EP45-UD3p 1.1 PCIe card troubleshooting

[bentpin]

Hi!

Sorry if this is the wrong forum.


I have a stable, working setup:

My computer is a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P, motherboard rvn 1.1, BIOS rvn F10 (stable)

The board is loaded into a x8 slot, only other thing running is a GeForce GTS 250 1 Meg board in the x16 slot


I swapped out an Aja Corvid 3G video capture card for a used Aja Kona LHe card. Both are 4 lane, and don't have anywhere to plug external power in (like my video card).

System is stable with the 3G in the 8 lane slot.

When I initiate the system, all the phase LEDs on the motherboard come on. It idles for about ten seconds. During this time, the LHe lamp closest to the BNC connector end comes on and stays on. The two furthest from the connector end glow dimly, but steadily. Then, the computer quits. A few seconds later, it restarts. It continues to loop. There is never a POST beep.

If I then remove the board, I get the splash screen, then a BIOS nag screen (POST error occurs!) then asks me to run last known good configuration.

Aja is no help.

How can I figure out what's going on from the mobo side?

thanks!

[profJim]

Re: EP45-UD3p 1.1 PCIe card troubleshooting

Welcome to the forum.

Can you test the used card in another system to see if it works?
Try swapping the slot positions of the used card with your video card.

From AJA KONA LHe Plus HD-SDI / Analog Video Capture KONA LHE PLUS | B&H Photo, Specifications tab:

System Requirements -- Mac or PC system with free PCI-e slot (typically 16x is required)
Supported Graphics Cards -- NVIDIA GeForce GTX285: 275.33 Graphics Driver

note: there are 20 NVIDIA Quadro video cards that are supported, most of which are FX models.


We need detailed information about ALL OF THE HARDWARE in your system.

We can best help you after you create a detailed hardware list in the System Specs
portion of your forum profile at the bottom of the profile page or in your forum signature.
Be sure to include brand names and model numbers.
When you are done editing or creating your hardware list, save the settings.

[bentpin]

Sorry!

I thought I had.

I had some troubles registering, but I filled out a long list of parts. Allow me to go back and see why that isn't showing up.

In the interim,

Gigabyte EP45-UD3P 1.1 revision board
fed by an 800w HP server PSU
Runs a 4 core Xeon 5470 around 3.3GHz (stock, not pushing)
Cooled by a Ninja plus and a few fans
Has 8GB of memory, 4 of OCZ something, and 4 of another, but runs in dual mode
Uses a GeForce GTS250 1 Meg video card

BIOS revision F10 (factory fresh) but I don't know what's in the backup BIOS (a little fuzzy on that whole system, which is what initially brought me here).


The video card goes in a X16 slot.
The Aja card is in a 8 lane slot.

I see the specs you refer to, but that is for an Aja LHe Plus.

I'm pretty sure it is a 4 lane card: KONA LHe Support - Legacy Support - Support - AJA Video Systems



Swapping cards in slots does nothing helpful. Leaving the card in the x16 and pulling the video card halts it dead in the water, in other words like the system wasn't plugged into the wall. IN fact, pulling that dog, and putting the video card back in took it a minute or two unplugged from the wall before it wanted to start.

There is no external power to this card, like the video card, btw (I can't read what I initially wrote)


Thanks,

Shawn

[profJim]

Re: EP45-UD3p 1.1 PCIe card troubleshooting

After you have created your hardware list, be sure to save the settings.

From the Kona PC Manual:

Minimum System Requirements
AJA Video recommends that your system meet minimum hardware and software requirements
to achieve a satisfactory level of performance when operating it. System requirements are
subject to change as new versions of operating systems, QuickTime, and workstations become
available. For the most up-to-date Minimum System Requirements see the AJA website at:
KONA MAC System Configuration - KONA Family - Edit - Products - AJA Video Systems

From KONA PC System Configuration - KONA Family - Edit - Products - AJA Video Systems:

You are here: Home > Products > Edit > KONA Family > KONA PC System Configuration

KONA for PC Supported System Configurations

The AJA support and engineering team target only Enterprise Class Workstations.
The slot placement is based on an engineering analysis of the motherboard for
performance and available bandwidth. These are the required HD / 2K workflow
configurations for the KONA product line.

Followed by a list of workstation class motherboards from Dell, HP, Boxx, Tyan and SuperMicro.

[bentpin]

I've seen those, but don't understand how they might apply. That's why I'm here. Aja is silent on the topic when I've asked them.

well, except to say that they only tested it on a limited number of mobos, which makes sense.

What is the motherboard saying to the capture card? What is it responding? can I invoke some sort of log command?

Is there something I can bitbang in either of them to make them play nice?

Or is there an architecture issue on my motherboard?

Thanks for such quick responses, btw!

Shawn

[profJim]

Re: EP45-UD3p 1.1 PCIe card troubleshooting

You're welcome.

It sounds like there is a hardware compatibility problem with the Aja Kona LHe card.
In the first post you said that your system can't even boot with the Kona card installed.
It's possible that the Kona card is defective and preventing your system from booting.
Can you test the Kona card in a different system?
You might need to spend some time searching the web for reviews or forums that deal with the Kona card.
The only other thing that I can think of is to install an older PCI video card in your system and see if the Kona card will work.

FWIW, I think that the Nvidia Quadro cards are only compatible with workstation systems.

[profJim]

Re: EP45-UD3p 1.1 PCIe card troubleshooting

I download the 2007 Kona^LH Models: LHe and LH Installation and Operation Guide from http://www.aja.com/pdf/support/AJA_KonaLHe_manual.pdf

On page 13:

Minimum and Recommended System and Software Requirements

Model KONA LHe Minimum:	Power Mac G5 (dual) PCI-Express 2GHz with 1GB or more RAM
Model KONA LHe Recommended:	Power Mac G5 PCI-Express (dual) 2.3 GHz or Quad 2.5GHz with 1GB or more RAM

I didn't see any mention of PC compatibility.

[bentpin]

Re: EP45-UD3p 1.1 PCIe card troubleshooting

Yeah,

the only difference is the software driver, aja tells me. It's all a moot point now, I think I killed the motherboard. With nothing but the cpu installed, it turns on for one second, then the power supply clicks.

It's dead in the water until I pull the mains plug. a few seconds later, I can hear the click again, and when I plug back in, I can do it all over again. I can't take the cpu off until I find my long screwdriver again, but looking at the board, both bios's seem to have the corner of pin one burnt until I can see gold. I don't know.

Thanks again for all the input!


Shawn

[profJim]

Re: EP45-UD3p 1.1 PCIe card troubleshooting

Sorry to hear about your motherboard problems.

Can you borrow another power supply to test with?

You will need at least one memory module installed when you boot your system.
If a 4-pin ATX_12V or 8-pin EPS12V cable is not connected to the motherboard your system can't boot.
Do you have a case speaker connected to the front panel speaker pins?

This is what normal bios chips look like:

[bentpin]

Re: EP45-UD3p 1.1 PCIe card troubleshooting

I do have a speaker attached! I swear I am getting one short, quiet beep. The fans even attempt to crank, then they all go dead.

I have it completely torn down now with the exception of the cpu (I've lost my long screwdriver).

I took a picture of my bios(es). I was wrong. That's gold paint. Looked dished in under the inspector's scope, but clearly paint with optical photography.

See?



My working theories are that either the cpu I modded has pooped the bed, or a speck of conductive material has pissed the system off. (I didn't realize how dirty it was).

I don't have a spare power supply. This is all new to me. All the things I maintain are either laptops, tablets, or older tech boxes that have zero downtime. (shrugs). I just wish the $%^&*( thing would just run...

Shawn

[bentpin]

troubleshot!





Well... I really don't want to admit this, but after breaking the board completely down, cleaning the board, reinstalling the cpu and cooler...


When I was dressing up my cable snarl previous to this last nosedive, apparently a piece of zip tie fell into the vertically mounted power supply and hung up its' cooling fan.

One step forward, seven back.

I have given up on the LHe board. I have a Corvid 3G that the motherboard recognized, but was having driver issues.

Thanks for all the shoulder time! Now, if I can only learn how to ensure what BIOS programming is in the backup bios...


Shawn