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    Quad-core died

    Well....I've been lucky with PCs so it was bound to happen sometime.

    The media server:
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz
    IX38 Quad GT
    G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB)
    POWERCOLOR X1950PRO512MBAC Radeon X1950PRO
    Thermaltake W0131RU 850W Modular Power Supply
    ZEROtherm CF900 92mm CPU Cooler
    Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200 RPM SATA (x6)

    Today I was checking my Folding stats and it was down. Took a look at it. Nothing on the monitor. No light from the optical mouse. I turned off the power, waited, then tried to turn it back on. Nothing.

    Then I opened it up. When I push the power button, the CPU, case, and video card fans spin for a second and then stop. I pulled everything out and unhooked all cables except the power to the board. Tried to turn it on, but same thing. Then I removed that 8 pin power connector for the CPU. Turned it on and it started up. Except every two seconds or so, the Vcc light goes out and comes right back on with a corresponding pause of the CPU fan.

    I've reset the BIOS and bunch of other crazy stuff. All to no avail.

    This thing has been sitting in the same spot since I put it together 7 months ago. Any ideas?
    Last edited by stretch0069; 11-03-2008, 01:05 PM.
    "Its all about the boom....."

    Guns kill people like spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat.

    We now return you to your regularly scheduled drinking.

    "Fear accompanies the possibility of death.....calm shepherds its certainty"

    Originally posted by Topcat
    AWD is just training wheels for RWD.

    #2
    Re: Quad-core died

    Did you check the PSU?

    Maybe it's triggering some sort of protection?

    Try powering it up with another PSU to see if it reacts the same way.
    Elements of the past and the future combining to make something not quite as good as either.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Quad-core died

      maybe this digital vrm is a POS in the end and cooked itself to death
      send it all to me its worthless to you now
      capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Quad-core died

        Was it overclocked?

        My first thought is a bad power supply. Try a different one and see if that fixes it. At this point IMHO there is no reason to believe that the processor died.
        A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Quad-core died

          yeah....i'm thinking psu, but i don't have a spare to try.....well....yeah i do...guess i'll have to shut down one of my other 4 'puters...
          "Its all about the boom....."

          Guns kill people like spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat.

          We now return you to your regularly scheduled drinking.

          "Fear accompanies the possibility of death.....calm shepherds its certainty"

          Originally posted by Topcat
          AWD is just training wheels for RWD.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Quad-core died

            well....it ain't the PS. i pulled the one out of my other QC and it did the same thing.

            looks like an ABIT RMA.

            damn it......i had such good luck up until now.......


            EDIT: its been suggested on the ABIT forum that a new BIOS chip might fix the problem. WTF??????????? How the hell would the BIOS chip cause this????? Is it me or does that sound like a dumbass answer?

            I'm thinking its one of the chips on the board......which would mean the aforementioned RMA......
            Last edited by stretch0069; 11-03-2008, 07:25 PM.
            "Its all about the boom....."

            Guns kill people like spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat.

            We now return you to your regularly scheduled drinking.

            "Fear accompanies the possibility of death.....calm shepherds its certainty"

            Originally posted by Topcat
            AWD is just training wheels for RWD.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Quad-core died

              >How the hell would the BIOS chip cause this?????

              do you think anything will work without or with corrupted bios?

              checked ram?
              although it's slim chance...

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Quad-core died

                eeeeeeeee....it sounds like a hip-shot answer......

                i would expect something even if the BIOS was corrupted.........something more than just a fan spin-up and then a shutdown......I do get the 9.9. code......
                "Its all about the boom....."

                Guns kill people like spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat.

                We now return you to your regularly scheduled drinking.

                "Fear accompanies the possibility of death.....calm shepherds its certainty"

                Originally posted by Topcat
                AWD is just training wheels for RWD.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Quad-core died

                  According to a german forum, the IX38 boot sequence is:

                  0.0 -> Ready for boot
                  9.8 -> De-Assert ATX power supply
                  9.9 -> Complete power off sequence
                  9.0 -> Complete uGuru initial process, AWARD BIOS take over booting job

                  so a 9.9 bios code means the board can't complete the power off sequence [BTW, what is it? De-assert may be "waiting for PG", but power off?] before the bios is loaded. It's a power issue or perhaps a hardware damage.

                  Check if the 8 pin EPS connectors of both motherboard and psu have all pins clean (no dirt, no oxide): if not, clean them with a compressed air can and a deoxidizer. Check the obvious: cpu heatsink correctly mounted (I think it is, but check it), no obvious motherboard damages (caps, resistors, mosfets, solder joints), fan cables connected, ...
                  Try another psu, a good one if possible
                  Then try the bare minimum: psu, motherboard, cpu with heatsink, one stick of ram, graphic card and nothing else. Does it post?

                  Zandrax
                  Have an happy life.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Quad-core died

                    interesting....now all you should do is ask abit where does 99ends and 90 begins, ie if you stop at 99 does it means that step couldn't complete, or that next step couldn't initialize...

                    if the latter, it seems it can be bios....

                    http://www.computerbase.de/forum/sho...4&postcount=14

                    btw. "send to rma at last"?
                    how do they presume you're gonna find a replecement bios prior to doing rma?

                    about my answer: i wouldn't expect anything if bios is corrupted or trashed.
                    heck i got infinite reboot loop(nothing on screen) just by updating bios on my asus p5k-v...clearing cmos solved it...

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Quad-core died

                      yes...i'm learning. i never realized the crap that goes on getting a pc running.....i mean the intricate details. i guess i was never that interested.

                      i've tried a known good 700W psu....its back in my other qc and running fine. i'm looking for a replacement bios chip....seems abit's webstore doesn't work....
                      "Its all about the boom....."

                      Guns kill people like spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat.

                      We now return you to your regularly scheduled drinking.

                      "Fear accompanies the possibility of death.....calm shepherds its certainty"

                      Originally posted by Topcat
                      AWD is just training wheels for RWD.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Quad-core died

                        well...got a new BIOS chip. popped it in and guess what????


                        the cotton-pickin' think is working.


                        i have learned something today.


                        crazy stuff.......


                        now to see if the old chip can be reflashed so I can have a spare....

                        ordered the chip Tuesday and it was here today. damn fast transaction.
                        "Its all about the boom....."

                        Guns kill people like spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat.

                        We now return you to your regularly scheduled drinking.

                        "Fear accompanies the possibility of death.....calm shepherds its certainty"

                        Originally posted by Topcat
                        AWD is just training wheels for RWD.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Quad-core died

                          Good: issue solved. Now you should investigate why and how the bios Eeprom got damaged: maybe an ESD?

                          Zandrax
                          Have an happy life.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Quad-core died

                            Originally posted by zandrax
                            Check if the 8 pin EPS connectors of both motherboard and psu have all pins clean (no dirt, no oxide): if not, clean them with a compressed air can and a deoxidizer.
                            You might want to try seating and reseating your cables several times each. This is a really old trick from my mainframe days, when cable reseating actually fixed things. I have a Gateway P4 machine that responded well to this. The ATX-20 connector was the culprit. Reseating it several times wiped the contacts sufficiently to make it work again.

                            Next thing is to shed the load from the board. Everything non-essential to seeing it boot is unplugged or removed from the bus. If you are using power strips, remove them and go direct into the wall. Simplify the system.

                            Glad to see it worked, but that fix is somewhat scary. I'd be looking for ESD as noted above, or other power issues. Do you have a UPS?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Quad-core died

                              The funny thing is that it sits in the corner of the room. Its never touched. Its on a UPS. It runs 24/7 and is never messed with. It just up and failed.

                              I might reinstall the original chip to see if it will boot.

                              bgavin, i sure know about the contact issue. We had old radios that if they stopped working, we'd just pull the cards, run a pencil eraser over the contacts and BAMM!!! the radio would work just fine.

                              electronics......its all FM
                              "Its all about the boom....."

                              Guns kill people like spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat.

                              We now return you to your regularly scheduled drinking.

                              "Fear accompanies the possibility of death.....calm shepherds its certainty"

                              Originally posted by Topcat
                              AWD is just training wheels for RWD.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Re: Quad-core died

                                The eraser trick is good for cleaning ram contacts, but useless for other connectors: in these cases, a spray deoxidizer and cycles of insertion/extraction as bgavin pointed out helps removing the oxide layer.

                                What corrupted the original bios may damage the new one too: find the culprit.

                                Zandrax
                                Have an happy life.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Re: Quad-core died

                                  Yessir, a pencil eraser and wipe down with 70% isopropyl alcohol fixes a lot of snotty contact problems. Deoxit spray works well, but is kinda messy. You should clean it out good afterwards.

                                  BTW, have you run a thorough check of the system temps and voltages after you get it running? Something as simple as over heating, or a block fan will cause no end of grief. Quads are hot-runners to start with, and impaired cooling only makes it a lot worse.
                                  Last edited by bgavin; 11-08-2008, 11:47 AM. Reason: more info

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Re: Quad-core died

                                    could be just crap bios chip and partially corrupted
                                    capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Re: Quad-core died

                                      everything is running normal. no overheating. it gots lots o' air
                                      "Its all about the boom....."

                                      Guns kill people like spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat.

                                      We now return you to your regularly scheduled drinking.

                                      "Fear accompanies the possibility of death.....calm shepherds its certainty"

                                      Originally posted by Topcat
                                      AWD is just training wheels for RWD.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Re: Quad-core died

                                        well...that didn't last long. a couple days ago, the F@H app kept dying so I just shut off the proc. Today I went to bring it back up to try some things and I'm back in the exact same spot as when the BIOS chip died last time.

                                        Methinks I've either got really bad luck or this motherboard sucks.
                                        "Its all about the boom....."

                                        Guns kill people like spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat.

                                        We now return you to your regularly scheduled drinking.

                                        "Fear accompanies the possibility of death.....calm shepherds its certainty"

                                        Originally posted by Topcat
                                        AWD is just training wheels for RWD.

                                        Comment

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