MSI 745 Ultra help needed

[GNEP]

I am having a few problems with my MSI 745 Ultra mobo recently installed. Or at least I think that the problems are with the mobo. I have another thread here with some descriptions of the problems. Except that I thought I had got through those ones - and possibly concentrating on this one symptom will shed some light on the others.

Basically, sometimes (read 50% of the time, but in patches - not every other time) the machine won't boot at all. It stops with all four LEDs on the D-bracket showing red, and the DVD drive occasionally "clicking". NB this is not to do with the DVD drive though - I have the same behaviour without it in there.

This happens with the minimum amount of bits attached - i.e. only PSU, 1 256Mb stick of PC2100 RAM (which tests fine under memtest - and I have tried it with both sticks I have together and separately), and a vidcard (both with G450 and Parhelia). Also happens of course when HDD, FDD, CD-RW & DVD drives are attached.

BIOS has been flashed to version 1.6 - this is all I could download as I haven't got a modem in there any more - for testing purposes.

Is this a bad mobo that I should get replaced, or is there something else I could do? What factors could cause this behaviour? I am starting to get annoyed now.

In the other thread you will see that I suspect some sort of dodgy AGP slot. The system isn't exactly stable when it does work.

Thanks in advance

Gnep

[Greebe]

An underpowered Power Supply.

[GNEP]

It's a brand new Channel Well 430W jobbie. Same behaviour with the old generic 300W one.

[The PIT]

I presume ypu've tried with just video card and ram and hard disk?

[GNEP]

Yup. Same intermittent problem. Even without the HDD attached at all (to see if I can get it to send stuff to the screen).

[Gurm]

Hmm... well, the 745 has "issues" with BIOSes.

Basically, the ONLY BIOS that I can use without problems is the 1.3 version. Some people can ONLY use 1.4, and others can ONLY use 1.5 - which is virtually the same as 1.6, you see.

My machine won't boot stably and reliably with 1.6 at all. You might try downgrading to 1.3, see if that helps.

- Gurm

[GNEP]

Thanks Gurm. Does your instability look like I described ever? (I.e. randomly sticking at the pre-POST phase) If I can get online I will try the 1.3.

[Greebe]

Sounds like it's time to swap out a dodgy MB.

[thop]

sorry to hijack your thread GNEP, but i also have a small problem with my MSI745. from time time it resets the FSB to 100mhz for no apparent reason bios v1.3

[GNEP]

Well, I will continue to play with it over the weekend, but already have an RMA number from scan.co.uk

Just a thought - any chance that this could be the CPU? It's not running particularly hot when it does boot (~40 C), but that's the one component I can't swap out. Might try picking up a cheap duron tomorrow to see.

Gnep

edit: no probs thop! welcome to all! I have heard of that problem with earlier versions of the BIOS when the machine is reset before the POST is completed.

[Greebe]

@thop

Have you at anytime either killed the power or pressed reset while it's powering up and booting (just prior to OS load)?

If you do this, it's a reset condition to the bios and allows bad settings from killing your system (whether intentional or corrupted, etc) and is intentionally designed into it's failsafe.

A somewhat weak or aged PS can cause this symptom

[K6-III]

Originally posted by thop
sorry to hijack your thread GNEP, but i also have a small problem with my MSI745. from time time it resets the FSB to 100mhz for no apparent reason bios v1.3

Get a new cmos battery....

[Wombat]

from time time it resets the FSB to 100mhz for no apparent reason bios v1.3

It could be the battery, but that's unlikely, considering how new the board is. The BIOS monitors the battery voltage, so it's easy to check.

Are you overclocking or anything? An inopportune reset will cause the behavior, as Greebe mentioned. I also like it because when I push my processor too far, it will reset itself in a few minutes.

FWIW, I ran BIOS 1.3 for a long time, and switched to 1.6 a few weeks ago just fine.

[K6-III]

I've had a bad cmos battery on a brandnew 745 Ultra before....so I'm speaking from experience....

[Technoid]

Empty CMos batterys on new mobos is not to uncommon