No Post, 3 LED Problem

[Guest AMDfan]

Hi, I recently upgraded my computer from an Athlon 3700+ (San Diego) to an X2 3800+. I also downgraded my 150GB Raptor to a 320GB Seagate HDD and installed an X-FI XtremeMusic sound card. I kept the PSU, MB, RAM, Video Card, and optical drive the same.

 

Immediately after completing the upgrade I got no post. I cleared the CMOS for 24 hours according to these instructions:

 

"Remove power from the system. Pull cord from wall if you must. Or from rear of power supply.

 

Remove the battery.

 

Move the CMOS jumper to clear postition (pin 2 and 3).

 

Move the speaker jumper to on position. Page 7 quick start manual. NOTE: some boards have speaker jumpered on all the time. See manual for your model board.

 

Make sure you have a wired keyboard plugged into the PS2 port. No USB in other words. USB to PS2 OK.

 

Leave the CMOS jumper at clear for at least 30 minutes. Most users are finding that staying at this step from 2 to 10 hours; is giving best results.

 

Put ONLY one ( 1 ) stick of memory in ORANGE slot furtherest from the cpu. NOTE: For NF4 Infinity series motherboard and NF3 Ultra-D board put the memory in the slot closest to the CPU.

 

Replace the battery.

 

Set the CMOS jumper back to normal (pin 1 and 2).

 

Press and hold down the "Insert" Key on the keyboard.

 

Apply power to power supply again WITH "Insert" key still pressed down.

 

Press the start/power on button on the rig. WITH the "Insert" key still pressed down.

 

When you hear the beep from the speaker. Release the "Insert" Key and quickly press the "Delete" key and enter the bios and load optimized defaults. Save and Exit bios and reboot to enter bios to make necessary adjustments."

 

My computer booted after that and I proceeded to install the second stick of RAM. PC would not post and I had 3 LEDs again. I cleared the CMOS again for another 24 hours but it would not boot with 2 sticks of RAM (in the orange slots).

 

With only one stick installed at a time I ran Memtest for 8 hours. Both passed all tests. This was run @ 3.2V vdimm with RAM at 255MHz (2-2-2-5).

 

With a single stick of RAM in the orange slot furthest from the CPU I formatted my hard drive with Windows XP, everything went fine.

 

If I try to put two sticks of RAM in it will not post. Putting a single stick in either slot closest to the CPU will not boot. Putting a single stick in either slot furthest from the CPU will boot no problem.

 

I got bored with this problem and let my CMOS clear for a whole week, but still nothing works. I appreciate any help.

[Sharp]

Hello,

 

Have you tried 2 sticks in the yellow slots at the same time?

[Guest AMDfan]

Hello,

 

Have you tried 2 sticks in the yellow slots at the same time?

 

Hey, with two sticks in both yellow slots it does not boot. With a single stick in the top yellow it boots, with a single stick in the bottom yellow slot it doesn't boot. Thanks.

[Sharp]

Sounds like your X2 CPU is faulty.

 

You can either RMA it or if you have another board/friend, maybe they can test it for you.

 

One thing to try,

- Use 1 stick and set the memory voltage to 3.2v @200Mhz/0overclocking and 2T.

- Then save and exit

- Insert other stick.

[Guest AMDfan]

Sounds like your X2 CPU is faulty.

 

You can either RMA it or if you have another board/friend, maybe they can test it for you.

 

One thing to try,

- Use 1 stick and set the memory voltage to 3.2v @200Mhz/0overclocking and 2T.

- Then save and exit

- Insert other stick.

 

I'll give that a try, I'm pretty sure the X2 isn't faulty though, I've tested it in a different PC.

[wevsspot]

Is your vdimm jumper set at 3.3 or 5.0v? And are you using auto voltage values for your cpu startup, vid and special vid? If so you may have to take those off of auto settings and use;

 

startup voltage = 1.40v

cpu vcore = 1.325v

special vid = +110%

 

If you can get a boot, then slowly start backing off of your cpu voltage until you get the no boot condition.

 

In the end your VX memory may not be a good match for an X2 processor. I don't have any hard proof of this, it's just a huge difference between the voltage the RAM requires, and the voltage the CPU would like.

[Guest AMDfan]

Is your vdimm jumper set at 3.3 or 5.0v? And are you using auto voltage values for your cpu startup, vid and special vid? If so you may have to take those off of auto settings and use;

 

startup voltage = 1.40v

cpu vcore = 1.325v

special vid = +110%

 

If you can get a boot, then slowly start backing off of your cpu voltage until you get the no boot condition.

 

In the end your VX memory may not be a good match for an X2 processor. I don't have any hard proof of this, it's just a huge difference between the voltage the RAM requires, and the voltage the CPU would like.

 

I had the vdimm jumper at 5.0v with my A64 but I didn't want to actively cool it anymore with the X2 so I put it back to 3.3v. That would probably fix the problem. I'll try it. Thanks.

[wevsspot]

Let me know.

 

Cheers.

[Guest AMDfan]

Let me know.

 

Cheers.

 

Hey, well I switched the jumper over to 5.0v and put a fan on the heatsink, but it still won't post (3 LEDs).

 

Just to completely eliminate the possibility of the X2 being bad I tested it on a MSI Neo2 Platinum (NF3) and it worked (didn't use my OCZ VX with it though).

 

I really don't know what to do. It runs perfectly with these settings:

 

X2 @ 2.6GHz 1.48v

OCZ VX 4000 (ONE STICK) @ 236MHz (2-2-2-6) with 11:12 (180) divider w/ 3.2v (5.0v or 3.3v vdimm)

 

But if I try to put in a second stick it refuses to post.

 

Thanks.

[wevsspot]

If you take the ram from your Neo2 Platinum and put it with your X2 in the Ultra-D does everything work in that configuration? I'm still thinking it is coming down to a memory controller problem and the voltage difference between your cpu and your RAM. I know that when I upgraded to an X2 I saw an immediate impact on how the memory controllers on the X2's behaved relative to the mc's on a single core AMD processor. IMHO the mc's on the X2 processors are weak compared to those found on either the single core or dual core opteron processors. You may have to swap your VX's for some TCCD or UCCC based memory in order to get it all working. Have you checked out the stock speed database or the socket939 for other forum members running an X2 processor and OCZ VX ram? You might get lucky and find someone who has solved the BIOS, voltage, memory setting puzzle that would allow your setup to run. Check 'em out. There are bunches of posts there and post in each of them is confirmed bootable and stable.

 

Luck

[Nodrak]

This sounds like a similar issue to the one I just had with my Opteron 170 and my Mushkin Redline @ 3.2v.

 

Boot up with 1 stick, and set your BIOS settings to something that fits your ram. Make sure you Vdimm is 3.2 or higher. If you have to change a setting, save it, and reboot back into the BIOS. Then power down, and shut off the PSU (I had to leave my cord in). Wait about 15-30 mins and try to boot. If it doesn't work then, try waiting for longer. The first time it worked for me I had to wait longer than 2hrs. As your board runs, it seems to 'burn in' so to speak, because my wait times kept droping untill I could successfuly cold boot.

 

I hope this helps, it took me 4 days to get my SLI-D up

 

Thread of my issue: http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68054

[Guest AMDfan]

If you take the ram from your Neo2 Platinum and put it with your X2 in the Ultra-D does everything work in that configuration? I'm still thinking it is coming down to a memory controller problem and the voltage difference between your cpu and your RAM. I know that when I upgraded to an X2 I saw an immediate impact on how the memory controllers on the X2's behaved relative to the mc's on a single core AMD processor. IMHO the mc's on the X2 processors are weak compared to those found on either the single core or dual core opteron processors. You may have to swap your VX's for some TCCD or UCCC based memory in order to get it all working. Have you checked out the stock speed database or the socket939 for other forum members running an X2 processor and OCZ VX ram? You might get lucky and find someone who has solved the BIOS, voltage, memory setting puzzle that would allow your setup to run. Check 'em out. There are bunches of posts there and post in each of them is confirmed bootable and stable.

 

Luck

 

Thanks wevsspot, I you may be right about the memory controller. The RAM I tested in the MSI Neo2 Plat was a single stick (DDR400 1GB x 1), thus not utilizing dual channel. I have an older set of DDR333 (2x 512MB) and that didn't work in dual channel either. Before I RMA the X2 I'll try what Nodrak said.

 

This sounds like a similar issue to the one I just had with my Opteron 170 and my Mushkin Redline @ 3.2v.

 

Boot up with 1 stick, and set your BIOS settings to something that fits your ram. Make sure you Vdimm is 3.2 or higher. If you have to change a setting, save it, and reboot back into the BIOS. Then power down, and shut off the PSU (I had to leave my cord in). Wait about 15-30 mins and try to boot. If it doesn't work then, try waiting for longer. The first time it worked for me I had to wait longer than 2hrs. As your board runs, it seems to 'burn in' so to speak, because my wait times kept droping untill I could successfuly cold boot.

 

I hope this helps, it took me 4 days to get my SLI-D up

 

Thread of my issue: http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68054

 

Thanks for the post, I really appreciate it. I'll try it tonight.