Possibly upgrading my PC - Dual core useful for GPL?

[NickyIckx]

It should be possible to recover the BIOS via the support CD.

yeah , it have those ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 utility. ( I just downloaded that ASUS M2N-E manual , thats
why I do know , lol ) .

  did you saved your old BIOS files to Floppy ,USB Stick or to your Hard disk ?

  best would be , you will find the support CD

 :(to be honest ; I do not have any experiences with those Chrash free stuff . dont kow how it works .
as your PC has been shut down /reset ,/power off , I guess , after BIOS updated failed , it could mean recovery informations on he BIOS chip arent `reachable `anymore . dunno .
I will search the internet ....

[Asbjeurn Tverberg]

did you saved your old BIOS files to Floppy ,USB Stick or to your Hard disk ?

Yes, I saved it on the HD. Can't remember exactly were I put it atm, but I believe I will be able to find it if I get as far as getting access to the HD. I've been looking through ASUS' home page to see if I can find any recovery related downloads, but I'm not sure what I should look for.

EDIT: Found a thread from someone with a similar problem as mine on the ASUS forum that might help:

Having read all the comments possible on the forums I fixed it myself.
Removed all RAM except for 1 Gb. Cleared CMOS and removed battery.
Replaced battery and rebooted. Went into BIOS and reentered data.
Shut down and replaced 1Gb RAM with 2Gb stick and rebooted.
opened BIOS and resaved.
Slowly put in RAM till back up to original 6Gb and all working fine.

I guess that is about the same solution as you suggested, Nicky.

[NickyIckx]

  yes

thats what I worked out meanwhile , before reading your last post :


Well after searching the internet , I would suggest to do this in order :

1.   remove the power cord of the PC , if there is a switch on the PSU , turn it to off.
2.   remove all periphery from the rear end off the PC , except the monitor ,except mouse and keyboard as long they are PS2. If they are USB remove them and plug in PS2 ones instead .
3.   open the PC and remove the battery on the motherboard and make clear cmos via jumper . ( see manual http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?model=M2N-E&SLanguage=en-us ) .
4.   wait 10 min , then bring back the jumpers to default position , as well set in back the battery .
5.   plug in the power cord , switch on the PSU
6.    start the PC and try to enter BIOS setup ( choose default/save settings )


Note : sometimes it could be even necessary to remove any sort of RAID ( if installed  )
           As well it could be necessary to use most basic RAM , in your case PC 800. ( any faster could create probs after  the clear cmos procedure , cause sometimes  the restored default basic save BIOS settings did not know of the exist of faster RAM etc. )

Always good idea to use only 1 RAM while troubleshooting boot failures .
(size doesnt matter , only one unit is the point ).

Once your lucky and Windows is back to work , you can reinstall all RAM and RAID and whatever…


If still nothing helps:
Stop working on it . save time and nerves by buying an new BIOS chip .
Including shipping shouldn’t be more then 20€ . ( make sure you have the needed pincer tool , to remove the BIOS chip from your motherboard . should have been part of your ASUS package . )

Important :
try to keep in mind to never ever again  update BIOS via Windows !!!!!
( coz. its unstable and  placing that BIOS informations and backup on a HDD , which cant be acess after failing BIOS update is obviously a stupid idea ).


good luck

[Asbjeurn Tverberg]

OK, finally got time to fix the BIOS, but the other problem still isn't solved. The computer still blacks out after a few minutes.

[john roberts]

OK, finally got time to fix the BIOS, but the other problem still isn't solved. The computer still blacks out after a few minutes.

you say that you have checked that the PC isn't overheating and the fans are working (cpu/gpu).

does the PC lockup or switch off when it blacks out as you say ?

does it lock up under load (cpu/gpu being stressed) or after a similar time ?

john

[Asbjeurn Tverberg]

It just blacks out, and I lose all contact with it - hitting ctrl-alt-del doesn't help, but it doesn't switch off. I need to push either the reset button to reset it or the power button to turn it off. It's not under any certain load either when it blacks out.

[john roberts]

It just blacks out, and I lose all contact with it - hitting ctrl-alt-del doesn't help, but it doesn't switch off. I need to push either the reset button to reset it or the power button to turn it off. It's not under any certain load either when it blacks out.

ok does it always happen after a length of time ?

have you tried a different psu ?

john

[NickyIckx]

 
Hi Asbjeurn ,


1.   check out if its an hardware  related problem

start the PC with most less hardware connected like :
unplug all unnecessary fans from the motherboard ;
no floppy , no CD or DVD ,only 1 HDD , no expansion cards except Video card .
Only one unit of RAM .
Use only PS2  mouse and keyboard . no USB ones. ( none usb stuff at all ).
Inside BIOS choose save/default settings.

Note : as to the RAM
To figure out if a single RAM slot or RAM unit doesn’t work proper , you have to go through a number of combinations.
Best to mark each RAM and start with the slot closed to the CPU socket.


2. check out if its still a software related problem  :

A: start into windows save mode ( pressing F8 key while booting , I guess )

B.: make a fresh Windows install on another HDD , ( if you have one )

C.: start another PC with your HDD , ingnore all `found new hardware `information .
Just watch if PC starts into Windows  and if it stay there ..



Cant help , but I got the feeling the motherboard got damaged by the usb camera.
But that’s a shot in the dark………


Good luck

Edit :

Forgot to ask , you did fix the BIOS back to its original version , right ?
( is the CPU detected right by the BIOS , mean the name and version .
could be seen at boot sequence , written in white letters. ( hit pause key the moment cpu is listed , helps to study it proper ).

[Asbjeurn Tverberg]

Yeah, bugger. I realised today that I was a bit too quick to reassemble the computer and start it up again. was tidying up and found the printout of you checklist, and saw all the points I should check after resetting the BIOS. Will have a look later.

[Asbjeurn Tverberg]

Cant help , but I got the feeling the motherboard got damaged by the usb camera.
But that’s a shot in the dark………

That wasn't too far fetched, I guess. I disconnected the internals like you said, and turned on the computer. It worked fine, seemingly. Then I reconnected the internals one after the other, turning on the computer between each, and having it turned on for a while, and the computer seemed fine until I plugged in the USB connections in the front (where I connected the camera). Then it went five minutes or so, and it blacked out again.

So I guess it's got something to do with the USB's in the front. Perhaps the cable connecting them to the motherboard is damaged somehow. Actually there was a similar cable laying around in the cabinet, not connected to anything. Maybe I should try plugging that in and see what happens.

[NickyIckx]

 
Hi Asbjeurn ,

Good to hear your PC is on the way back to work .

Studying the ASUS M2N-E manual , I found this on page 24 :
WARNUNG : never connect a 1394 cable to the USB connector.
Doing so will damage the motherboard.

As I havnt a clue what  1394 cable is  ,I did search Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_1394_interface 


Maybe a look into ya camera-manual will spot some light on it .

Keep it on
Nicky

[Turkey Machine]

Hi Asbjeurn ,

Good to hear your PC is on the way back to work .

Studying the ASUS M2N-E manual , I found this on page 24 :
WARNUNG : never connect a 1394 cable to the USB connector.
Doing so will damage the motherboard.

As I havnt a clue what  1394 cable is  ,I did search Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_1394_interface 


Maybe a look into ya camera-manual will spot some light on it .

Keep it on
Nicky

The reason they say that is because 1394 (aka FireWire) and USB run at different voltages / amps and have slightly different pin connectors on the motherboard.

By the sounds of things Asbjeurn, the front USB ports are faulty and you'd be wise to disconnect them to solve the problems. It could be a faulty lead which is drawing more power than can handle and is causing issues, but actually, knowing ASUS and the problems those motherboards have, it's more likely a crap drivers issue.

Disconnect, move on.

[NickyIckx]

 

knowing ASUS and the problems those motherboards have, it's more likely a crap drivers issue.

maybe  worth to delete all USB drivers via device manager ,reboot and install them fresh from motherboard CD.

slightly different pin connectors on the motherboard.

  wonder how slightly... but must be a way to connect wrong cable, if there is a warning in the manual.
( I never have seen  a 1394 cable I guess )

[Asbjeurn Tverberg]

Hm, I'm beginning to think. I had a friend of mine put the computer together. His knowledge on the field he's got from a fourteen days or so course, so he's not a rocket scientist to put it that way. Maybe he used a 1394 cable to connect the USB contacts without knowing what trouble it could (or would) cause? I don't believe that I used those contacts before I plugged in the camera, so maybe that triggered all the mayhem?

I don't know what that cable looks like. I took pictures of all the connections before I disconnected them, just to know where to reconnect them. The picture below shows the cables that connected the USB ports to the motherboard. The one connected on the left (marked HD AUDIO on the plug that's not connected) did nothing wrong to the function of the computer, I believe. The other one, though, the gray one, which is not connected on the picture, is the one that caused trouble. It was plugged into the blue contact behind it. Is that a 1394 cable?

[Turkey Machine]

Hm, I'm beginning to think. I had a friend of mine put the computer together. His knowledge on the field he's got from a fourteen days or so course, so he's not a rocket scientist to put it that way. Maybe he used a 1394 cable to connect the USB contacts without knowing what trouble it could (or would) cause? I don't believe that I used those contacts before I plugged in the camera, so maybe that triggered all the mayhem?

I don't know what that cable looks like. I took pictures of all the connections before I disconnected them, just to know where to reconnect them. The picture below shows the cables that connected the USB ports to the motherboard. The one connected on the left (marked HD AUDIO on the plug that's not connected) did nothing wrong to the function of the computer, I believe. The other one, though, the gray one, which is not connected on the picture, is the one that caused trouble. It was plugged into the blue contact behind it. Is that a 1394 cable?

The easiest way to find out is to try it in the identical port next to it in blue, probably marked USB_2. However, just trace the cable back to the ports and work out whether they are actually USB ports - square with a tongue. Firewire is an odd shaped port.

If that doesn't work, leave them disconnected, since it's obvious they're causing the problem.