New Build - Broken up Bios screen?

Greetings

I have purchased a semi completed system & I obtained the remaining parts required to complete. Went to start up & right from the get go, I appear to have problems. Would really appreciate some assistance and some guidance!

This is a HTPC system, with an Antec/Veris Fusion Remote Black Micro ATX Case. Along with an ASUS M3N78-VM AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

I installed 2 each SATA, hard drives but only connected 1 of them, no 2nd cable installed as of yet. There is an optical (DVD) drive as well.

The ram I installed were 1 gb sticks - I bought an additional Patriot & the other one - Kingston (came with the case). Both were identical in specs: PC2 5300, 667 mhz, DDR2

The Problem: at power up, the splash (AMD) screen is jumbled/broken. and when the bios introduction screen appears it too is broken up. I am given the options to either press f1 to "run setup", or f2 to "load default values and continue"

When I press f1, I do enter the bios screen but it is broken as well and very difficult to comprehend where one line or section of the screen begins and the next completes?

I set the system time & date (that was all that I could comprehend), next line which I think is info about the floppy drive, I can't figure out what it may be asking me to confirm or what? (NOTE - when setting time & date the arrow keys or the tab key did not work, only the enter key to go to next field. And when I pushed the enter key the screen flashes.

When I say broken, it is like it is in halves/thirds and scattered about the screen. Anyway, here is what & how I connected. Maybe something here is the problem?

On SATA 1, I connected cable to a Seagate 750 gb hdd, it appears there is a (permanent jumper) to make 1.5gb?
SATA 2 is empty
SATA 3 has the DVD drive connected to it.
I have each ram stick connected to DIMM_A1 & DIMM_B1, respectively.

The first screen after the splash (BIOS) does tell me, even though it is broken, (looks like same info at top of screen tabbed to right some, as is at the bottom of the screen with all at left margin) the info appears to be correct & doing what it is supposed to do?

Verbatim it shows this:

1 AMD North Bridge, Rev G2
Initializing USB controllers .. Done.
1920MB OK (Installed Memory Size: 2048MB)

Auto Detecting SATA1 .. IDE Hard Disk
SATA1 : ST3750640NS 3.AEG
Ultra DMA Mode-6, S.M.A.R.T. Capable and Status OK
Auto Detecting USB Mass Storage Devices ..
00 USB mass storage devices found and configured

Please enter Setup to recover BIOS setting
Press F1 to Run SETUP
Press F2 to load default values and continue

When I pressed F1: as mentioned - I was able to set time & date. Master and Slave showed as "Not Detected". SATA1 showed the S/N (?) of the HDD, SATA2&3 showed "Noted Detected" also, ESATA showed "Not Detected".

And that is about all I can make out, the jumbled, broken, divided screen display is not allowing me to physically see the screen properly to configure.

I don't think the system is recognizing the DVD drive to run the OS and install it.

Any ideas?

 

First, I'd like you to check the BIOS version; there are 25 versions on the ASUS site, BIOS version 1406 fixes this:-

Which may be what you need to enable you to read the screens correctly.

If not, I'd suggest that one of the RAM sticks may not be 100% compatible with the memory settings in the BIOS.

 

Hello & thanks for the suggestions, Satrow! :wave

I did the easy thing first, I removed 1 stick of memory. And Voila! I have a very readable screen. Yay.

It is American Megatrends, Inc
V02.61 1985-2008

Thanks again, I went thru the bios & did what I am comfortable with and re-set the boot sequence. I am now able to start the OS install - Windows 7 Home Premium, Builders Pak. Woo hoo. :cool

Will post later, & ask for additional assistance once OS is installed. I do want 2gb's of RAM. I also would like to know how to update the BIOS to the one you mentioned that appears to be the most current & fixes problems.

Take care.

 

Grr, just noticed the ASUS URL I gave earlier was wrong < this one works

Good to see the easy fix worked for you, the trouble with looking at basic RAM specs is that the hidden specs are the ones that make or break a RAM/motherboard partnership; each manufacturer might make 4 or more types of the same size and basic spec of RAM but each will differ in subtle ways - sometimes you can get differing RAM subtypes to work successfully together by modifying the memory timings in the BIOS, sometimes you'll never get them to work.

I suspect that in this case, the RAM has a problem anyway. I usually go to Crucial to look at RAM that's guaranteed to work in the motherboard in question.

The AMI reference you posted isn't the ASUS BIOS version though, you'll need to look harder to find that

 

how would removing 1 stick of ram fix that ?

 

How would it fix the broken up BIOS screen?

Because some motherboards rely on system RAM for graphics display when there's no discrete graphics card connected.

Integrated NVIDIA GeForce® 8 Series GPU
Maximum shared memory of 256MB

Shared memory = system RAM, not dedicated (built-in) graphics RAM.

With many older 'boards, not only did you need RAM installed to get a display, it had to be in a specific (usually the closest to the CPU) slot.

So, if the RAM stick allocating the graphics RAM for the system isn't 100% compatible (or it's damaged), it'll often show artifacts on screen - or nothing at all.

 

Thanks Satrow,

I appreciate the extra tidbits on memory. I will return the Patriot Stick and see if I can locate the same model # of the Kingston. (The Kingston came with this case & MoBo)

And am I correct that the proper placement should be as mentioned earlier? Use the DIMM_A1 & B1, since they are the ones closest to the CPU?

Or should they be placed in DIMM_A1 & DIMM_A2? Not really sure? (1st bank on gold set & 1st bank on black set? - leaving an empty slot between them?)
The Memory banks on MoBo are in this order: Two Gold ones labeled Dimm_A1 Dimm_B1 then two Black banks labeled Dimm_A2 & Dimm_B2

Also, I had success in loading the OS -Win 7.
I am Using this computer/HTPC writing this on MG's. Win 7 - really different!
This is my first experience with this OS. I have installed & reformatted many, many times with XP Pro & Home. I don't know how this OS Varies from XP, as far as installing additional components are concerned?

Now, I am having problems connecting & getting the system to recognize a 2nd HDD. As Mentioned earlier, Seagate 750 GB is my primary with the OS on it & will be used for some storage. I want to use the 2nd HDD as my main storage. It is a WD Caviar Green, 1.5 TB. When I connect the SATA Cable (SATA 3) to MoBo, at restart, a "Windows System Repair" screen comes up & trys to repair automatically, then it asks to "Restore" from a previous point. I did not allow that & continued and finally a window said that repair could not be completed. I restarted & same thing. Disconnected SATA cable from drive & back to normal. What gives?

Not really sure on SATA, since I have always used PATA/IDE. On the MoBo, the SATA ports are 3 RED Ones, lableled SATA 1-3, and then 2 BLACK Ones, lableled SATA 4 & 5

Oh, FTI - I also used the same 'Power Cable" powering the 1st HDD to power the 2nd HDD. Is this OK?
and Naturally, I used Seperate SATA Cable.

SATA 1 to Main HDD
SATA 2 to DVD
SATA 3 to 2nd HDD (or tried to) rolleyes

And @Spock96
I had the same thoughts! Didn't make sense to me, now it does. Sorta :confused

 

I think the memory should be installed as matching pairs for highest performance, that's where the colours kick in - 1st pair in Gold, A1 and B1. 2GB will give fair performance with 32-bit W7, 4GB is better (even though you may only be able to use around 3.5GB of that - another story ... ).

It reads like your 'board boots in reverse order (not so unusual ), try setting your boot drive to SATA 3, 1.5TB drive to 2 and the DVD to 3. The black pair of SATA connections are probably for RAID but you should be able to use them as JBOD (just another bunch of disks = 'normal' drives) by checking for the correct settings in the BIOS. Also, W7 sometimes had problems with drives over 1TB, there's an optional Windows Update patch to fix this, it'll be worth installing this once you can boot correctly with both drives being seen in Windows' Disk Management.

W7 is pretty good at auto-installing newer hardware, though drivers eg. for graphics cards will need to be updated manually from ATI/nVidia website because the basic MSFT ones are only good for basic, eg. AERO, functionality, no good for gaming.

It'll be worth you spending some time reading up on this 'board from verified users on the Newegg page, for example; bear in mind that many of the earlier bugs will have been ironed out by using validated RAM and the later BIOSes. You can check for validated RAM at the second URL (the fixed one) I posted for the 'board on the ASUS site.

 

Once again, "I appreciate" your suggestions!

I have been doing some studying about this MoBo. Still have lots to understand, some of the new terminology as it corresponds with W7, is new to me.

I did follow your suggestion and reconnected as you stated and it apparently worked. (Am I correct the reason you stated to use this order, it is because of the proper boot sequence? Knowing that boot order is backwards: DVD 1st, then non-OS HDD 2nd & finally Boot Drive)

Anyway, I'm still experiencing a problem with the system recognizing the 2nd 1.5TB HDD. This is probably due to my inexperience with W7.

When I went to disk management, it was there but said it was "Unallocated/Not Initialized". I guess this is new from XP? I guess I can find, with looking & googling, how to do this - with some research... But I will ask here. How do I get this drive to be recognized and allocated as a usable drive, would it be recognized as "E"?

Thanks

 

Basically, you can't use - Windows can't 'see' - the new drive until it's been 'initialized' using Disk Management.

 

thanks,

I found out that as well, now my question is:

When in Disk Management, a window pops up asking me to "Iniitialize Disk". It is recognized as Disk 0, It also wants me to either choose MBR or GBT? I don't know which option to use, for this 2nd HDD to be used as an additional Storage drive.

Which do I choose & for my curiosity or knowledge, why?

Once I initialize, I presume that same would apply as it did in XP, I would need to set a partition & then Format NTFS? Since it is a new drive, would "Quick Format" be sufficient?

 

MBR is the normal default type, it allows use of partitions up to 2TB; GPT is a server-based option, allowing more than 4 Primary partitions and a much greater maximum partition size. I'd go MBR

Yes, you'll then need to create a partiton (or more than one), format it as NTFS. It may allow you to quick format but the full format is, almost certainly, the safer option.

 

Woo Hoo

2nd drive is now recognized, initialized, formatted, volume label named & drive letter assigned. Ready for use!

Thanks for all of the help.

Now I just have to find another compatible Ram Stick to get 2gigs of memory.

All of my addressed problems have been solved, thanks so much.

Have a great day, and a very pleasant weekend.

 

I'm pleased to see you've got it sorted - now you can relax, too

 

Satrow thank u for explainin that to me