Epox 8RDA3+ POST Error Message....

[Bugman]

Hello Everyone.

Im running into a little bit of an issue here that I am not sure of how to fix. Earlier this year I put a system together for a friend that has been running very smoothly up until now. When it boots, I get an error saying that "CPU changed, or overclock failed" or something to that effect. No one has been playing with the BIOS at all, and I have never had the machine overclocked. Here are its specs:

Epox EP-8RDA3+ Mobo, revision 2.x
AMD Athlox XP 2500+
Antec 300W smartpower power supply
2x256MB (512 total) of Crucial PC2100 DDR Ram
And all the other stuff that shouldnt really make a difference.

The machine will still boot and run, but it runs barebones with a FSB of 100 Mhz. The only thing I could think of is that the machine is on a surge protector that gets turned off each night, so there isnt constant power and that the battery would be going dead. However, the time doesnt ever reset itself, nor do any of the other BIOS settings.

Im stumped. Please offer any suggestions!!

Thanks!

~Bug

[Darthtanion]

I have run into this a few times and it usually happens when I make a hardware change. You should find yourself looking at a stop screen during the POST that gives you the option of either hitting Del to enter setup (BIOS) or pressing enter to continue. I have found that if you accept the option to enter BIOS, verify FSB and multiplier settings and then hit "Save Options and Exit", you'll make the changes to the CMOS and it'll boot normally (and correctly) from then on.

Don't know if this will fix your problem or if it is even the same problem that I have sometimes encountered, but it may be the answer for ya. ;)

[Bugman]

Thanks for the quick reply darthanion.

The strange thing with all of this is that there havent been any hardware changes made to the system at all. Its been stable and unchanged for months. I did enter the BIOS and then saved the settings and rebooted, and that did work for a week or so. Now the problem has returned.

Any thoughts?

~Bug

[Darthtanion]

If it isn't CMOS related, then you may have some sort of corruption in the primary Windows files. What version of Windows (or other OS) and when was the last time you installed it fresh?

[Bugman]

Well, Im wondering if it could be CMOS related or not. I have thought about flashing to the latest BIOS, but that is not one of the fixes listed on the Epox website.

The current OS is Windows XP Pro Corporate (at least I think its corporate) and it was installed in January. Not really time to reformat and reinstall yet :?

I was asking the same question on another forum, and they suggested I up my VCORE voltages, which doesnt seem like a good plan to me. I figure that the system should be able to do that on its own under the stable settings that it loads itself.

~Bug

[amd_man2005]

I'd update the bios and see where that gets ya.

[Darthtanion]

WinXP usually doesn't need consistent reinstallations, but if your buddy has loaded up a lot of programs and uninstalled them, this can sometimes cause problems enough to require one. Also if he doesn't take proper care and precautions when surfing the web and using email, it is possible to have picked up a worm or trojan.

You can update the BIOS if you're comfortable with this type of thing. From the sounds of things, you are so it can't really hurt. May even fix the problem.

While raising the VCore is a common trick for handling instability issues, this shouldn't be a concern in your system since it isn't overclocked. All processors are factory tested for stability at default voltages and while it is possible to get a dud, odds are really pretty slim. Besides, stability isn't the concern... the CMOS values are.

[bigjackusa]

The cpu is a T-bred and not a Barton running pc2100 ram with it? FSB is set at 266, not 333?

[Bugman]

Hey All.

Thanks for the quick replies and ideas. There hasnt been a lot of install/uninstall of any programs at all, the machine is used in an office and basically is loaded with what it needs, and nothing gets added or taken away.

McAfee virusscan has been running on it since the OS has been installed, and I did a complete scan during my troubleshooting. All seems well in that department.

Ill try a BIOS update I suppose and see if that helps out my issues at all.

Also, I believe it is running at the 166 FSB, and then that is doubled by the DDR to 333, correct? (I always get confused by that sorta stuff when trying to figure it out)

Thanks again, Ill keep you all posted.

~Bug

[wayout44]

Epox EP-8RDA3+ Mobo, revision 2.x
AMD Athlox XP 2500+
Antec 300W smartpower power supply
2x256MB (512 total) of Crucial PC2100 DDR Ram

For starters I think that the PSU is rated to low for that setup (400W is my minimum) but the memory certainly is rated to slow (PC2700 should've been the minimum used).

[Bugman]

Hey All.

The machine hasnt made the same error message since I reset the CMOS settings, so I havent changed anything yet. Ill post if anything changes.

Also, Im pretty sure the memory speed is OK for this current setup. I dont remember if it is a limitation on the board or from the processor, but I thought 2100 would run as fast as the rest of the system.

Thanks again for the help thus far!

~Bug

[wayout44]

Actually the memory is running slower than the CPU's FSB. Your CPU runs a FSB of 166MHz while your memory only runs at 133MHz which is why PC2700 should be used for best performance as it's rated at 166MHz the same as the CPU's FSB.