ASUS A8V Mobo Problem

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Dec 14, 2005, 11:34 AM
Zdenek

ASUS A8V Mobo Problem

I have this hw-related problem. Please note, prior to saying what to do in Device Manager, that this doesn't have anything to do with the hard drive nor the OS.
To the point: When I power-on the computer, it works as supposed. But when resetting it (no matter if via saving the options in Setup, Ctrl+Alt+Del or the Start>Shutdown>Restart process) (warm reboot), the screen hangs at Checking NVRAM.. and nothing else is shown. The evil thing is that the system continues to boot in the background! So I shut it down gracefully with the ACPI Power button. After turning it back on (cold reboot), the picture is shown correctly again.
It could be also possibly caused by the VGA - ATI Gigabyte X800 128D.
Please help, as this gets really annoying. And resetting the BIOS settings to their default value didn't help.
Dec 14, 2005, 12:57 PM
LenMiyata

Re: ASUS A8V Mobo Problem

Grumble Grumble Grumble

So this doesn't happen when you power down and reboot??? I don't think this is a BIOS problem... But it may be a Video card problem... Now if you could only borrow a cheap VGA card, swap cards and see if the problem persists...
Dec 14, 2005, 03:23 PM
ShadowRabbit

Re: ASUS A8V Mobo Problem

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zdenek

I have this hw-related problem. Please note, prior to saying what to do in Device Manager, that this doesn't have anything to do with the hard drive nor the OS.
To the point: When I power-on the computer, it works as supposed. But when resetting it (no matter if via saving the options in Setup, Ctrl+Alt+Del or the Start>Shutdown>Restart process) (warm reboot), the screen hangs at Checking NVRAM.. and nothing else is shown. The evil thing is that the system continues to boot in the background! So I shut it down gracefully with the ACPI Power button. After turning it back on (cold reboot), the picture is shown correctly again.
It could be also possibly caused by the VGA - ATI Gigabyte X800 128D.
Please help, as this gets really annoying. And resetting the BIOS settings to their default value didn't help.

i suggest going to the ati site &
download both cat5.12 driver and catcleaner tool
run catcleaner tool first
then install
cats5.12 after restarting
then re install dx9.0c
if this continues to be a problem

visit Rage3D site for more help
goodluck
and keep us posted
Dec 15, 2005, 10:45 AM
Zdenek

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShadowRabbit

i suggest going to the ati site &
download both cat5.12 driver and catcleaner tool
run catcleaner tool first
then install
cats5.12 after restarting
then re install dx9.0c
if this continues to be a problem

visit Rage3D site for more help
goodluck
and keep us posted

Please read the initial post again. This is NOT related to the operating system at all. I was afraid that someone would miss this.
The bug can be produced without any disks in place.

I finally managed to fix the computer.

Likely Cause: Corrupted VGA BIOS

So, what did I exactly do:
I downloaded a X800 XT 256MB BIOS with a newer date and thought that it was just fixed. I copied all the memory timings and Vendor IDs so that the new one would not freeze. The only option I couldn't change was data bus width - should be 128bit, but was fixed at 256 in the replacement BIOS.
This turned out to be able to trash the card, but after letting it cool down a bit, it was able to boot from a diskette. There were various ugly artifacts on the screen, but it accepted my commands. So I reflashed the original vendor's BIOS, except that it wasn't a backup from my card, but a supposedly identical one got off the support website.
It flashed OK.
So, after powering it off entirely and powering up, I soft-restarted it 3 times and the picture didn't freeze! I'm now writing this on it and it seems to work.

So BIOSes can get corrupted by themselves. :confused:
Dec 15, 2005, 01:00 PM
ShadowRabbit

Re: I did it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zdenek

I finally managed to fix the computer.

Likely Cause: Corrupted VGA BIOS

So, what did I exactly do:
I downloaded a X800 XT 256MB BIOS with a newer date and thought that it was just fixed. I copied all the memory timings and Vendor IDs so that the new one would not freeze. The only option I couldn't change was data bus width - should be 128bit, but was fixed at 256 in the replacement BIOS.
This turned out to be able to trash the card, but after letting it cool down a bit, it was able to boot from a diskette. There were various ugly artifacts on the screen, but it accepted my commands. So I reflashed the original vendor's BIOS, except that it wasn't a backup from my card, but a supposedly identical one got off the support website.
It flashed OK.
So, after powering it off entirely and powering up, I soft-restarted it 3 times and the picture didn't freeze! I'm now writing this on it and it seems to work.

So BIOSes can get corrupted by themselves. :confused:

you wanna think about flashing that card to a X850 xt / pro - just a thought.
i have considering get a x800xt just for that reason.

EDIT: also if its gigabyte card - replace the fan @ first oppurtunity gigabyte card fans on average dont have long lifespans.
Dec 16, 2005, 08:25 AM
Zdenek

Re: I did it!

My only option is a card with a passive cooler. And this one has it, even with heatpipes. I don't need any extra power.