ASUS M4A78T-E only beeps

[ihrsetrdr]

Long story-short:

I bought an ASUS M4A78T-E with a 960t a while back[used], but working nicely. Sold the 960t and bought another AM3 processor; all good at this point, on the testbench. But, after having assembled into a case with drives/etc wasn't POSTing, no display, so back out of the case and on to the testbench. Scrounged up a system speaker and hooked up- getting one long-two short beeps, which according to the ASUS M4A78T-E manual is an indication that the memory is not being detected by the motherboard.

Did the following:

1. Tried numerous "known-good" RAM modules, in each of the DIMM slots.
2. Removed the CMOS battery, even removed the BIOS chip & let sit for several days.
3. Inspected & cleaned motherboard. Visually, all motherboard components appear pristine.
4, Used tested PSUs that meet or exceed that recommended.

Anything else I might try, before sending the board to e-waste?

 

[Johan45]

Check the ATX and 4pin power connections maybe.

 

[RGone]

Support For
Motherboard
M4A78T-E

Wasn't sure if you had AMI or Phoenix bios but I found that link from Asus Vip forum and so which bios 'type' is a mute issue now.

1. There is actually something in the memory slot you have been using. Yes, I know it sounds like you have done extreme due diligence in looking

2. Putting the board back in a case cracked a trace. Hard as hale to see or know.

3. Latest CPU you have is now kaput.

4. All above checks out >> E-trash.

 

[ihrsetrdr]

Check the ATX and 4pin power connections maybe.

I've tried 3 or 4 "known good" PSUs with this board, and made sure all connections were 100%.

Support For
Motherboard
M4A78T-E

Wasn't sure if you had AMI or Phoenix bios but I found that link from Asus Vip forum and so which bios 'type' is a mute issue now.

1. There is actually something in the memory slot you have been using. Yes, I know it sounds like you have done extreme due diligence in looking

2. Putting the board back in a case cracked a trace. Hard as hale to see or know.

3. Latest CPU you have is now kaput.

4. All above checks out >> E-trash.

I actually came across that Asus Support page last night, had to google "Clean the Golden Finger of memory" to verify what they meant.

A cracked trace sounds most likely, eventhough I've been all over this board under a magnifier, I'll double-check that.

I'll also check the CPU in another rig, would be bummed if it was toast too.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

It might think there's no video card.

AMI BIOS may bleep with 1 long bleep and roughly 10 short bleeps when it fails its RAM test.

That's what my Acer did when it failed the RAM test of an unmatched pair I tried once.

 

[RGone]

A cracked trace sounds most likely, eventhough I've been all over this board under a magnifier, I'll double-check that.
:

With mobo in normal orientation it usually has the trace flow injury in a southwest direction from the ram slots. Pushing down on the heatsink at installation can be the cause. I have a non-conductive pad on the rear of my board to absorb pressure from cpu mounting and even pushing the ram down solidly.
RGone...

 

[keny]

+1 for a broken trace or one of the small prongs in the dimms not making contact (bent backwards)

 

[ihrsetrdr]

Pushing down on the heatsink at installation can be the cause. I have a non-conductive pad on the rear of my board to absorb pressure from cpu mounting and even pushing the ram down solidly.
RGone...

Agreed, but the thing is, is that it worked when I first got it, and subsequent reassembly of the MB/CPU/DIMMs were done on the flat, firm surface of my testbench.

Right now, another issue has emerged- the Sempron 145 I bought off ebay specifically for testing this board is NOT working in my other AM3 board, a GA-78LMT-USB3.

-I'm going to have dinner now.

 

[rogbur22]

I have a quick story, none of which will help the OP but it is related. I have owned the M4A78T-E since they were new to the scene. Crazy boards I have had 3 different boards on one purchase.

All 3 of them did very similar to yours, I had 3 RMA's in before the board was 4 months old and 2 of those months the board was on the road Each time the board would light up fine on the box and each time it ended up installed it had problems, I went through 2 different cases thinking I had shorting problems. My first set of problems with the board was it would post and work at completely random times. One day the machine was fine next day it would not even turn on. The next day it would turn on and reboot randomly and then it would run fine for a week. ARGHHHHH !!!

After the first series of RMA's I got a board to work and stay working for about a year. Then I got a new case and changed my components. The board stopped working.

Another RMA, I have now got another one that I got back RMA and I posted it to see if it worked and it's sitting in the closet. LOL I am gonna use it someday or sell it cheap, who knows.

Anyway, there were several threads back in the day over at the ASUS forums where I was a regular during that time. I think I have the same nic over there also.

Why did I say all this ? I am convinced they are some snake bit boards those M4A78T-E's You are one of many with similar issues. No one speaks of them anymore much cus the board has run it's course and is no longer in the active catagory. But we remember it. LOL Good Luck and RMA that sucker !!!

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

My first set of problems with the board was it would post and work at completely random times. One day the machine was fine next day it would not even turn on. The next day it would turn on and reboot randomly and then it would run fine for a week. ARGHHHHH !!!

After the first series of RMA's I got a board to work and stay working for about a year. Then I got a new case and changed my components. The board stopped working.

These boards appear to be cheap. Also the F1s should be avoided too. They appear to use questionable-quality caps.

I wouldn't be surprised if the soldering is like that of a 12 year old monkey.
Sounds a lot like crap soldering. It's possible that the oven trick with flux added cures this..

Asus M4s and M5s should be avoided. And possibly all new Asus-brand boards!

Gigabyte and AsRock appear to commonly use real good caps.

Looks like the last Asus boards that were consistent in quality were a lot of their 775s and maybe 1366s.

Most of their DDR2 775s seem unbreakable!

Looks like Asus went downhill after 2009.

 

[ihrsetrdr]

rogbur22, Very interesting story, perhaps you're right that I'm yet another in a long list of unfortunate M4A78T-E owners.

These boards appear to be cheap. Also the F1s should be avoided too. They appear to use questionable-quality caps.

I wouldn't be surprised if the soldering is like that of a 12 year old monkey.
Sounds a lot like crap soldering. It's possible that the oven trick with flux added cures this..

Asus M4s and M5s should be avoided. And possibly all new Asus-brand boards!

Gigabyte and AsRock appear to commonly use real good caps.

Looks like the last Asus boards that were consistent in quality were a lot of their 775s and maybe 1366s.

Most of their DDR2 775s seem unbreakable!

Looks like Asus went downhill after 2009.

This board has all solid state caps, but I wouldn't be able to tell which were better quality than others.

I had thought of attempting an oven cure, but I've not heard of such for motherboards, only vid cards.

...I've also thought of running a magazine of .223 rounds though it.


As for the Sempron 145 not booting in my other AM3 board, I have to decide whether I'm going to pursue my curiosity and get another board to test the CPU(that I bought to test a motherboard) OR just cut my losses and chuck the whole mess into the e-waste bin.

 

[rogbur22]

It was just recently that I tested out the RMA board I got back fromn Asus as the one they sent me was a fairly stripped down board, no CPU mount brackets for stock AMD fan and yada yada and I had to get some pieces off other boards and it just wasn't a priority for a bit.

Anyway, I was going to put it up in the classified forum along with a few other things a week or 2 ago but I never did because I had had so many issues with the boards over time I had visions of nasty hate e-mails after some poor soul here got hold of the board I even went so far as to take a couple photos in preperation of sale. As I said though I never did and as soon as the board booted it went back in the static bag and into the parts closet

 

[ihrsetrdr]

Nice lookin' board there, would you like another...for parts?

Ya, you know I see boards on ebay all the time "for parts", maybe that's the solution here.


.223 rounds have jumped in price lately, so shooting it is out of the question.

 

[rogbur22]

Nice lookin' board there, would you like another...for parts?

Ya, you know I see boards on ebay all the time "for parts", maybe that's the solution here.


.223 rounds have jumped in price lately, so shooting it is out of the question.

LMAO, you could shoot it, would be fun, tie a little blind fold around it I must say that the time I spent with these boards and working (or trying to work) with Asus tech support people when getting RMA's etc is what drove me to straying from Asus after many years of being exclusive. This line of boards really tested my patience and had me questioning my own technical ability (pride ) It had me thinking I wasn't as good at this as I thought I was for a short time. LOL Time for bed. Good night and good luck

DISCLAIMER ( Just wanted to say Im not anti Asus or trying to turn thread to Asus Bashing, Not at all angry with them either. Any reproduction or misuse of this diclaimer without the express written consent of the auther is prohibited. LOL

 

[ihrsetrdr]

My last Asus board was the P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP(year-2006), several folding team members had them & loved them; mine would never run stable- maybe it was just me. I'm not beating up on Asus boards, every manufacturer has good and not-so-good models. Gigabyte has(for me) been a pretty consistently reliable brand; not always the leader in overclocking, but respectable .

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

I've seen plenty of s775 and AM2 ASUS boards with Apaq polies (and in a few cases, exploded ones).
ASUS often use low quality Apaq caps on their mid range boards.

From Badcaps.net.. Got a report of them also exploding, too. I hope they're not bad like "FZ"!

 

[ihrsetrdr]

Earlier today I tried the "oven trick", set oven to 385 deg F, put motherboard on tinfoil lined cookie sheet(my wife's best) and cooked her for 8 minutes. While motherboard was cooking I made up the dipping sauce.

Let cool for a couple hours.

Put everything back on that I had stripped off- the heatsink bracket & backplate, the CMOS battery and the BIOS chip. Installed the CPU & heatsink, a stick of RAM...plugged in the ATX & 12v power, hooked up the system speaker. Nothing, but spinning fans and the one-long--two-short beeps.

Unless anybody has a "wait! have you tried xxx yet?" suggestion, then I think that this board is DONE.

As for the Sempron 145 I bought for testing this board, it didn't sucessfully boot in my AM3+ board, the HSF would spin up when I shorted the power pins, run for maybe 2 seconds, then stop for several seconds, then spin up again. So, I don't know if the Sempron came to me defective(which I doubt) or there is some kind of incompatability which isn't readily apparent.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

Welp, my 775-revival project is grounded!

My Asus Maximus II Gene won't even bleep! And I found a missing socket pin!

The board is only good for target practice!

 

[ihrsetrdr]

'Tis a sad event when a motherboard passes on, but rituals such as using it for target practice have therapeutic benefit.

I decided to get another board for the Sempron, a GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-S2..

This will be to test the CPU that was bought to test the ASUS M4A78T-E; all quite crazy sounding, I know, but it satisfies my hardware fetish in an inexpensive way. I would prefer to be building a 4P G34 Opteron rig, but then I think about the $4k+ that I'm NOT spending.