GA-EP45-DS3R black screen no bios

[M_Rush]

Hello , As the title says I can't get to the bios no boot up , I had the computer running for about 4 hours and when I came back to turn it off the screen was black and I can't reboot.

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R LGA 775
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
SAPPHIRE 100242-1GL Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W
pqi TURBO 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
window xp pro

I pulled every thing out and only get a post code when there is no ram , all the phase LED lights are on , they flicker when there is no CPU. What next?

[Lsdmeasap]

Please try this, remove all but one stick of ram in slot one, and see if you can boot. If not leave only that one stick in slot one, and unplug your PSU From the wall. Find a hard drive jumper or Optical IDE jumper and put it on the clear CMOS Pins by the clear CMOS Button. Let it sit for 20+ minutes. Then remove the jumper and see if it will start, you should get a Checksum Error screen if the CMOS Properly cleared, choose a BIOS to load and hit enter

If no luck there I would start by testing the ram in another PC, if all is ok then I would start testing the board out of the case on a box or wooden table (NOT on the tray). Do this with only the minimum, CPU/Heatsink/ One stick of ram/GfX card. NO hard drives or cd drives. If it works like that start adding things one at a time to see if you can find the culprit

[M_Rush]

ok , I gave up no go , I got a new board and I got F9 bios running. Any sugestions on bios setup for my specs?

[Lsdmeasap]

That was quick

Ya, what CPU speed?

I will post back in a few as I am about to test something for someone and will be off for a few minutes 10-20

[Lsdmeasap]

Well seems you are gone. Here is some suggested stock settings for 8400 and 2x2GB >>>

Hey, is this the exact ram? >>>
Newegg.com - pqi TURBO 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: [Auto]
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................: 9
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................:.0
CPU Frequency ...........................: 3.00Ghz


Clock Chip Control
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 333Mhz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........:Set to 100

C.I.A.2 .................................:[Disabled]


Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
CPU Clock Drive...........................: <<< 800
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: <<< 900
CPU Clock Skew (ps)....................: <<<
MCH Clock Skew (ps)...................: <<<


DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................: [STANDARD]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.).....: Disabled
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: [333] << 400 will also likely work, Best performance
System Memory Multiplier ..............: 2.40
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 799Mhz
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual]

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time........................5
tRCD .........................................5
tRP'...........................................5
tRAS..........................................12/15

Start with highest, slowly lowering one at a time testing between each move

Advanced Timing Control
tRRD...........................................3-4
tWTR..........................................3-6 (May need 8-12)
tWR............................................4-6 (may need 8-14)
tRFC...........................................48-50 << Try last (52-62) << Use first
tRTP...........................................3-6
Command Rate (CMD) ....................:2

Channel A
Static tRead Value.........................:7-10
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:<<< Leave for all below as well
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps

Channel B
Static tRead Value.........................:7-10
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:<<< Leave for all below as well
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps

Motherboard Voltage Control
Voltage Type.………... Manual
CPU
CPU Vcore….……….........................:Auto or Normal
CPU Termination…..... 1.200V*.......: <<< Leave
CPU PLL…………………....1.500V*.......: <<< Leave
CPU Referen.…………....0.755V*.......: <<< Leave
CPU Reference2………,,0.800V*.......:<<< Leave

MCH/ICH
MCH Core…………….....1.100V...........: << 1.2-1.3 (1.25 May be fine)
MCH Reference….…….0.800V...........; <<< Leave
MCH/DRAM Ref.…......0.900V...........: <<< Leave
ICH I/O……………….....1.550V............: <<< Leave
ICH Core…………...……1.100V............: <<< Leave

DRAM
DRAM Voltage ……....1.800V............: 2.0-2.1 << Start with 2.1, then when done tweaking above see if you can lower to 2.0

DRAM Termination .…0.900V............: <<< Leave
Channel A Reference 0.900V............: <<< Leave
Channel B Reference 0.900V............: <<< Leave

Advanced Settings
Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)................: [Disabled]
C2/C2E State Support....................: [Disabled]
x C4/C4E State Support..................: [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...........: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function.........................: [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology................: [Disabled]

[M_Rush]

Thank you Lsd and yes that is the ram. I changed the settings you gave me , what do you recommend to test or benchmark it?

[Lsdmeasap]

Have you read the guides? Overclocking one and memory one? There is programs and links posted. >>>

Gigabyte X38/P35/P965 (DS* DQ* S3) Overclocking and General BIOS tweaking Guide

Memory Timings Explained W/ Suggested Timings & Memset VS. BIOS

Just wanted to let you know this info was here, incase you missed it

I use Orthos for CPU/Memory testing combined, and Memtest86+ for Ram testing when messing with timings

[guardian]

Originally Posted by Lsdmeasap

Please try this, remove all but one stick of ram in slot one, and see if you can boot. If not leave only that one stick in slot one, and unplug your PSU From the wall. Find a hard drive jumper or Optical IDE jumper and put it on the clear CMOS Pins by the clear CMOS Button. Let it sit for 20+ minutes. Then remove the jumper and see if it will start, you should get a Checksum Error screen if the CMOS Properly cleared, choose a BIOS to load and hit enter

Hello, I'm new to this forum and would like to give some feedback
I'm facing the same problem as M_Rush.

After having installed Vista, it went to S3. When I wanted to wake it up it rebooted. Then I saw a post message saying the BIOS had a checksum error and was being recovered. After that, it rebooted again and from now it reboots in cycles, I cannot even enter the bios :(

I let the computer unplugged for the whole night long with battery removed and clear CMOS jumper set --> no improvements, I'm still facing reboot loop. The computer doesn't even stay on for more than a second.

I think the solution in my case is just to RMA the motherboard, as well as the memory sticks (Corsair 2x2048 PC8500 Dominator) so that the vendor finds out what's faulty.

[svcglobal]

Just a guess but I think that the S3 state just killed your RAM. What BIOS you were using and what was the RAM voltage setup?

[Lsdmeasap]

And have you now tried it with ONE Stick in slot one, try both separately

And P45-DS3R S3 sleep has been fixed in the latest BIOS update for sure >>>
GIGABYTE - Support - Motherboard - BIOS - GA-EP45-DS3R (rev. 1.0)

Which you will see Beta testing and Latest results of happy users here towards the latter pages >>>
GA-EP45-DS3R unstable after sending to S3(STR) sleep state

Checksum error is normal when you clear the CMOS, but since you did not it does not matter. What CPU are you using, maybe the BIOS flashed in a older BIOS from backup that does not support your CPU