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ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe+AMD 6400: Updated BIOS to 2101 from 0903, only black screen, Yu

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zoro

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ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe+AMD 6400: Updated BIOS to 2101 from 0903, only black screen, Yu

Dear experts in this forum,

Last nite I decided that I should try to update the BIOS on the MB due to stability issue. So I downloaded the latest BIOS 2101, backuped 0903 and use the latest Asus Update utility (v.7.1304) to update the BIOS in Windows XP. Everything seems to work fine: the BIOS was successfully flushed, updated and CHECKSUM went ok and the computer asked for a reboot. So I did, and then all I was staring at was a black screen, no BIOS screen and since I don't have case speaker, no post to tell.

Can anyone give me some advices on what I should do next? This is the first time I update the BIOS (in after thought, I should have updated the video card and other devices drivers first).

I read from the user manual that I might be able to restore the BIOS from the MB Support Disk. I also read from some forums that I might be able to get the computer to boot by resetting the CMOS.

So my questions are:
1. Can you let me know what I should do?
2. What is the best BIOS version for 6400 CPU?


Below is my computer's configuration (laundry list):

* ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
* AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADX6400CZWOF
* Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
* Rosewill Stallion Series RD500-2DB ATX V2.2 500W Power Supply
* Zalman CNPS9700LED Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler
* Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804 (4-4-4-12 2.2Volts)
* OCZ 2GB ( 2 X 1GB ) Platinum PC2-6400 800MHz 240-pin DDR2 Memory - OCZ2P800R22GK (CL 4-4-4-15, 1.9 - 2.0 Volts)
* XFX PVT84GUDF3 GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
* Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
* LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 20X DVD�0„3�0†8R DVD Burner
* Rosewill RCR-102 52-in-1 USB 2.0 Black Card Reader
* Arctic Silver 5

Thanks in advaced.
 
I agree with trying to reset the Bios by using the cmos jumper or just pulling the battery for a couple of minutes. Sometimes it takes a re-set or two to get the Bios update to take hold...doesn't make any sense...and doesn't seem that that would be needed if update was done correctly, but it happens occasionally anyway.
 
Ah, so you meant clear the CMOS. Yeah, I have done that several times following the instruction in the manual. Move the pin from 1,2 to 2,3, take out the battery, wait for 10 second (I think I waited a lot longer), move the pin back to 1,2 and put back the battery.

I did that...... but no use.

I also tried to use the CrashFree Utility, still no luck.. that is a tough cookies to get it working..

Any other advice?
 
zoro....did you get it up & running yet?

I am certainly not an expert in Bios flashing problems, but it seems kinda odd that the board appeared to take the flash ok and then wouldn't boot up on re-start.

And you weren't able to restore to previous Bios ?

I have read where flashing thru Windows can be hit & miss and that's why using the old floppy way is still considered a safer way. Would there be any way,from another computer, that you could download the previous Bios to a floppy or cd and get it re-flashed that way? Like I said, I'm no expert and don't know if this idea is workable or not...just what came to mind.
 
If you followed the manual to clear cmos you may not have actually done it correctly. The first thing you need to do is unplug the power from the back of your power supply or use the switch on the power supply to turn it off, then press the power button to discharge any additional power. Then move the jumper to the clear cmos position, then flip the switch on the power supply or plug it back in, wait 5 seconds, then unplug, then press the power button again to discharge the power, put the cmos jumper back where it is supposed to, then plug the computer back in and fire it up.

This is the sure fire way to clear cmos correctly, idk why some people think they can do this with the power on, as that does absolutely nothing. Pulling the battery can do it, but you still have to clear the power out of the system to do this as well. If you have your compy plugged in it will continue to draw power and not give you a proper cmos reset.

If you are getting a blank screen, just for fun have you tried moving your vid card to the other pcix slot and see if you get a video signal there? Maybe bum a vid card from a friend and see if you get the same blank screen?
 
Hi Stevejr,

Sorry for the late reply -- Just came back from a vacation.

As far as the MB goes, no luck so far. And you are definitely right that using Asus Update (Asus's Windows utility to update the BIOS) is a hit or miss. Wished I had known that. I did read on several forums, there were quite a few owners of Asus's various MB that had similar problem like mine. I guess I should have done the research BEFORE I flashed the BIOS.

Having a CD or Floppy at this point doesn't help as the I can't even boot up the system. Of course, unless you are referring to the Asus CrashFree utility, which I have tried several times using the original MB Support CD/DVD that came with the MB. No luck there either. I even followed step by step on an instruction I found on another forum (will include the link if you are interested) to do CrashFree "properly."

thanks for the help -- will keep trying for another week before I take the MB to the local Asus service center to have it reflashed.

Zoro
stevejr said:
zoro....did you get it up & running yet?

I am certainly not an expert in Bios flashing problems, but it seems kinda odd that the board appeared to take the flash ok and then wouldn't boot up on re-start.

And you weren't able to restore to previous Bios ?

I have read where flashing thru Windows can be hit & miss and that's why using the old floppy way is still considered a safer way. Would there be any way,from another computer, that you could download the previous Bios to a floppy or cd and get it re-flashed that way? Like I said, I'm no expert and don't know if this idea is workable or not...just what came to mind.
Click to expand...
 
Hi DragoXT,

Thanks for your reply. When I reset the CMOS, I did unplugged the power, pressed the power button several time to clear the remaining electricity, etc etc.. What I did NOT do, which is not in the manual, is your second step:

"Then move the jumper to the clear cmos position, then flip the switch on the power supply or plug it back in, wait 5 seconds, then unplug, then press the power button again to discharge the power, put the cmos jumper back where it is supposed to"

In this step, do I need to turn on the computer after I plug the power cord back in? Or, just simply plug the power cord, wait for 5 seconds, unplug etc?

Anyway, will give it a shot tomorrow? I've got nothing to lose...

Thanks!


DragoXT said:
If you followed the manual to clear cmos you may not have actually done it correctly. The first thing you need to do is unplug the power from the back of your power supply or use the switch on the power supply to turn it off, then press the power button to discharge any additional power. Then move the jumper to the clear cmos position, then flip the switch on the power supply or plug it back in, wait 5 seconds, then unplug, then press the power button again to discharge the power, put the cmos jumper back where it is supposed to, then plug the computer back in and fire it up.

This is the sure fire way to clear cmos correctly, idk why some people think they can do this with the power on, as that does absolutely nothing. Pulling the battery can do it, but you still have to clear the power out of the system to do this as well. If you have your compy plugged in it will continue to draw power and not give you a proper cmos reset.

If you are getting a blank screen, just for fun have you tried moving your vid card to the other pcix slot and see if you get a video signal there? Maybe bum a vid card from a friend and see if you get the same blank screen?
Click to expand...
 
just plug in the power cord man. If your mobo has any leds that light up to say they have power watch for that, or just wait 5-10 sec. Usually if your compy is unpluged and you plug it back in it looks like it tires to fire up and kinda spins the fans and what not to make sure it has power. This was the defacto for the older equimpent, but for this new stuff it doesnt seem to do that anymore they favor having leds on the mobo to indicate that it has power.

But yeah just plug the power cord back in wait, unplug, press power button and discharge the power again then put the jumper back where it is was then plug it in and fire it up and see if that gets it working.
 
zoro said:
Dear experts in this forum,

Last nite I decided that I should try to update the BIOS on the MB due to stability issue. So I downloaded the latest BIOS 2101, backuped 0903 and use the latest Asus Update utility (v.7.1304) to update the BIOS in Windows XP. Everything seems to work fine: the BIOS was successfully flushed, updated and CHECKSUM went ok and the computer asked for a reboot. So I did, and then all I was staring at was a black screen, no BIOS screen and since I don't have case speaker, no post to tell.

Can anyone give me some advices on what I should do next? This is the first time I update the BIOS (in after thought, I should have updated the video card and other devices drivers first).

I read from the user manual that I might be able to restore the BIOS from the MB Support Disk. I also read from some forums that I might be able to get the computer to boot by resetting the CMOS.

So my questions are:
1. Can you let me know what I should do?
2. What is the best BIOS version for 6400 CPU?


Below is my computer's configuration (laundry list):

* ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
* AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADX6400CZWOF
* Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
* Rosewill Stallion Series RD500-2DB ATX V2.2 500W Power Supply
* Zalman CNPS9700LED Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler
* Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804 (4-4-4-12 2.2Volts)
* OCZ 2GB ( 2 X 1GB ) Platinum PC2-6400 800MHz 240-pin DDR2 Memory - OCZ2P800R22GK (CL 4-4-4-15, 1.9 - 2.0 Volts)
* XFX PVT84GUDF3 GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
* Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
* LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 20X DVD0„30†8R DVD Burner
* Rosewill RCR-102 52-in-1 USB 2.0 Black Card Reader
* Arctic Silver 5

Thanks in advaced.
Click to expand...

Ok as you can see, I have almost the same computer as you but instead I have the AMD +6000. At first when I built my PC I had the same problem as you it would boot up where you see the motherboard logo and then the screen would turn black and restart. To solve my problem, I took the CMOS battery out and put it back in. Also my main issue was the RAM was in the wrong slot such as 1 to A instead it being either 1 to 2 or A to B. Definitely check to see if your RAM is in the right slots. :D
 
Last edited:
Hi,

My problem is that the BIOS doesn't work after update it. Now I don't even see the BIOS logo anymore -- when I turn on the computer, it just a black screen staring back at me.



WeezleXX89 said:
Ok as you can see, I have almost the same computer as you but instead I have the AMD +6000. At first when I built my PC I had the same problem as you it would boot up where you see the motherboard logo and then the screen would turn black and restart. To solve my problem, I took the CMOS battery out and put it back in. Also my main issue was the RAM was in the wrong slot such as 1 to A instead it being either 1 to 2 or A to B. Definitely check to see if your RAM is in the right slots. :D
Click to expand...
 
Have you tried getting this board to boot with nothing but one stick of RAM and Vid card connected to the mobo, everything else disconnected?
 
Hi DragoXT,

Yup, I tried with just one stick of RAM and a PCI Video Card and nothing else (HD, DVD Drive) connected. I used this configuration with CrashFree Utility, no luck there.

I even inserted a bootable CD, no luck either...
 
Well if you have tried all of these things, the next thing to do is get a new bios chip. Im sure you can call Asus and they will send you one. Just be glad they dont solder these suckers to the mobos anymore but you can pop the chip out and replace it.
 
Hi DragoXT,

I just ordered some BIOS Chips ($3 each) from the local online stores here (I am currently living in China) and sent them the BIOS files to have them flashed for me.. Hopefully this will solve my problem.. will report back...



DragoXT said:
Well if you have tried all of these things, the next thing to do is get a new bios chip. Im sure you can call Asus and they will send you one. Just be glad they dont solder these suckers to the mobos anymore but you can pop the chip out and replace it.
Click to expand...
 
Dear All,

I got my BIOS Chips today. I first tried the 1802 version. The machine still didn't boot. I cleared CMOS, still no boot. Then I thought I should just skipped the chip with 1701 BIOS and go straight to 1201. Wow! It booted and gave me a CMOS checksum error on the BIOS screen but I exited the BIOS and booted the machine up. When I see the Windows XP welcome screen, I was so elated. But then it said the Soundmax needed to be reinstalled.

I rebooted the system, the BIOS screen didn't show CMOS checksum error and when I goes into XP, no more Soundmax problem either.

I rebooted the machine again and went into the BIOS to reset the date and see what else needed to be changed (any advice appreciated here for setting up the BIOS parameters). However, one more problem popped up.... I thought 1201 supposedly fixed the problem that when shutting down the PC, it will turn off the power to the case and CPU fans. However, I still have the problem of after the OS is shut down, the fans on the PC just keep running, even after Windows XP is shut down. It just seemed like the PSU never shut down and the Motherboard is still powering the CPU fans. To shut down, the only way I know how is unplug the power cord or switch off the PSU in order to shut down (or more like turning off the case fans.) Anyone know what this problem is?

Thanks for all the help!
 
Now it sounds like the psu may be acting up. Do you have another one that you can try? A bad psu can do all kinds of weird things!

Did you make sure, as weezle suggested, that the ram is in the correct slots...and have you checked the ram with Memtest86 to be sure the ram is good?

You said that the XP welcome screen came up, but did it go ahead and load up to desktop, and if so, were you able to get online?
 
Hi Stevejr,

Yes, the computer booted up normally after I installed the BIOS chip. I have 4 sticks of RAM that took up all the slots... I will use the memtest86 later and report back.
 
Hmmm...so now the main problem seems to be that the motherboard doesn't shut down completely and leaves the case fans running ( does this also include the cpu fan?).

I went back and looked at your 1st post and you have two different brands of memory with two different voltages and two different timings. I am not a memory expert but I would not be surprised if those different memory specs were somehow related to your overall situation. Others here are much better at memory...maybe someone can give us some info about that.

Maybe a faulty power switch is not fully dis-engaging?

I still would want to get that psu checked out.

Hopefully it's a minor thing...keep fingers crossed...keep checking components.
 
Hi Stevejr,

Yes, the CPU fan remains running after windows shut down.

Interesting idea you raised, perhaps I can try taking out two sticks and just leave the same brand of the RAM there and try again. I will report back when I get a chance to do that. I also bought a case speaker that needed to be installed.

So far the system is running fine, I just have to unplug the power cord after I shut down the computer :)

I don't have another PSU to try out (my spare one is in the US :) )
 
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