E2437

Motherboard
Troubleshooting Guide

Q&
First Edition
September 2006
A
Copyright 2006 ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. All Rights Reserved.
15G063644020
 Motherboard troubleshooting

This guide provides some solutions to the problems you may encounter after
assembling your PC. Try performing the suggested solutions before calling for
technical support.

Solutions to basic problems

Many booting failures are caused by negligence in following simple procedures
such as connecting cables or installing computer peripherals like graphic
cards, memory modules, CPU, or hearsink fan assembly. This section provides
basic tips on how to avoid these problems.

Check connectors
Make sure there is no foreign
material on the goldfingers or pins.
See pictures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Wipe the surface of the
goldfingers with clean cloth or
eraser.
Make sure the pins on the IDE,
CPU and onboard connectors
are not bent. See pictures 4 and 5. Picture 1. Goldfingers of a VGA card

Picture 3. Socket LGA 775 Picture 2. Goldfingers of a DDR module

If the damage to the pins occured due to customer handling, the retailer
may charge you or refuse to repair the damaged components.
Contact your retailer if any of the components are bent, damaged, or missing.

 Motherboard troubleshooting
Check CPU and heatsink and fan assembly installation

Carefully clean the surface of the

CPU and apply a thin layer
of thermal interface material. See
picture 6.

Make sure there is no foreign

material on the heatsink and fan
assembly. See pictures 7.

Picture 5. CPU pins

Clean the heatsink and fan
assembly according to the
instructions provided by the
heatsink manufacturer to
prevent malfunctions caused by
dust or foreign material.

Picture 6. CPU surface

Picture 4. Connector pins

Picture 7. Heatsink and fan assembly (Intel)

Picture 8. Heatsink and fan assembly (AMD)

Motherboard troubleshooting 
 More troubleshooting solutions
Detecting problems
1. Check the error messages displayed during system POST, and take the
corresponding actions according to the detected errors.
2. Check the table below to ensure all the devices are properly
installed.

Beep Description Undetected devices / error

One continuous beep followed by Graphics card
three short beeps
One continuous beep followed by Memory
two short beeps (repeated)
One continuous beep followed by Fan error or CPU overheating
four short beeps

Turn off the power and remove the power cord before adding or removing any
components and add-on cards.

3. Refer to the table below to detect problems and find the solutions in
corresponding pages.

Indicators

Error Power LED Screen Fan Beep Error message Solution Page
No Power off no display stopped no beep no display one 5
Boot failure/ on no display stopped no beep no display two 6
no screen on no display working no beep no display two 6
display on no display working beeping no display two 6
Cannot enter on display working beeping display three 6
OS/other on display working no beep display three 6
problems on display working no beep no error message three 6

After performing all possible troubleshooting solutions and the problems still
exist, contact your retailer or ASUS technical support.

 Motherboard troubleshooting
Solution one
ASUS ATX or later motherboards
come with a power LED that lights
up to indicate that the board is
powered on. If the power LED
doesnt light up, your board may
have power problems.
Try the following solutions:
1. Make sure the voltage switch
Picture 9. Power LED
is set to the standard voltage
value of your region. Power
2. Make sure the power supply is switch
turned on ( means power Voltage
off, while means power switch
on).

Picture 10. Power supply unit (back)

While changing the voltage setting, unplug the power cord from the power
connector to avoid damage to the power supply.
Do not connect the power cord to a 220 voltage power outlet when your
power supply is set to lower voltage rate. Doing so can cause severe
damage to your power supply.

3. Check if there is power:

a. Remove devices between the

power supply and the power
outlet, such as extension
power cables, power line
surge protection, or UPS
(Uninterruptible Power
System). Connect the power
cable to a wall socket directly
to check if the power is
interrupted by any of these
devices. See picture 11. Picture 11. Connect the power cord to the
wall socket
b. Plug the system and monitor power cords to other power outlets to
check if the power outlet is working.
c. Use a new or another power cord.

Motherboard troubleshooting 
 If you have tried all instructions in Solution one, but the problem still exists,
the power supply may be defective. Contact your retailer for help.
If the power supply works but there is no power onboard, the motherboard
may be defective. Contact your retailer for help.

Solution two
Boot failures and monitor display problems can be caused by a device
malfunction or improper installation of devices. Try the following:
1. Make sure the monitor and system are properly connected to the power
outlet.
2. Check if the problem is caused by defective devices:
a. Remove all add-on cards and devices from the system, except the
motherboard, graphics card, memory, power supply, processor, fan,
keyboard, and mouse, then restart your system.
b. Remove the motherboard from the chassis if the system cannot
boot after step a.
c. If the system boots successfully after step a, there might be a
problem with one of the cards or devices removed. Install the cards
and devices one by one until problem occurs.
3. Check if the problem is caused by the main components. Replace the
main components one by one with working components. Replace following
this order: memory, processor, motherboard, hard disk/optical drive,
graphics card, keyboard, mouse.

If the problem is caused by one of the devices, contact your device retailer or
manufacturer for repair.

Solution three
Failure to enter the OS can be caused by incomplete driver installation or
incompatible software. Try the following:
1. Some software and driver problems can easily be solved by resetting the
BIOS. See Exit menu section in the BIOS setup chapter of your
motherboard user guide, and follow the instructions to Load
Setup Defaults and reset the BIOS.

 Motherboard troubleshooting
2. If your system can enter the BIOS Boot Block only, you need to update
your BIOS using the ASUS CrashFree BIOS utility. Refer to
the motherboard user guide and follow instructions in the ASUS Crash
Free BIOS utility section.
3. Your problem may be caused by a component malfunction. Refer to
Solution two to detect the defective component and
try the following:

Processor
a. Visit ASUS website
(support.asus.com.tw)
to check if your
processor is supported
by the BIOS version on this
motherboard. See picture
12 to locate the current
BIOS version.
Picture 12. BIOS version

b. If your processor is supported by this motherboard, but needs an

updated BIOS, you can use the ASUS EZ Flash utility to update your
BIOS. Refer to the motherboard user guide and follow instructions in
the ASUS EZ Flash utility section.

If your processor is not supported by this motherboard, contact your

retailer if you can exchange it with a supported one.
If you cannot update the BIOS, contact your retailer for help.

Memory
Refer to your motherboard user guide or visit the ASUS website for the
latest Memory Qualified Vendors List (QVL).

If your memory modules are not listed in the QVL, contact your retailer to
change it with a supported one.
If your memory modules are supported by this motherboard, but the
problem still exists, contact your retailer for help.
If your memory modules proved to be functional after doing the tests
in Solution two, but the problem still exists, it may be caused by the
motherboard. Contact your retailer for help.
If you want to install more than one memory module, we recommend you to
use modules with the same CAS latency and from the same vendor.

Motherboard troubleshooting 
 4. If you install your OS on SATA hard disks or hard disks with RAID, dont
forget to install the SATA or RAID drivers.
5. Record all the error information, and visit the ASUS website
(support. asus.com.cn/default.aspx) or the Microsoft website
(support.microsoft.com/search) or other support websites of your
components manufacturer for help.

 Motherboard troubleshooting