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Dual Channel Won't Post - A8V

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lazerin

Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2002
Location
Australia
Hi guys, I recently got an asus a8v motherboard and I'm having problems getting it to post, let alone boot when I'm using dual channel.

I have two identical sticks of Corsair Value Select 512mb (model no. VS512MB333) which I've installed in dimm slots A1 and B1 (the blue ones). With these two sticks in place, the system won't post at all, the screen doesn't turn on, it just stays black.

If I put one of these sticks in just B1, effectively running one stick of 512mb in single channel, it will boot fine without a problem, and the system is totally fine. This works with both sticks of ram.

The system refuses to post when I have both sticks in the blue slots! I'm currently running both sticks in slots B1 and B2 (slot 3 and 4), which I am told indexes the memory and just runs them in single channel.

I have also tried unplugging everything that's not neccesary and just leaving the vga, cpu and ram in, and it still won't post.

I have tried running these sticks in a friend's motherboard (a8v deluxe) and they work fine in dual channel. I have also tried using his ram in my motherboard and it doesn't work either.

Are there any bios settings I needed to set up? (voltage etc?)

The rest of my system is as follows:
AMD64 3200+
9800 pro
Antec SmartBlue 350w
 
So you've tried
1) A1 and B1
2) A2 and B2
3) B1 and B2

and with each stick, you've tried A1, A2, B1, B2 individually? So either stick by itself works in every slot?

And have you tried the memory tester? http://www.memtest86.com/

and that PSU is a bit on the low powered side
 
Hmmm...but the board specifies that it has to be in A1 and B1 for dual channel, and either B1 by itself for single channel or B1 and B2. If I were to put one stick in A1 or A2 or B2 by itself, it doesn't boot. This is the case no matter what ram sticks I try. But this is probably due to the fact that the motherboard isn't designed to have a single stick in those configurations? So i'm not sure what I am trying to achieve if I try what you say?

Any other suggestions?
 
mmm I can't remember seeing that when I was playing with the A8V for a week. But what about the other two tests? Can you get the machine to boot with either stick of memory? And have you run the mem tester?
 
not sure but.. what about the boards compatability with the ram?
 
Maybe a stupid question, but have you tried to flash your bios with the latest version?
 
azu, the ram is listed as being compatible with my board.

DaWiper, yep I'm running the latest bios revision.
 
That ram, isn't it pc2700 mem? Your friends memory, what does he have?

You could try to boot with just one stick. go into bios and enable 333 divider for the memory, save settings, turn off and instert the other stick. Other than that I'm out of ideas.
 
DeepScience said:
mmm I can't remember seeing that when I was playing with the A8V for a week. But what about the other two tests? Can you get the machine to boot with either stick of memory? And have you run the mem tester?


Yep, the machine boots with either stick in B1. It won't boot if I just put one stick in any of the other three slots, but I think this is normal as the motherboard said it needs to be in B1 for a single channel single stick configuration.

I did run a quick memtest on both sticks when I had it installed in another system and they were fine.

EDIT: could it be a CPU problem?
 
Last edited:
DaWiper said:
That ram, isn't it pc2700 mem? Your friends memory, what does he have?

You could try to boot with just one stick. go into bios and enable 333 divider for the memory, save settings, turn off and instert the other stick. Other than that I'm out of ideas.

I think it's ddr 400 so pc3200. It's listed as being compatible for dual channel ddr400 operation in the motherboard's manual anyway. My friend had a pair of identical generic ddr400 which runs in dual channel in his a8v deluxe.
 
You got the board used? It could have ram settings from the old user which are not compatible with your ram. Take the bios battery off for a few minutes and start with a "clean desk".
 
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