BIOS flash now dead - E6600 w/ P5B DLX please help :(

[Andypro1]

I flashed the bios (was 0204) to the one released today (0507) and when it was done updating and verifying, it restarted and now there is nothing. No monitor init, nothing. It's dead. Is there any way to restore settings or something?

Related: I never got it to work in 0204, I kept getting an 'Intel CPU uCode error, hit F1 to resume' so basically either my cpu is bad or the board or it's seated wrong or something. This sucks

[sierra_bound]

Kill all power to the board. Leave CMOS jumper in reset position for 30 seconds, and then restart the computer again.

[foch3 -USA-]

Mine said the same thing, hitting F1 took me to the bios though. Yours didn't do that?

[sierra_bound]

In all likelihood he has a bios checksum error which is why the board won't post. Clearing the CMOS should fix that. I clear the CMOS after every flash as a matter of course. Have never had a bad flash.

[Ace-a-Rue]

Sierra, state how you do a flash so we all can learn from you?

[Shintai]

Use the BIOS flash utility inside the bios or bootdisk with afudos. Dont use the flash from inside windows.

Running 502 here and no problem. But 0507? (Never mind found it..now I should upgrade too!)

[Brahmzy]

Do you guys also remove the batt before jumping the pins? Also, do you load defaults BEFORE the flash too or just afterwards?

[syne_24]

Use the BIOS flash utility inside the bios or bootdisk with afudos. Dont use the flash from inside windows.

Running 502 here and no problem. But 0507?

agreed..windows flash is a no no..

I usually burn the rom with the flash tool to a cd and run it off in dos

[sierra_bound]

Sierra, state how you do a flash so we all can learn from you?

Well, there isn't a whole lot to learn. I use the floppy method or Asus Update. When using Asus Update, I always have default settings loaded. After rebooting the system, I hit delete to go to BIOS. Then I turn off power to the board. That includes removing the power cord from the PSU. Some people also remove the battery. But I never do that. I leave the CMOS in the reset position for 10-30 seconds. Then I power up again.

A lot of people don't do a CMOS reset after a flash because they don't want to have to go into the BIOS and reset the time, date, etc. But doing a reset will save you a lot of grief. In fact, when I get a new board I often reset the CMOS before I power up the board for the first time.

The AFUDOS method is also pretty easy. Stick a bootable floppy in the A-drive. Make sure boot priority in the BIOS has the floppy drive first. During boot-up, the system will stop at the command prompt. Remove bootable floppy and stick in another floppy with the AFUDOS executable and the BIOS file. Then type in:

afudos /i(BIOS file name) /pbnc /n

The switches do the following:

b - Program Boot Block
n - Program NVRAM
c - Destroy System CMOS
/n - don't check ROM ID

If you're not sure of the DOS name for the BIOS file, at the command prompt, type in:

dir/w/p

A directory will appear with the proper DOS abbreviation.

Again, I use both methods. People who say flashing in Windows is dangerous are wrong. I've flashed dozens of times in Windows without a single problem. If your system suddenly loses power while flashing in DOS, you're just as screwed as when you're flashing in Windows. Hence the warning that appears on the screen.

[Ace-a-Rue]

WOW!...very nice, Sierra....thanks-a-bunch!

Ace

[Andypro1]

Thanks for the help, sierra. Unfortunately I'm no closer to getting this working.

I tried clearing CMOS for 30 seconds, even tried it with battery removal. I tried taking out one stick of RAM, then the other. Took off all unnecessary connections to the board. Made sure my 12V plug(s) were in, made sure the PCIe power was in. I reseated the CPU, reseated the RAM, tried each DVI output on my card, tried to put the P5B disc in the DVD drive to see if it would magically load the crash-free bios thing, but to no avail.

Still no video initialization, no POST, and the case 'on' light goes on for about 2 or 3 seconds after power on and then turns off. Before with the original BIOS, it would come on and stay on. I flashed it from the EZFlash 2 in the BIOS via a USB drive. It seemed to flash it just fine, and then it verified it, then said it would reboot. Then it did and that was the end of everything.

Do I need to RMA my motherboard? Or is there anything at all I didn't think of yet? Thanks again for helping.

[Shintai]

RMA it, I had to RMA my first P5B Deluxe. It had some wierd issues and after a BIOS update it was dead too. It was just a monday model. My second board works 100%.

[Andypro1]

RMA it, I had to RMA my first P5B Deluxe. It had some wierd issues and after a BIOS update it was dead too. It was just a monday model. My second board works 100%.

Thanks Shintai. I will probably do that.

[Andypro1]

Just wanted to let you guys know (those who were curious) as to what the problem was.

Apparently OCZ Gold DDR2-800 RAM has had all sorts of problems with many ASUS motherboards, and the P5B / P5B Deluxe is no exception. I found many accounts on several forums detailing the exact same problem I had - comp would not post with this ram, and if it did, it would lock up shortly thereafter.

So please don't make the same mistake I did: check the forums and ASUS' site for compatible rams for their motherboards. Don't buy it because it's shiny and cheap, hehe!

Now I'm really hoping that a future BIOS update fixes this and will allow me to use these sticks someday, because I had to send in the mail-in rebate before it expired (which was before I could even test my new rig). So now I'm stuck with these sticks for the time being. I have ordered 2x1GB of Corsair XMS 5CAS DDR2-800 to use for now, which should work great with my P5B Deluxe.

[Shintai]

Its all about the booting voltage. P965 is the first to officially support DDR2-800 and it boots it at 1.8V

So if the memory needs 2.0 or 2.1V to work at that speed...

Cheap stick of 1.8V memory can fix it. Boot with that, set BIOS to new memory voltage. Shutdown and change memory. There is plenty of posts about it.

[Andypro1]

Its all about the booting voltage. P965 is the first to officially support DDR2-800 and it boots it at 1.8V

So if the memory needs 2.0 or 2.1V to work at that speed...

Cheap stick of 1.8V memory can fix it. Boot with that, set BIOS to new memory voltage. Shutdown and change memory. There is plenty of posts about it.

That makes sense, but I've heard accounts of people calling in and ASUS confirming that this particular OCZ Gold does not work with the P5B Deluxe. It was rated at 1.9V anyway, as is the new Corsair stuff I ordered.

[Vric]

OCZ Gold DOES have some issue with various board. Don't know why.

I use the Platinum, and beside the memory swap to set 2.1V, it work fine with my P5B.

[Andypro1]

OCZ Gold DOES have some issue with various board. Don't know why.

I use the Platinum, and beside the memory swap to set 2.1V, it work fine with my P5B.

So you guys are saying that the one time I *did* manage to get into the BIOS with my OCZ Gold, I should have upped the mem voltage to 1.9 or 2.0?? Wow, I wish I had known that ;( I will be kinda mad if I still can't get into the BIOS with my Corsair memory. I have no other DDR2 memory at all to try this with.

[Andypro1]

Ok! I managed to get it to boot with one stick of the OCZ Gold in the second channel. I set the mem voltage to 1.90 in the BIOS and I'm POSTing every time!

Next problem: I tried two different CD/DVD drives but I'm still ending up with this error from Windows install CDs (also tried two different CDs):

Line XX of the INF file \i386\txtsetup.sif is invalid
Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit.

Where 'XX' is basically a random line number that is small (from 37 to 100 something). Could this indicate that the RAM is still screwed, or could this be another hardware or software problem? Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Err, I took out my second stick of RAM and it has gotten all the way to NTFS formatting... stand by. Geez this thing is going to give me a heart attack at the sweet young age of 27 ;p