Asus P8Z68 Deluxe LEDs and Q Codes

[rgresh1]

Last weekend I built a new PC using the P8Z68 Deluxe.

When I attempted booting the PC for the first time no signal was would go to the monitor and the Boot Device LED and VGA LED were both lit in addition to the on board Q code reading: AE ("Legacy Boot Event").

Logically I interpreted this as a boot issue/error regarding the video card. Fortunately I had an old 6800 Ultra PCIE 1.0 sitting around and swapped it with my GTX580. Same errors, same code.

I knew my memory serial ID was not in the qualified vendor list for the board so I turned my attention to this. I removed my second stick from slot B2 and boot was fine and signal came out OK. I quickly updated all MoBo drivers/BIOS, added the second stick, and the PC has worked fine since (including day long stress tests).

I find it strange that the MoBo indicated no RAM related boot issue and instead steered my attention towards the VGA.

Was my interpretation of the error code and LEDs wrong? Has anyone else been mislead by the on board diagnostics? I'd rather no error code than one that is incorrect ...

P8Z68 Deluxe
i7 2600K
(2X4) Corsair Vengeance
EVGA Superclocked GTX580
ADATA S511 120GB SSD
Corsair H100 Cooling

 

[suteck]

Just a dumb question - how did you logically interpret ""legacy boot event"" as the video card? To me that code could be any hardware failed the initial startup test performed by the bios before handing off to windows. Most of the time it refers to the drives needing to be in the proper order, cd/dvd or hdd first.

 

[rgresh1]

Just a dumb question - how did you logically interpret ""legacy boot event"" as the video card? To me that code could be any hardware failed the initial startup test performed by the bios before handing off to windows. Most of the time it refers to the drives needing to be in the proper order, cd/dvd or hdd first.

Just because the VGA led was the only real component part lit up. The ram has its own led that was not lit. Additionally, I had not even installed windows, no signal went to monitor (another video card indicator I thought), and thus couldn't even enter bios.

Additionally the board has a mem test button on it. When I ran the mem test it appeared to have not failed based on manuals discription of a failed mem test.

 

[suteck]

So you believed it was the video card - what color was the light? Red usually means bad and green or amber usually means ok. Did you remove the video card and try the on-die graphics or did you go straight to the memory? Making sure the memory is seated properly and in the right slots is always a good first check so you did good there. So I guess the original question about
"Was my interpretation of the error code and LEDs wrong? Has anyone else been mislead by the on board diagnostics? I'd rather no error code than one that is incorrect ..." Would be correct - your interpretation of the error code was wrong. As I mentioned earlier, I believe Lagacy boot event means you have a piece of hardware broken, connected wrong or configured incorrectly. It doesn't actually tell you which piece it is. And it's most likely a broad or general indicator, not an actual direct find mechanism.

 

[rgresh1]

Unfortunately I cannot remember the color of the LEDs now and problem is gone and non repeatable since updating all drivers. Now I cannot remember whether LEDs were green or red, but I DO remember looking it up in the manual enough to know whatever color it was for the board signaled a problem for that component.

Seems to me the Boot Device LED and Legacy Boot Event Q Code were spot on ... only thing getting me was the VGA light lit while RAM light dark when the RAM in my B2 slot was the eventual culprit. I guess I was hoping for more of a "direct find mechanism" than "general indicator".

Either way the boot indicators helped me solve the problem ... the VGA light just slowed me down a bit and added a step to my troubleshooting it seems.

 

[suteck]

Well I'm glad you got it worked out and now maybe you can enjoy your new machine - have fun