Clint,
It sounds like you might have a power problem. Very carefully
check all of the electrolytic capacitors on the mother board near the
memory slots and voltage regulators for signs of leakage or swelling,
because this sounds a lot like a ripple/dirty DC power problem. Pay
special attention to the area around & under each capacitor as well as the
tops, what you are looking for is a (normally dark brown or black) residue
(not old flux - that "should" have been removed prior the board being
shipped) or any sign that the capacitor has been out gassing. If it has
then it will have to be replaced to bring the amount of capacitance
(filtering) back up. These kinds of problems are easily avoidable IF the
board is properly designed in the first place but it's not "cost-effective"
to do that any more.
One final note, it is possible for an electrolytic capacitor to
fail without showing any external visual changes, in this case the only way
to isolate the problem is to pull the suspected capacitors and test them on
the bench (with multi-layer boards I just isolate it down as far as I can
using a scope/analyzer and then replace the capacitors starting using the
"best guess" algorithm (a mix of engineering, visual inspection, and luck)
until it works. (It sounds strange but it tends to be much faster &
cheaper then trying to either isolate the bad component(s) with reverse
engineering & test equipment.) But if the board is still under warranty
this is probably not an option ... yet.
Hope this helps,
Elmer
At 10:55 24-11-03, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>Hi all. I'm going to try and post this here since no one has
>been able to answer it in various technical mobo forums. I
>realize it's a pretty technical problem, but there are a few
>techie members here that may be able to help.
>
>I've been wondering for over a month now, why with the Promise
>controller enabled on my Asus P4C800-E Deluxe (Rev 1.02) I get
>thousands of errors on Memtest86 AND the Microsoft RAM
>diagnostics utility? I've changed video cards (nVidia & ATI),
>power supplies (top rated Fortron-Source FSP400-60PFN & cheap
>Leadman 400 watt), **MEMORY, everything and it still happens.
>NO PCI cards are installed. It DOES NOT matter if anything is
>even connected to the Promise controllers! It just has to be
>enabled in the BIOS and the errors are incredible. When I
>disable the Promise controller, no errors! Legacy USB is
>DISABLED in the BIOS. Overclock settings and memory settings
>have no effect on the errors. Whether FSB is 200mhz or 255mhz,
>I get the same results. Whether Turbo and PAT are on or off, I
>get the same results. Regardless of voltages, same results.
>Regardless of ANY settings, the results are the same; Promise
>on, thousands of errors. Promise off, no Memtest or MS RAM
>diag's errors. The mobo is not in a case. **Memory tried is
>Geil PC4000 Ultra Platinum, and some generic PC2700. ONE SLOT
>OR TWO SLOTS used, same thing, even switching slots with one
>stick. I CAN run the memory tests on my P4B533 flawlessly
>using both types of memory. So, there is nothing wrong with
>the memory, and even it was it would not explain why only
>errors with the Promise enabled. CPU is a retail 2.4C (that's
>a P4 2.4ghz with 800mhz quad-pumped bus). The HD on the
>Promise controller can be accessed and used fine.
>
>Since I have two chips which look like VR's (voltage regulators
>or FET's) marked "9115" on this mobo that are about to melt,
>I've been trying to get an RMA for SEVEN WEEKS now, and after
>that long and over 60 emails and form fill-outs the Asus site,
>NO REPLIES. They won't even reply to address the Promise
>controller memory error issue. One of these "9115" chips are
>next to the AGP slot, the other next to the DIMM slot closest
>to the outside edge of the mobo. I'm wondering if that issue
>and the Promise issue are related, as in a screwed up mobo.
>
>BIOS version is 1011. I am aware of v1012 & 1013 and the
>issues surrounding them (Asus pulled both 12 & 13 from their
>website). I have both 12 & 13, but of course am not going to
>try them for one; they were Beta, and I've heard of some fried
>mobo's with 13.
>
>FWIW, This mobo has the Intel ICH5R SATA controller, as well as
>the Promise SATA and IDE controller. I had planned on using an
>ATA133 HD on the Promise controller in the IDE non-RAID setting
>for downloaded and other backups, and I have a WD Raptor SATA
>drive as the main HD. This was the reason in finding a board
>with a "3rd IDE" connector so no devices would have to be
>slaved. (Conventional 2 IDE ports have CDRW and CDROM drives,
>ICH5R has the main Raptor SATA HD, Promise has the IDE HD
>backup). These are not add-in PCI cards, but integrated
>motherboard chip controllers just like the typical IDE chip
>controllers, except for being RAID capable. I might add, the
>ICH5R is a dedicated bus chipset, and the Promise chipset runs
>on the PCI bus.
>
>So........what's going on here? Is it normal to get all these
>memory errors with the Promise controller enabled, and if so,
>WHY? If anyone here should happen to have one of these mobo's,
>would you PUH-LEEEEZE take a few seconds and boot from the
>Memtest floppy or MS RAM test floppy and check the errors with
>the Promise controller enabled and disabled? If someone would
>do this, then I would know if this normal or not and if normal
>I could (after TWO MONTHS) finally get this SOB in the case and
>completed. As far as the 9115 chips, I can put heatsinks on
>them if there is no Promise problem. I'd also appreciate it if
>any P4C800-x users would touch these "9115" chips and see if
>they are this hot. Any input or suggestions from anyone
>appreciated. (BTW, all works fine when it boots into XP
>whether the controller is enabled or disabled, however memory
>error issues potentially indicate serious stability problems
>that must be addressed, not to mention a possibly screwy
>Promise chip which I'm trying to ascertain).
>Thank you!
>-Clint
>
>God Bless Us All
>Clint Hamilton, Owner
>http://OrpheusComputing.com )
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