My computer won't boot even to BIOS, and I have see a flashing "--" in the on-board LED code. Because this code isn't listed in the instruction manual Appendix A- List of On-board LED codes, I would like to know what this means.

Also, from left to right, there is a flashing yellow light and green light in the top right corner of the mobo, in the CR12J2 and CR12J3 circuit LEDs.

For some reason, the back fan is also not working now when plugged into the mobo.

My ATI Sapphire card's "overtemp protection" redlight card begins blinking immediately upon booting up (presumably before it has time to actually overheat?)

All of these errors occurred after I did two things--

1. Replaced my PSU (w/ a Corsair TX750W PSU)

2. Cleaned off and reapplied the thermal paste as per this post:  http://forums.evga.comarchive/tm.asp?m=231180

I've done step 2 before, so I know how this procedure goes. I reattached the mobo (hopefully) plugged everything back in, and then rebooted, only to encounter the above errors.

Anyone got any helpful feedback to these questions?

Thanks.

Thanks a lot. Your first suggestion did work and accomplished this--

mobo  LED code is now 1D: Early PM Early PM initialization. I notice the back fan still isn't running though, when plugged into the mobo.

The red light no longer appears on my ATI card.

Edit- after plugging in more cables and such, the mobo LED code is C1- Memory Presence (Base memory detect)
What is the significance of this?

I took out 1 stick of RAM (I have 4), the one I took out and put back in earlier when reattaching various cables. After booting without this stick, mobo beeped and LED reads 7F- POST error check (check POST error and display them and ask for user intervention)


I have no video as I do this, because I removed my ATI card because the red light was on the card again.  Tried seating the card in the other PCI slot and the same thing happened (red light, no picture).

Edit- Removed other 2 sticks of RAM so now I just have one seated. Same LED code- 7F.

OK, it seems at this point to be the RAM- how though can I tell if it's the stick or, worse, the RAM slot in my mobo? 

Putting the 3rd and 4th stick of RAM results in the errors I posted in my first post, while having RAM in the 1st and 3rd slots enables me to boot to Windows without any problems. 

How to determine if the problem lies with my my RAM or my mobo?

Hmmm...I have 2 sticks of Kingston and 2 sticks of Corsair. I swithced the order (Corsair in slots 1 and 3 and Kingston in slots 2 and 4) and now they seem to be working. Booted to desktop w/ no errors. Fingers crossed...

Thanks by the way for your prompt and really helpful replies.

At this point, there are 2 spots on the mobo where the 3-pin fan power connectors don't work. I have gotten all fans working (using a free 3-pin power connector on the mobo and one via an adaptor from my PSU), but I am worried that my mobo might have shorted out in spots, making continued use of it unwise and/or risky to my other hardware.

What do you suggest?

Thanks for the advice. I'll check the BIOS for the fan header settings. What's the reason for not using the PSU- too much power?

I did do that... but not for long

What is the 9 pin yellow serial connector (part 15 on page 11 of the 680i user manual) for?  I don't have anything plugged into it now.

y\Yes- that was the plug, a converter from the psu,. which doesn't have a 3-pin female socket on it.

Anyway, plugged my fan back into my mobo and it now working.  things SEEM to be running okay now. 

I think following your first suggestion re: the CMOS jumper reset is what got me back on the path to repair.  Fingers crossed from hereon out. I hope my system temps stay at a more reasonable level now such that my system doesn't keep shutting down (the entire reason I undertook switching out my PSU and reapplying the thermal goo)

thanks!

peppergomez


What is the 9 pin yellow serial connector (part 15 on page 11 of the 680i user manual) for?  I don't have anything plugged into it now.

 

It's a serial port that is a general-purpose interface that can be used for almost any type of device, including modems, mice, and printers (although most printers are connected to a parallel port, or USB port).  I personally don't know anyone who ever uses that port.

Thanks.  After putting the case together and plugging everything in on the mobo, the idle CPU temps are around 60 celsius, and around 67 celsius when running a game, and idle GPU is around 57.  This is about 5-10 degrees cooler than it was running before I started to have problems.

One thing I notice is that the SATA slot add on for the back (4 SATA slots, 2 on each wire, that connect to the 9- I think- pin connector on the mobo) isn't working.  Usually I can only get half of it (2 slots, 1 wire) to work by plugging it into the SATA pin connector on the lower left of the mobo. I have it plugged in there but there's no signal.  Is this something I can check on/activate in the BIOS? 

So far, knock on wood, the mobo seems to be running okay.

Do you have any idea what might have happened to create all these problems?  I suspect my temperature issues were caused by that missing/broken pin on one side of the southbridge, which resulted in it not properly sealing. 

A friend thinks the problem was my PSU.  I ran an application called SpeedFan, which read my +12V as being at 9.82V.  I replaced the PSU with a Corsair PSU and, like I mentioned reapplied the thermal paste and also used a nylon screw to properly reseat that side of the southbridge that wasn't properly set before.

Fast forward to now, with everything (well, almost everything, barring that SATA panel not working) is running ok. Ran SpeedFan again, and notice it reports roughly the same reading for my +12V on the Corsair PSU: 9.82V to 9.77V. Makes me think that SpeedFan is not the way to evaluate PSU effectiveness.

AS far as your external SATA not working any more, there is settings in the BIOS to enable an disable those. It set them back to disabled which is the default when you cleared your CMOS.

To reenable them log into the BIOS, then Intergrated Peripherals, then eSATA config and renable them all if you need them.