IN9 32MAX queries

[Wikkus]

I think my supplier has supplied me with a used board, what say the team here?

The first clue was the missing WiFi gubbins when I opened the flap on the box to inspect the contents...

The second clue was the absence of any CDs in the box...

The third (and most telling) clue was the remnants of a self-adhesive pad for a processor back-plate on the back side of the board under the CPU socket.

The fourth was evidence that the rear of the board had been cleaned with something like a ScotchBrite pad.

The fifth piece of evidence and the one that clinches it for me was viewing the ABIT EQ page in BIOS and seeing that the number of power cycles was in excess of 100 and the total up-time is nearly 3,500 hours!

I thought I'd test to see if the board worked. It did, briefly -- QX6700 and a stick of cheap 1.8v DDR2 533 all on stock settings, worked long enough to boot into Windows, etc. -- however, now, after rebooting, it's showing the 9.0 error which no amount of CMOS clearing will shift. Seems, to add insult to injury, my BIOS is screwed, too.

Now, it would be very easy for me to simply berate the supplier until their ears bleed, however, what are my rights, here? I want a working board. If they're only able to supply me a second-hand or B-stock board, I don't expect to pay full price for it and I expect to be informed that this is what they're up to.

Rik.

[BUFF]

they haven't been made for something like 2 years so the chances of there being new stock around is very, very low imo.
It's a couple generations behind current tech. & now an obsolete mobo so I certainly wouldn't have paid anything like full original retail (admittedly I wouldn't be buying 1 today anyway).

[Wikkus]

they haven't been made for something like 2 years so the chances of there being new stock around is very, very low imo.
It's a couple generations behind current tech. & now an obsolete mobo so I certainly wouldn't have paid anything like full original retail (admittedly I wouldn't be buying 1 today anyway).

Oh don't worry, I appreciate it not being "bleeding edge" and, yes, it stuck in my craw somewhat to have to fork-out the sort of money for which I could get a good X48 board. However, my original board (a non-Abit 680i) went ker-blammo and for a number of reasons -- my watercooling kit, my RAM and my RAID array -- I wasn't in a position to simply replace it with a newer, different model board.

Bad planning on my part and the first time in years I didn't have a full DR solution in place -- yes, all my data is intact in an off-site backup, however, I don't have a current image of the system.

I just got off the 'phone to the supplier and they're RMAing it, they didn't even sound the slightest bit surprised...

Hey ho. Thanks for the input.

Rik.