Question for those with the "improper cpu freq" problem...CUSL2 SAFEMODE Boot

[tydas]

OK, here is a run down of the problem:
You power on computer, everything spins up but the comp does not boot..no beep codes, no signal, nada...You power off and on again...comp powers up and puts you in the bios...you see a message in the bios to the effect" during last boot an improper cpu freq was detected, you are now operating in safe mode"
The problem is intermittent, sometimes you boot up there is no problem for days, then suddenly for days in row it happens, there does not seem to be any recognizable pattern.

Here is the question: If you have this problem what kind of ram do you use? Specifically does your ram use micron chips (Crucial does)..A guy at ASUS tech support told me that he has seen a slew of problems lately related to micron chips in memory...

Oh Well chime in!!

[DaveM]

http://www.asusboards.com/vbulletin/...hreadid=7948{\

See this Link. I still have the same Micron Memory chips as Before.
Many Many reboots and I haven't had the Boot Failure happen, yet!

I got the Enermax recognized by CMOS with Bios 1009 upgrade, but Probe still says it's running 0. Not too big of a deal.

Important Note. I was getting Windows protection failure now on Poweroff. This was related to my new network card, which shared IRQ 9 with everythingelse in my computer. IRQ 5 was unused. So I set Slot 2, In Bios, to use IRQ 5, PNP OS set to NO.
Windows ME allowed the BIOS IRQ of 5 to continue to be used by my Netgear Ethernet card. Next shutdown was succesful as every other shutdown.
The Network Card I had used before was a Linksys NetworkEverywhere cheapo 10/100 card.
My Cold boot powerups would not activate the network card at 1/2 second after power on and my hub would not show any lights on that port for my computer. The network card may be part of the cold boot failure, but its really hard to know.

Right now with the Newer CUSL2 Board that Does NOT have the 82802 Firmware Hub with the Intel Security Random Generator Number built in, I have yet to show a failed boot. But I also added a 430 watt high Quality Power supply and a Netgear 10/100 Net card on it's own IRQ.

FYI - I had tried a Generic 400 watt power supply on my old CUSL2 MB that did have the Firmware hub and the problem of Cold Boot failure still existed.

To tell if you have the 82802 Firmware hub on your variation of the CUSL2, try installing the intel security driver. If the installation abouts with the mesage "Your Platform Does Not support this" then you don't have it!

[owensdj]

tydas, I have a similar problem and have Micron memory I bought from Crucial.com. I don't have any problems booting when I turn on my CUSL2C-based computer. If I unplug my computer, I am taken into the BIOS where I see that "improper cpu frequency" error message.

I received my CUSL2-C motherboard and 1GHz P3 from Monarch Computer as a pre-tested combo. If they really did test my CUSL2C/P3 before they sent it, they must not have gotten that "improper cpu frequency" error. That seems to point at my Micron memory as the problem.

[StarTraveller]

I can't help to notice the similarities between this issue and the cold boot problem.

Do you overclock?

Do you have this problem on hot days in particular?

I'm thinking that maybe your CPU will post at a certain speed/voltage combo as long as the temp is low enough. Maybe when ambient temp is below a certain point the CPU remains cool enough to complete the POST while on warmer days it crashes and gives you the error you describe.

This is just a theory, though - I need your feedback to confirm or disprove it .

[DaveM]

I feel confident that my Cold Boot failure is resolved.

After installing the Network card on a NON SHARED IRQ PCI Slot, and assigning a free IRQ to the slot and excluding that free IRQ from being used (in the bios setup). I have no longer failed on a cold boot startup.

I do not overclock.

PIII 1Ghz
512 Meg Cas 3 Generic Micron (2 double sided SDRAM)

My failure may also have been corrected by replacing my generic 230 watt power supply with the Enermax 430 watt power supply.

None the less, I boot from a cold start every time without failure, now!