Asus A7N8X/AMD Athlon XP 3200+ doesn't boot

LarryH · 04-28-2008, 05:45 PM

After over 4 years of hickup-free operation, my system hangs when booting up. I first noticed this problem a couple of weeks ago. I opened the case and fiddled with cables, etc. All of a sudden it started working OK. I buttoned it up, and it continued to work OK for a couple of days, when the same symptoms appeared. I repeated the above and again it worked and continued for several days. I don't know what I did to make it OK. Yesterday, it acted up again. Now, nothing I do will seems to make any difference.

When I power up this is the sequence I observe:

-POST runs OK
-The A7N8X screen comes up
-The Floppy goes thru it's homing cycle
-I see a momentary flash from the HD activity indicator
-The system hangs

If I press TAB, the following displays:
Phoenix Award Bios ASUS A7N8X2.0 Deluxe ACPI Bios Rev 1006
Main Processor: AMD Athlon XP 3200+
Memory Test: 524288K OK
Primary Master: WDC-WD800JB-00CRA1 17.07W17
Primary Slave: None
Secondary Master: None
Secondary Slave: None

I cannot enter Setup with DEL key during POST
If I press Alt F2 I get message "Decompressing AWDFLASH.EXE from Bios, please wait ....." The system hangs.

Does anyone have a clue as to what's causing this problem?

Following is my equipment/configuration:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard
AMD Athlon XP 3200+ processor
500K DDR DRAM PC-2700
Western Digital 80G Hard Drive
Floppy Disk, Samsung SFD321B
CDRW/DVD Samsung SM-352BENB
Chaintech GEforce FX5200 120MB DDR Video Card
Antec case w/350W Power Supply
Microsoft Windows XP SP2

CK8-04 · 04-28-2008, 06:57 PM

Isolate the motherboard, memory, CPU, power supply, and video card from the rest of the computer. Turn on the motherboard with only those parts assembled and see if the hanging continues. You also might want to grab parts from a friend or relative and use those in place of yours to see if you can find the culprit.

LarryH · 04-28-2008, 10:35 PM

Your reply gave me some ideas; I started by disconnecting the power and data cables from the CD drive. Lo and behold the problem went away! When I reconnected the cables, everything still worked. Apparently, there is a power connect issue with the CD drive which I need to resolve. I recall during initial trouble shooting of this problem that I could not open the CD tray by pushing the button; now that also works.

Thanks for the help.

LarryH

04-28-2008, 05:45 PM	#1
LarryH Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Minnesota Posts: 8	Asus A7N8X/AMD Athlon XP 3200+ doesn't boot After over 4 years of hickup-free operation, my system hangs when booting up. I first noticed this problem a couple of weeks ago. I opened the case and fiddled with cables, etc. All of a sudden it started working OK. I buttoned it up, and it continued to work OK for a couple of days, when the same symptoms appeared. I repeated the above and again it worked and continued for several days. I don't know what I did to make it OK. Yesterday, it acted up again. Now, nothing I do will seems to make any difference. When I power up this is the sequence I observe: -POST runs OK -The A7N8X screen comes up -The Floppy goes thru it's homing cycle -I see a momentary flash from the HD activity indicator -The system hangs If I press TAB, the following displays: Phoenix Award Bios ASUS A7N8X2.0 Deluxe ACPI Bios Rev 1006 Main Processor: AMD Athlon XP 3200+ Memory Test: 524288K OK Primary Master: WDC-WD800JB-00CRA1 17.07W17 Primary Slave: None Secondary Master: None Secondary Slave: None I cannot enter Setup with DEL key during POST If I press Alt F2 I get message "Decompressing AWDFLASH.EXE from Bios, please wait ....." The system hangs. Does anyone have a clue as to what's causing this problem? Following is my equipment/configuration: Asus A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard AMD Athlon XP 3200+ processor 500K DDR DRAM PC-2700 Western Digital 80G Hard Drive Floppy Disk, Samsung SFD321B CDRW/DVD Samsung SM-352BENB Chaintech GEforce FX5200 120MB DDR Video Card Antec case w/350W Power Supply Microsoft Windows XP SP2
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04-28-2008, 06:57 PM	#2
CK8-04 nVidia nForce 4 Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Malden, MA Posts: 951	Re: Asus A7N8X/AMD Athlon XP 3200+ doesn't boot Isolate the motherboard, memory, CPU, power supply, and video card from the rest of the computer. Turn on the motherboard with only those parts assembled and see if the hanging continues. You also might want to grab parts from a friend or relative and use those in place of yours to see if you can find the culprit. __________________ "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift" - Steve Prefontaine Antec Solo Corsair 520HX Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 w/ TR SI-128 SE Intel D975XBX2 4GB Corsair DHX DDR2-800 eVGA e-Geforce 8800GT w/ TR T-Rad2 WD Raptor 74GB 16MB NEC Multisync LCD2090UXi Logitech Z-5300 MS Comfort Curve KB 2000 Logitech G3
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04-28-2008, 10:35 PM	#3
LarryH Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Minnesota Posts: 8	Re: Asus A7N8X/AMD Athlon XP 3200+ doesn't boot Your reply gave me some ideas; I started by disconnecting the power and data cables from the CD drive. Lo and behold the problem went away! When I reconnected the cables, everything still worked. Apparently, there is a power connect issue with the CD drive which I need to resolve. I recall during initial trouble shooting of this problem that I could not open the CD tray by pushing the button; now that also works. Thanks for the help. LarryH
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