Z68MA-D2H-B3 problems

[Willyeckerslike]

hi everyone,

I purchased the above board on a few recommendations from people.  I have in it a i5, 2500k and 4gb of corsair 1600 mhz (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) 2 samsung f1 hdd all in an antec p180 mini case.
 The problem I have is it starts up, then 3 secs later it restarts over & over again not even reaching bios. If 1 time in maybe 100 it does reach bios it freezes.  I have ran out of ideas, i have cleared the cmos, disconnected the hdd's, 1 stick of ram in all slots, other stick in all slots, tried new cmos battery.  It sits on the same brass standoffs that my previous board ran off so it is sat good in the case.  Oh, it has an 800w modular psu, I tried a 500w one as well but the same problem. I dont know what bios version it is as I cannot get into bios.  I refitted my old setup, asus p5q & intel q6600 in my case and all works .

hope you can help

Wil

[Karlston]

From what I see your old Asus board is ATX, and your new one is uATX.

Unless my eyesight is going, the holes on the Asus mobo look different in both position and number to the GB one. For a start the Asus has 2 holes across the top row, and your GB one has 3.

Worth checking... 

[Willyeckerslike]

Hi & thanks for the reply

The mounting holes in the motherboard are exactly the same, the Asus P5Q-VM board is a mATX not an ATX, it came out of a mATX case

Will

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

Well I would have gone the same way as Karlston and checked for a short to earth via the chassis. You could try building the motherboard up outside the case and see if the problem still exists.

Remove the motherboard from the case and test it on the workbench.

Make sure that you observe anti-static precautions.

Lay some cardboard or use the motherboard box that is non-conductive on the worktop and remove the motherboard/CPU/heatsink/fan/buzzer/one stick of memory and PSU from the case and put it on the cardboard. Add the keyboard and try and boot. The system should try and then fail emitting a series of beeps. Please post what sounds it makes.

[Karlston]

Hi & thanks for the reply

The mounting holes in the motherboard are exactly the same, the Asus P5Q-VM board is a mATX not an ATX, it came out of a mATX case

Will

Ah... P5Q-VM... the Asus P5Q that you mentioned earlier is an ATX board according to the Asus site.

You tricked us...

[Willyeckerslike]

Hi, sorry about that

OK, so I have just been & bought a buzzer & switch kit.  I have it all set up on its box, psu 24 pin & 4 pin connected, 1 stick of ram in slot 1 & cpu with heatsink on in and a ps2 keyboard.  I power it up & it still restarts after 2 - 3 secs without a beep but i get a click everytime it starts up and when it stops too,  it reached bios with a single beep once but froze there

Will

[Willyeckerslike]

I bought a new 850W XFX PSU too, (I needed one for other PC) fitted it & its just the same,  i took out cpu reseated it, cleaned off paste and from the heatsink, applied some artic silver, rebooted & just the same.  I tried it with no memory in and it it does the no memory beep sometimes, but most of the time it just restarts without any beeps over & over.

Will

Actually sometimes I get the single beep with no ram in, then I had 12 short & 1 long beeps, then 9 short & 1 long beeps, then 1 short & 1 long beep, then 1 long beep amongst others on start up, but again not every time as it just loops on for 3 secs off, then on......

[Dark Mantis]

In that case I think that your next step should be to clear the CMOS thoroughly and then run Memtest86+. Please follow these instructions exactly.


Remove the power cable from the mains supply and then press the power switch on the case for a few seconds just to drain any residual energy in the PSU capacitors.

Once done remove the motherboard battery for at least one hour before replacing it.
 
Next plug back into the mains supply and boot.
 
You will now need to enter the BIOS by pressing DEL and load Optimised BIOS Defaults.

Make any other changes to the BIOS settings to suit your self like disabling the floppy drive, disabling the full screen logo and making the HDD the primary boot device and then press F10 to save and exit.

Please follow these instructions exactly. They will take some time but it is necessary to do the job properly.

I would suggest that you download and run the latest version of  Memtest86+ to check your RAM first.

Memtest86+        http://www.memtest.org/

Insert one stick of memory in slot 1 and run Memtest on it for at least 10 complete loops/cycles and if there are no errors then swap it over with the next one and continue untill you have checked all  modules.
 
If you have any errors the module is faulty.

If you have any faulty modules you will have to return the whole kit as they are matched.

Post back when you have done that with the results.

[Willyeckerslike]

Hi,

Thanks I will do as you say but I doubt it will let me enter bios, it has once over a week ago and I set the clock, but I have cleared it many times so far and I left the battery out all last night.  I actually have another pair of ram coming tomorrow from a working machine albeit an AMD machine.

Will

[Willyeckerslike]

Hi,

I left the battery out for over 2 hours replaced, powered up and it got to bios screen and it stuck on that screen, fans are running, power light is on but I cannot do anything, I press delete=nothing, tab=nothing, F9=nothing etc, this is how it has been since I recieved it & yes the keyboard does work in case you ask as I am typing on it.

Will

[Willyeckerslike]

I rebooted it & it is on, off, on, off every 3 seconds again

[absic]

Hi there,

sorry to jump in but are you using the Onboard graphics or a dedicated GPU?

[Dark Mantis]

After you have answered Absic's question I woulld seriously suggest trying another keyboard, preferably a PS2 type as your fault can be caused by a faulty keyboard and the fact that you are using it now doesn't mean anything.

[Willyeckerslike]

Hi,

I am using onboard gfx, I tried a gigabyte 4850 but it was just the same the fan kicks in so there is power to it.  I have tried a usb keyboard but it is the same.  I made a video of it - if it is any use, sorry about the poor quality but you will see the light coming on & the fans spinning up. ( my Mrs gone to OZ for 8 weeks & took my good camera, this is on a mobile), hence the puter upgrade, whilst the cats away & all that.... )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awk5Q_OhCeI

hope its ok to post that, if not sorry & please remove

 This is what it has done since I got it apart forn odd time getting to bios then freezing, and once into operating system

cheers

Will

[Dark Mantis]

No problem with the vid.

Have you got a buzzer attached ? If not i would suggest getting one.