No video signal on D975xbx2

[maryh]

Hello, I hope someone might have some insight on my issues. I just purchased a box retail version of the D975XBX2 board. Powered up the board and wasn't always able to get into the bios settings, video wasn't always signaling to the monitor, no sound from board speaker, and the floppy drive always hung it up. I read that the board required an significant amount of power so I upgraded my power supply to an Enermax Liberty 500W. It started running better, tried to install windows, however received error messages each time regarding iastor.sys base/boot/setup/oemdisk.c, among other errors such as cannot find hard drives although they were listed in the bios menu. After playing with it for awhile I finally got to the "continue to load windows" then received file "cdfs.sys is corrupt" error message. After restart, now I have no video signal at all. I tried another brand new monitor, so the cables are ruled out. The fan still spins on the graphic card, so it is getting power. I bought a cheaper plain ole PCI graphics card just to see if I could get it going but that was a waste of money. I reseated the memory, switched their positions, cleared the cmos and removed the battery with no luck. Does anyone have any suggestions? I can't update the bios without a video signal, so that is not an option. Do you think it could be the memory, or the graphics card, or maybe just a board or bios problem? I am going broke replacing parts with no headway insight.
I know the board was actually made to run the dual cores and the higher ram, but the specs said that it was capble of also running what I have so far, so I wouldn't think that it would be an capability issue.
Thank you so much in adavance to anyone that takes the time out of their busy schedules to read and perhaps has a suggestion.


My specs so far:
D975XBX2
Corsair Value select DDR2-533 PC2-4200 512X2
Enermax Liberty 500W PS
Geforce 6600 512 MB
Pentium 4 3.2 CPU with stock fan
Maxtor 250G sata on Port 0
Seagate 250G IDE with sata converter on port 1
2 dvd-rw drives on IDE (sony and Lightscribe)
floopy drive disconnected as couldn't be recognized so now have a USB floppy
trying to load Windows XP Media Center

[kenc51]

I suspect it's your motherboard!
You could try "blind flash" the motherboard bios. You will need to create a bootable floppy disk and edit the "autoexec.bat" file.

:edit:
I forgot to say WELCOME!!!

[maryh]

Okay, still no luck with this board and I am not thrilled that Intel doesn't offer free tech support for this board. I think a company should offer as much support as they can for the customers that want to try their product.
Anyways, I am still getting nowhere with this board, and I am thinking of RMA.
Would anyone please offer me a suggestion on what board to purchase next that will operate for my specs that I have now and also be upgradeable in the future?
Thank you so much.

[maryh]

Thank you Kenc51...I honestly have no idea how to "blindflash" a motherboard. How could you flash it when you can't see and really hear what is going on? I get no sound from the motherboard speaker.
Thanks again for trying to help, I really don't want to RMA it, but I am getting tired of this computer not working.

[kenc51]

I done some searching.
You can download the bios update here
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts ... t&lang=eng

Get the .iso version. Open it with Nero and it will create a bootable update CD.
Then remove all HDD's and your floppy, and power on the board with the CD in. It will boot from the cd and update the bios automatically.

Just wait ~5mins before powering off to be sure the update has completed!

If that doesn't work, send it back!

Also, more info here
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/df-supp ... Readme.pdf

[maryh]

Thank you so much!! I will try it in a few minutes, and will be sure to let you know the outcome.

[maryh]

I tried it and there was no change. Guess, I will have to send it back. Do you have any suggestions on what other board I should buy? Thank you so much for everything you have done for me.

[kenc51]

I tried it and there was no change. Guess, I will have to send it back. Do you have any suggestions on what other board I should buy? Thank you so much for everything you have done for me.

Bummer!!!
How much is your budget?
The Asus P5W DH Deluxe & P5b deluxe are good motherboards. Both are stable and fast. The P5B is a little cheaper as it has the 965 chipset, the P5W is based on the 975 chipset like the D975XBX2.

[maryh]

Price isn't really an option if I can get the computer to work right. I am just tired of replacing parts and having no headway.
Now, the Asus P5W DH Deluxe will run everything that I have already?
The Asus P5W DH Deluxe was actually my other choice before I bought the Intel board. I only bought the Intel instead as I thought it was a better brand. Do you think I would have problems with my components on the Asus Deluxe board also as it seems to have similar specs as the Intel board....maybe too advanced for my components?

[kenc51]

The Asus P5W DH Deluxe is very stable. It will do everything the Intel board will do except it hasn't got the 3rd PCIe 16x slot.
It has been around for a while so all necessary Bios/driver updates have already been done (proven technology)
It will also run the Quad Core CPU's so it's as future proof as you can get.
It's on my short list of boards to buy when I upgrade!

[maryh]

Dear Kenc51,
Hey it is Mary again...just wanted to let you know that I went ahead and agreed on the P5W DH Deluxe. (Like I said before, it was my first choice of boards in the first place) but unfortunately, it is doing the same thing as the Intel board.... had video at first, and then I lost the video signal again.
Upgraded my RAM to OCZ 800 PC-6400 DDR2 (2X512), and it brought the video back once again, but then I lost the signal once more. And I can't seem to get it back.
You were so helpful the first time, I was hoping that maybe you had another suggestion on what I could try.
Thank you so much!
Mary

[kenc51]

Hey Mary!
It's good to see you back again, It's a pity it's under these circumstances (again )

Do you have another power supply you can try boot the system with? Just to eliminate it as a possible issue! Although your Enermax PSU should do fine, it might be worth a try

Also, are you running the system inside a case? Can you test again with everything running outside the case? Use the motherboard box and it's anti-static bag as your testbed. What I think could be happening is, the motherboard is "shorting out" (ie. making contact with your case/ground). This will cause the board not to boot. I'm thinking that when you insert the graphics card, you are bending the motherboard slightly and it causes the short. Even just try removing the screw(s) attaching you gfx card and pci card(s) to the case, this might relieve any strain on the board.
What could be the cause is, the motherboard "stand-offs" might not be screwed in fully, causing the board not to sit level inside the case.

[maryh]

Hey Kenc51!
Thanks as always...I am willing to try anything...
Okay...this is what I just tried...and
boy, do I have spare parts to play with from replacing so much....

I took the board right out of the case, sitting on the box insert. Hooked up the original power supply (which was replaced by the Enermax as the orginal was a cheaper Xion 450W). Jumped started the board with a screwdriver shorting out the power swtich prongs. No luck....so the case I would think would be completely ruled out.

I actually replaced the stand offs about 2 weeks ago, as I was already thinking that maybe one of them was shorting it out. I doubled checked the stand offs tonight. They are nice and tight.

Asus had me check the memory, so I contacted Corsair and they had me RMA it. Meanwhile, I bought OCZ memory thinking it would be better (but it is not), so I am almost ruling out the memory also, as now it is 2 different sets with no headway.

The only thing that hasn't been replaced is the CPU and the graphics card...and when I could get into the bios, they were both being recognized.

Any ideas? I have no drives attached, just the CPU, Memory, and graphics card. I am just at a loss....

Thank you my friend,
Mary

[kenc51]

The only thing I can see left is to test with another CPU and or GFX card

I'm sorry but I'm out of ideas.

[maryh]

Kenc51,
Just thought I let you know that I purchased another graphic card tonight. I will definately let you know next week what the outcome is.
Thank you for all of your help....the only thing left to replace is the CPU...shucks...got to laugh about all the problems I have been having...can't let a stupid thing like a computer get you down!!
Take Care and thanks,
Mary

[kenc51]

Kenc51,
Just thought I let you know that I purchased another graphic card tonight. I will definately let you know next week what the outcome is.
Thank you for all of your help....the only thing left to replace is the CPU...shucks...got to laugh about all the problems I have been having...can't let a stupid thing like a computer get you down!!
Take Care and thanks,
Mary

I hope everything works out for you!

Ken

[maryh]

I just replaced the graphics card yesterday (ATI X1650 DDR2 512 MB). With the new card for the first hour or so, I still had no video signal, and then I decided to try it one last time. And my goodness golly, something kicked in, and I have had video since then. So I went into the cmos and entered what I thought was the correct memory timings and so far, knock on wood, it is running not completely stable (freezes every now and then), but enough to try and to do some adjustments. Now, I am having a problem loading windows..I get Driver IRQL not less than equal error, stop error 7E, among a few others. I gave up last night after about 100 trys but will try and research today to see what could be causing this. If anyone has any ideas, I would really be appreciative. On F6, I installed the recent intel raid driver. I have a feeling it is some on my settings somewhere, I just dont know where to look or what to do.
Thanks again,
Mary

[Sporg]

Now, I am having a problem loading windows..I get Driver IRQL not less than equal error, stop error 7E, among a few others...

I had a ton of problems with the first BDX2 board that I had, including that IRQL error. I RMA'd the board and the replacement has been working just fine.

For my HD setup I just went with a single SATA drive in the Intel Sata 0 port. I did not load any RAID drivers during install, but didn't plan on running RAID anyway.

I think my BIOS settings for it are Native, IDE.

Just keep an eye on the time you have left to RMA, if you've tried some good troubleshooting I would send the board back. Also, if you have a friend who has some compatible hardware that works, then try using some of their hardware or vice versa (dangit, the ninja is in my head!!!).

[maryh]

Thank you Sporg for your reply. However, I already RMAed the Intel board and went out and purchased a Asus P5W DH deluxe hoping it would resolve my issues. But, the Asus board did the same thing. Kenc51 and everyone else in this forum has been so helpful and courteous plugging along with me trying to resolve my issues that I still wanted to see if he or anyone else had any other suggestions.
So I kind of ruled out the board, it had to be something else causing the video issue. Asus advised me that the boards were not picking up the memory correctly, and the Asus board wasn't. The Asus board recognized the memory as PC2-4200, when the memory was actually PC2-6400, so they told me to manually set the timings into the cmos. I entered what I thought was the correct timings and also changed the dram setting to DDR2-800 in the cmos, and now the board recognizes it as the correct PC2-6400 memory, and I have a video signal now.
Now, I just can't make it through the install of windows. It goes as far as the copying the initial files and says windows is starting up, then I get the IRQL error along with others.
I have a Maxtor sata 250g HD, which is plugged in to sata 1 port( which would be the same as Intel's sata0), and I have the cmos set to standard IDE, enhanced mode, and the enhanced mode set to sata, as I only have one drive. If I understand the manual correctly, that is how it should be set with one sata drive. I tried to use the F6 during install and also tried not using it. I get the same response each time, error driver IRQL not less or equal. One thing that I am wondering about is that the post screen picks up my drive correctly, but if I try to use the Maxblast4 CD to set up the drive, format, partition, whatever, the Maxtor CD recognizes a drive under primary master, and then under unknown controller it lists a "bios drive 250G"? Does anyone know why the Maxtor program doesn't list my drive as the primary drive labeled a "Maxtor 250G"? Shouldn't it?
Thanks..I am getting so frazzled.
Mary

[seanriddle]

Mary-

Are you getting the IRQL crash on the D975XBX2 motherboard when loading XP 64-bit or Vista 64-bit? That's a known issue with the latest BIOSes. You can downgrade the BIOS to 2333 or disable Core Multiplexing in the BIOS. The next BIOS version is supposed to fix this.

Sean