Cold boot issues on DFI, i need testers

[Tony]

guys

I have a bios, now its NOT for general release, im helping Oskar to help you.

I need testers who agree to test and not distribute the bios...i need feedback in this thread from these testers only.

If you agree to test and you have a cold boot issue with UTT based ram post here and PM me your email addy.

Tony

[ADM]

I'll help out, I've been having these problems for some time now and I want to do something about it.

[Ubermann]

They dont need a bios savior ?

[Anakin_Skywalke]

Just tested the new bios, no go. Tried both yellow and orange slots,both default settings and overclocked.

[mikead_99]

They dont need a bios savior ?

Got one. ;)

[Tony]

Just tested the new bios, no go. Tried both yellow and orange slots,both default settings and overclocked.

Elaborate...I need specifics as to why you had issues.

[Anakin_Skywalke]

Elaborate...I need specifics as to why you had issues.

OK then, the test system is a 3700+ san diego which for test purposes runs on default. Flashed all the blocks using winflash with the bios. Shutted down the pc and started again with only one OCZ VX 3200 running at 2-3-3-8@3.2V in yellow slot the one furthest from the CPU. System booted ok, went into windows and then shutted down the pc. Inserted the next stick in the other yellow slot and it still had the same issue known as the "cold boot bug". While powering up the system it stalls when checking memory and does not POST. Also tried the orange slots the same way I did the yellow ones and still the same. I've tried to boot overclocked with both sticks and 255 2-2-2-5 3.4V but still the same. If you need anything more specific please tell me.

Everything else regarding the configuration of my pc is in the sig.

[Tony]

i do take it once the rig has powered up at 2-2-2-5 250 or so the modules are fine etc?

[Anakin_Skywalke]

i do take it once the rig has powered up at 2-2-2-5 250 or so the modules are fine etc?

With only one stick yes, but not with two.

[Tony]

With only one stick yes, but not with two.
email me..i want to swap your modules.

[Tony]

ok I don't need to hear from Anakin_Skywalke till (S)he gets new ram. All other testers please bring on your test results.

[Anakin_Skywalke]

Hey, do you think that Anakin is a she? No,can't be ;)

[ADM]

The new BIOS did not fix my cold boot problem either, I've tried and done pretty much everything Anakin_Skywalke has said. Seems I've got the exact same issue as Anakin_Skywalke as 1 stick works fine and the other doesn't.

Also I tried the stick that doesn't work in another machine and it boots fine - just it shows the stick as 256Mb instead of 512, has anyone else had this same problem (the working stick shows as the full 512 in that machine)?

[OzSnoal]

Hi bigtoe count me in.

[Tony]

Ok Guys, if you have adjustable PSU's please move over to the 3.3v jumper mod. Set 3.55V on the PSU's 3.3v rail and you will get to 3.4 in bios.

Use the bios i gave you or the 510-2, you can use either orange or yellow slots with this.

See if that helps you. bios

[Tony]

If you have not got an adjustable PSU please set 2-3-2-5 timings instead of 2-2-2 and you should be ok with 250fsb 3.2V.

Remember i want you all off the 5v jumper though.

See if it helps.

[OzSnoal]

I am running off 5V rail. As I need 3.5V for the one DIMM (orange slot, closest to CPU) and don't have an adjustable supply.

I have never been able to run 250FSB @3.2V, not even 3.4V (memory errors test#5).

Anyway, still got the AC removed cold boot problem. I also cannot bootup if I shutdown in windows, wait 30 seconds, hit power on. Get the beeps. I am typing this with 1 stick next to me, as I could not get it up and running again.

Tried all slots - the 'bad stick' will not boot the machine, even if by itself - has always been this way.

Cold Boot problems at:
Tried auto timings at 200MHz
Tried 3-3-3-8 timings at 200MHz
Did not try for 250MHz


When my PC does boot with both sticks it is rock solid stable. See timings in signature.

[Tony]

I am running off 5V rail. As I need 3.5V for the one DIMM (orange slot, closest to CPU) and don't have an adjustable supply.

I have never been able to run 250FSB @3.2V, not even 3.4V (memory errors test#5).

Anyway, still got the AC removed cold boot problem. I also cannot bootup if I shutdown in windows, wait 30 seconds, hit power on. Get the beeps. I am typing this with 1 stick next to me, as I could not get it up and running again.

Tried all slots - the 'bad stick' will not boot the machine, even if by itself - has always been this way.

Cold Boot problems at:
Tried auto timings at 200MHz
Tried 3-3-3-8 timings at 200MHz
Did not try for 250MHz


When my PC does boot with both sticks it is rock solid stable. See timings in signature.


Either dimm should boot the board, if you run 2-3-2- 3.2V should get you 240+fsb...i just want to see if you still have the cold boot issue at higher fsb but off the 3.3v rail.

If you can not boot with one of the dimms then you need to email me.

[ADM]

Well I cannot boot with one of the sticks on this mobo either (see my above post) will I need to contact you aswell?

[Wingz]

tried the 5+v and 3.3+ rail trick with the bios and will not boot with both sticks with vdimm at 3.4v. and like ADM one of my stick (nearest to the cpu) is unable to post on this board and the abit max3, but for some reason if i leave my pc running for 2 hrs+ and then put the other stick back in it will post?

[ADM]

I need to leave my PC off for 24 hours with no power in order for it to boot again with both sticks. :(

[Tony]

Guys

I now need to know which module it is that causes the board to not boot.

Is it the dimm thats in slot2..IE the orange slot furthest from the CPU?

Is it the dimm in slot 4...IE the orange next to the CPU

can you please also test whether both dimms alow a clean boot in single channel mode...IE put each dimm in slot 2 and see if it allows a clean boot to memtest etc.

Do these tests at 2.5-3-3 timings 2.8Vdimm 200fsb.

[eva2000]

guys

I have a bios, now its NOT for general release, im helping Oskar to help you.

I need testers who agree to test and not distribute the bios...i need feedback in this thread from these testers only.

If you agree to test and you have a cold boot issue with UTT based ram post here and PM me your email addy.

Tony
what is the cold boot issue exactly ?

[OzSnoal]

EDIT: Edited all over the place

>>I now need to know which module it is that causes the board to not boot.
>>Is it the dimm in slot 4...IE the orange next to the CPU
YES, the dimm in slot 4 causes me not to boot.

>> can you please also test whether both dimms alow a clean boot in single
My one DIMM 'normally in slot 4' cannot boot in any slots - yes, I know, email you.

>> Now running RAM off the 3.3V rail (Vdimm = 3.2V and measured with multimeter)
I cannot boot with both dimms, 200FSB, 3-3-3-8 @ 3.2V
I cannot boot with both dimms, 240FSB, 2-3-2-8 @ 3.2V
Only can boot with the one single dimm 'Normally in slot 2'.

>>can you please also test whether both dimms alow a clean boot in single channel mode.
>> Do these tests at 2.5-3-3 timings 2.8Vdimm 200fsb.
My 'Normally in slot 4 dimm' cannot boot in single channel in Slot 2 @200FSB, 2.5-3-3 @ 2.8V
The other dimm boots fine.

Tests over...... late for work.

[Tony]

If you are testing the new bios or if you are not and you have the following issues then please email me as i may have to forward you to DFI also.

1 You have the cold boot issue and swapping dimms around does not help.

2 You have the cold boot issue and only 1 dimm allows a boot in slot 2

3 The 3.3V jumper mod did NOT help you and you can still only boot with your 1 good dimm.


Now I have found the following from taking EU RMA's and testing them.

1 dimm is usually bad, when using the 5v jumper the dimm will not allow the board to boot. Swapping to the 3.3V jumper mod allowed 50%+ of the bad modules to now work fine, swapping back to the 5V jumper and they go bad again.
Most said they started with none boot sytems with one of the dimms after 3 to 5 weeks of use, before the dimms were 100% fine.

Most said they have issues with the dimm in slot 2, taking this dimm out and putting the dimm from slot4 in its place allowed a boot. If they now added the dimm from slot 2 into slot 4 they had boot issues again.

So I am working with DFI to resolve this, if you have the issues listed above i suggest you move away from the orange slots, you use the 3.3V jumper mod if you can and you clear cmos properly before you emabark on any testing.510-2 and the UTTTEST bios are based off the 316 and will allow use of the yellow slots as good as the orange.

The Guys that have emailed me i will be in contact again.

I still need testers though, if you have a cold boot issue please get in touch.

[Tony]

what is the cold boot issue exactly ?
There is a huge thread Eva on XS that explains, its basically issues booting with UTT at high voltages.

[Nugz]

Something i find weired with Just my 1 bad stick. Not the good one.
No matter what mother board i ues, the bad stick, after running a little bit, it has to cool down to about/ or around 20c or room temp befor it will boot again.
Tryed in.
IC7 v1.0, 3.2e D0
AS8, 530j
P4C800-E Delux v2.0, 2.8c M0
K8NS-Ultra 939, CBBID 0451 3200+
DFI NF4 Sli-DR Rev.AA0, CBBHD 0449 3000+

Usually wait about 20 mins and the bad stick is good to go. Stable @ 2-2-8-8-16-2-2-2 245 3.3v

I tryed the 3.3v mod. but like it's going to help. when i tryed it in other mother boards and the same thing.

ALL THIS HAPPEN "AFTER" I PUT THEM IN THE DFI NF4.

They worked fine in the IC7 @ 250 3.4v 2-2-2-5 A-N-A-D-D
Shut down and start back up fine.
Same in the K8NS-Ultra 939 245 @ 3.3v
then along came the DFI NF4. and now one stick is FUBAR. for sure.
Seeing as i got some 3200 Gold and tryed them on all the MB's ya see above and they work fine.

edit:: tryed the 3.3v mod = still have to leave the power supply on for the 2 sticks to work. Cant shut down the PSU, then try to boot, dont help. even after waiting 20 mins for the bad stick to cool. + side tho . dont need a fan over the dimm area. :)

Anyways
Peace Nugz

[maxoverclock]

bigtoe,

ocz, siad to trade the vx i had with some tcc5 pc4800. but some with pc4800/5000 have had problems so with the problem with the utt being worked on i am thinking that i should keep the vx sticks....what do you think...

i bought some vx sticks a 5 weeks ago and they ran perfect for almost 10 days then would not post. returned them to monarch for replacement....

i bought some mushkin redlines and they ran perfect (even better timings than the vx sticks). they ran for 9 days and then i shut down at night and they would not post in the am.

i have the new replacement sticks vx sticks that post fine right now, but i am sure that if i run them in the same thing will happen. i can ask ocz for an extension on the rma and do some testing for you with the new bios on the sticks that work right now....

max

[Tony]

If you have new modules, don't run the 5v jumper, run off the 3.3v with the tweak as i have a feeling its a lot better.

Im now seeing the board is doing something to the modules, so i will get back with DFI ASAP.

I have a fixed eye on this thread, sit tight i will email all those who have mailed me already.

[maxoverclock]

if the 5v rail is doing something to the sticks than it is specific to utt since my old bh-5 has been running the 5v rail for a long time without any problem....

i'll switch to the 3.3v rail and burn the new vx sticks in. my rma is good for another week and a half so i can experiment with them for a few....

max

[Tony]

NEW FINDINGS

Possible reason and maybe a work around, this may have been already posted but my info may elaborate a little.

If you switch your pc off on the wall or at the PSU after you shut down, upon switching the AC power back on you will have 2.6 to 2.8V supplied to your ram.Upon trying to boot the board looks to go thru 3 suspend loops before Vdimm is applied to the memory...this may cause the cold boot issue.

If you shut down and leave the wall switch and psu on the board will completely shut down...no voltage will be applied to the dimms. Upon a reboot the vdimm is applied immediately...the board boots as it should do.

So info i need.

How are you shutting off and what do you need to do to boot properly?

If you have one bad dimm now i doubt this will help you, but its worth a shot.

[maxoverclock]

i always shut down using standard window shut down. psu and wall plug were always left on/in...

[chainhoe]

right, i was wondering why my old TwinMos UTT wont run on 5V rail anymore. i'v got 4 sticks of old BH5 and they all run fine, been on 5V for about 2 months now

[THunDA]

NEW FINDINGSIf you switch your pc off on the wall or at the PSU after you shut down, upon switching the AC power back on you will have 2.6 to 2.8V supplied to your ram.Upon trying to boot the board looks to go thru 3 suspend loops before Vdimm is applied to the memory...this may cause the cold boot issue.

If you shut down and leave the wall switch and psu on the board will completely shut down...no voltage will be applied to the dimms. Upon a reboot the vdimm is applied immediately...the board boots as it should do.

So info i need.

How are you shutting off and what do you need to do to boot properly?

If you have one bad dimm now i doubt this will help you, but its worth a shot.

Bigtoe..

I havent had cold boot problems but it seems my tccd has been getting real instable the last few days ( Its been wanting more and more voltage ).. Last night I was testing with a dmm and noticed exactly what you explain above..

If I can help in anyway let me know..

[Nugz]

uesing a DMM. i mesured the Vdimm after turning on the PSU 2.5v, and can't boot with both sticks.
Boot the good stick, in slot2 the volts start out @ 2.3v then 2.5v then few seconds later 3.33v.
shut down, leaving the Power supply on. 0.0v and i put the second stick in and instent 3.33v and both sticks boot and run fine 3.3v @ 245.

Need to change the BIOS start up Vdimm. or something. :)


Peace Nugz

[OzSnoal]

bigtoe, the 'new findings' I posted over at the DFI forum a few days ago, I thought you knew about it already - otherwise would have mentioned it. Screen shots of me measuring Vdimm and a movie of how my board powers up when AC has been removed, with one stick of RAM.

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12342&page=2&pp=15

The problem is, that I have also seen when I do a normal shutdown (i.e. do not remove AC) and wait 30 seconds and power up again (which means that both dimms will have the CMOS specified Vdimm), I still get a boot problem. My machine has to cool off/the stick cool off(similar to what Nugz says further up).

Will you try that in your tests? Find a stick that fails to 'AC removal' cold boot and then try boot into windows, shutdown, wait 30 seconds and power up without removing AC.

[mikead_99]

Hmmm, interesting findings, not quite what I see with cold boot though. I run my system on an ups, and only kill psu when removing/replacing components in the case. I've run into cold boot on shut-down/restarts. Both from Windows, and even when escaping from memtest runs......100% stable memtest runs. I guess in my case it has technically shown as more of a "warm-boot" issue. Removing a stick has recovered this more often than not.

Still not testing on the UTT Test bios yet. As mentioned in my pm, I will only be able to start this later today. I will use only +3.3V with the +5V trick and just see what happens from there. I've got 3 of these boards here now, all Ultra-D's. One pops up with the reboot 3 LED freeze fairly regularly, one just seems hosed with Venice and 2-2-2 so I won't use it at all, and the other is a cherry waiting to be popped. I'll start with the one that I mentioned first and move on to the new one once I get some data.

One a side note, where is a convenient spot to clip a lead on to measure VDimm? I'm real curious to what I'll see with the warm-boot board.

[Tony]

measure vdimm on the missing cap left hand side of the dimm slots top of motherboard.

[OzSnoal]

PIC 2 shows that. Your vdimm will travel from 0V to the voltage set in the BIOS immediately when you power up. This will always be the case when you have not removed the AC.

I have started having 'Cold Boot' problems always when removing AC, now I can cold boot problems even if I shutdown and power up without removing AC and if I let the PC stand for awhile (1 hour), it will power up, BUT never if I removed AC though.

[tictac]

i found this in ABIt uGuru Power on sequence... not sure it will help or not...
anyway here you go...

1)enable atx power supply
2)atx power supply ready
3)ddr voltage ready
4)setup PWM for VCore
5)Assert PWM for VCOre
6)Check CPU VCore
7)VCore Ready
8)Initial Clock Generator IC
9)Chipset Voltage Ready
10)AGP Voltage Ready
11)3V Dual Voltage Ready
12)VDDA 2.5V Voltage ready
13)GMCHVTT Voltage ready
14)Check CPU Fan Speed
15)Assert all power ready
16)AWARD BIOS take over booting job

Hope Oskar Wu can fix it... GL :)

[Crazykooter]

I am starting to believe its more then just a utt issue. I have my utt coming monday but I have been using tccd which the dfi has required me to use more volts then normal IMO. Could this be a voltage controller issue instead of a bios issue ?

EDIT: The reason I say this is I have 2 DFI UT Ultra D boards. When I put my SD 3700 In older one it takes 1.72 to run stable @ 2860 mhz. With the new board I can run 2880 mhz stable @ 1.6v. That is a lot of diff for 2 boards exactly the same. We will see if it starts getting to the point I need more vcore soon I suppose. I think this has to do with the big picture of the cold boot issue.

[ninja_xxx]

I am starting to believe its more then just a utt issue. I have my utt coming monday but I have been using tccd which the dfi has required me to use more volts then normal IMO. Could this be a voltage controller issue instead of a bios issue ?

EDIT: The reason I say this is I have 2 DFI UT Ultra D boards. When I put my SD 3700 In older one it takes 1.72 to run stable @ 2860 mhz. With the new board I can run 2880 mhz stable @ 1.6v. That is a lot of diff for 2 boards exactly the same. We will see if it starts getting to the point I need more vcore soon I suppose. I think this has to do with the big picture of the cold boot issue.


what version is the one that use's more vcore....

[Crazykooter]

what version is the one that use's more vcore....
They are both A02 versions. Thats what makes me wonder how the exact same board can have so much variance as these do. It has to be the voltage regulator. Its what makes me think the cold boot issue is coming from the voltage reg as well. It may be that UTT is ultra sensitive to any changes in voltages and causing them to fail. I hope im wrong because I have some utt coming next week. :slap:

[Snark42]

I am starting to believe its more then just a utt issue. I have my utt coming monday but I have been using tccd which the dfi has required me to use more volts then normal IMO. Could this be a voltage controller issue instead of a bios issue ?

EDIT: The reason I say this is I have 2 DFI UT Ultra D boards. When I put my SD 3700 In older one it takes 1.72 to run stable @ 2860 mhz. With the new board I can run 2880 mhz stable @ 1.6v. That is a lot of diff for 2 boards exactly the same. We will see if it starts getting to the point I need more vcore soon I suppose. I think this has to do with the big picture of the cold boot issue.

Same power supply was being used in these circumstances? Same BIOS? Only the boards were different or were some other components different?

[Crazykooter]

Same power supply was being used in these circumstances? Same BIOS? Only the boards were different or were some other components different?
Same bios same everything. All I did was swap out the board and flash the bios to 414-3. It seems to be the best bios for me so far.

[saiamne]

EDIT: Edited all over the place

>>I now need to know which module it is that causes the board to not boot.
>>Is it the dimm in slot 4...IE the orange next to the CPU
YES, the dimm in slot 4 causes me not to boot.

>> can you please also test whether both dimms alow a clean boot in single
My one DIMM 'normally in slot 4' cannot boot in any slots - yes, I know, email you.

>> Now running RAM off the 3.3V rail (Vdimm = 3.2V and measured with multimeter)
I cannot boot with both dimms, 200FSB, 3-3-3-8 @ 3.2V
I cannot boot with both dimms, 240FSB, 2-3-2-8 @ 3.2V
Only can boot with the one single dimm 'Normally in slot 2'.

>>can you please also test whether both dimms alow a clean boot in single channel mode.
>> Do these tests at 2.5-3-3 timings 2.8Vdimm 200fsb.
My 'Normally in slot 4 dimm' cannot boot in single channel in Slot 2 @200FSB, 2.5-3-3 @ 2.8V
The other dimm boots fine.

From what I've read here and DFI-S my problems are pretty much the same as Oz's...my "normally in slot 4" stick is now completely DOA...all booting and testing works fine for me using my "good" stick of ram (only after booting with my PC27000 and flashing to 510-2 bios was this at all possible, previous to that neither VX stick worked in any configuration)...all slot configurations work fine with my older PC2700 (2x512) ram from an older computer (they're Corsair xms2700c2 rev1.3, Mosel Vitalic modules)

Been running everything off the 3.3v since I got it back up and running this afternoon...haven't ventured into the 5v yet

I always do a "soft" off...windows shutdown only - not PS off/wall off

I think I'm in agreement with what a few others have speculated, that there is some sort of voltage spiking/instability when running off the 5v rail...but I'm this for the durration, don't wanna give up on my SLI-DR or my PC4000VX...will test as much as I need to in order to get this right for everyone

[Snark42]

erm.... I hadn't been having any cold boot issues but I just flipped the ATX switch off and left it for 30 seconds and then turned it back on and tried booting and it just never got to post. I tested the vdimm and this is what I got..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/Snark42/vdimm.jpg
....as you can see, it's only at 2.54, which isn't enough to boot VX @ 200-2-3-3-8??

I turned it off by holding down the power button but left the AC and switch on. tested the vdimm...at 0. turned on and still only goes up to 2.54vdimm.

So do I just leave everything for 24 hours and hope for the best?

[OzSnoal]

That may help, as I need a cool off period - this may always have been the case, I just might not of noticed. Cause normally when I switch my pc off, I would not be using it for at least 1 hour.

Otherwise, if the cool off period doesn't work, try boot up with only one stick, alternating between the two until you do. Loosen your FSB to 200, drop volts to 3.2V, loosen ram timings to 3-3-3-8, shutdown, do not remove AC, plugin second dimm.

My Note:
It looks like my one stick of 'bad' ram, once it has been used (i.e. booted up), needs to have a cool off period. I am using the OCZ booster at the moment, running at 3.5V and still have cold boot problems. Personally, I think my one stick of OCZ VX has gone 'bad'. I say bad in quotes, because when I boot with it, and manage to boot with it, it works wonderfully. But it is a stick that once booted up with, I cannot cold boot again without some sort of resting period. It also will not boot the PC when being used as a single stick.

I think my one stick is bad, in a strange way - what caused it and why is a good question. We are all looking for that answer, and eventually we will find it.

[ninja_xxx]

They are both A02 versions. Thats what makes me wonder how the exact same board can have so much variance as these do. It has to be the voltage regulator. Its what makes me think the cold boot issue is coming from the voltage reg as well. It may be that UTT is ultra sensitive to any changes in voltages and causing them to fail. I hope im wrong because I have some utt coming next week. :slap:


nooooo did you change the version number cause i could swear it was something else before.... i have A02 also :(

at dfi street there say'n everything is ok... i don't know what to believe anymore... will i might get a rma on my psu so may ocz will give me the powerstream instead of the modstream :) then i could use the trick to get more volts :)

[Crazykooter]

nooooo did you change the version number cause i could swear it was something else before.... i have A02 also :(

at dfi street there say'n everything is ok... i don't know what to believe anymore... will i might get a rma on my psu so may ocz will give me the powerstream instead of the modstream :) then i could use the trick to get more volts :)
Ya I did change the version number. SOrry it was a typo. I have a powerstream 520w which gives me unreal stability on my rails. I will know more on tuesday if I will have the cold boot issue with mine as well. This twinmos utt has already had a issue on one DFI board. Since I have 2 boards I am gonna be able to test more then he did. I am hoping it all works out well for me. If not then I am just gonna have to find someone to sell me some real bh-5.

[ninja_xxx]

"unreal stability on my rails" don't understand is that a good thing or bad :confused:

maybe i should just stay with my modstream...

[Snark42]

I believe he meant that as a good thing...
in this case "unreal"=hard to believe, pleasently surprised, very good, extremely.

[Crazykooter]

Yes means its good not bad. I have had a lot of PSU but this one is by far the best.

[Minnyboy]

Not sure if this is classed as a cold boot issue but here's what happened to my DFI rig just an hour ago:

My rig was working fine at 255HTT @ 1.47v with the 180 divider (was running prime95 & 3DMark03 loop beforehand & area around VC was getting hot so I decide to add a 12cm fan there,,,

Turned off PC to install a 12cm fan (to help airflow around VC)... Shut down rig, turn off switch on PSU (OCZ 520w) & proceed to install 12cm fan...

Installation done so I then proceed to turn on my rig... Get's to the part where XP is loading & then reboots constantly... WTF...

That's 3 or 4 times that's happened to me, the last few times were because I replaced the CPU & then had to reinstall XP because of this problem where I could not get into XP no matter what I did...

Luckily this time I was able to flash my bios & enter Windows without having to reformat to get anywhere...

It;s damn annoying as I have lost my OC & am back to running my CPU/Ram/VC back at default clocks... Have yet to try to OC it again...

Is this classed as the "cold-boot issue??"

Minh

[SIOUX]

we got some problems as well with 3700+SD. we got to boot 1 time. but after playing in win for 2 min, sudely the comp goes nuts. we see 28.1 mhz in CPU-Z and weird stuff like that. And then it just freezes, and we cant boot again. when we try it just gives us beeps. We tryed different BIOS without luck:(

3 of the leds stay on when we try to boot. sometimes it goes forward and bachward with 3 and 4 leds on....and then shut down.:(

[Ubermann]

Does the test bios solve the problem for anyone ?
Is it possible to solder a 3.3v line with a switch to kickstart ram when you boot ?
So i turn it on before i switch on computer so ram already has 3.3volt.
Then when it boots i can just switch it off..

[Nugz]

think of it this way guys
no matter what your "bad' stick has to cool down to about 20c or room temp befor it will boot again. dosnt matter if it's 20 min or 1 hour or a day. Just get it down to room temp.

this is caused bye what the DFI has done to the stick.

RMA time.

"THEN"
we still have the 2.5v being supplyed after the AC plug is conected and not give'n us 3.3v untill the BIOS gets loaded. then we can put the "bad" stick in and have 3.3v right after the power switch is hit.
thus booting both sticks @ 3.3v

Anyways
Peace Nugz

[Ubermann]

OMFG!
I have 2 sticks kreton VT that hasnt been working for 1 month soon and they both do 270fsb.
And i have 1 stick that is kinda bad and need place a good stick first and boot then switch off and replace it to boot fine.
Now i got brave and wanted to try the Booster in DFI NF4 (everyone says NO!! it will mess up the board)
So i put it into slot 1 and the "kinda bad" stick in slot 2, set it to 3.5 volt and push power button.
Booted on first try.
Tested some memtest and all is fine.
So i unwrapped my 2 kretons that i packed for RMA to send on monday.
Tested the first one.
Booted on first try, all fine in memtest (still new to NF4 so i dont know about ram strengh and stuff to tweak it to max)
Took out stick and put in the one that impossible to boot on DFI NF3 and NF4.
Booted on first try.
God im happy the good BH-5 sticks actually works!!!
Btw got 3200Venice and DFI NF4 Ultra-D


:woot: :woot: :woot: :woot: :woot: :woot:

[mikead_99]

Well, unfortunately I can't really say if this has helped things for me or not. The board that has given me the most issues with the ram (3200VX) that gave me the most problems ran hitch free for a day or so. Since I really don't trust the mobo, it being the "warm boot" board mentioned above and since I got a replacement for it, I swapped mobos yesterday afternoon. Using VX and 3500+ Venice, things are going fine. Can't use yellow slots without errors, and orange took more tweaking than ever needed before, but I am also running the sticks Prime stable faster than they have in the past, with slightly tighter timings too. They would top out Prime stable in the 250's, but going at 260 now. Nothing stellar, but anything above 255 in the past was benchable only, no P95. Using +3.3V rail @ 3.7V and 3.45V on the DIMMS. No boot issue yet, but I'll keep trying.

edit to add: not sure where the added performance is from, +3.3V based VDimm, 510 based bios, or new mobo, but I'm certainly not complaining.

[_Eduard_]

I have this problem with my DFI Nf3 250gb, It won't boot with 2 sticks of bh-5 UTT no matter what voltage or timings, only @ 200mhz. And they do 260mhz 2-2-2 individually.

Now when i use my BH-6 i have cold boot issues too after testing the UTT, I press the on-switch, pc starts up with no screen, reboots and screen comes up again. Everything works fine but it is very weird :confused:

[p_huica]

@bigtoe and others on to "cold boot" and "ram killing" issues:

Hi,

I also have the cold boot issue and I'd like to help in finding a solution. I read all I could about it in these forums and over at dfi-street and I did some testing. This is what I did so far (D1 = DIMM1, D2 = DIMM2):

-> I was on bios 510-2, OCed at 240FSB, 2-2-2-6 @ 3.3V, JP17 on 5V, dual channel in orange slots

-> while in orange slots, if I cut the AC power, then I could only boot if I did the "1 good stick" trick -> D2 in slot2, reboot, power down, add D1 in slot4 => dual channel OK as long as I didn't cut off the AC power

-> then I learned about the "board that kills UTT memory" from rgone's post somewhere here and from others => took immediate action to get on the "safe side" => throttled down to stock settings, 200FSB, 2-4-4-7 @ 3.0V, JP17 on 3V, yellow slots and tested several scenarios from here

It went like this:
-> naming:
"upper" slot = yellow S1, orange S2 (I'm referring to them both at the same time, ie. I tried both combinations)
"bottom" slot = yellow S3, orange S4 (idem)
"arming the memory" = boot with D2 in S1 into windows then shutdown (keep AC power on)
shutdown = standard Windows shutdown -> windows closes and system powers down, but without cutting off AC

-> found out the following, which happened consistently:

- a) D1 would boot alone only in certain conditions, see bellow (it's my "bad" stick)

- b) D2 would only boot alone if in "upper" slot (it's my "good" stick)

- c) D1 + D2 in dual channel would work only if:
- c1) attempted immediately following a "D2 alone boot" (good stick boot) AND
- c2) D2 in "upper" slot and D1 in "bottom" slot
- c3) caveat: From this point, dual channel works fine, but ONLY as long as the system is not shut down, ie. it will warm restart OK, but if I shut it down I need to go through the "good stick boot" procedure (b) and pop the "bad" stick in afterwards to get dual channel going again
- d) when doing dual channel as per c), it works in both "D1-S1, D2-S3" and "D2-S1, D1-S3" configurations (ie. swapped around)

- e) when shutting down the pc (no AC cutoff, just shutdown), as I said, it wouldn't start again unless following the strict algorithm outlined in c), consisting of steps c1) and c2) (with caveat outlined in c3))

- f) after "arming the memory", I could boot D1 alone in S1 or dual channel in S1-S3, in either order

At no time I did cut the AC power (unplug from the wall).
I'm now forced to keep the computer running (no shutdown) if I want to use both dimms. It's not feasible => for the time being I'm only running D2 in S1, stock, on yellow and JP17 3V as said before. I'm waiting eagerly for a solution to this problem. I hope this helps. I'll be checking back later, but testing is on hold for a while due to exams :)


Peter

[Snark42]

Does the test bios solve the problem for anyone ?
Is it possible to solder a 3.3v line with a switch to kickstart ram when you boot ?
So i turn it on before i switch on computer so ram already has 3.3volt.
Then when it boots i can just switch it off..

I was also thinking something like this, BUT you would only actually want to be feeding it an extra .5 volts, as giving it an extra 3.2 plus the vdimm when it kicks in, will be giving it around 6 volts and I doubt your RAm would like that.

[Ubermann]

I was also thinking something like this, BUT you would only actually want to be feeding it an extra .5 volts, as giving it an extra 3.2 plus the vdimm when it kicks in, will be giving it around 6 volts and I doubt your RAm would like that.

I do mean that i want to solder 3.3 line to back of mb or other place so total volt at start is 3.3.

Boozer did the trick a few times and now im back from the beginning again..GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRR

[Snark42]

oh, and then just have a switch on the wire to turn it off once you're sure the the RAM is being supplied by the BIOS vdimm?

[SET]

think of it this way guys
no matter what your "bad' stick has to cool down to about 20c or room temp befor it will boot again. dosnt matter if it's 20 min or 1 hour or a day. Just get it down to room temp.

I have tried to leave them by several days and this follows without working.

This aid if an inferior temperature to the 20 Cs is obtained?

On the other hand, I ask myself if this in fact will not work in another Board, since after having problems with the "bad module" I have proven it in other Boards if positive results.

Thank you

[Ubermann]

oh, and then just have a switch on the wire to turn it off once you're sure the the RAM is being supplied by the BIOS vdimm?

Correct.

Lanero i tried putting them in the freezer, does not help.
Also tried oven, didnt help either =)

[Nugz]

I have tried to leave them by several days and this follows without working.

This aid if an inferior temperature to the 20 Cs is obtained?

On the other hand, I ask myself if this in fact will not work in another Board, since after having problems with the "bad module" I have proven it in other Boards if positive results.

Thank you

yeah if they dont work in another board, "RMA time", the DFI killed them ram ehhe

20c is just my room temp. well 18c right now but ya know.

Anyways
Peace Nugz

[13oost]

im posting for a friend, he just tried to run his sticks in the yellow slots to put a fan over them, b/c of him running at 3.5vdimm

he changes the memory in the slots
and he gets the memory's long solid tone in the boot... im guessing the cold boot issue.... he dosent have any seperate ram and has tried mutiple slots and no go, he used the 414-3 bios and i had told him to get -2 b/c he has Twinmos SP BH-5
but -3 should work since its a mix

he had been running 260mhz @ 2-2-2-5 3.5vdimm for over 6 months...
DFI NF4 UltraD
3200+ winnie @ 2.6ghz

any way to fix this issue?

FIXED, long cool down as mentioned at DFI-Street helped

he flashed to 510-2 and rebooted, then shut down to do the vdimm trick, and tried to boot and no go.... any clue? just long beeps (ram)

[longsiew]

Yes, I am having cold boot issue. May I be one of the tester. Pls email the Bios to me at ttzelong@yahoo.com.sg. I tried to PM but could not link up. Hopefuly, miracle will happen with this new Bios.

[OzSnoal]

This is what I have found (and posted over at DFI-Street). It looks like Nugz has the same problem. In my case, I would say my one stick of ram is toast - even though it will work fine if I get to boot.


I have a further update on my cold boot problem. For those of you following my findings, my latest was that I would not have cold boot problems if I left my pc off for 1 hour.

1) I took my 'bad' stick (by bad I mean believed to cause my cold boot problem) out of the PC and took out the hairdryer and heated the module so it was warm to the touch and let it cool for about 1 minute before reinserting it into the PC.

2) PC would not boot - cold boot problem.

3) Took the module out and took my summer air-only fan out to blow on it for about 5 minutes. The module was definately at room temperature.

4) Plug it in, and low and behold, the PC powers up.

Why my one dimm has behaved in this way is anyones guess, and is being investigated by both parties - this is wonderful support. What I would like to see from these 'high volts' dimm manufacturers that they supply the active cooling that is required. It is in their best interests.

So, a little test for those of you with Cold Boot problems and 'suspected' dead ram - take out your modules and give them a good cooling off under a fan (at least 5 minutes)- and don't get your fingers all over the gold contacts! See if that gets you booted up.

[AMDnewbie]

now my new bh-5 had problems with venice...
originally, the pc3500 bh-5 is very fussy with winnie. If timing or voltage is slightly out of it likes..it will freeze in #8 . Conitunue burning in #5 kill the ram...that was 1st pair....

2nd pair i m extremely cautious about this and try till #8 is ok then continue burning...the burning in was slow because i don't want on it for one whole day and end up w a dead pair again..

bought a venice 3200+....put it in and it plays well with the bh-5...will not freeze in #8 but would spew out errors.....went up 10Mhz straight on....happy and continue to burn in at 3.4v....at times into window w lesser voltage...

suddenly...windows freeze....ram no more stable at oc and only capable of cl2.5 only......ram was not hot during removal as i had a 120mm fan w full force and a 92mm fan for the mosfet.....just warm only...

play w tccd , utt ch-5 , hynix and all don't give me this kind of problems....

now w tccd...would need to setup my spare giga k8nf-9 to test the bh-5 again....

anyone faced similar problems b4....

[13oost]

This is what I have found (and posted over at DFI-Street). It looks like Nugz has the same problem. In my case, I would say my one stick of ram is toast - even though it will work fine if I get to boot.


tried that, worked once, but not agian

[Crazykooter]

I just got my twinmos in and so far no issues. I am on the 5v rail which I dont like to be but I cannot get it over 240 2-2-2 without it. the 3.3v line trick doesnt work. I am wondering if this is gonna lean me towards poss cold boot issues or not? I am gonna see if I can get 262 2-2-2-6 @ 3.4v. well see if its gonna stay stable. :stick:

[dsumanik]

Watch it kooter if you are using the orange slots you are now running the risk of dead ram. I have killed 4 sticks of pc4000VX just liek that.

Switch to yellow slots, overclock to the moon and then tell us your results.

If the yellows dont kill ram like slot 2 is, then maybe we have a temporary cure.

[Crazykooter]

Watch it kooter if you are using the orange slots you are now running the risk of dead ram. I have killed 4 sticks of pc4000VX just liek that.

Switch to yellow slots, overclock to the moon and then tell us your results.

If the yellows dont kill ram like slot 2 is, then maybe we have a temporary cure.
Alright I will give the yellow a try. I have tried them once but I got a no post with them. I cant seem to get the 3.3v trick work so well. Its not nearly as stable as the 5v.

[esdee]

one of my DIMMs (actually the best Dimm i have) is half dead for more than 5 months

actually the dimm CANNOT post in single channel (one dimm) in Dimm2
my other dimm boots no problem

so what i do is this (works every single time)

boot with the fully working dimm in dimm2, wait till it posts ok then power off the board
WITHOUT turning the PSU off i put the second (half dead dimm) on the dimm4 then i power on the board --> everything ok.

if a PSU power-off is involved i get cold boot and i have to do the above proc all over again...

hope it helps somehow

[EMC2]

I cant seem to get the 3.3v trick work so well. Its not nearly as stable as the 5v.

FYI...you need to keep the 3.3V rail ~0.25V above the Vmem BIOS setting ;)

Peace :toast:

[Crazykooter]

Well my utt came in yesterday and I have had good luck with it till the power went out. I couldnt figure out what the heck to do since neither stick would post. I put my tccd in and it posted right up. Came here read some and decided to flash back to 510-2 bios for hellfires. Didnt help. So I put tccd back in and it posted. I then went into the bios and ran the vdimm up to 3.2v which was max since I had just switched over to the 3.3v trick again. Turned off the power without using the PSU switch. Put in the 2 sticks of utt and it booted. I have no idea whats goin on here but it has to be one of the strangest things ever for a motherboard to do. I am also using yellow slots now so I hope I dont have to do this again. DO have a question tho. Why is it both sticks for me when everyone else is reporting one bad stick ? Doesnt make sense.

[EMC2]

Because in this case, you do not have any bad sticks... just ones that won't pass POST @ SPD timings with low Vmem ;)

Peace :toast:

[Crazykooter]

Ok since I dont have a bad stick and its a timing issue and what not then when I reset the bios it should be fine. It just happened again when I went to up the vdimm to where it was. It hasnt been a issue till my ciruit breaker kicked today. Now its just messed up. I just tried what I did in post above and it didnt work. I am not on tccd again. I have tried every sudjestion posted here and I still am having issues. Makes me wonder if its a ram issue or a motherboard one. Main thing that gets me is that its putting 2.7v to my ram after the fail which plenty of volts to run this stuff at 200 after a bios reset. Also I am curious why the yellow would be safer then the orange ones. If this is true then its a DFI woops IMO. I might just go back to the 5v side where I was when it was working fine earlier. I am also going to throw these same sticks into my other dfi board and see if they post right away or not.


EDIT: Ok they didnt post in other board either so it means I have 2 bad sticks or something. Damn this pisses me off. :mad:

[EMC2]

Ygpm....

[Crazykooter]

Ok just for more info. I couldnt get the utt to work again since last post. So what I did was get pissed off and try a work around if I could. Again the only way I was able to get them to post was with tccd bios to 3.2 then reboot shut down as soon as it beeps. Then put in twinmos and boot. It works. Now I am affraid to reboot to see the fsb back up to where it belongs. There has to be something with this ram that the board doesnt like on boot up. I know voltage is said to be the cause but utt should post even at 2.6v to it at laxed timings. But I guess I could be completly wrong here. I was over reading at DFI forum and it seems more of mess over there then here on rexolving the issue. Waste of time really. Any sudjestions on what I should do here ? I would hate to sell off ram which I know doesnt do what it suppose to with these boards. also is twinmos ch-5 utt ?

[metro.cl]

any updates im about to buy this mobo plus some twinmos utt, but seeing all of this has hold me back

[OzSnoal]

Cold boot problems can be described in the following ways:

And can be best seen by first running your PC for 5-10 minutes before doing the below.
1) Shutdown the PC, remove AC, reinsert AC, and cannot POST. (3 LED's on).
2) Shutdown the PC and without removing AC, cannot POST. (3 LED's on)

Initially I only had case 1 and eventually ended up having case 2 problems as well.

There are a variety of ways to attempt to get your system to boot.:
http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10644

OR

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showpost.php?p=105497&postcount=137

Personally one of my sticks causes the boot problem, it also needed high volts to run at the recommended timings, I am now running single stick at 2-2-2-8, 250MHz at 3.3V. With both sticks I needed 3.6V.

[CometMan]

guys i discovered now that many ppl has the same prob as me anyway here is what i writed in another thread

Guys i am having problems whit the SLi-DR i use my cpu at 11x255=2805 whit ocz 4000 vx at 1.5-2-2-5 3.4v the thing is my board once a week doesn`t boot, the power led keeps flashing, and i get a long bip, the diagnostic leds are all on (3), the only solution is to clear cmos but sometimes i take 2 days to reset this bios, i move the cmos jumper to pin 2 and 3 remove the baterry, remove the power cord and lol 5 hours later it might reset, once i get the bios reseted things get back to normal, at least for a week stable, and the again stops booting, i tried the latest bios oficial on the dfi homepage, any sugestions?!?!

please Help

another thing i managed to boot up the system whit only 1 dimm in the orange slot, the farest to the cpu (but my system is all :banana::banana::banana::banana:.. up )

what should i do?

[tjj]

anything??

[Crazykooter]

This lack of info on what we are to do is getting crazy. The only thing I hear to do is buy tccd which I have 2 sets and both of them are jacked now. Poss due to this board. My utt wont post all now neither stick. I am bout to go crazy here. No one seems to have a clue about whats going on here.(esp me) :mad:

[Nugz]

hey , atleast they know there's a problem, insted of not even acknolage'n it.

they will fix it. then i will be RMAing my VX. till then, i try not to ues my DFI for now.

Peace Nugz

[politenessman]

Not sure if this is classed as a cold boot issue but here's what happened to my DFI rig just an hour ago:

My rig was working fine at 255HTT @ 1.47v with the 180 divider (was running prime95 & 3DMark03 loop beforehand & area around VC was getting hot so I decide to add a 12cm fan there,,,

Turned off PC to install a 12cm fan (to help airflow around VC)... Shut down rig, turn off switch on PSU (OCZ 520w) & proceed to install 12cm fan...

Installation done so I then proceed to turn on my rig... Get's to the part where XP is loading & then reboots constantly... WTF...

That's 3 or 4 times that's happened to me, the last few times were because I replaced the CPU & then had to reinstall XP because of this problem where I could not get into XP no matter what I did...

Luckily this time I was able to flash my bios & enter Windows without having to reformat to get anywhere...

It;s damn annoying as I have lost my OC & am back to running my CPU/Ram/VC back at default clocks... Have yet to try to OC it again...

Is this classed as the "cold-boot issue??"

Minh

this exact sequence happens to me like once a week. the only difference is im not using vx, but g.skill la. shuffling the ram around doesnt help. both sticks will usually boot to at least desktop singly. i dont use the 5v jumper. i have never run the ram higher than the 2.8v setting.
the other night i ran a 32m super pi @ 318x9, then while i was reading email 15 minutes later it blue screened and would only reboot over and over right at the splash screen. none of my usb devices (keyboard, mouse) have power during boot when this happens, forcing me to use a ps2 keyboard to get into bios. i recently switched from a truecontrol 550 to a 600 powerstream. it happened with both psu's.


3500 rev e xp90/tornado
ultra d 414-3
850xt
600 powerstream
2x256mb g.skill

[Bourch]

I have the cold boot issue. No BSOD problems at least.
My mems are VX and I am experiencing the same problems with my USB keyboard :(
I have an OCZ Powerstream too (the 520w one)

[politenessman]

I have the cold boot issue. No BSOD problems at least.
My mems are VX and I am experiencing the same problems with my USB keyboard :(
I have an OCZ Powerstream too (the 520w one)

when your keyboard will not work during boot, unplug your power supply from outlet for a couple seconds. seems to reset something and usb works, altho you still wont boot into windows. i have had this problem while running at max, 318x9, 1.68vcore, 2.5/3/3/8, 2.85v vdimm, same problem running stock.this comes and goes. right now i have been running3-4 days no probs 9x310. same problem using 3500 rev e or 3500 winny 90nm. same prob using 256mb g.skill la pc4800 or pqi turbo 512mb stix. same prob evga 6600gt or connect3d x850xt. i have an old stick of corsair pc3500 v1.1 (bh5) i will try if i can find it.

[Bourch]

My :banana:ing problem is: unplug the psu = cold boot
:mad:

I will have to cross my fingers every time I have to shut down my system. However, I run my pc for 24/7 and don't use to shut down it. I only reboot once a while and shut down for hardware upgrades, partys,... I can live with the cold boot issue but wish DFI could solve this bug.

[EMC2]

Bourch... have you tried unplugging then reconnecting your keyboard? Might work and not have to remove AC... I've had mice before that needed this trick ;)

Cold boot is very fixable in BIOS...

Peace :toast:

[CometMan]

can i be a tester of new bios, im sick and tired of my computer this way
btw, any news about this problem?

thanks guys

[JoKeN9seven]

Hi,

I have also the cold boot problem. Every time when I disconnect my power supply I can´t boot the first time. I have to turn the computer off by pressing the power switch for ~3seconds. After appr. 3 times SOFT ON-OFF I can boot again.

Here is my HW spec:

DFI nF4 UT 5.10-2 BIOS
Twinmos Speed Premium A4TT UTT-CH
Revoltec Chromus II
A64 3000+ winchester

The rams are in the yellow slots. I can test a new bios if I get one. :)

thx.

[Bourch]

Bourch... have you tried unplugging then reconnecting your keyboard? Might work and not have to remove AC... I've had mice before that needed this trick ;)

Cold boot is very fixable in BIOS...

Peace :toast:

It doesn't work for me :nono:

[dsumanik]

Ok guys we nee dto clear some things up here:

the cold boot issue is not related to peripherals you have plugged in:

if it was that easy we would all have this problem figured out by now.


it is related to:

ram type, and which slots they are in
voltage supplied to ram
which rail votage is supplied from

and

booting from a complete power off situation.

my board had BAD cold boot issues until i switched from UTT (ocz vx 4000) to generic kingston value ram and dropped my voltage to 2.8.

now that im within spec on tested modules...everything is fine.

but if i wanted stock performance, at 3338 timings i could have saved myself the few hundred extra dollars for a high performance rig!

I have been in contact with oskar wu about sending him my board for testing in this thread here

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?p=127819#post127819

however, he promised to send me a replacement "working board" but has not delivered yet.

[dsumanik]

My :banana:ing problem is: unplug the psu = cold boot
:mad:

I will have to cross my fingers every time I have to shut down my system. However, I run my pc for 24/7 and don't use to shut down it. I only reboot once a while and shut down for hardware upgrades, partys,... I can live with the cold boot issue but wish DFI could solve this bug.

to warn you this is how it starts...likely your rig will degrade into a non working system like mine did, on two seperate sets of VX memory.

[Bourch]

As dsumanik, I have a VX Kit and Kingston value memory.


Yesterday I was running with the VX kit from de 3.3v rail with the jp17 trick and my powerstream 520w 3.3 line at 3.75. Vdim was set at 3.5 (plus ~0.04v overvolt) and dims where at orange slots. I tried to reboot but by mistake I shut down the pc. Then, I had ANOTHER cold boot. Now I'm running with kingston memory at stock.


I don't want to continue like this, so I'm asking myself about what to do. I was thinking about buying another nforce4 ultra with a booster (to supply at least 3.6v). I was thinking about buying the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum but It seems to be not compatible with the booster. Therefore, I have two questions:

1.- Would a booster (on the DFI) be helpful to bypass the cold boot issue? The reason form my asking is that I have readen that the cold boot may have something to do with the vdimm the DFI supplies to the RAM just when it's powered on.

2.- If not, wich nforce4 ultra that can supply 3.6 vdimm (with or without a booster) should I buy? I want a good overclocker one that, even if it's not the best one, it has not any critical bug like this one.


Forgive me for the second question if it's a little off-toppic.

[Crazykooter]

As dsumanik, I have a VX Kit and Kingston value memory.


Yesterday I was running with the VX kit from de 3.3v rail with the jp17 trick and my powerstream 520w 3.3 line at 3.75. Vdim was set at 3.5 (plus ~0.04v overvolt) and dims where at orange slots. I tried to reboot but by mistake I shut down the pc. Then, I had ANOTHER cold boot. Now I'm running with kingston memory at stock.


I don't want to continue like this, so I'm asking myself about what to do. I was thinking about buying another nforce4 ultra with a booster (to supply at least 3.6v). I was thinking about buying the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum but It seems to be not compatible with the booster. Therefore, I have two questions:

1.- Would a booster (on the DFI) be helpful to bypass the cold boot issue? The reason form my asking is that I have readen that the cold boot may have something to do with the vdimm the DFI supplies to the RAM just when it's powered on.

2.- If not, wich nforce4 ultra that can supply 3.6 vdimm (with or without a booster) should I buy? I want a good overclocker one that, even if it's not the best one, it has not any critical bug like this one.


Forgive me for the second question if it's a little off-toppic.
There is a guy at DFI-Street who tried the boost to see if it fixed the cold boot and it didnt. ATM there is the new abit board which vdimm goes to 3.55 but its very $$$$$$$$$$$$ and may not oc as well as DFI does. I am waiting for the release of the ATI board. I too get cold boots and its frustrating!!!! :dammit: :brick:

[dsumanik]

There is a guy at DFI-Street who tried the boost to see if it fixed the cold boot and it didnt. ATM there is the new abit board which vdimm goes to 3.55 but its very $$$$$$$$$$$$ and may not oc as well as DFI does. I am waiting for the release of the ATI board. I too get cold boots and its frustrating!!!! :dammit: :brick:

The booster will be more likely to help people who use it from the beginning, if you are referring to Ozsnoal when he used the booster, his memory was damaged too much before he tried it in my opinion, if he had used it from the start i think it would have been ok.

If you get a new board and booster, please let us know how it turns out...at least we will know for sure if the board is the problem.

Boosting the already toasted sticks wont help your situation though, youll need fresh memory too i bet.

[OzSnoal]

Agree with you, my one stick was toast already.

And the OCZ booster did not help - but as dsumanik says, the stick was too far gone already.

[SET]

Single I write this informing my experience.

In MOBO DFI NF4 any problem can create a "Cold BooT".

In my case and without apparent reason, after reinitiating the system it did not start. I tried everything and even it continued seeing 3 LEDs ignited, tries proven part by part until giving account me that what caused the problem was small a dirty one in the contacts of the V.CARD.

This is single my case, but it can help to somebody with a similar problem.

Now the Board is working perfect.

Until soon

[Crazykooter]

The booster will be more likely to help people who use it from the beginning, if you are referring to Ozsnoal when he used the booster, his memory was damaged too much before he tried it in my opinion, if he had used it from the start i think it would have been ok.

If you get a new board and booster, please let us know how it turns out...at least we will know for sure if the board is the problem.

Boosting the already toasted sticks wont help your situation though, youll need fresh memory too i bet.
I would have to agree there with the new board new stix thing. But in my case it didnt just take out 1 stick it got both. Which is odd since I have not seen anyone else have the same thing as me. I do wonder tho if I stuck these in a diff board if they would post out fine? If it means that sticks are bad is why we are getting cold boot then it means the dfi settings are toasting our sticks. Now that is not gonna be fixed by a bios IMO. Also why is it that new bh-5 has issues but old bh-5 doesnt when they are the same chip. This all confuses me.

[dippyskoodlez]

I still need testers though, if you have a cold boot issue please get in touch.

90% of my mobo is absolutely perfect, but i have an occasional cold boot.. like when swapping a part, or pulling the power cord-- not a regular cold boot, it just wont power on at all.. I usually have to remove the power plug, and plug it back in, as if the PSU overvoltage is protecting it... sometimes its fine, sometimes it isnt.

rails are flawless. Specs in sig.. probably not what your lookin for.. :P

[EMC2]

90% of my mobo is absolutely perfect, but i have an occasional cold boot.. like when swapping a part, or pulling the power cord-- not a regular cold boot, it just wont power on at all.. I usually have to remove the power plug, and plug it back in, as if the PSU overvoltage is protecting it... sometimes its fine, sometimes it isnt.

rails are flawless. Specs in sig.. probably not what your lookin for.. :P

Dippsy - are you using the 5V rail for Vmem? If so, what PS are you using?

[EMC2]

--- dsumanik ---

Just an FYI... the discussion with Bourch had nothing to do with the cold boot issue... was an OT about a different issue he was having ;)

Peace :toast:

[dippyskoodlez]

Dippsy - are you using the 5V rail for Vmem? If so, what PS are you using?

no.. im using the 3.3v rail.. jumper stock.. im using my 350w antec smartpower modded to 24pin. The rails are absolutely solid- 11.98v 12v line, 3.32, 3.3v line, and 5.10v on the 5v line.

Measured using a $300 sperry DMM, not cheapo mobo monitors too.

the 5v jumper works fine, and i actually, havent noticed this problem with the jumper switched.. :stick:

[CometMan]

i think i have a temporary solution, for the ppl that doesn`t have killed sticks, use the jumper in default position 3.2v, use the vx sticks in slot 2 and 4, and the ddrbooster in slot 1, its working fine to me, 3.5v 1.5-2-2-5 for 24/7 so far so good, have made a couple of shutdowns and it is booting fine :banana:

[Mikesta]

Hi guys,

I'm a cold boot sufferer like you guys.

Previously I had to reset CMOS with jumper and redo my settings.

But now I have my temp. probes go crazy (stuck on certain temperature I know is not possible, i.e. ambient goes down 5-10 degrees celcius). I try and shutdown normally and the system will not shut down. I look in the bios and chech PC health. All three readings are 128 128 128.

Now bare with me. I also have the one 'bad stick" syndrome. Good stick works by itself, insert bad stick no post. Try in another m/b bad stick fails to work. I nearly RMA'd but after a significant 'cool down period' I put the bad stick in and I'm working.

However I now get cold boot every day, sometimes twice a day. Switching back to 3.3 rail and 3.2 or 3.1 Volts on memory doesn't help.

NOW HERE IS THE THING

Currently Im on the 510-2 BIOS and using the yellow slots (I have an XP-120). Now my bad stick was in the yellow slot closest to CPU. It was geting annoying trying to mount in under the XP-120. So i switched the 'good stick' in the yellow slot closest to CPU thinking that when I have to cool down and reseat the 'bad stick' it would be so much easier in the yellow slot furthest from CPU.

WRONG!

My good stick would not boot! Panicking and thinking that I somehow stuffed up my RAM I tested it by putting it back in its original slot (furthest yellow from CPU)

VOILA! POST! It is so obvious to me that the slots themselves are causing the problems.

Before you launch into me, when I first encountered the heavier version of cold boot I was in the Orange slots and reseated to yellow because of XP-120.

God Damn you DFI :slapass:

Now I have a feeling no matter what I do I won't have a 'normal' system. I'm starting to get quite annoyed. I also have a feeling that a BIOS may not solve the problem.

Hope my information helps the cause!

[Tony]

Guys if you are testing single channel you have to use slot 1 or 2, these are the slots furthest from the CPU, slots 3 and 4 will not boot single channel

[Mikesta]

Oh for crying out loud. I've gotten it so wrong.

I'll disappear into some dark dark corner of XS shame.

For Curiosities sake I might test by letting both sticks cool down, then chuck the bad stick in the Single channel slot (furtherest from CPU) into the Dual and Visa-versa. However I am too sick and tired of all this swapping and changing. Also I am afriad that the Dual channel slot might nuke my good stick.

Decisions decisions.

EDIT: Just asking all other people with 'bad stick' experience. Which slot did it originally populate? If we get most or all people saying the dual channel slots, then we may have a culprit

[aehmkei]

Can I please test the new beta bios too?

I have the following problem:

X800XL in the upper Slot: 3LEDs - no monitor signal, no Post
X800XL in the lower Slot: 1LED, some beeps, no monitor signal, no post.

With a PCI Vid-Card I hope to get in the bios and flash the new one.

[Bourch]

I've just received a pair of OCZ Plat Rev.2. Tonight, I will replace my 512mb kingston stick with the new kit. I hope they will run without any problem.
After that, I'll test the VX pair on another non DFI Nforce4 mobo and if they are not already toasted (I hope they aren't) I'll sell them and, this way, i'll put a stop to the problem

[boostdfd3s]

Cold boot problems like crazy with my redline now! Was rock stable at 260x10, so i never shut her off....now i needed to reboot and shes got cold boot problems. :stick: Id love to help test now! :toast:

-Zach

[OzSnoal]

Just linking to the cold boot issues thread at DFI-street, because it has come off the 'sticky' there.

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12687

[Mikesta]

Apparently a new 6XX BIOS seems to be helping a select few with Cold boot problems?

I hope it does, so I can go back on the 5v Rail. the vdimm jumper trick is all well and good but even with my 3.3 adjusted to 3.4 and my RAM drawing 3.2, my OCZ 520W Powerstream starts making clicking pitchy noises when running Prime95 Large FFT's.

Have I inadvertently discovered another problem?

[All_Star]

I have some problems too. I can boot with 2 sticks of 512mb (OCZ PC4000 VX), but only after a bios reset. If i apply overclocked settings, the system won't POST!

[All_Star]

Have a look at this:

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=66060

Cheers!

[OzSnoal]

Well, DFI-Street has resorted to telling users with cold boot problems to email DFI.
http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showpost.php?p=138065&postcount=416

The problem with this approach is that people do not know that they should email, I have added the email address to my signature. So that people know they should email DFI directly (in addition to posting on the forum).

So, guys/gals, please drop them a mail:

06-18-2005 According to RGone at DFI-Street:
Cold boot problem? You need to email: DFI Direct (dfits@dfi.com.tw)

[dippyskoodlez]

Well, DFI-Street has resorted to telling users with cold boot problems to email DFI.
http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showpost.php?p=138065&postcount=416

The problem with this approach is that people do not know that they should email, I have added the email address to my signature. So that people know they should email DFI directly (in addition to posting on the forum).

So, guys/gals, please drop them a mail:

I think some of that goes to a_g and rgona anyways. lol :D

[crafty]

imo it's Angry/RGone's job to escalate any unresolved issues to the techies at DFI rather than yelling at their customers to do it.

I get the idea that they are forgetting who is paying their salaries.

Just my opinion as a sufferer.

Bigtoe: Is my problem in the same category as the "cold boot" problem?

Both of my sticks of 4000 vx will boot @ 250 2-2-2-5 and run memtest all day long in slot 1 or 2, but when they are both in (1+3 or 2+4) they will not boot at ANY setting: 3.2v 200mhz 3-3-3-8. I get a repeating long beep and 3 LEDs. I have not been able to boot with 2 sticks using *any* method since the problem started.

Would RMA be a good idea? I am really close to doing it...

Otherwise, I would be glad to test anything for you. The worst that could happen is I'll be w/o my PC for a week or two (which would happen anyways if I RMA'd).

thanks,
crafty

[Mikesta]

Guys has anyone tried the 618 BIOS yet?

Which one do we use for VX...its seems they have changed the theme of -1, -2 and -3...

-1 is Bh-5, UTT

-2 is general

-3 TCCD

[Bourch]

VX Chips are winbond UTT.
-1 has more aggresive default settings so, it seems to be more for BH-5 and UTT, never for value ram.
I recomend you that one.

[UnreaL]

Guys has anyone tried the 618 BIOS yet?

Which one do we use for VX...its seems they have changed the theme of -1, -2 and -3...

-1 is Bh-5, UTT

-2 is general

-3 TCCD

I always though -1 general and -2 UTT....

Why else would everyone test UTT on -2?

[ADM]

I also thought UTT was -2.

[Ubermann]

The difference btw 1, 2, 3 is only the default settings in bios ???

[UnreaL]

The difference btw 1, 2, 3 is only the default settings in bios ???

No! Different RAM tables.

Info:

-1 = BH5
-2 = CH5/UTT
-3 = TCCD

[UnreaL]

Meh my problems sorted, I had a dodgy Tagan UO1, new Tagan UO1 and all problems gone!

[mcnbns]

I cleared the CMOS with the battery out and the PSU unplugged (not just the switch turned off) and put my VX in slot 1. That finally let me boot with 510-2. Not sure if that will help anyone else...

[Homeboy]

I would like to test a new version of BIOS. I just RMA'd my OCZ PC 4000 VX memory. I will have the new sticks any day. DFI told me to drop my settings to 3.2 Volt. I was going to go with the 618-2 Bios but at this point, I will try whatever. I guess I will get to try my yellow slots too, even though before, I had to use the orange.

I miss my OCZ. I am using some cheap crap from SAM's club. Slow slow slow. My OCZ used to kick butt. I hope it will again soon when this issue is resolved. I still love you DFI and OCZ!!! :banana:

[Tony]

the 623 is the best bios to use as it actually sets a higher vdimm at boot i am told...the early i bios i had off oskar was just no good.

Try the 623 and see how you do

[Homeboy]

Thanks! I will. By the way, with the replacement memory, can I go back to 3.5 Volt or should I stay at 3.2 like DFI suggests? Would the booster help any or this that for mobo's with limited voltage settings. I have read some good stuff on the booster, but I have also seen posts that said the booster did nothing for them on the DFI Lanparty Ultra D nF4.

[Der_KHAN]

i just recieved my new VX4000 back from rma. and the boot issue is gone. but i flashed to 623-2 in the mean time so im not quite sure if its the new mem or new bios.

but one thing i did notice is that the heatspreaders of the new ram get warm at 3.2v while the old sticks hs' were always cold even at 3.5v

so my guess is that the hs' on the old sticks had bad contact and this way the dimms could have died from heat - is this likely?

[jiff]

Well I Have ruled out the 5volt causing cold boot on my sticks.

Sticks never bios flashed with
Never went over 3.5 volts
Only ever used jumper trick

I had a stick "die" on me, well I thought it had I tryed everthing I could to get it to boot but alas it didnt work. I raised an RMA, then read someone had the same problem then reflashed from 510-2 to 618-2, quess what it came back to life.

A couple of weeks later I booted and nothing 3 LED beep. I maanged to boot with a single stick so I reflashed again (with 618-2) This time after clearing CMOS all I got was a hanging @ boot screen. I tryed for days, after ringing my supplier he told me to return the board.

Guess what happened when he got the board......it worked first time
:confused:
On recieving the board back sure enough both sticks worked...well worked for the some total of three cold boots. i then managed to boot with a single stick, 2 sticks would give 3 leds beebs.
I then reflashed AGAIN this time to 615 and all is well for now.
Im starting to think that this maybe is hardware issue that will NOT be fixed with Bios review.

[CometMan]

so is the cold boot fixed or not, should only use the 3.2v max when i receive new dfi mobo and ocz vx sticks?

[timpanogos]

cometman, I'd suggest you go to the ocz support site, check out there stickies on this issue and go from there.

[Der_KHAN]

i just recieved my new VX4000 back from rma. and the boot issue is gone. but i flashed to 623-2 in the mean time so im not quite sure if its the new mem or new bios.ok, ive tried 331-2 and 510-2 now. and theres no boot issue whatsoever.

so i can say for sure that my old ram died.
the strange thing about it is that the "dead" sticks ran fine in an old kt266A board but refused to work with all 3 DFI NF4 boards that ive tried.

but the dfi boards are fine. they work great with all other mem and, as i said, also my new vx.

[Mikesta]

I downloaded the 6/23 bios almost as soon as it was available.

Cold boot was gone!

But now it is back! I did go back to the 4v rail (3.3 VDIMM).

Now I am back on the 3.3v Rail Ram using 3.2.

Question to people out there....if you own VX and had this dreaded cold boot, and you have abandoned the DFI, do you guys have any hint of cold boot?

I'm wondering if the board does damage the RAM in some way. The thing is my RAM wasn't even warm to touch like it has been in the past (never really hot though)

I'm getting quite sick of these flaky boards. This is my 2nd attempt at writing this post (BSOD of network-- nVidia GigaLAN whilst using eMule)

DFI :slapass: This board is an excellent performer but its flakiness is driving myself and others mad!

Desperately waiting for the Sapphire Grouper boards.

[Charloz24]

Well here's my story:

Last night I decided to remove IHS on my 3000+ Winchester. When I put it back in the DFI NF4 and boot it up.....nothing! Well I was thinking that I damage the CPU but look out the d-led and it was staying on 3 led! ....Ummmm that means that CPU was working...

So it remove 1 stick of my TCCD (OCZ Pc3200 rev2) and then it boot until all leds are "off" and then shut down!

Did a clear CMOS and remove the battery..... and now I'm typing with this computer but at stock setting and with just 1 stick.....

Damn strange! Never had a cold boot issue before....and now what I don't get it it's people with UTT, BH ram that are having cold boot issue...not TCCD like me!

Well will try a new BIOS...

[Juggernaut]

I had constant cold boot issues untill now. Every time i shut down my comp (just shut down,not remove ac plug), it wouldn't boot up without shuffling memories back and forth(have 5 sticks of V-data Utt), resetting cmos and sometimes even that didn't help and only way i got it to boot was putting my worst generic memory in place and that way getting to boot it to bios, save and change memory back to Utt.

I have tried bios versions 3.10, 3.31 1-3, 5.10 1-3, 6.18 1-3, and now 7.02-2, all from http://www.dfi-bios.tk/. After 5.10 i have used yellow slots (although tested oranges too) and before 5.10 i used orange slots.

Finally i have no cold boot problem :woot: . Can't recommend 7.02 versions to anyone, since they are Alpha and you might get some entirely new prolems with 'em, but it solved my prob and i even gained 7 Mhz in Fsb speed :banana: .

[Lifthanger]

small thread ressurection.
I have these warm boot problems, just like Juggernaut described them.
Unfortunately I haven't got a revision e CPU and can't try this bios.
Was this issue solved in the meantime?

I'm using all these workarounds for a long time now. I would be glad to have a final fix for these issues.

Thanks.