Ic7 max 3 -> 2 mins from quitting this hobby

[Disco_Stu]

Someone better tell me what could make a board do this REAL quick. ITS SOOOO CLOSE to following the desk chairs onto the concrete.

This ****ing board was working FINE 4 hours ago. Then it starts randomly resetting (its not oced). It wont even make it into windows without resetting. Then it starts giving me a STOP error (bsod) IRQL_NOT_EQUAL_TO or somethign like that. So I try to reinstall windows and get the same BSOS error, 3 times in a row.

So I cleared CMOS and left the power off for a second, and now NOTHING. One time out of 5 it will boot into the bios post screen, the others, blankness. What the hell happened to it and why? Did the BIOS die? HOW? IT WAS FINE.

I already threw a 3cell Maglite through 2 layers of drywall in fustration with this board. This is enough to make me quit this stupid hobby and buy a dell.

 

[daniel_dynasty]

ive heard of this problem somewhere in this forum b4. search. also search around on the abit forums.

 

[Disco_Stu]

Great answer.

edit: too angry to search. maybe tommorow after i can see straight again. i JUST got this system up and running and configured how i want it after forever working on it.

 

[CircuitBreaker8]

Put everything to stock speeds/voltages

if that doesnt work, reformat your windows partition

 

[Disco_Stu]

1) It is.

2) the board wont make it that far. I said: "One time out of 5 it will boot into the bios post screen, the others, blankness."

As in: "the system crashes/hangs BEFORE the bios screen"

 

[diggingforgold]

It's usually a hdd, ram, or installation problem. If you can't get that far in installation, swap out the ram one by one or replace it all together.

Hard drives overheating (added a fan)
Or
Bad Memory (was sold "crucial ram" and ripped off with no-name crap, and company won't listen to me at all. Memory was indeed BAD).
Or
Bad Install (reformatted and reinstalled xp)

I cant remember which of the three fixed the problem because I added a fan to my hdd's, reformatted/reinstalled, and replaced the memory all at once. Then the error went away. Good luck.

PS: Encountered deja vu for an entire 10 seconds while editing this post... strange...

 

[Thrawn42]

I've had several problems like this where simply shutting down and unplugging the power supply allowed me to get the thing up and running without any more unresponsive startups.

 

[krag]

Wow! Threw a Maglite thru a wall? Are your nieghbors OK?

Bro, I would RMA the board. I had a Max3 that had the same boot up issue you are having. Also it would reboot when I moved my chair back from my computer desk. I tracked the reboot issue down to (a loose?) the ATX mobo connector. It would reboot everytime I applied a small amount of pressure on the mobo atx plug with my finger...I guess it was loos or something. I RMA'ed it to newegg and they sent me a brand new one in no time!

RMA the sucker! Its times like these that it pays to have a backup board!

 

[malinois1]

I wouldn't RMA it. I would just take it out of the case and beat the crap out of it that would teach the damn thing wouldn't it ?

 

[Disco_Stu]

Too late, I already taught the wall a lesson
Still working on it. Gonna swap the memory I guess.

 

[Malpine Walis]

OK, for a problem like this you may want to go for a full diagnostic. Take out everything except for your graphics card, floppy drive and one stick of RAM. See if you can get in the BIOS that way. Then switch to a different stick of RAM and try again. If you get in on one of the two attempts, then you have a bad stick. If you get in both times, try connecting a single hard drive. If you can't get in then, switch to a different hard drive and see if you can POST.

After that, you just have to add components one at a time until you find the bad one. Time consuming to be sure but that is the usual way to either get your comp working again or prove that you need a new mobo.

 

[SPQQKY]

I experienced this problem while running an Epox board. Turns out it was my Radeon 8500 that was turning it's toes up. Don't forget to test the video card as well.

 

[sandman001]

When this happened to me it was a partially corrupted BIOS.

 

[crotale]

I get IRQL_NOT_EQUAL_TO on my IC7-G when the memory is running really tight.
I would try:

1. increase vdimm/dram voltage to 2.8
2. disable the last two settings under advanced chipset settings
3. use slower timings

If it works out, try and tighten up the timings. Check stability with Prime
over time...
Also, do not use vdimm over 2.8 on the Max3.

 

[situman]

are there beeping noises at all? if it doesnt beep at all, it could more than likely be ur mobo.

 

[pik4chu]

I get IRQL_NOT_EQUAL_TO on my IC7-G when the memory is running really tight.
I would try:

1. increase vdimm/dram voltage to 2.8
2. disable the last two settings under advanced chipset settings
3. use slower timings

If it works out, try and tighten up the timings. Check stability with Prime
over time...
Also, do not use vdimm over 2.8 on the Max3.

I get this stop error on my NF7-S whenever I push the fsb more than it wants to run at., sounds like you have some RAM problems.

 

[Disco_Stu]

Yea, the ram is dead

Im running on an G-H-E-T-T-O stick of 256 generic until i can scrape up some cash for something decent.

And i still have to fix the wall...