OFFICIAL ABIT AN8 Series bugs tips and tweaks thread

[chew*]

Ok first off there is no diff between the fatality an8 3rd eye and vanilla an8 motherboard.



*Reviews*
pc perspective
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=120&type=expert

doomed pc
http://www.doomedpc.com/drupal-4.5.2...efab6e21aeb41c

the tech report
http://techreport.com/onearticle.x/8108

Xbit labs
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mai...al1ty-an8.html


this is a pic of a vanilla an8 and ive circled the IC that controls memory ddr voltage and and vtt voltage.

voltage ranges
vcore 13m up to 1.85v
vcore 90nm up to 1.75v
ddrv up to 2.8v
vtt up t0 1.4v
nf4v up to 1.8v
htv up to 1.35v
vcore ref up to +.1v
vddr ref up to +.1v


Pros
very stable
voltages do not fluctuate
can reach 385 fsb without voltage increase to nf4 or ht
when pushing OC to high need only to shut power off then reboot and bios will automatically enter safe mode no need to reset cmos.

cons
floppy ide is in a undesireable location.
getting windows to recognize a bootable raid array is a pain.
ddrv only go to 1.8v and vtt does not track(requires a vtt and ddrv mod)

**Multiplier 5x for cpu is buggy i highly reccomend not using**

POST code info
Known good post codes are as follows
"FF" is the normal post code you should get upon entering windows without abit software installed.
"1.7." is a normal postcode you will get with abit guru installed this should be the code you see when windows has completed booting and guru clock yellow icon has flashed on.
"2.2." is a normal post code in windows with abit eq software running.
"5.6." is a normal post code in windows with abit OC guru software running.

***TIP for those using 256mb X 2 and random prime crashes***
Try disabling bank interleave

***TIP for running high FSB***
DO NOT cold boot at 350 or higher fsb. In order to attain a high fsb first boot at 300 then work your way up from there. DO NOT power off pc only restart it. POWERING OFF pc will result in activating abits safe mode and a failed overclock attempt.

***TIP for setting up raid***
Win 2k must have a integrated sp4 install disk or it will not recognize raid drivers.
Win XP must have a integrated sp2 install disk or it will not recognize drivers.

For both OS's If followed all raid setup instructions and windows setup still does not recognize raid array do these steps in this order.
1. do a low level format on all drives to be used in array.
2. enable raid in bios exit and save
3. create a raid array and make sure you set the array to bootable
4. go back into bios and make sure the raid array is recognized and is your primary bootable hard drive
5. start windows setup hit f6
If you need any help with raid after this explanation than you shouldnt be setting up raid.

***OTES FAN TIP***
Some people have stated that the OTES fans dont come on or barely run. Go into bios and guru clock section. At top of screen you will see fan EQ once in the guru clock menu. In order to run the fans constantly put all fan controls to disabled and they will run full speed. You can also configure temps so they come on sooner or run at a specified rpm.

current recent bios is 12

bios 11 release( mutipliers not working)
bios 12 fixes(update nvraid/ update nvmm/multipliers fixed)
bios 13 is the current bios i use and seems to be the most stable.
bios 14 most of the users here are using this bios
bios 15 **I highly suggest not using. reports of corrupted drives and bsod are flooding the forums with this bios.**

*EDIT*NF4 chip runs very hot. You could definitely benefit from watercooling this chip.

*EDIT* XP 120 and XP 90 fit this motherboard however you lose the ram cooler if mounting xp 120 over ram slots.

*EDIT* Max htt reached to date was 385 htt stable with default voltages.

*EDIT* There is a ongoing thread in abit support forum on XS that we could use some support on for pressuring abit into releasing a bios with higher vddr and vtt. Your post/support is appreciated.
Link http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...213#post761213

*EDIT when installing the an8 youll note that right between northbridge and ddr dimms and at the lowest IDE connector there is no metal surrounding for mounting a screw. Most of us AN8 users have installed a post and put a piece of electrical tape over the post so that the mobo does not lack support in these areas. We did not install a screw.

*EDIT Apparently some people are experiencing issues with a usb mouse or keyboard installed. I would suggest using a usb to ps2 adapter if your having issues. I am currently using a usb trackball mouse by logitech with no issues though.

*EDIT Apparently the AN8 when using maxtor 250gb drives will fail to post and give code 75. Am not sure atm if this is a issues with only maxtor 250gb drives or just any drive over 200gb. User who reported this issue had no problems using 4x 200 gb maxtors.

I will continue to update this thread as necessary. If theres anything i missed feel free to add to it or PM me and i will add to it.

[hurtz777]

I would like to know if anyone knows of a way to mod the vanilla AN8 with NF4 chipset to NF4 Ultra chipset which enables SATAII and NVArmour as well as NV Tine functionality? I attempted the mod from examing the different bridges on the NF4, NF4 Ultra, and NF4 SLI chipsets by closing two bridges on the top of the NF4 chip and it was unsuccessful. I am wondering if this is even possible to do. The AN8 does have a Revision A3 chip just like the Ultra and SLI and the board layout is identical between the vanilla AN8 and Fatality AN8. If you own the Fatality AN8 will you please post a pic of the Mainboard tab in CPU-Z so I can compare to the vanilla AN8 chips ID? I am attaching a pic of my vanilla AN8's nf4 chipset ID below. I would love to be able to mod my vanilla AN8 into an Ultra. Wouldn't you??? The vanilla AN8 has the exact same BIOS and board layout as the Fatality AN8 so a bridge mod or possibly even bios mod may be possible. TicTac are you game?

[chew*]

where yours says nForce4 LPC mine says ID50. that is only difference using cpu-z

[hurtz777]

So it looks like the NF4 does indeed have a different southbridge built in chip then the NF4 Ultra and a bridge closing most likely will not override the hardware difference between the NF4 and NF4 Ultra and SLI.

[chew*]

So it looks like the NF4 does indeed have a different southbridge built in chip then the NF4 Ultra and a bridge closing most likely will not override the hardware difference between the NF4 and NF4 Ultra and SLI.

Hurtz take a pic in high res of your nf4 chip for me. I have to remove this board from this case this weekend to test something i will pull off the nf4 cooler and see what the differences are in the bridges.

[hurtz777]

I already have the board set in case and all cables tied up so I can't take a hires pic of the nf4 chip but when I tried the mod the nf4 chip on my vanilla AN8 looks just like the NF4 4X and NF4 pics I posted at the following thread:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...an8#post758081

Do you have your nf4 ultra board out to compare the bridges?

[aussie7]

chew*

Thanks for making an informative thread about the AN8 series motherboards it's very helpfull

I found in bios guru clock section > fan EQ that all the fans speeds are controled by voltage and by default are set to around 8.00v for high and low speeds I think you have to set them to 12v to get full speed

I only got this AN8 vanilla yesterday and I'm still tinkering

I will post back when I have another play with the fan voltages tomorrow

[tictac]

Official Bios Features
*********************
1) ABIT Version 11
NVMM : 4.73
NVRAID : 4.78
NVLAN : 202.467

2) ABIT Version 12Beta1 & 12
NVMM : 4.73
NVRAID : 4.81
NVLAN : 202.467

Unofficial Bios / Modded
***********************
1) Version 12Guru R1
NVMM : 4.85
NVRAID : 4.81
NVLAN : 202.467

[chew*]

chew*

Thanks for making an informative thread about the AN8 series motherboards it's very helpfull

I found in bios guru clock section > fan EQ that all the fans speeds are controled by voltage and by default are set to around 8.00v for high and low speeds I think you have to set them to 12v to get full speed

I only got this AN8 vanilla yesterday and I'm still tinkering

I will post back when I have another play with the fan voltages tomorrow

just setting all fan control settings to disabled will full throttle all fans

[hurtz777]

Hey tictac do you have a thermal probe to monitor the temps on the AN* for the CPU? It seems like the AN8 tend to show the CPU temp at least 10-15C higher then it should be. I just don't have a temp probe to prove it but others have shown that to be the case. Can you mod the bios to make the CPU temps more accurate if they are indeed off? The Abit EQ that comes with the motherboard does read the temps correctly from the bios because I tried mbm5 and hmonitor and they all read the exact same as Abit EQ. Abit EQ did jump around 5-8C while the others were more steady.

[chew*]

Hurtz my nf4 ultra chip has bridges identical to the ones in the pic you linked.
I found info on making it an ultra though the two upper bridges are for sli the lower bridge is for Ultra and sata II support.

[Runner]

Not sure what other boards are like this, but my AN8 is slightly longer on the back end than my other motherboards. Its so long in fact it would have grounded out some of the back panel solder points on my motherboard tray had I not noticed it and put electrical tape over the tray. Probably only affects Thermaltake case trays they have the lip folded up towards the motherboard.

[aussie7]

Anyone else having trouble cold booting at or above 300HTT

I just woke up and turned on the system to be greeted by a message saying something about my settings being unseable

HTT325 x 8 samething happened at HTT300 x 9 a few days ago, was easy fixed just went into bios set HTT back to 325 and rebooted. All other settings were still where I had set them previously

I haven't tried any other HTT speeds and have only turned my system off and switched the power off twice since setting HTT to 300 and 325

[chew*]

Anyone else having trouble cold booting at or above 300HTT

I just woke up and turned on the system to be greeted by a message saying something about my settings being unseable

HTT325 x 8 samething happened at HTT300 x 9 a few days ago, was easy fixed just went into bios set HTT back to 325 and rebooted. All other settings were still where I had set them previously

I haven't tried any other HTT speeds and have only turned my system off and switched the power off twice since setting HTT to 300 and 325

Yah its an issue booting up over 300fsb and combined with powering down. I can restart all day long but if i power down manually with button i lose my settings however being that my pc runs 24/7 this is not a real issue for me. I believe this is protection abit added in case some less experienced users tried to OC. Its abits way of keeping the less experienced from killing the motherboard. I have my pc setup to turn on by anykey on keyboard also and when powering off through windows i have no issues when booting up.

[Tibu]

Wow, will Abit EVER get a VTT to track? SHeesh it's getting to a point thats annoying.

[clockedOut]

Hey tictac do you have a thermal probe to monitor the temps on the AN* for the CPU? It seems like the AN8 tend to show the CPU temp at least 10-15C higher then it should be. I just don't have a temp probe to prove it but others have shown that to be the case. Can you mod the bios to make the CPU temps more accurate if they are indeed off? The Abit EQ that comes with the motherboard does read the temps correctly from the bios because I tried mbm5 and hmonitor and they all read the exact same as Abit EQ. Abit EQ did jump around 5-8C while the others were more steady.

The AN8 temps are way off.... with 1.7 vcore, full load at 300x9, ABIT EQ says the CPU temp is 80 - 85c The temp probe I have attached to the CPU never gets over 40c at same settings.

[tictac]

There is newer NV lan & NV mm bios? do you guys need a mod?

[thebluesgnr]

Wow, will Abit EVER get a VTT to track? SHeesh it's getting to a point thats annoying.

Is the VTT option not working for this board? It's def there.

[clockedOut]

VTT works great on this board and is very stable. You just have to set it yourself in the bios.... which means if you do a vmod you need to do a VTT mod also and ABIT says a VTT mod would kill the board. I guess?

[thebluesgnr]

Ok first off there is no diff between the fatality an8 3rd eye and vanilla an8 motherboard.

Except for the chipset.

Another review:
http://www.insanetek.com/index.php?p...tfatal1tyan8_1

[chew*]

Ya we need something tictac temps are annoying. Any luck on voltage options in bios I know for a fact 1.55 vtt is safe so 3.2v wouldnt be bad not great but at least some people with ocz could run there memory at the required volts.........Apparently someone on abit forums is reporting theyre vtt at 1.58v with an unstable 3.3v rail on theyre cheap psu......Maybe there is hope. think ill hook my antec up today with my 20-24 pin adapter and see what vtt reads at with 3.7v on the 3.3 rail.

[sunlorene]

I can't boot to dos by CD
anyone can help?

[airchie]

Have you set the boot priority in BIOS?

What exactly is it you want to do in DOS anyway?

I've just ordered this mobo to replace my MSI one.
Much prefer Abit mobos.

[ProjectGSX]

Good luck on the temp issue. They are screwed up on the AV8 also. Abit has released 2 BIOS updates that claim to fix the problem and neither one has.

[sunlorene]

Official Bios Features
*********************
1) ABIT Version 11
NVMM : 4.73
NVRAID : 4.78
NVLAN : 202.467

2) ABIT Version 12Beta1 & 12
NVMM : 4.73
NVRAID : 4.81
NVLAN : 202.467

Unofficial Bios / Modded
***********************
1) Version 12Guru R1
NVMM : 4.85
NVRAID : 4.81
NVLAN : 202.467

where can i get these bios ?