EVGA x58 MOBO won't post

[Zaney2522]

I just bought an XFX r9 380 and installed it into my evga x58 motherboard. The screen had some weird color problems before post, but it turned on and all the drivers installed fine. I restarted the computer, ate lunch, came back, and the computer was stuck at those post screen issues. I restarted the computer and, welp, nothing. Nothing at all. Not even a "beep" to tell me that it was booting. The hard drive, disc drive, motherboard lights, fans, literally everything is on. But nothing is happening. The post led on the motherboard seems to switch around between f6, f9, and 69 sometimes, and then lands on 25 and stays there. I unplugged my r9 380, put my gtx 260 (Ew.) back in, and nothing changed, still no boot. Can anyone help?

i7 920 2.67GHz
8GBs ripjaw DDR3 ram
XFX r9 380 (new card)
EVGA gtx 260 (old card)
EVGA x58 SLI motherboard

 

[Twigman]

I am unfamiliar with post led status', but can you remove any graphics card, unplug all usb devices (excluding any keyboards and mice) and boot using the integrated graphics? Does that make any difference? ~

EDIT: Whoops, just discovered that the i7 920 does not have an iGPU. Try unplugging everything else though but the 260 ~

 

[Zaney2522]

I am unfamiliar with post led status', but can you remove any graphics card, unplug all usb devices (excluding any keyboards and mice) and boot using the integrated graphics? Does that make any difference? ~

EDIT: Whoops, just discovered that the i7 920 does not have an iGPU. Try unplugging everything else though but the 260 ~

By everything you mean my external stuff, right?

 

[Twigman]

Yep, everything but keyboard and mouse. You can try without internet too if you're wired in, but I have a feeling that won't make much of a difference ~

 

[Twigman]

So I've had a look in the user manual for the EVGA x58 SLI and found that;
25 - Shadow VBIOS
69 - Initialise cache controller

There is no mention of a 'f6' or 'f9', but there is an entry for 6f - FDD Install. Now unless I have the term wrong, you're not using a floppy disk drive are you?

Can I just confirm actually that you have the x58 SLI, and not the SLI3 or 4-Way SLI? And if the 4 codes already given are the only ones? ~

 

[Zaney2522]

Yep, everything but keyboard and mouse. You can try without internet too if you're wired in, but I have a feeling that won't make much of a difference ~

Sorry about the delay, but it didn't work.....

 

[Zaney2522]

So I've had a look in the user manual for the EVGA x58 SLI and found that;
25 - Shadow VBIOS
69 - Initialise cache controller

There is no mention of a 'f6' or 'f9', but there is an entry for 6f - FDD Install. Now unless I have the term wrong, you're not using a floppy disk drive are you?

Can I just confirm actually that you have the x58 SLI, and not the SLI3 or 4-Way SLI? And if the 4 codes already given are the only ones? ~

this is my motherboard manual: http://www.evga.com/support/manuals/files/132-BL-E758.pdf

LOL, no I'm not using a floppy disc drive. do you know what shadow vbios (25) actually means?

 

[Twigman]

Yep, that's the manual I've been reading. *phew*, you're not still using floppy disks...*shoots an angry glance at my father*

I don't know what it directly is, but combine it with 69 (cache) and I'm going to hazard a guess at it being a memory problem. We can attempt to confirm this if you like? If the computer posts with no ram in, then you need to replace that. If it still doesn't post then I'm afraid I'm going to have to declare it dead. How many sticks of ram do you have installed currently?~

 

[Zaney2522]

Yep, that's the manual I've been reading. *phew*, you're not still using floppy disks...*shoots an angry glance at my father*

I don't know what it directly is, but combine it with 69 (cache) and I'm going to hazard a guess at it being a memory problem. We can attempt to confirm this if you like? If the computer posts with no ram in, then you need to replace that. If it still doesn't post then I'm afraid I'm going to have to declare it dead. How many sticks of ram do you have installed currently?~

Im 100% sure it isnt ram. It might be the slots however, but I dont understand how all of those could go bad at once (but with the luck I've had with this computer, it is nowhere near impossible). I just got a brand new set of 8 gbs to replace my 4gbs, and I've swapped them out several times during this whole event and nothing has changed.

Update: I tried taking out all the ram like you said, and now the computer is just turning on and off by itself. This thing must be cursed, I swear LOL.

 

[Twigman]

It is entirely possible I'm barking up the wrong tree with the ram. Sticks which have been in use for a while aren't likely to suddenly cause problems, it's the new ones which are. However it could be the slot itself.

It might not be several things, could just be one thing causing everything else to just not work. My last computer had a single dodgy ram stick which caused 3 different computer shops to misdiagnose it as anything from a dying hard drive to faulty Windows installation. I'm sorry I cannot be of more help than 'try this' or 'try that'.

I have found out what shadow BIOS is though (not VBIOS), it is the act of copying the rom (where the bios is stored) to the ram so the computer can access it quicker. Your computer is getting stuck on this stage meaning it either cannot complete the transfer or it is unable to move on once it has finished. Have you tried pulling the motherboard battery out to clear the CMOS? ~

 

[Zaney2522]

It is entirely possible I'm barking up the wrong tree with the ram. Sticks which have been in use for a while aren't likely to suddenly cause problems, it's the new ones which are. However it could be the slot itself.

It might not be several things, could just be one thing causing everything else to just not work. My last computer had a single dodgy ram stick which caused 3 different computer shops to misdiagnose it as anything from a dying hard drive to faulty Windows installation. I'm sorry I cannot be of more help than 'try this' or 'try that'.

I have found out what shadow BIOS is though (not VBIOS), it is the act of copying the rom (where the bios is stored) to the ram so the computer can access it quicker. Your computer is getting stuck on this stage meaning it either cannot complete the transfer or it is unable to move on once it has finished. Have you tried pulling the motherboard battery out to clear the CMOS? ~

haha, funny that you say that. My mom's crappy vista computer stopped working this morning simply because one bad ram stick caused the entire computer to go bad. Once we took the bad stick out, it worked fine.

thanks for your research. I tried resetting the bios through the red button on the mobo, and I've also tried resetting y pulling out the battery. It's very possible that the battery is dead, since this pc was made in like 2010, but that wouldn't have anything to do with it not even going into the posting stage.

 

[Twigman]

Yep, when ram goes wrong dang does it mess everything up -_-

So there's nothing external stopping it, you've checked the ram and hard drives don't mess with the motherboard posting. Only things left (based off the codes) are the motherboard itself or the CPU throwing a tantrum. Even then, I think the mobo would recognise a faulty CPU.

It's fine, I enjoy excuses to read random computer manuals late at night 😛 ~

 

[Zaney2522]

Yep, when ram goes wrong dang does it mess everything up -_-

So there's nothing external stopping it, you've checked the ram and hard drives don't mess with the motherboard posting. Only things left (based off the codes) are the motherboard itself or the CPU throwing a tantrum. Even then, I think the mobo would recognise a faulty CPU.

It's fine, I enjoy excuses to read random computer manuals late at night 😛 ~

That's so strange... I just busted my budget on that graphics card, LOL. It's moments like this when I just want to sell all my equipment and start a new hobby. XD

Thanks for your help. You were the only person who actually replied to any of my posts about this on forums 😛 I appreciate it