will come on and it will just sit there. (I can't remember if it beeps or not.) If I hold down the power switch until it completely shuts down and power on again, it will do the same thing. What fixes it every time is to hit the on/off switch on the back of the power supply. I wait about 10 seconds, then put the switch back to the on position. I hold down my reset button for about 5 seconds to clear the CMOS and power back up. It's worked every time.

I'm interested to hear how this turns out. Keep us updated!

[gigabit]

Dont forget everytime you change a setting in the DS3's bios memory/cpu and timings the DS3 will powerdown twice to except the setting's and then boots.

Did you raise the voltage on the ram?(try 2.1v to 2.2v)How are the timings set? manual or auto?If auto set the frist 4 to 4-4-4-12 yourself.Try setting PCI-E bus to 101 mhz(this really works.I cant OC at all on auto)Oh and one other thing the DS3 still hates D9 memory.

My OCZ's make my board so finicky its unbelievable but i just got 2gig's of Geil DDR2 6400 Ultra and now my board runs way better.With the OCZ's i had to run 400x8 with memory at DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 .If i set the divder to 2.5 which put me at DDR2 1000 it wouldn't always boot and would never boot in the morning without resetting the bios and letting the board warmup.But i have my geils running DDR2 1000 4-4-4-12 at 2.3v 100% stable(ran 6 hours of memtest) But my OCZ's DDR2 1100's need 2.4v and are not stable

[vespa2112]

as soon as i can access the F'n bios again....

[gigabit]

Ctrl + F1 should get you into the timings

[vespa2112]

When I made the change I tried 4-4-4-12
Then... thats when it stopped... still cannot get it back to a state where there is video, a post, a beep... DOA

[gigabit]

Do you know where the cmos jumper is? Turn off the PC by the psu or unplug it .Then stick a jumper on the 2 pin cmos .That will clear the cmos.Or remove the battery then ground it out

[Theclan]

If you have another memory put it in. It helped me.

[gigabit]

Yeah or pull out one stick sometimes that works

[vespa2112]

Tried the jumper...no help.
Removed the battery and left it out overnight.
Back in, same results.

[gigabit]

Did you try 1 stick or a differnt stick if you have other memory.My OCZ's did this to me and i had a heck of a time getting back in the bios.

[Theclan]

Me too but i had Kingston HyperX. I changed the memory to corsair value and it booted up. resetted the bios and changed the memory again and woopa it worked.
Then i changed the vmem to 2.4 and it all went well :)

[vespa2112]

Tried with one stick - nothing.
Tried with NO sticks, same results. I thought i'd get a no memory found beep code, but nothing but silence.
Need to try to get completely different sticks maybe and then try.

[Theclan]

Do you have a pc speaker.

[gigabit]

Sorry i made you do 4-4-4-12 but your ram should of handled that no problem with that.

[vespa2112]

Yes I have a pc speaker... always heard it before.
gigabit - I made those timing changes before you mentioned it. Thats what got me into this mess.
Can bad timings fry the RAM or mobo? I'm just wondering why after clearing cmos, removing battery for hours, I still get nothing. Something must have to be fried. I just cant tell if its mobo or ram or cpu.

[gigabit]

Most likely you just have a corupt bios.I doubt that changing the timings would fry your mobo cpu or ram.

You used the cmos you said did you take the jumper off.I forgot once and my system wouldnt boot at all.
also you tried one stick.Did you try it in every slot?9 times out of 10 its something your just not seeing but was so simple you cant believe you didnt figure it out right away once its fixed.When you boot does anything come on?

[vespa2112]

Can I try every memory slot? Even 3 or 4 or just 1 and 2?
CMOS Jumper is off now. Battery back in.
Sequence of events:
Push power button
Case lights come on.
Case fan comes on.
Drives spin up - all powered on.
CPU fan comes on.
And then it just sits there... no video, no post, no beep.
I've even let it sit there for over an hour hoping it might reboot itself at least, but nothing. Just power and fans.

[gigabit]

Yeah try all the slots.Use one stick at a time and then if that dont work try the other sticks in all the slots.Make sure your press them in good. and that the slots are clear of dust and that the rams gold connectors are clean

Anyway you can borrow a stick of ram from someone?

[vespa2112]

What are symptoms of corrup bios? How does one fix that with no access to it?

[gigabit]

Hey i just thought of something.Disconnect anything you have hooked to your PC like your printer and Usb drives.My usb zip drive sometimes causes problems booting for me

corupt bios
Just whats happening to you now.But your board should boot off the ssecond bios.Gigabyte boards have 2xbios roms.I forgot about that.Im reading my manual to see what else we can try.


It is your bios settings.I dont understand why the clear cmos isnt working.When you clear cmos my book says to unplug mobo power and psu and take out the battery and short the connector with a piece of metal for 5 seconds.

[vespa2112]

Already tried that too

[stang8118]

corrupt bios usually needs a new chip installed (aka rma time).

[vespa2112]

Speaking of rma's.... I bought the board at MicroCenter - rma throught them or directly to Gigabyte?

[Theclan]

Once again, have you tried with another memory?
I had exactly the same problem as you, took me several hours to solve it. I was on the edge to rma it but i solved it by use another brand and then reflashed the bios to f11a and now i can go with same memory. I shall flash with the f11b bios tomorrow and see if thats good.

[gigabit]

Id go right to the microcenter.I have one near me to.I just wish they were a little cheaper. Hey vespa 2112 were you from?

[vespa2112]

chicago

[gigabit]

OH ok i thought if you were near me maybe i could lone you a stick.But thats to far sorry..lol

[CrazyIrish]

How did you reflash the bios if the computer wouldn't boot at all?

[Atomic Dawg]

vespa2112 - When you power up, does the Floppy or CD light turn on? I've been reading some posts and it may be possible that the the BIOS will try to recover by re-loading from a floppy or CD. Also, if the CD is spinning up, you might try to boot from the CD. I read that you can create a boot CD using Nero. You could then load the flash program FLASH895.exe and the BIOS file and re-flash.

Looking a the Gigabyte website, I see they have boards with DualBIOS and boards with QuadBIOS. DualBIOS attempts to read from the primary BIOS. If that doesn't work, it goes to the secondary BIOS. QuadBIOS does the same thing, but if the secondary doesn't work, it looks for a hidden BIOS file on the hard drive. If that doesn't work, it looks for a BIOS file on a CD. I believe the DS3 only has DualBIOS which is too bad. But, it's something worth looking into. QuadBIOS functionality seems like something they could add with a BIOS update. Who knows, maybe there's some undocumented way to flash the BIOS.

Just thinking out loud... Maybe it will spark an idea that will help you out.

[vespa2112]

Opened a ticket with Gigabyte... waiting to hear back this morning hopefully.

[gigabit]

Still not booting? Seriously if i were you id run down to the microcenter and buy the cheapest stick of DDR2 and try it.And then keep it for another emergency like this if it works

[vespa2112]

I borrowed some new ddr2 from my work last night and tried that.. absolutely nothing.

[gigabit]

Dam I guess its RMA time.Then you have to wait weeks for the board.Id buy a new board and ebay the the RMA board when you get it back or keep it for a back up.If you do get a ne board get the DFI Infinity Dark 965P-S

[ManChild]

do you have another video card you can try.

[vespa2112]

No other video card, but I tried just removing the card and letting it attempt to boot and post without it. I figured I hear a successful 'beep' (if it was the fault of the video card) or a beep code if no video card was present. But still got nothing.
Of course, Gigabyte wants me to test with a new processor. Oh sure, I got 10 dual core processors laying around...
I guess they have to state the obvious before they RMA me.
I REALLY do not suspect the processor. Only 2 months old, never had an issue with it, never pushed it that hard, temps were always low. It wouldnt just up and die on a reboot. I'm fairly certain its the mobo.

[gigabit]

No other video card, but I tried just removing the card and letting it attempt to boot and post without it. I figured I hear a successful 'beep' (if it was the fault of the video card) or a beep code if no video card was present. But still got nothing.
Of course, Gigabyte wants me to test with a new processor. Oh sure, I got 10 dual core processors laying around...
I guess they have to state the obvious before they RMA me.
I REALLY do not suspect the processor. Only 2 months old, never had an issue with it, never pushed it that hard, temps were always low. It wouldnt just up and die on a reboot. I'm fairly certain its the mobo.

Truthfully that is how a mobo acts with a dead cpu.If it is dead Intel should do an rma also.Just dont tell them if used anything other than the intel heatsink..Look pop out the cpu and try to boot.(it wont hurt your mobo)If its the cpu everything will turn on.I forget the beep code but you will know.

[vespa2112]

Without cpu, what should I expect to see / hear???

[gigabit]

Everything will turn on..You might have a have a beep code i forget.But it should try to boot with out the cpu.Its not even trying to boot now right?So if you pull it out and it tries to boot then its the cpu thtas bad.My old X2 3800+ died and PC would just sit there when i tried to boot.But if i pulled the cpu out it turn on and everything would run but of course it couldnt boot.But with the cpu installed it wouldnt even start

[vespa2112]

gigabit - tried your suggestion without a cpu at all. Pretty much exact same result. I just RMA'd it... lets see what gigabyte says when they get it back.

[gigabit]

Then it has to be the mobo or the bios got borked .Sorry you had to rma it.Did they give you an estimate on your eta for the board?

[vespa2112]

Site says 2 - 3 weeks once they receive it

[gigabit]

So what do you do now? Use another PC til it comes back?

[vespa2112]

Got a s l o w laptop to use...

[gigabit]

Got a s l o w laptop to use...

Well its better than nothing i guess..lol

[vespa2112]

Got the mobo back from Gigabyte on May 24th... you can do the math on that.
It IS working now, they never said exactly what they did. Packing slip for the RMA did not have any details on what they did. It is the original board I sent out (sn # matches). Was hard to get details from them while it was in repair.
Hey.. all I care is it works now!

[gigabit]

Nice

[Atomic Dawg]

Got the mobo back from Gigabyte on May 24th... you can do the math on that.
Glad to hear you got your motherboard back in working condition. But it took over a month?!? Shame on Gigabyte... That's way too long! Maybe they have a whole bunch of RMA boards. Anyway, I hope it was just a freak thing.