Very slow start time and now crashing....

[rfielder]

Not sure if this belongs in this area, or the New Builds. Mods, please feel free to move as appropriate!

I am putting together an upgrade to my system. ASUS Maximus III motherboard, i5 CPU, 8Gb G.Skill memory, XFX 5770 video, 300Gb Velociraptor + 160Gb Seagate + 1.5Tb Seagate, Corsair 750HX, everything running stock.

When I started this build, I testing the stuff before putting it into the case. At that time, I noticed that it seemed to take the motherboard a long time between power on and start of POST.

That continued after the system was tested, assembled, tested, and Win7 Home 64 bit installed.

Timed it last night - 21 seconds between the press of the Reset button and the start of the POST onscreen. That seems too long.

Opinions? Experiences?

Second problem started after I updated the BIOS to the latest, V12.02 (or V1202, not sure where the decimal goes). After the update, which the ASUS utility said went well, the system freezes after the desktop appears. Complete lockup to Big Red Switch time. However, when booted into SAFE move, it runs perfectly. This only happens when booting into regular mode, and only started after the BIOS update. No errors of any sort in the system logs.

My preference is to try reflashing the BIOS in case something didn't work right, but you can't do that in SAFE mode. Just found the section in the manual that tells you how to update the BIOS from a USB drive from within the BIOS, so I will try that tonight.

Any other suggestions or ideas?

Thanks in advance!

[MarkOne]

You must have something the bios is looking for, and it's not there. Review, your drive setup in the bios. Mine post pretty fast, I don't even deactivate the ROG logo at post because it's very cool . not like my I7 gigabyte with the ugly advertising at post.

[rfielder]

Markone:

If there is something the BIOS is looking for, it has been missing since before I put anything in. First power up was with no drives attached, nothing but the CPU, 2 banks of RAM, and video card.

Please note that this delay comes before the POST, and it is during the POST that the bios searches for drives AFAIK.

I take it from your message that you also have a MaxIII and i5?

[martin_metal_88]

Originally Posted by MarkOne

You must have something the bios is looking for, and it's not there. Review, your drive setup in the bios. Mine post pretty fast, I don't even deactivate the ROG logo at post because it's very cool . not like my I7 gigabyte with the ugly advertising at post.

You know that can replace this ugly logo by the wonderfull americain megatrend one:P

OP : try your stick of ram in other slot maybe you have put them in the wrong channel? That the first Idea I has for now.

[MarkOne]

Originally Posted by rfielder

I take it from your message that you also have a MaxIII and i5?

the same setup, I'm at my shop now, I will have an eye on mine tonight , did you have only this problem when you reset , or with a regular power on too, honestly I never make reset, so can't say

as for your BIOS, unplug the power, remove the battery , short the connector ( use the side of the battery ) I notice sometime with Asus you have to do that after a flash.

[MarkOne]

Originally Posted by martin_metal_88

You know that can replace this ugly logo by the wonderfull americain megatrend one:P..

I have a better option ..... first customer who need a 1156 , I switch to EVGA 1366, I want to try one, and it will make me 4 more slot for 4 more GPU,

to the OP: it's the gigabyte a Plan to switch not the Maximus, .

[martin_metal_88]

OP : you tell us that you have test out the case in first but before puting it in the case have you remove some hardware like CPU or cooler???

[rfielder]

Originally Posted by martin_metal_88

OP : try your stick of ram in other slot maybe you have put them in the wrong channel? That the first Idea I has for now.

Four sticks of memory.

Four slots.

Original test was with two only. I did verify that they were in the correct slots at that time.

Since all four slots are full......

However, I am game to pull two, test, then switch and test again. There is always the chance that one of the memory modules is less than perfect.

A minor bit of a pain - the P180 is a large case, but it does get full in a hurry. The Venomous X cooler's one fan hangs over the last memory slot, so the fan has to come off to pull that piece. That is OK, the system is not overclocked and going with only one fan on the CPU cooler won't make any difference.

I would like to find the issue in the next few days, since Canada Computers has (if I remember correctly) a 7 day return policy.

[rfielder]

Originally Posted by MarkOne

the same setup, I'm at my shop now, I will have an eye on mine tonight , did you have only this problem when you reset , or with a regular power on too, honestly I never make reset, so can't say

as for your BIOS, unplug the power, remove the battery , short the connector ( use the side of the battery ) I notice sometime with Asus you have to do that after a flash.

1> Every reboot/restart/cold power up.

2> I assume you mean to clear the CMOS?

I have had many ASUS motherboards over the years, never had to clear the CMOS as you suggest. They used to tell you to power off and leave it for a few minutes after a BIOS update, but that requirement is no longer mentioned.

[rfielder]

Originally Posted by martin_metal_88

OP : you tell us that you have test out the case in first but before puting it in the case have you remove some hardware like CPU or cooler???

Assembled - put in the CPU, two sticks of RAM, Video, then did a power on test. Very quick, soon as anything appeared onscreen the power was killed. Did not want to fry the CPU for lack of cooling.

Then added CPU cooler, rest of RAM, and did a power on test.

Then installed into case, and did a power on test.

Attached all drives, connectors, etc, and did a power on test.

In all cases, from first time to now, there is what seems like an extended wait before the POST starts.