Strange Mobo Issue

[OldSchoolNinja]

Wakirimas Forum Bothers,

I am at my wits end on how approach this problem. I would be greatly indebted to any forum accolytes that can help me with this problem. For reference see my rig sig. I built this system in September 2004 and she has been rock solid through thick and then. This weekend I decided it was time for a thorough cleaning of my rig. I took the entire machine apart and cleaned all of the components using compressed air. It was beyond time and I was amazed at the dirt and dust that I cleaned out.

I also disassembled my heat sink and rinsed it thouroughly. Following that I cleaned off the old thermal paste of the cpu and applied new. I cleaned up all the blades on all my fans with a cue-tip and rubbing alchohol. Following the cleaning reassembled my rig step by step per my K7N2 manual just like I did when I built it. I hooked everthing back up and powered her up. She booted just find and was getting ready to load Windows when she just shut down -turn off completely. I hit the power button on my case and nothing. I flipped the psu rocker switch to off then on again. I tried the power button again and she came on with the same result - auto-shutdown.

I went back through the unit step by step and made sure that all of the connections were right and tight. Everything checked out so I booted her up again and the same thing happened. During the cleaning I did not move my FSB jumpers J10 and J11. I was running at 200MHz FSB. To troubleshoot I moved J10 to Safe Mode (100 MHz) and moved J11 to open (100MHz). Problem solved - she boots and runs stable. I switched back and same auto-shutoff issue.

I switched back to safe mode went into BIOS and reset a the BIOS to defaults. I had cleared CMOS but wanted to be sure. After all of this I have found that J11 has no effect on the issue provided I set J10 to safemode. Anything other than safe mode and I get the same auto-shutoff. The thing I found worrisome is that after the auto-****off I have to reset the PSU rocker switch to off and then on again. I am not inclined to believe this a psu problem because I've never had it before and according to MSI PCAlert4 my voltages seem normal as they always have . The only other thing that I wondered mght be causing this is my Nvidia drivers. A few weeks ago I downloaded the "last" published Nforce2 drivers from NForcers HQ. One or two of the drivers were modified slightly for better performnace. I wonder if there might be something in those drivers that is creating this problem. They worked fine previously and are right now in safe mode. However I never have "re-started" my rig from scratch with them.

My guess is that there is something that I'm just not seeing with this issue. I feel confident that all of my components are in good working order otherwise I couldn't be running stable at 100Mhz FSB. If anyone has any insight, again I would be indebted for your advice.

Sincerely,

Old School Ninja

 

[RGone]

Never heard of drivers working for a couple of weeks as you suggest and then deep clean the case and mobo and the drivers quit working. More likely something got tweaked from handling.

 

[RGone]

I had to go and download the manual for that old board and see what J10 and J11 were supposed to do. In the process the old brain memory cells began to remember back to all the h*ll the 200FSB 462A processors caused. I ran DFI boards at the time and remember the problems with the 3200+ DDR400 buss speed.

You don't specifically say if you removed the cpu or not. But it seems the cpu is not being recognized as 200FSB or the bios has corrupted which was a huge issue back in NF2 days. I used to run "bios saviors" because of the ease of bios corruption.

There is always a risk in handling a board that has been in use for a long period of time and moving compenents in and out of the sockets. You could have even gotten a piece of trash back in a socket while apart. Hard to say really after all these years that have passed since that platforms heyday.

I would move the cpu in out of the socket a number of times to see if any minute corrosion is removed or disturbed and I used to use a compressor and air blower to blow-out the carb cleaner I sprayed into the sockets. Compressed air cans did not have enough force.

If removing all cards and ram and cpu and re-inserting a number of times, does not make a change for the better, then you will not likely return the setup to its' previous state.

And my very last thought would be to RE-flash the bios just for kicks. It should not hurt and certainly removes that old NF2 bios corruption thing out of the way. Good luck. I do not envy you at all.

 

[OldSchoolNinja]

Wakirimas RGone,

First let me thank you for your responses and the time and effort you expended on my behalf. If I am nothing else I am honest. Though I hate to admit it I had not seated the heatsink properly.
I felt like such a noob. It did teach a lesson I obviously had forgotten - humility. I assumed that I had re-seated the heat sink porperly because it is so straight forward.

However I have yet to see a response that i don't learn something from and yours is no exception. I am surprised that Socket A's with the 400FSB have a history of being problematic. My rig has been rock solid since I built it - unless I did something of course.

I am interested in this BIOS Saviour you mention. It seems to me that would be a very good precaution to take just in case - given that NF2 had issues with BIOS corruption. What is this BIOS Savior exactly, how does it work, and is it still available?

Again RGone my sincere thanks for your help.

Sincerely,

Old School Ninja

 

[RGone]

Man I am just glad the sorting out was as easy as it was. When I really pull the bone-headed stuff is when I am so sure I have it just right. Crazy me for sure.

Does not sound like you have bios issues to me really or are likely to. However here is link to bios savior page.


BIOS Savior