The Maximus Formula Thread - Help/OCing/Guide/Rampage conversion

[arfett]

Can anyone that upgraded to 1403 still access Intel MSM during boot? I upgraded (to see if the new intel msm would increase my SSD raid 0 speed, which it did) but for me the boot process no longer pauses there at all to give you time to do the ctrl + i. I've tried doing ctrl + i right after the bios does the usb init but that didn't work either.

I upgraded from 0907 to 1403 last night and my RAID-0 still works and I can access the IMSM just fine. I have never done a Rampage conversion though. A lot of was set to retarded values throughout the BIOS even though I flashed with /pbnc /n which is supposed to clear out CMOS settings so I set it to load the default values then saved and rebooted. Then I changed my BIOS settings again.

[steve30x]

Yup. I removed everything but the CPU , tried different ram , Cleared the Cmos , took the CMOS battery out for a few hours and crossed the cmos pins but it still does the same. I am pretty sure its the CPU is fried though because the Radiator was seriously clogged up and a few months before the system wouldnt POST I saw the CPU overheating.

Just before the motherboard was failing to post I was moving a few GB of files from one HDD to another and noticed it was going extremely slowly (it was usualy fast) so I left it do its thing for two hours. When I came back the monitor went to standby and wouldnt come on again when I moved the mouse so I left it for another while thinking the HDD is making it slow because the HDD light was on still. It didnt come back so I pressed reset on the case but still no joy.

I then reset the bios and no joy , I disconnected everything from the motherboard and no joy , I then took the Battery out and crossed the reset CMOS pins and left it overnight but still no go and I then tried two other types of ram I have (low voltage) to see if the helped but still nothing. So I watched the LCD to see what it does and just before the POST screen (INIT CPU I think) it shows CMOS error.

Could somebody post what process the LCD goes through before the POST screen please just so I can confirm its the CPU or maybe the motherboard. I am hoping the motherboard is ok because I am hoping to get an Intel Q9650 for this motherboard and leave it at 3ghz.

Also I am using all other hardware (Ram , HDD's , PSU and GPU etc) that I was using with the Maximus in this Crosshair motherboard with no problem , but I am using air cooling now. So its none of the attached hardware was the problem.

[ColdMist]

When I set the BIOS to RAID (on 1403), I saw the Ctrl-i prompt for like 0.5 seconds. I saw it, but it went by really quick.

[ColdMist]

I just picked up an Intel X25-M 80GB for Win7 a few weeks ago. If I have the BIOS set to AHCI, it hangs when detecting the drive. If I have it in IDE mode, then it detects it just fine and goes on.

On the ASUS forums, someone mentions it's related to the older Intel matrix drivers built into the BIOS, and a newer one (newer than the one in the 1403 BIOS, v8.6xxx or something like that) will fix it.

Anybody else seen this issue before?

Any suggestions on this? I'd really like to get AHCI working again so I can hot-plug my SATA backup drive!

BIOS: started at 120x and I just flashed to 1403 to see if that helped, but no change.
CPU E8600

Any help with this one? Please?

[arfett]

Hey guys...

I've run into a rather serious problem since going to the 1403 BIOS. I can not change my FSB. After every boot my FSB is 266mhz. It doesn't matter if I set everything to auto or try to use the built in overclocking settings it is always default after I save and exit. Anyone else having this problem or know what it could be?

EDIT - I seem to have fixed it. I flashed again with the built-in flashing utility and it still wasn't working and then I flashed using "AFU236U.exe /i1403.ROM /pbnc /n" like I did the first time and now I can overclock again and I can still access the IMSM.

My IMSM version shows up as 8.7.0.1007 while booting. Is that what it's supposed to show with the 1403 BIOS?

[ShawnTRD]

I see there hasn't been any updates to the RF BIOS in some time. But that there are newer MF BIOS. Are the RF still the best BIOS for the MF? Also whats the best way to clean the CMOS? I'm seeing some issues and I've heard people say jump the CMOS pins and pull the battery for a couple hours. Not sure that MF has CMOS pins because of the 2 buttons.

[Larvitar]

I see there hasn't been any updates to the RF BIOS in some time. But that there are newer MF BIOS. Are the RF still the best BIOS for the MF? Also whats the best way to clean the CMOS? I'm seeing some issues and I've heard people say jump the CMOS pins and pull the battery for a couple hours. Not sure that MF has CMOS pins because of the 2 buttons.

You do not need to use only the BIOS that are available at the beginning of this topic. You can also use the official BIOS for the Asus Rampage Formula available on her website. I'm using the 0902 version of Rampage P5E without problems. This version already has the settings of CPU and NB skew, which did not exist in the latest version available here at XS.

Proof:


If you want to downgrade the BIOS Maximus Formula, the procedure is the same, using the AFUDOS ES. I did it here, to use the P5E BIOS 1200.

Good luck on your OC!

[Talonman]

Wow... MF is up to BIOS 1403 put out 9/22/2009?

ftp://ftp.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socke...ximus_Formula/

Any final verdict on that?

I can't believe Grnfinger is gone...

Such a loss.

[Expat GriZ]

I can't believe Grnfinger is gone...

Such a loss.

+1 to that...Don't know what happened but his informative posts and helpfullness was greatly appreciated as this was my first board that I tried to OC and ended up getting me hooked.

So GF, if you read this, HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and your family & all the posts, suggestions & settings help will not be forgotten.

[Hockster]

Banned? WTF? This place really is skidding downhill fast.

[OVERK|LL]

Banned? WTF? This place really is skidding downhill fast.

Indeed. He helped me out A LOT when I first joined.

[MaxMax77]

Hi, i have a severe problem: i would like to backflash to my original P5e deluxe bios (now i have a rampage formula bios crossflashed), but every software afudos229es, afudos236es, and also asus update v6 and v7 do not want to flash back "ERROR: Rom file boot block is not valid". any ideas?
thanks in advance

[kup]

Are you using the /pbnc and /n switches?

[MaxMax77]

yes, i did, when i do not use /pbnc /n switch i get an different error: ROM file ROMID is not compatible with existing BIOS ROMID.
and when i use like explained here in this thread (afudos /i<biosfile.rom> /pbnc /n) i get ERROR: Rom file boot block is not valid

[NBK]

Hi all,

What is the IMSM [Intel Matrix Storage Manager] Option ROM in Maximus Formula BIOS 1403?

Thanks
NBK

[clip]

Any help with this one? Please?

I noticed this on a Vista\Win 7 dual boot, win 7 no workie with AHCI

must be just some older bioses :/

to be clear, this was a Dell machine not Rampage

[Larvitar]

Hi all,

What is the IMSM [Intel Matrix Storage Manager] Option ROM in Maximus Formula BIOS 1403?

Thanks
NBK

I guess that activates the full support Matrix Storage Manager. Strange ... Here Rampage 0902 BIOS has nothing similar.

[The Coolest]

Has anybody had trouble running ATi cards on this boards?
I've been running 8800 ultra fine for a couple of years, but just bought a HD5450 and I get weird issues.
The PC hangs or completely shuts down while booting up, or a few minutes after that.
It's not an OS/Driver issue, since it happens in Windows Setup and also while running memtest.
I've checked out PSU, RAM issues, BIOS settings - tried to update to 1403 and clear CMOS several times, tried the second PCI-E slot.
Tried running without any drives connected (except a DVD to boot).
The same issue occurs when I install an old x800xl. Both ATi cards run great in my second PC (in sig).
Anybody has any tips?

[ShawnTRD]

Format and start from scratch.

Has anybody had trouble running ATi cards on this boards?
I've been running 8800 ultra fine for a couple of years, but just bought a HD5450 and I get weird issues.
The PC hangs or completely shuts down while booting up, or a few minutes after that.
It's not an OS/Driver issue, since it happens in Windows Setup and also while running memtest.
I've checked out PSU, RAM issues, BIOS settings - tried to update to 1403 and clear CMOS several times, tried the second PCI-E slot.
Tried running without any drives connected (except a DVD to boot).
The same issue occurs when I install an old x800xl. Both ATi cards run great in my second PC (in sig).
Anybody has any tips?

[kwalker]

I would stick the 8800 ultra back in and uninstall the drivers then use a driver cleaner to remove all traces of the previous drivers then shut down and install the ati card.
you can use driver sweeper found here
http://downloads.guru3d.com/Driver-S....html#download

[The Coolest]

As I said, the shutdowns also occur when running memtest, or booting from a liveCD. This is not a software issue.

[ShawnTRD]

PSU: Enermax Liberty 500W

I think it's time to upgrade.

[kwalker]

As I said, the shutdowns also occur when running memtest, or booting from a liveCD. This is not a software issue.

I scanned your post and read right past that but aside from memtest you still have a boot sector that windows writes to and that would still be driver related issue unless the bios wont support the card and the 8800 works fine.
if memtest reboots the computer then hardware is at fault
If the 8800 still works in the maximus I'd say ditch the hd5450 because aside from directX11 the 8800 ultra oc kills the 5450 (isn't that a 64 bit card?)

[The Coolest]

Well, I disconnected all hard drives and it still happens.
I did find a bad memory stick, but I have 8 gigs, with 4GB of the good ram it still happened. I also tested it with the Corsair set from the second system with the same results.
The problem is strange and hard to describe in writing, but what happens in most cases is that the machine will freeze, then it completely shuts down - powers off. Then it powers back on, without POST and repeats the cycle until I cut power to the PSU.
To the PSU comment, I tried a PSU from the other system (which powers it completely fine), with the HD5450 of course, and had the exact same problem.
The 8800 Ultra does work fine, but I don't play games anymore and the 8800 is a power guzzler and doesn't support DXVA. I decided to get a new low power card that could play any media content like blue-ray and bitstream all of the new audio formats.
The weird thing is that the same problem exists with an old card, the x800xl. My assumption right now is board problem, but I hear of this PCI-E 2.0 bug that some of the ASUS boards have, I wonder if this could be the issue here or I may just need to RMA this board...

[kwalker]

what bios are you using.
the pci express bug would effect any card you put in the slot or only the second slot would boot.
the only thing I remember funky about this board is the hd 4870 crossfire wouldnt work and a bios revision fixed that.