Abit AB9 PRO freezes totally

[furianga]

Hi there.

I have read about POSTCODE problems with ab9 pro series.
Well i occured it today when i was installing my computer parts. Firstly the MOBO freezes in error code 2A, which i succesfully got fixed by clearing ccmos and booted.

I also managed to install vista properly..... BUT

when i flashed the bios to newest version 1.7 and computer booted, it got stuck with error code C0....C1 and in C1 it stays. It is somekind of memory problem i've read, but the memory worked properly before flashing the bios. And i suppose with the new version 1.7 there is alot of compat.improvements with memories?

I have tried to clear ccmos, took of the battery, tried every single dimm in every single slot, took of gfxcard. None works.

C1 it just says.

i have c2d e6600
3 x 1024mb DDR2 800 kingston valueram
club 3d 8800 GTS 320MB


what a heck ?

[d3fiant]

could try a reflash of the bios, has worked for me in the past where the suggested fixes havent worked on the first flash

[Chappers]

I'm getting a problem similar to this.

Completely new build, start it up, go into BIOS, make a couple of basic changes, Save and Exit, and then it refuses to show a screen. "2A" error showing on motherboard.

Reset the CMOS, start again, make one simple change to BIOS, save and exit. Same problem as before.

Reset the CMOS, don't make ANY changes to BIOS, save and exit, still it refuses to reboot.

After a lot of trial and error, it has now decided I'm not allowed to start the computer at all, and gives me the "C1" error. I can't get to BIOS or anything.

What am I doing wrong????

And also, I don't have a floppy drive in this computer, if I were wanting to update the BIOS, how would I do this, and at what stage of the computer's build?

[BUFF]

Chappers, it helps others to help you if they know exactly what components, BIOS rev. etc. that you are running.

Try starting the system using only 1 DIMM.

As for flashing the BIOS you can do that from an USB memory stick or a CD as well (USB memory stick is the easier though) & you can do it before installing an OS.

[Chappers]

OK thanks. Sorry, I'm new here.

I don't know what BIOS revision I'm running. I can no longer get as far as the BIOS to check.

I've tried it with one stick, but it produces the same results.

I am now getting it as far as a "C5" board message though.


I am running a Corsair HX620 power supply, 4 Gigs of OCZ Reaper RAM (it's faster than 800, but was told it would happily run at 800 and give me headroom in the event that I would ever want to overclock in the future - which I may not do). Core2Duo 6600. Ati Radeon HD2900XT, dual WD 5000 RE2 drives intending to go in RAID0, dual Optiarc DVDRWs, Creative X-Fi soundcard, Airpace PCIex Wi-Fi.


I have put the latest BIOS both on my Flash drive and on a bootable CD, but obviously I can't do anything about that at the moment until the motherboard lets me get something up on screen at least.

[Chappers]

Well as of this morning I'm back to the "C1" message.

Ive tried taking various sticks of RAM out, even having no RAM in it at all, and still it sticks on "C1".

Curiously - and this may have been a one off, when i had 3 sticks in, it got as far as displaying "49" on the board (but still nothing on screen), which according to the manual relates to AMD K5 processors... which I'm not using???

Really kinda stuck at the moment.

[Chappers]

Well I seem to have fixed it myself.

Putting an old stick of 6400 RAM in allowed it to boot.

Made a Win98 bootable USB key and upgraded the BIOS from 16 to 17.

Entered the Reaper RAM timings (5-5-5-18) manually into the BIOS.

Curiously, it has rebooted showing DDR2 Voltages at 1.8V, whereas I'd swear I set them at 2.3V which is what the RAM is rated at, but the system boots and "appears" to run stably, so I'm going to leave well-enough alone for the time being.

Set up my RAID0 array over 2x500Gb Western RE2 drives, installed Vista64, everything's hunky dory. Getting a Vista rating of 5.2 as my CPU is only a C2D E6600, but the rest of it shows as 5.9, so i'm pretty chuffed with myself.

Turns out, one of my sticks of Reaper RAM is problematic, cos whenever that one stick is in the motherboard, I get a "C1" stop on the motherboard. All the other sticks work fine. So I'm in touch with the e-tailer to see if they'll exchange it.

[gilgamesh]

Well I seem to have fixed it myself.

Putting an old stick of 6400 RAM in allowed it to boot.

Made a Win98 bootable USB key and upgraded the BIOS from 16 to 17.

Entered the Reaper RAM timings (5-5-5-18) manually into the BIOS.

Curiously, it has rebooted showing DDR2 Voltages at 1.8V, whereas I'd swear I set them at 2.3V which is what the RAM is rated at, but the system boots and "appears" to run stably, so I'm going to leave well-enough alone for the time being.

Set up my RAID0 array over 2x500Gb Western RE2 drives, installed Vista64, everything's hunky dory. Getting a Vista rating of 5.2 as my CPU is only a C2D E6600, but the rest of it shows as 5.9, so i'm pretty chuffed with myself.

Turns out, one of my sticks of Reaper RAM is problematic, cos whenever that one stick is in the motherboard, I get a "C1" stop on the motherboard. All the other sticks work fine. So I'm in touch with the e-tailer to see if they'll exchange it.

NO dont change your ram mate.

It sounds like you have been victim to the good old JDEC standard The reason why the PC would not bood is that you are running at 1.8 volts as standard for the reaper ram, this ram needs 2.2VOLTS to run. THe reason WHY it worked whern you insertyed your older ram is that can run at 1.8

basically insert your old ram, boot into BIOS, change to 2.2volts maybe even 2.3volts (but NO higher)
save/exit
power off
PUt ONE stick of RAM into the system (reaper) then boot

If this does not indeed work, then possibly you may have a faulty reaper ram.

gilgamesh

[Chappers]

NO dont change your ram mate.

It sounds like you have been victim to the good old JDEC standard The reason why the PC would not bood is that you are running at 1.8 volts as standard for the reaper ram, this ram needs 2.2VOLTS to run. THe reason WHY it worked whern you insertyed your older ram is that can run at 1.8

basically insert your old ram, boot into BIOS, change to 2.2volts maybe even 2.3volts (but NO higher)
save/exit
power off
PUt ONE stick of RAM into the system (reaper) then boot

If this does not indeed work, then possibly you may have a faulty reaper ram.

gilgamesh

Umm, but it's working already? I think the problem I was having was more to do with one particular stick of Reaper, which doesn't seem to work. The other sticks are fine.

I might increase the voltage a bit, to see if it still runs, but it seems to be quite happy at 1.8V so far.

[gilgamesh]

Umm, but it's working already? I think the problem I was having was more to do with one particular stick of Reaper, which doesn't seem to work. The other sticks are fine.

I might increase the voltage a bit, to see if it still runs, but it seems to be quite happy at 1.8V so far.

Reaper ram is designed top run @ 2.2 volts to get the full advantage of it inc timings

gilgamesh

[Chappers]

oh ok, ta.

I'll save the BIOS profile and move the voltage up bit at a time. Once at 2.2, I'll try adding in the stick which i suspect is dodgy. Maybe it's just a bit more voltage-particular than the others.


Incidentally, I'm limiting the RAM's speed to DDR2800, just for stability's sake, which might explain why it's currently quite happy at 1.8V.

Will upping the voltage to 2.2V whilst staying forced at DDR2800 be ok? I presume so.

I'm still a bit green on all this fine-adjustment malarky.

[gilgamesh]

oh ok, ta.

I'll save the BIOS profile and move the voltage up bit at a time. Once at 2.2, I'll try adding in the stick which i suspect is dodgy. Maybe it's just a bit more voltage-particular than the others.


Incidentally, I'm limiting the RAM's speed to DDR2800, just for stability's sake, which might explain why it's currently quite happy at 1.8V.

Will upping the voltage to 2.2V whilst staying forced at DDR2800 be ok? I presume so.

I'm still a bit green on all this fine-adjustment malarky.

Mate its not jsut the data speed we are talking about here, we are also looking as the CAS timings buddy. The timings of the ram is what should be set manually Advanced Memory features. For example the board might autodetect your ram with loose timings by the JDEC standard of 1.8 volt and 5-5-5-18, when in actuality your ram should be set at 2.2 volts and 4-4-4-12

tHIS WHATi MA TALKING ABOUT. tHE ram MAY BOOT at 1.8 but try to run the timings that the ram is certified for, and you will get boot up problems. Try upp ing to 2.2 volts and change the timings of the ram to its certified speed. I think on reaper ram I think its 3-4-4-12 or 15 if I remember rightly.

gilgamesh

[Chappers]

Well I've increased the Voltage to 2.2V, and it seems happy enough.

This Reaper RAM is supposed to run at 5-5-5-18. It says so on the stickers.

I'm not big on overclocking, so i'll leave it like that I think.

I tried putting in that loathesome 4th stick, and it still wouldn't have it, so I'm 99.9999% certain that solitary stick is to blame for my woes.

Thanks for your advice though.

[BUFF]

I tried putting in that loathesome 4th stick, and it still wouldn't have it, so I'm 99.9999% certain that solitary stick is to blame for my woes.

you can run memtest on it & see if it errors.

[Chappers]

you can run memtest on it & see if it errors.

How can I run memtest on it if I can't get the system to start up when it's in?

[BUFF]

so the system won't POST with only that DIMM installed but will with any of the other 3 installed singly?