©ASUSTEK COMPUTER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Rapid99 · ‎12-11-2012

Someone please help me before I lose whatever remnant of sanity I have left...

Story: I recently finished ordering the last of my parts for my new rig. Everything is brand new.
When I first built the computer, I was having an issue: it would freeze at the American Megatrends screen, with a solid red CPU_LED indicator on the board, telling me the EC or EC Flash is corrupt, etc. etc. etc., and it would shut itself off after 15 seconds... after a bunch of asking for help and research, it turns out that my new FX-8350 wasn't supported by the version of bios that came with the board. I bought a new BIOS chip.

New BIOS chip shows up, I install it... and it doesn't fix a thing. After more talking with ASUS support, they decide to advance RMA me a new board.
I finally get my new board, go through all of my installations, and... well, you can probably guess, but i'll tell you anyway. Solid red CPU_LED, AM screen, shuts itself off. I figure the only thing that could be possibly left is the CPU itself... (I tried different sets of RAM, and different Power Supplies)... I contact Newegg, and RMA my CPU.

It's been more than a month since this nightmare started, and I finally got my brand new replacement CPU today. I install it and, finally, no more red CPU_LED! I turn on the computer with just a GPU, CPU, CPU Fan, and Keyboard, and it goes to the AM screen, and there are no errors! Finally, it's all fixed!

Wrong. I hook up my peripherals, hard drives, etc., and turn the computer back on... it boots to the "Press DEL to enter BIOS" screen, and... it freezes. It doesn't post, I can't press DEL, it just freezes...
I restart, and now... solid red BOOT_DEVICE_LED... and it goes back to the American Megatrends screen... and it tells me to go fu*k myself and turns itself off... again...

I tried clearing CMOS, but no luck.

I just don't know at this point. I'm so sick and tired of all of this... almost 2 grand worth of parts, months waiting for it to all be ready to build, another month sending stuff back and forth from RMAs...

Never in my life have I had this much trouble building a computer.... if someone could help, please. I'm incredibly desperate at this point...

Chino · ‎12-11-2012

Let's start with your complete system specs, please. Try to make it as detail as possible.

Rapid99 · ‎12-11-2012

Chino wrote:
Let's start with your complete system specs, please. Try to make it as detail as possible.

Can't believe I left that out. My fault

OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
CASE: CM Storm Trooper Full ATX Case
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS Crosshair V Formula - BIOS Version 1703
PROCESSOR: AMD FX-8350
CPU COOLER: XIGMATEK Aegir Double HDT; 2x 5200RPM Delta fans in Push/Pull on Heatsink
GRAPHICS: HIS Radeon HD 7970 IceQ X2 (2x in Crossfire)
MEMORY: G.Skill Ripjaw X DDR3 @1866MHz (16GB)
POWER: Cooler Master Silent Pro 1,000W (Gold Rated)
HARD DRIVES:
-Crucial M4 SSD - 128GB (OS, Non-game applications)
-Crucial M4 SSD - 256GB (Major Games and Programs)
-WD Black Caviar HDD @ 7200RPM - 1TB (Minor Games and General Files)
-WD Black Caviar HDD @7200RPM - 1TB (Dedicated to Video Recording)
KEYBOARD: Logitech G19
MOUSE: Logitech G9x

Myk_SilentShado · ‎12-11-2012

Since this is a brand new setup, you need to press F1 to access the BIOS. When you get to the American Megatrends screen on bootup, it should say near the bottom of the screen...somewhere, that you need to hit F1

ROG Overclocking Education Center ||| ROG RealBench Tweaks & Tips

Rapid99 · ‎12-11-2012

Myk SilentShadow wrote:
Since this is a brand new setup, you need to press F1 to access the BIOS. When you get to the American Megatrends screen on bootup, it should say near the bottom of the screen...somewhere, that you need to hit F1

I wish that was the case 😕

oldbrave · ‎12-11-2012

OK, lets see if wee can't get you so's your just a little bit crazy! 🙂
Set up your system with just the CPU, one stick of memory in the farthest slot from the processor, the 128Gb SSD in sata slot 1. just one video card in the top PCI-Ex16. if your Keyboard and mouse are USB then make sure that you plug them into a usb 2 connections, not usb 3 !
When you see the post data hit the screen then tap the del key two or three times to get you into the bios.
INFO: you should always set the boot drive up to Sata port 1, just seems to make things go a bit smoother.
ANYWHO give my set up a try and see if you find joy ! 🙂

Electronic Smoke Signals From my TechnoTeepee
ASUS Crosshair V Formula AM3+ 990FX, 1703 bios
AMD FX 8350 Vishera @ 5162Mhz [21x245] 1.546v 🙂
Water Cooled - Koolance EX2-1055, CPU 370 WB, Idle=22c Load=52c
32Gb G.Skill Sniper ddr3 1600 8G X 4 , 9-9-9-24 @ 1.55v
ASUS HD7970-DC2T-3GD5, Cat 13.5 beta 2, Dell U3011 @ 2560x1600
SanDisk Extreme 120Gb SSD SATA 6Gb, 250Gb SATA 6Gb, 1Tb SATA 6Gb x2
Win 7 Ultimate 64bit, Corsair Obsidian 800D, Corsair HX1000w PSU

Chino · ‎12-11-2012

oldbrave wrote:
OK, lets see if wee can't get you so's your just a little bit crazy! 🙂
Set up your system with just the CPU, one stick of memory in the farthest slot from the processor, the 128Gb SSD in sata slot 1. just one video card in the top PCI-Ex16. if your Keyboard and mouse are USB then make sure that you plug them into a usb 2 connections, not usb 3 !
When you see the post data hit the screen then tap the del key two or three times to get you into the bios.
INFO: you should always set the boot drive up to Sata port 1, just seems to make things go a bit smoother.
ANYWHO give my set up a try and see if you find joy ! 🙂

In addition to oldbrave's advice, please disconnect or recheck all your internal connectors (USB headers, Firewire, Front Audio, etc). And make sure your CPU heatsink is connected to the right header too.

Rapid99 · ‎12-11-2012

oldbrave wrote:
OK, lets see if wee can't get you so's your just a little bit crazy! 🙂
Set up your system with just the CPU, one stick of memory in the farthest slot from the processor, the 128Gb SSD in sata slot 1. just one video card in the top PCI-Ex16. if your Keyboard and mouse are USB then make sure that you plug them into a usb 2 connections, not usb 3 !
When you see the post data hit the screen then tap the del key two or three times to get you into the bios.
INFO: you should always set the boot drive up to Sata port 1, just seems to make things go a bit smoother.
ANYWHO give my set up a try and see if you find joy ! 🙂

Awwwh man, ok. Good news so far.

Brought it down to minimal hardware. CPU, heatsink, 1 stick of ram in farthest slot, and GPU.
It brought up the AM screen again, but it actually gave me the "F1 to Enter Setup" option now that was mentioned by Myk SilentShadow.

I'm afraid to do anything to it now ._. lol

Myk_SilentShado · ‎12-11-2012

Rapid99 wrote:
I wish that was the case 😕

Hmmm, try pressing and holding the CLRCMOS button on the I/O Panel for about 2-3 seconds and try boot from there...that *might* help.

ROG Overclocking Education Center ||| ROG RealBench Tweaks & Tips

Rapid99 · ‎12-11-2012

Alright i'm gonna give these suggestions a shot, see if I can get some sort of response out of this box of hell, lol

(Red BOOT_DEVICE_LED - No post) Never been so angry at technology in my life