DFI NF4 Ultra/SLi-D BUGS and Fixes Thread

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EDIT:
hey, since the dfi nf4 seems to be THE overclockers choice atm there are also many reports about problems with this series of mainboard. this thread is going to be the place to check for updates and fixes and tweaks, and also the place to post if you have problems wit your board.
-saaya

here are some tips and tricks:


if your board doesnt boot:
use the safe mode jumper
reset cmos
use memory slots 2 and 4 (orange)
use only one memory slot (2 - orange)
quickly switch the psu power button from on to off several times and try to power it on then
make sure your board is not shorted against the back of the case
try to pin down the problem by using other parts if possible
try other memory
set 3.3v rail feed to vdimm (5v doesnt work with 20 pin psus)


if your board is unstable:
try the latest bios
make sure you didnt set any of the various memory timings too tight (use setup defaults in case your not sure or dont know what the spd timings were)
if your using the 5v rail feed for vdimm increase vdimm, this will stabilize the vdimm output
make sure the board isnt shorted against the back of the case
make sure all your other hardware is working alright
check if you have the same problems at stock settings, set all bios settings to default
try to pin down the problem by using other parts if possible


tips:

the bios will reset much faster when you set the jumper to "reset cmos" and then power your psu off until the leds on the board fade, then power it on until they power on again, repeat this 4 or 5 times and the cmos is usually reset. this way it takes just a couple of seconds, otherwise a cmos reset took me up to 15mins sometimes.

when mounting an xp120 you wont be able to use the first memory slot.
if you have your board lying flat or you have a case that mounts the board upside down you can however mount the heatsink the other way around and you will be able to use the first memory slot. this wont work very well with the case standing if its mounted the niormal way around as the heatpipes cant really work. corsair xl pro memory with led displays will most likely not fit though, even with the xp120 mounted upside down.

it seems theres a weird bug when it comes to coing the fsb with clockgen, 250mhz was unstable for me when i booted with an fsb of 240 or less... but once i booted with 250mhz it was stable and i could reach 280 and higher using clockgen.

if you get BSODs or cant boot to windows or have other problems with your ide drives try switching them from master to slave or vice versa and try them on different ide slots, this helped me to get some drives working correctly that were buggy before or caused a bsod for some reason.

check out firedragons dfi nf4 bios guide!

DFI NF4 Vcore Table

trick to get more stable vdimm and get vdimm above 3.2v with a 20pin psu

trick to use the Zippy and 850SSI on DFI nF4



i will go through this thread and look for more tweaks and tricks and bugfixes, if you know one or some please post them here or pm them to me




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OK, guys. To help the DFI and other members, lets post any bugs or fixes in here. I noticed one already. I tried to go into the bios with TCCD OCZ el4200 and I would get a blinking cursor in the top left side of the screen and it would just hang. Then I rebooted. same thing. I reset the cmos 5 times or so and I was actually in the bios at one point, but then the bios would lock up and I would have to cold boot. So I swapped my VX in and it would work fine and I was able to install winxp. Now, I need to find a way to get this tccd to work. I went on DFI-street and Angrygames said his NF4 DFI doesn't work. LOL! He said to plug the 4 pin molex above the chipset in, I already did that and it didn't matter if it was plugged in or disconnected. I found a beta bios on the DFI beta site dated from FEB. 1, 2005. I currently have the shipping bios with 1/25/2005 date. THis is what the new bios is suppose to fix:

1. LDT default set at 5x.
2. Fixed IR connection failure.
3. Fixed Boot failure when installing certain CL2 memory modules.

Get it here:
http://www.dfi.com.tw/Upload/BIOS/NF4LD201.zip

***please keep this thread clean and just post problems and fixes. ***

Just chat with oskar couple minutes ago,
here you guys gotta be aware of.

1. whenever you wanna change hardware, you must completely shut down your psu, certainly the standby switch too.
wait for the two orange leds completely off 10 seconds BEFORE you add/remove hardware ; or you might damage your hardware or motherboard.

2.after you flash bios if you are thinking use 5v rail for vdimm extension, you need to set vcore for non-auto setting and save bios then come back into bios, then you can see 4v option. It's probably the 1.25 and 2.01 bios got this circuit protection.


Looks like easy concept, but it's really easy to forget.
any problem we can discuss here.!
Hope it helps.


OPB