D975XBX2 + newbie = disaster

bumblyhumbly · Post by **bumblyhumbly** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 5:43 pm

I work in a lab building systems, so I thought grabbing a 975XBX2KR and throwing a E6600 Conroe in it would be child's play. Simple...plug it in, turn it on.

I couldn't have been more wrong. Nothing I've tried has made any difference whatsoever. I've read for days about everyone else's problems hoping to see mine and I'm about ready to give up. Maybe one of you experts can give me a clue how to make this thing boot.

First - I am out of the case, wanting to make it boot before I batten down the hatches and screw in to the case because it'll be a real hassle to take it out again if I have to for whatever reason. So its sitting (insulated) on top of my desk. No grounding issues at all exist, that's certain.

I have a E6600 Conroe, boots on other Intel boards.
I have a 700W PS, fires up on other Intel boards. (not sure what my amps rate to...does it matter?)
DDR2 = Hynix PC6400, 4 DIMMS, single sided, 8 chips per. It works on other Intel boards. (800Mhz, right?)

I am only trying to work with a simple Diamond PCI video card to a NEC 19" MultiSynch 90GX2 panel.
Hard drive is XP SP2 on SATA2.
Floppy drive is simply a floppy drive.
usual ports for k-board and mouse...that is to say, not USB.

I plug in the long power connector, the 2x4 (adapted from 2x2) and the 1x4 too. I plug fans into all the little connectors. I do NOT have the lights and buttons and all that plugged in to the board...ONLY the main power supplies and fans.

I push the little white power button on the board and not a darn thing happens. well...I do get a little green light on. But that's it.

Anyone have an idea where I start with this?

Do I need to put it in the case with all the little connectors attached?
Does power supply Amps matter and if so, what do I need?

I am about ready to turn this into a $200 frisbee. Any help anyone could offer would be GREATLY appreciated!!

frosty22 · Post by **frosty22** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 6:12 pm

No fans come on nothing huh? But the led on the board lights up. In this case, I usually pull the CPU back out and inspect everything, then I reseat the memory. Drop down to just 1 stick. get on the net and make sure the ram you have is compatable with your motherboard. I've had really good ram...only to find out it wouldn't boot in my new board. Try shorting out the two pins that power the board on...in case that on button is kapput.

A 700w PSU should be fine. I'm not sure about your vid card tho...can you put in a pci-e? I would think a pci would work tho.

frosty

bumblyhumbly · Post by **bumblyhumbly** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 7:40 pm

Hi Frosty, thanks for trying to help. Sincerely appreciate it...

OK, I borrowed a PCI card that displays POST codes (not that I know what they all mean but I do know some of them).

The CPU fan turns on, other fans turn on. POST card sows FF for a brief second, then goes dark...I power off, power back on again, same thing. Monitor never shows green light indicating a signal.

I reseated memory, reseated CPU - same symptoms. I would think I'd get a post code D0 or close to it for memory related problems. I know that D starts most memory problem codes.

This may not be correct, but I found this as relating to my Hynix memory and all Intel chipsets: http://www.intel.com/technology/memory/ ... w09_07.pdf

And the Intel mobo page: http://www.intel.com/products/motherboa ... /index.htm
which generically says up to 8G DDR2 800, DDR2 667, or DDR2 533 MHz up to 4 DIMMs but unfortunately does not talk about brands at all.

I will try different DIMMS and report back here. Anyone know where I can find a list of what DIMMs definitely will and wont work with my board/CPU combo of E6600+D975XBX2...or is that above all there is? It doesn't mention my hardware specifically so that's a little ambiguous.

- I do not have a PCIe video card, thinking I wanted to boot this thing and then upgrade one device at a time. Start with a hard drive with XP on it already, simple PCI video, etc....then I was going to upgrade video, upgrade the hard drive (I have a Raptor sitting by waiting) upgrade to Vista, add DVD burner, etc.

I know I should be getting at least some kind of information on the screen even with an outdated bios, even with no hard drive attached I should get some minimal info. But nothing.

I read in another post here that Intel's customer service cost's $25 per incident - is that right? At this point I'd pay. I'm really heartbroken. And worried that this is going to cost me waaaaay more than I expected.

thanks again for your help, guys.

frosty22 · Post by **frosty22** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 8:26 pm

You'll get it...hang in there. What fun would it be if it was easy?
Did you run through this list?
http://www.intel.com/support/motherboar ... ssorissues
Do you have both power connectors plugged in? there should be an 8 pin one, near the CPU. these dual cores need more juice than the older systems. and a 24 pin. If your getting fans to kick on...thats a good sign we can get it to run.

bumblyhumbly · Post by **bumblyhumbly** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 8:44 pm

thnaks....I have 3 power supply connectors applied to the board.

The big main power connector on there, its either 20 pins or 24, something like that. A 2x4 plug which is really adapted from a 2x2 on the PSU itself. And I have a 1x4 that is typically used on IDE drives and the like, but the board has a spot for one and the user guide shows it as being the same power supply as the others so I have it on there just to be sure.

frosty22 · Post by **frosty22** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 8:55 pm

ftp://download.intel.com/design/motherb ... 4501US.pdf
Page 70 of this, is interesting. usually you reset the CMOS, but this says to actually move the jumper over to 2-3 pins and power up. To get setup to run. That's new to me.
Also read 81....

That legacy connector (4 pins) is for pci-e cards. gives those slots an extra kick.

BlueMagic · Post by **BlueMagic** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 9:00 pm

Your Diamond video card is seated in a PCI slot ?
Your SATA hard drive (configured for SATA 3.0) is plugged into the black SATA port marked 0 ?

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 9:00 pm

Correct. To get in to POST BIOS on this board you need to move the jumper to 2 & 3. Set up your BIOS, hit F10, message will tell you to power down. Put jumper back to 1 & 2 and reboot.

bumblyhumbly, I feel your frustration, here are some POST codes for this mobo.

http://support.intel.com/support/mother ... 025434.htm

Hang in there. I really like my XBX2 and you'll be quite happy with it once you figure this thing out.

frosty22 · Post by **frosty22** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 9:05 pm

From the manuel...that looks like a really nice board.

Are you getting any beep codes?

bumblyhumbly · Post by **bumblyhumbly** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 9:27 pm

Thanks again guys

- PCI card in a white pci slot, check. PCIe slot is black.

- SATA drive plugged into a black sata port, check. Tried slots designated 0 and also 1. Power to drive is connected.

- Beep codes...can't tell, since I don't have it in the case and only fans and power and plugged in.

The Antec 900 case is still in the box. That's another variable that I haven't added, but could I guess. All it could hurt at this point is that I'd have to take it out again at some point.

I really wanted to boot (or debug) first before putting it in because once its in there, its going to be hard to see, hard to get to jumpers, etc.

Do you guys think I have to have it in the case, or is it common that boards boot out like I am tying to do? I know in my lab they ALL do. But those are not regular consumer boards like this one. Is it possible that the power supply needs spome kind of power good signal back from the board or case that is not getting supplied due to it being out like this, or is that a silly notion?

I am going to try to do the jumper operations you described and see if it gives me a different symptom.

frosty22 · Post by **frosty22** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:05 pm

always put mine in the case. But I know guys that run them outside the case. I don't know if it has to be grounded to the PSU.

It has a built in speaker, so you must not be getting any beeps.

bumblyhumbly · Post by **bumblyhumbly** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 11:15 pm

Ah, right, forgot the built in speaker...so then no, I am not getting any beeps at all. That has to be a clue to the problem

IRQ Conflict · Post by **IRQ Conflict** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 12:59 am

The XBX2 does not have a beep at boot like older MB's. Not hearing a beep at post in this case is a good thing.

vddobrev · Post by **vddobrev** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:19 am

What revision is your board? Error code FF indicates a processor exception - do you have another CPU that you can try?

frosty22 · Post by **frosty22** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 8:22 am

There was a guy in the eVGA forum who didn't take the plastic cover off the bottom of the CPU. How he got it in the socket is beyond me.

bumblyhumbly · Post by **bumblyhumbly** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 11:08 am

Now my CPU doeswn't work in another board. I don't know if the board killed it or if it was the reason the board wouldn't boot. Got to get something else to plug int here and see what happens. This might cost me a million dollars.

progrip · Post by **progrip** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:22 pm

I doubt that the motherboard killed the processor. Just return it to the store, get another.

SergioLeNo1 · Post by **SergioLeNo1** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 8:00 am

Just a suggestion to try.

I had the same problem and unfortunately no noise only that little light.

Check your 12 volt connector connection from powersupply to mobo. I had to pull connector out and replug it inverse. There a protection on the system that protects the system if polarity is reverse....

Good lock