Bios scrambled

[Eriol]

Ok, I got the computer to fire up with a passing POST. However when I hit del to enter the BIOS. It brings me to a screen that looks like it should be the BIOS but it looks all scrambled

Mobo:asus 8n-e
cpu: athlon 4000+

anyone know whats wrong

[rspassey]

Corrupted BIOS maybe.

Could you be more descriptive... perhaps taking a picture with a digital camera and linking to it would be more helpful.

[Eriol]

when I boot it up, I get the ASUS boot screen and the POST beep. After that I get a system disk error, b/c I didnt install the HDD yet.
However it I hit del to enter the bios from the ASUS boot screen, the bios pops up but most of the letters and words are funky looking caracters, which makes it impossible to navigate through it.

[Eriol]

here is a screenshot
http://celen.741.com/amd1.htm see in the screensot or worse

it now seems to work 20% of the time I boot it up, where the BIOS works perfectly, but the other 80% is what you see or worse

[rjfvillarosa]

That looks more like a video problem than a BIOS fault.
Have you fitted the harddrive now?
Do you know how to clear and reset the CMOS via the motherboard jumper?
Have you checked the video card is seated properly in the slot?

[Eriol]

not yet, UPS was delayed with their shipment Grrrrr. I'll try and fix it monday and let you know if this problem continues.
I'm pretty confident that the video card is in right, I'll try reseating it.

Are you supposed to clear the CMOS before the first boot?

[rjfvillarosa]

Originally Posted by Eriol Are you supposed to clear the CMOS before the first boot?

There isn't a lot of point as the mobo is shipped with the CMOS in it's most basic form but it doesn't hurt to do it just to be sure.

[Eriol]

I reseated the vido card and clearing the CMOS, and the same thing.
its now about 50% of the time I get the screen that I posted the other half it works perfectly.
I can tell if its going to work or not b/c the ASUS welcome screen looks a little messed up, a few horizontal lines missing if its not going to work.
I just keep turning the power off and then on again till I get a good looking screen.
This is highly fustrating.

[rjfvillarosa]

Can you list the complete specifications of the hardware you are using including the PSU.?

[Eriol]

Sorry, I should have posted it before
Case: Raidman Horizon
PSU:XCLIO 450W 450BL BLK RTL

Mobo: Asus A8N-E Athlon64 nForce4 Ultra Socket 939 4DDR Audio Gbe Lan PCI-E x16 PCI-E x3 PCI x3 SATA Raid ATX

Processor: AMD Athlon 4000+ San Deigo Core

HD: Seagate 300GB Serial ATA 7200rpm (not in yet)

Memory: 512MB DDR400 Kingston (another stick on its way)

Optical Pr: DVD Rom Sony 16X
Optical sec: Sony 16X Double Layer DVD+/- RW

Video card: VGA EVGA|GF 6800GS 256-P2-N386

[rjfvillarosa]

I am going to hazard a guess and suggest your video problems are down to the fact that that you have not installed the video drivers via Windows yet, obviously you can't do that until your harddrive is installed. MAYBE something is written to the CMOS after the video drivers are installed, in the mean time I am going to see if I can find anything that suggests a conflict with the hardware you have listed.

[Eriol]

thanks rjfvillarosa, I really do appreaciate the help

[rjfvillarosa]

Just a stab in the dark but, have you checked all the various power plug connections are sound? have you connected all the mobo power connections?

[tempus]

Originally Posted by rjfvillarosa Just a stab in the dark but, have you checked all the various power plug connections are sound? have you connected all the mobo power connections?

Yes I would make sure all power connections are well seated and nothing is potentially shorting to the case. Since it seems to be an intermittent connection perhaps the BIOS chip is not properly seated in its socket. That can be checked by gently pushing on the chip when the power is off.

[Eriol]

yep, and all lights and fans are spinning

[Eriol]

Which one is the bios chip,
is that the southbridge, the one with the small fan?

[rjfvillarosa]

Dull question maybe, but you have connected the video card power supply?

[Eriol]

yes, and the video fan is working

[Spearball]

If i were you i would try a different video card. If that doesnt work i would say its a power problem or a bad BIOS.

[tempus]

Originally Posted by Eriol Which one is the bios chip, is that the southbridge, the one with the small fan?

the BIOS chip is in a socket by itself and has no fan. It will have a small white label on it.

[Eriol]

I see it,
the chip feels like its in there pretty good,
Im going to see what happens after I get the OS and hard disk in.
I'm hoping that rjfvillarosa might be right and its a driver issue
If it is a bad BIOS, how could I fix that?

[tempus]

Originally Posted by Eriol I see it, the chip feels like its in there pretty good, Im going to see what happens after I get the OS and hard disk in. I'm hoping that rjfvillarosa might be right and its a driver issue If it is a bad BIOS, how could I fix that?

Ruling out a bad connection somewhere you may need to RMA the board. However it could be a videocard issue too. Also have you checked the RAM? By running memtest you can easily verify the RAM is all good.

[Eriol]

how do you memtest?

[Eriol]

What do you think the odds are its the video drivers.
And if its not that, what should I RMA first, the video card, or the MOBO, or something else.

[tempus]

Originally Posted by Eriol how do you memtest?

Follow this link for the free download...
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

Follow the instructions to run a thorough check of the RAM

[tempus]

Originally Posted by Eriol What do you think the odds are its the video drivers. And if its not that, what should I RMA first, the video card, or the MOBO, or something else.

I don't think it would be the video drivers since you have not installed the OS yet. The BIOS provides the basic drivers to run the card in VGA mode. Can you check the video card in another system? Can you try another video card? Another way to troubleshoot these problems is to set up the card outside the case on a non conductive surface, like cardboard, and see what happens.

[FLG]

If its a bad bios, you will just have to flash it and all should be well. Instructions on flashing the bios will be in the manual, and somewhere on the Asus website.

Either, Try the card in another computer, or try a known working card in that one. You can also wait until your HDD arrives, if it still looks like that when you go to install windows, i would definatly say its the video card. Though drivers wouldent matter at this point, there are standard drivers that is stored in the CMOS for the video card...it is possible there is some kind of problem with the drivers not properly loading.

[Eriol]

Unfortunatly, I dont have another system with PCI-E to test the video card or another card to try on this system. I'll see what it looks like after I get th OS installed

[Eriol]

Ok, I got my HDD and installed XP.
It still does it 50% of the time. The Asus welcome screen comes up with a few horizontal lines missing and then goes directly to a scrambled bios.
I then power off then power on and the ASUS welcome screen comes up perfectly and goes right into XP. It then works perfectly, DVD movies, sound.
Any thoughts, bios problems or video card?

[tempus]

Originally Posted by Eriol Ok, I got my HDD and installed XP. It still does it 50% of the time. The Asus welcome screen comes up with a few horizontal lines missing and then goes directly to a scrambled bios. I then power off then power on and the ASUS welcome screen comes up perfectly and goes right into XP. It then works perfectly, DVD movies, sound. Any thoughts, bios problems or video card?

Have you tried to flash the BIOS yet? Although you should not need to to have a proper boot up it may help. It still sounds like an intermittent exists somewhere in your new build. Try burning in the computer for several days using one of the burn in programs.