Asus A8V Deluxe Can't Get It Running

[Dsherm112]

Asus A8V Deluxe, AMD 3400, W XP, 512 Ram, Boot screen says Bios V 1.00.0.37, Bios screen says Amibios V 08.00.09 Dated 10/27/04. ID: A0036001.

I started to set up XP but it failed during setup. Now I can't do anything. Whether I try a bootable floppy or CD it says," NTLDR is missing", and I can't load anything. I've tried everything that I can think of several times, including:

clearing the CMOS memory,
Booting from a CD
Booting from a floppy
Flashing the bios.
Loading the default bios settings
Setting custom settings.

I know there are bios problems with this mobo/cpu combo, but I can't flash the Bios w/o using the floppy or CD. I can get into bios, but beyond that all I get is the "NTLDR" Message.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Sherm

[Bring the Noise]

1. Go into Bios and set HT to 800 (defaults to 1000).
Reason: The 3400 is only capable of a 4x Hyper Transport (HT) multiplier and the 5x setting really really screws that cpu up.

2. (Still In Bios) Set first Boot Device to CD, put XP cd in Drive.
When it says "Hit any key to boot from CD" hit any key (I usually hit the enter key).

3. Run the Windows Setup and pick where you want the OS to go.
Note: if you are installing the OS to a SATA drive you will need to do Step 4

4. At the "Hit F6 to install SCSI or other drivers" Hit F6 and put in the floppy that comes with the motherboard (this contains the SATA drivers).
This is only needed if you are installing OS to a SATA drive. If you are installing OS to an IDE (fat 80pin ribon) Drive then you can install the SATA drivers after windows does its first boot (after setup finish's).

Set back let the setup copy the files over to the drive (may need to format drive as well depending things).

Another Note: If you are installing the OS to an IDE drive, have that drive on a seperate IDE cable then the CD drive with the OS CD.
IDE can only do 1 thing at a time, so its either read from cd or write to drive and having them on the same cable increases the amount of time it takes to write the files to the drive from the CD.

That last note also hold's true for any install you do.

[Dsherm112]

Thanks for the reply. I've already set HT to 800 and set first boot device to CD.

It never says "Hit any key to Boot from CD" so I can't do that.

I don't know why but i kept trying the Alt F2 Flash Rom and it finally worked. I still can't get the CD to work, but the floppy is working. I'm going to try running setup from the floppy with CD drivers and see what happens.


Thanks,

Sherm

[chainsawkiss]

I cranked mine up from the start by using an IDE drive that already had windows XP on it. Just installed it for present rig. It cranked at ht1000. Later I set it at ht800 to get rid of a problem. My rig runs fast but it takes about 4 times longer to start windows. I can get it to run and OC but the start up is so slow. It is probably a driver conflict from the old rig. But, I hate playing with drivers. I also read that you need SP2 for XP pro for the 3400.

[Dsherm112]

Here's how I solved the problem, not by brains, but through being too stupid to quit:

- I repeatedly tried to Flash the Bios, after about 8-10 tries it worked. The floppy worked after 2 flashes.
- I had to use a different HD since the original HD had NTFS on it. That's because the original Win XP install crashed afted formatting the HD, but before completion. At that point no drives were recognized.
- Installed W 98 and then upgraded to W XP.
-I tried to install the original HD as a slave and it was not recognized. So I still have to deal with this issue.

I hope this helps someone else.

Sherm

[Gizmo]

It's amazing what perseverance can accomplish. Glad you got things (more or less) squared away.

[Barnabus]

Right ok great thx Ill try that with the HT now ---
Ive been doing that alt + f2 with the bios to get this new amdathlon64 to be reconised .
I did the first bios that said supports new chips , dam try to update it more says error does not match romid. I thought battery was dead, cmos error wrong checksome i fixed the time bla bla next - blank screen - maybe its the gt6600 dang. This was supposed to be a chirstmas present i offered to build a computer and be a nice guy.... IM a nooob! BRB with HT lowered etc ... You guys offer new hope here..

[Barnabus]

I feel Terrible .. ..
THis is what we bought for Monica...
a8v mobo
AMD Athlont 64 with HT technology 3200+
one standard maxtor ide HD
Geforce 6600gt
1 gig ddr strip in ddr dim b2
hiper modular power supply -

Coming up to chrsitmas i put it together, turned it on, great a beep its working. Message - " Er I dont reconise this chip" -
The guys at scan computers said it was compatable even has a and64 sticker on box, must be bios and away I was too www.asus.com.
There was alot of bios there for this board, I tryed to play safe, ignored the recent and betas and downloaded Version 0208.
Flashed it with ALT Asus EZ Flash - It worked and reconized the proccessor.

CMOS Checksum Bad
Press F1 to Run SETUP - no matter what i do here HT included After I save and exit BIos I get a black screen monitor light flashing.
Press F2 to load default -this worked once - enough to reformat the drive and get windows on it.
EVerytime the computer restarted CMOS Checksum Bad
Press F1 Press F2 .......

I tryed the Asus EZ Flash again with a later version i got this msg...
error! ROMID is not compatible with existing bios ROMID
Then I tryed it with the same Bios file - maye if i redo it.... And It said..
error! ROMID is not compatible with existing bios romid
ok lets not try a new bios and press F2 again...... and it says
NTLDR is missing
PRess Ctrl + ALt + Del to restart.......

Worse after i set bios and the screen goes blank flashing monitor light.
Even taking the power supply out and moving the CMOS jumper wont get me back on... I need to remove the CMOS battery also...

IM going around in circles here. Poor Monica hasnt got her computer yet.
She probably thinks im lazy but im baffled. WHat do I do tell her Boyfriend to buy her a new board, and send this back to asus with a msg saying.
error! HIstory is not compatable with the Future...
WHy dont you sell them with the flipping bios upgraded....
Why dont the shop people say "THis board will blow your mind"...

IF anyone has any IDeas at all about what i could be doing wrong...
PLease Help me.

[chrisbard]

Ideea 1

send motherboard back ask them to reflash

Ideea 2

assus?

I think EPOX/DFI/MSI are better than ASUS !

[Super Nade]

Mate,

I wrote up a small guide for this board. See if you can find any pertinent information in there. I have since sold my board and moved toPCIE/DFI. However, I may be able to help you out. Send me a pm if you wish.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=332591

Good luck!

S-N

[badarthur]

You know ASrock makes some nice MB's that dont have those prob's. The idea that you have to update the Bios on a new MB is just crazy to my way of thinking. I quit buying from one of my retailer's because when the Simpron chip's came out he refused to provide MB's that were Simpron compatable you had to update the bios to get them to see the chip right. Those Mb'[s were out there or available he just refused to stock them because they cost more at that time.

ive had 2 boxes just like that giving me that ntdlr message or just refusing to load the win XP files in the insalition and what I found was the DVD burner i was trying to use was having trouble reading the XP disk i grabed a diferent DVD reader[light on] and it loaded up no problem's the burner is a lighton to and burn's dvd's ok so Im not sure what's up. But this isint the first time ive seen this issue even though your Mb dosent see your 3400 chip right it still should load up your OS ok without any trouble. Ive got a 2500 mobill in a desktop running 2300mhz that is identify'd as a [Unknown Chip] but it run's like a dream. 200fsb at 11.5multy dosent have anything to do with loading the OS. Try sticking a dif bran new ribbon on a new drive and your old disk or a new one and see what happen's.===BA===