"Not enough space in Runtime area" - 970DE3/U3S3

[Sartorialism]

Hi,


I'm building a new PC and i'm having some problems with the motherboard. Everything seems fine upon boot up, but then i get the following message:


Not enough space in Runtime area!!. SMBIOS data will not be available.
Press F1 to Resume


I can press F1 and continue to Windows installation (i can't install windows as the HDD i'm using seems to be broken: Windows (i've tried both Vista and 8) refuses to copy all the necessary files over and returns various errors, but i believe this is unrelated to the Runtime error as i get it without the HDD attached).


I've tried booting with minimum components attached, different memory etc and discovered it seems to be down to the keyboard being plugged. If there's a keyboard plugged in (whether an MS Wireless Multimedia USB keyboard or old Compaq PS/2 one) the error occurs. Without either the USB or PS/2 keyboard, no error.


I've reset the CMOS jumpers, removed the CMOS battery for an hour, updated to the latest BIOS to no avail.


Assuming the HDD problems i'm having are unrelated and i can install Windows on a new HDD i plan on purchasing, then this isn't a massive problem. But obviously i don't want to have to keep pressing F1 every time i turn the PC on, to get into Windows. And obviously i don't want to have to unplug the keyboard to prevent the error, every time i turn the PC on!


My spec is below, does anybody have any ideas please?


Thanks in advance.


ASRock 970DE3/U3S3 Motherboard
AMD Bulldozer FX-6100 (FD6100WMGUSBX)
VTX3D AMD Radeon HD 7750 Graphics Card
Corsair Vengeance 1866MHz CL10 DDR3 (2x 8gb - CMZ16GX3M2A1866C10R)
Ace Black Edition 650W PSU

[- wardog -]

Hello and Welcome.

I've reset the CMOS jumpers, removed the CMOS battery for an hour

Try this. Do the above but this time pull the power cord from the wall/outlet beforehand. And only plug it back in after setting jumpers back to 1_2 and placing the battery.

I'd also use the PS/2 KB and mouse for trial. If you must, use the the USB 2.0 ports, not the USB 3.0 ones.




I'm not holding onto much hope this will help. But post back what happens there if you would.

[Sartorialism]

Hi wardog, thanks for the response.

I've tried what you suggested, in fact i removed the cmos battery for a few hours. Now after putting it back and just with a ps/2 keyboard plugged in..........................the system won't even boot up at all! Nothing on screen, not even any beeps. Nothing but the fans spinning and LED lights.

[- wardog -]

Well damn. Deeper under the hood.

First up, do you or a friend have another psu to try with? One that impresses me more than the one you currently have, the Ace Black 650w?
At ~£16.00GBP(~$24.00USD) I wouldn't use it to power a P4 system. And I certainly don't consider it worthy of powering your current build.

Gloves off. It's a friggin' CHEAP PSU. I'd kiss my uncles bare heiney if it lived up to it's purported specs.


With that off my chest, I'm guessing you'd be best to RMA the board due to either a bad BIOS chip or quite possibly the southbridge has gone too far south.


But before you go to that trouble:
1 - I'd pull and reseat the cpu. And while I had the cpu out I'd use a magnifying glass to look for any bent or missing pins.
2 - Place the memory in slots DDR3_A2 and DDR3_B2 and retry. If no good there, while using only one stick place it it each of the slots and test between moving it between slots.
3 - Assuming you can get back in the BIOS manually set the memory timings and speed and retry.


But do yourself a favor and get a better PSU. The PSU is the heart and soul of a computer. The first block set in laying a good foundation upon which everything else rests.

[Sartorialism]

Well after turning the power supply itself off and on again, the PC will boot up, i'm having to do this intermittently to get the PC to boot, so yeah.............a new PSU (Powercool Modular 650W 80+ Dual 12V V2.2 High Efficiency) is on it's way.
. Unfortunately, i'm still getting the runtime error message when a keyboard is plugged in. A CMOS battery low error now too and i've tried memory in different slots, settings timings etc.

So i guess i'm just going to have to return the motherboard like you suggest. Or would you recommend trying the new PSU first, before i go through the effort of replacing the motherboard?

Thanks.

[- wardog -]

! I hate to sound like Captain Obvious but if it has a low CMOS Battery, replace it.

Then retry.

By chance you didn't forget to place the clear cmos jumper back to the correct pins or place the cmos battery in backwards did you?

And my suggestions before returning were pull and reseat the cpu. And while I had the cpu out I'd use a magnifying glass to look for any bent or missing pins. If you don't take the time and effort to at least perform this step there could be a possibility that your wait for a new mb will be for nothing.

[Sartorialism]

Yeah, i'd put the CMOS jumpers back in the wrong position, so that's fine now.

I've re-seated the CPU and checked the pins thoroughly and couldn't see any missing or bent pins, i don't have a magnifying glass though so it was plain eyesight.