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I had an A7N8X-VM/400 motherboard. Last month it stopped functioning and i gave it to my reseller. The warranty for this product is valid till the August of 2007. After 2 weeks i was notified that my motherboard could not be repaired i would be given a replacement. I was given an A7V8x board(which is so lame!) saying that ASUS stopped the production of my old board. This board sucks and it freezes on Windows Xp all the time. It would be of great help if you guys could suggest me what to do. :-)
Well, personally, I would just sell it on ebay and buy the one you had back OR buy a better one. :) But that's just me.
Did you do a clean install of XP and re-register it?
What make and specification of RAM have you got?
What video card are you using?
raion: well, i'm a student and i still haven't got a job yet. This will require me to do a lot of convincing to do with my parents :-( !
nihil: I've got 512 MB Ram and a GeForce 6200 256 MB card.They worked just fine with my old board. Yup, i did a clean install too. I had done some googling on the "freeze" issue. Its very common with that board. I've come to the conclusion that its not a hardware issue because they get along well on Linux. I also have the latest drivers for my card and motherboard too. Most of the solutions that i've seen, i have tried in vain. My HD strangely got screwed up (as u know) too.Thats why i want to return this "child of misery" back to its mamma...
See if they have a BIOS upgrade available for the board...
Cheers,
cgkanchi
cgkanchi: Do correct me if i'm wrong. If it were a BIOS problem, it wouldn't work on Linux right ?.
I'll be more specific about what happens. The pc just freezes after a random period of time. But some events (like when a van explodesin the game half life 2) always causes it to freeze. It starts with something which sounds like powering on the pc. Then my Cd drive and Dvd drive starts blinking. The keyboard stops responding.
Forgot to add that my 1.9 Ghz Amd Athlon runs only at 1.1 Ghz on this board !
Several points to note:
1. The make and type of RAM matters.............some are incompatible
2. Same goes for video cards and probably sound cards as well. [Also update all drivers for these]
3. Did you re-validate/activate the Windows with Microsoft?
4. Your system is operated by the BIOS and the Operating System (drivers) It is thus quite possible for things to work under Linux and not Windows. Physically there is nothing wrong it is just the information that the BIOS passes to the OS and how the OS interprets it.
5. What model of Athlon processor do you have? I presume that you know about clockspeed and the multiplier?
Basically, if the motherboard is not compatible with your processor, video card or RAM, then it is not a valid replacement under the terms of the warranty.
I've updated the drivers for my video and sound. My windows is also activated. I have an Athlon 2600 processor with operating frequency 2.13 Ghz and i guess the multiplier is 16.0X. The FSB of the new board is just one half of my previous one.
The board is supposed to support 100/200, 133/266, and 166/333.
So a setting of 133 and a multiplier of 16.0 should give you the proper speed? or 166 x 13.0
In the BIOS, do you have those settings as an option?
It sounds as if your setting is 100 x 11.0 which would be right for a Duron (Sempron?) processor. Where I have seen boards that support the Athlon and the economy processor the default setting is usually for the inferior processor and you get what you are describing.
Also if you have a PCI soundcard, have you disabled the onboard AC97 in the BIOS?
There is also the slight possibility that the new board is defective?
O_O , if the processor is running at the wrong speed, you have problems. Also, the reason I had suggested a BIOS upgrade was that Linux tends not to be as demanding on video hardware as Windows, therefore I've seen that display/AGP/PCI-X related freezes sometimes occur more commonly/exclusively on Windows. Of course, if you were playing a demanding game on Linux to test the freezes, the matter would be different. Anyway, right now, it looks like you have a fux0red motherboard :-s
Cheers,
cgkanchi
A very fuxored motherboard indeed. I've been told that if the manufacturer cannot provide a replacement, it is liable return the money back. Thats what you call a "warranty" , right ?.
Probably not.
Most warranties refer to repair, replace with like, or replace with equivalent (current) product.
Now, I happen to know that when the Athlon 2600XP came out, KT333 and KT400 chipsets were not compatible.
Also DDR400 RAM was not officially supported. What have you got?
That board could be almost 4 years old, and have shipped with a much older BIOS, which is why you should check for an update.
However, if they cannot supply you with a board that is compatible with your other components they will ultimately have to refund your money.
I've got DDR-333 and the chipset is KT400 ! ...
The specz of my new board are in this link ->
http://www.ciao.co.uk/ASUS_A7V8X__5346814
My previous one had the following specz
http://www.ciao.co.uk/ASUS_A7N8X_VM__5410581
Do you think ASUS played fair ?
aaah ! ... i forgot to mention, my p/s2 mouse won't respond too ! ... im using my usb mouse now !
Hmmm, I am not sure who is responsible for the choice of replacement, Asus or your retailer.
You must check that you have the latest BIOS, and try to get the processor recognised correctly.
If you cannot do that, then it would seem that the MoBo is defective. But you need to show that you have taken all reasonable steps before you can expect anyone to do anything about it.
I would bet that if you just send the MoBo back it will test (electronically) as OK?
<QUOTE>
The board is supposed to support 100/200, 133/266, and 166/333.
So a setting of 133 and a multiplier of 16.0 should give you the proper speed? or 166 x 13.0
In the BIOS, do you have those settings as an option?
It sounds as if your setting is 100 x 11.0 which would be right for a Duron (Sempron?) processor. Where I have seen boards that support the Athlon and the economy processor the default setting is usually for the inferior processor and you get what you are describing.
Also if you have a PCI soundcard, have you disabled the onboard AC97 in the BIOS?
There is also the slight possibility that the new board is defective?
<\QUOTE>
Sorry nihil, i had somehow missed that post. My BIOS shows that the current FSB is 100 Mhz. Nothing about the multipier though. And these settings cannot be changed within the BIOS.I don't have a PCI sound board.
I'm going to address this problem to ASUS soon. I hope i get my old board back :-) !
Well, that sounds as if it thinks that you have a Duron. You cannot alter the FSB (clockspeed) for a Duron, it runs at 100Mhz.
Please check the Motherboard Manual very carefully, it just might be that you have to alter jumper settings to get 133 and 166? I have certainly seen that with some MoBos, and the default was 100Mhz
;)
nihil: i'd really appreciate if you'd provide me a link regarding the athlon 2600xp & kt400 compatibility issue if you are aware of any. I did some googling but the results were irrelevant.
Hey, I will find you some stuff but it may take a day or so..............and please remember this is sort of 2002/3 era stuff.
AMD pulled a fast one on Intel by suddenly producing the Athlon XP2400+ and the 2600+ ............... I guess the MoBo chipset people were not quite ready. It should be sorted, if you have a current BIOS.
Also, you must check the jumper settings as I am sure that is what your basic problem is.
;)
Thanks a lot. The jumper settings may be able to fix the cpu issue. But there's still the freeze problem as well as the P/S2 mouse problem too! :-( . I'll be contacting ASUS the next day regarding this.
Hey PacketThirst, you need to use the jumpers to get the CPU issue fixed.
You need to update the BIOS.
You must run the latest Windows patches................
Otherwise any tech support person will just tell you to p!$$ off until you have.
Calling Asus would be a bad move until you have exhausted all the possibilities at your end first.
Okay nihil ... there's a lot to do now then. Got to retrieve data from my fusked HD then get my Mobo fixed. Thanks for the support
Hi PacketThirst, you are welcome my friend. I have dealt with warranty claims quite a few times over the years;)
It is easier for me as it has been on behalf of customers or friends, so I have had no personal involvement with using the kit.
I know the way these guys react, which is how I have been trying to guide you. Everything must be up to date so they can't blame it (trust me, they will if they can). Also, the system must be set up to support that to which you are trying to connect.
OK, I have messed quite a bit with overclocking and underclocking in the past, but only on systems where the BIOS knew the true nature of the processor. In your case, it thinks you have a Duron, which in my opinion, means that you must have a very unstable system.
Regarding your related hard drive problem, I am afraid that the problem that killed your old motherboard may have inflicted collateral damage on the hard drive? so what might that have been?
I think that it would be wise to test your RAM and think about your PSU...................a dodgy power supply unit is a favourite for killing other components in a PC;)