My new PC sucks

[Kooldino]

Things just keep getting more and more odd.

I tried to update the BIOS on my Asus a8r-mvp with the AsusUpdate tool, but it told me that I didn't have an asus motherboard.

So I downloaded AWFLASH from the Asus site and tried to flash it that way, with the newest BIOS ROM for my motherboard from their website. Then it told me that the ROM file was not an Award ROM.

Anytime I boot from a DOS boot disk, I run a 50% chance of my keyboard not working.

For the other 50% of the time, the keyboard will often work at first, but then stop working after a minute or two. This is regardless of whether I use my USB or PS2 keyboard.

Sometimes upon reboot, the full screen Asus image that appears during POST will be corrupted.

I did run memtest86 for almost a full day with no errors.

...what in the world is wrong with this thing?

[schmosef]

I'm not sure about that board but a lot of the new Asus boards are using AMI (American Megatrends) BIOSes. Maybe your's is too?

Maybe you need to RMA your mobo.

[cjolley]

Do you have a PCI graphics card you can try?
If the BIOS image is still corrupted that will limit the number of components that could be causing the problem.

Bad bios chip? (my bet)
Or bios socket.
Or MB it's self. (cold joint, broken trace etc)
RMA it if you can.


PS As far as the memtest thing goes, remember once the bios successfuly loads the computer isn't going to look back at the chip much, except perhaps at the the keyboard bios routine. (hint hint)
NB This information may be YEARS out of date

[Kooldino]

I'm not sure about that board but a lot of the new Asus boards are using AMI (American Megatrends) BIOSes. Maybe your's is too?

Don't see why they'd list awdflash under my specific mobo downloads if it was the wrong BIOS, but I'll certainly double check tonight.

Maybe you need to RMA your mobo.

Perhaps. :-(

[The PIT]

Which version of the Asus update are you using???

Which version of the bios did you download??

[Kooldino]

Do you have a PCI graphics card you can try?

I might.

If the BIOS image is still corrupted that will limit the number of components that could be causing the problem.

The image only corrupts maybe 2% of the time. However, during Windows setup (when it's still in the ASCII mode), I've seen some of the letters change to the wrong characters before. For example, it might say "Press F> to install third party RAID or SCSI driver" instead of "Press F6 to install third party RAID or SCSI driver"

Bad bios chip? (my bet)

Would a flash fix this?

Or bios socket.
Or MB it's self. (cold joint, broken trace etc)
RMA it if you can.

What requirements do they have for me to RMA it?

PS As far as the memtest thing goes, remember once the bios successfuly loads the computer isn't going to look back at the chip much, except perhaps at the the keyboard bios routine. (hint hint)

Interesting.

NB This information may be YEARS out of date

NB?

[Kooldino]

Which version of the Asus update are you using???

Whatever the latest version is. 7.something, IIRC.

Which version of the bios did you download??

I'm running 03xx now, and I tried 04xx and 05xx. Neither worked.

[cjolley]

NB?

NOTO BENE = Note Well

If the chip it's self is bad then a flash won't fix it.
In fact it's doubtfull you would be able to flash it.
You'd get some bogus error messsage like "ROM file is not an Award ROM"

[schmosef]

What requirements do they have for me to RMA it?

That depends on the policies of where you got the motherboard.

If you bought it online you might have to deal with Asus directly (which I've heard can be a pain).

You might be able to go through the RMA procedure of whoever sold it to you.

If I ever have a bad Asus motherboard (rare) I simply send it back to the distributor I buy them from (Supercom) who has a very competent RMA process. They test the board, and if they can reproduce the problem, issue me a credit or replacement right away, then it's their problem to deal with Asus. And since they are the primary distributor for Asus in Canada I'm sure they have that process worked out as well.

[The PIT]

It's an AMI bios just found some screen shots.

The latest asus update is 6.10.01

Bios version is 0503

Bios update program is Afudos BIOS update tool V2.21 which explains why your updates didn't work. Lucky you didn't fry the board.

[cjolley]

ABit provides replacement bios chips for free and have them for even very old boards.
The ones I got for my old BX board cost about $3 for shipping and came pretty quick.

Might be worth checking to see if ASUS has anything like that.

[cjolley]

It's an AMI bios just found some screen shots.

The latest asus update is 6.10.01

Bios version is 0503

Bios update program is Afudos BIOS update tool V2.21 which explains why your updates didn't work. Lucky you didn't fry the board.

Well, that would be a problem
Maybe his first flash try did corrupt it and that is what is causing his problems now.

[schmosef]

I don't know if Asus provides them for free but they definitely supply replacement bioses. I knew a guy who fried his board (not bought from me so I couldn't go through Supercom to fix it) and he called up Asus and they sent him a replacement chip. I know he had to pay something but I don't remember how much. It wasn't a memorable amount.

It's not a big deal for any mobo maker to do this because the BIOS chips are all generic. The only difference is Mb capacity. When they need to send someone a chip all they have to do is plug the correctly sized EPROM into a programmer and load in the appropriate BIOS file.

[az]

I think I would just try and get the board replaced before starting a component swap orgy.

[Paddy]

I think I would just try and get the board replaced before starting a component swap orgy.

Now that's a term you don't come across everyday!