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X58 Extreme fails to start, Debug LED says 2A

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  • X58 Extreme fails to start, Debug LED says 2A

    Background:
    I got my new computer including an ASRock X58 Extreme motherboard on thursday, and finally got around to starting it up yesterday. When powering up, there was no display at all on my monitor, so I spent some time to make sure the warranty wouldn't be voided just by opening up the case, and now see that the Debug LED goes through a couple of statuses before halting on 2A (or, spending more than two minutes on it, which would be unacceptable performance indeed).

    So I look this up in the manual. It says that 2A means:
    Originally posted by manual
    2A Initializes different devices through DIM.
    See DIM Code Checkpoints section of document for more information.
    I must confess I have no idea what that means, beyond that it's trying to start up something but fails. The manual also doesn't contain this "DIM Code Checkpoints" section. I've searched for occurrences of "DIM", "Code" and "Checkpoint", only hitting irrelevant bits of the document. However, the exact same text is found in some other Motherboard manuals, notably the AMIBIOS 8 manual (found by googling "DIM Code Checkpoints"). This one says:

    Originally posted by AMIBIOS 8 manual
    Initialize different buses and perform the following functions: Reset, Detect, and Disable (function 0); Static Device Initialization (function 1); Boot Output Device Initialization (function 2). Function 0 disables all device nodes, PCI devices, and PnP ISA cards. It also assigns PCI bus numbers. Function 1 initializes all static devices that include manual configured onboard peripherals, memory and I/O decode windows in PCI-PCI bridges, and noncompliant PCI devices. Static resources are also reserved. Function 2 searches for and initializes any PnP, PCI, or AGP video devices.
    The section referred to appears to have been ripped out of the ASRock manual, leaving some loose ends like my case. For the moment, let's assume the quote above applies even though it's for another board. As far as I can see it basically says it's initializing everything, leaving me little wiser about where to start searching.

    Hardware list:
    Tower: Sharkoon Rebel 9 economy edition, midi
    Power supply: Chill Innovation CP-250M 520W Modular, 135mm fan
    Motherboard: ASRock X58 Extreme (well, obviously)
    Display adapter: ASUS Radeon HD 5870, 1GB GDDR5, PCI Express 2.0
    CPU: Intel Core i7-930 2.80GHz
    CPU fan: Sharkoon Silent Eagle SE, 120x120x25mm
    Harddisk: Western Digital Caviar 2TB SATA 3.5"
    Memory: 3 รก G.SKILL 1GB DDR3 PC3 10666 1333MHz
    DVD: Generic Samsung Writemaster that came with the package, don't know the details here

    ----------------

    Question:
    Can anyone point me to further documentation about what the error code means, or give me a procedure I can do to troubleshoot this, saving me the trouble of mailing the computer back to the store?

    Edit: Forgot the hardware list, added it above.

    Edit2: I've tried some basic troubleshooting.
    • Removing all the RAM - Motherboard won't even light up the debug LED, beeping constantly
    • Putting back a single memory chip, attempted with all the three I have alone - Same as with all three on board, halts at 2A.
    • Removing display adapter (after replugging the RAM) - Debug LED hesitates at 15, then goes through a couple of other statuses including 75 (didn't catch the rest) and appears to end up at 00. I suppose this could either mean the display adapter is the problem, or that it simply doesn't attempt the 2A procedure because of the failed check for the existence of a display adapter. Exchanging with another display adapter will be my next attempt.
    Last edited by bovi; 06-15-2010, 10:05 PM. Reason: Added additional hardware information

  • #2
    Re: X58 Extreme fails to start, Debug LED says 2A

    I suppose the lack of response is due to vacation time, I see that numerous other threads stand unanswered as well. Calling in to say that indeed the display adapter was the culprit, when I switched to the one used in my old computer it successfully booted. I'll be asking the shop whether to return the whole computer or only the display adapter.

    Still, the manual is very unclear about what the error code 2A is supposed to mean, and this should be fixed. I had to resort to trial and error, when the error code should have pointed me in the right direction given better documentation.

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