Re: BAD Problems with Asus Mobos

In article <laadnUQAyJtFG0DfRVn-rg@xxxxxxxxxxx>, "Steve"
<spfouche@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I have the same board Paul...the P4C800-E Deluxe and have noticed some wierd
> anomalies from time to time, especially when booting which makes me think
> that this problems extends to the 875 northbridge as well. I wonder if
> these problems have been fixed in the newer 915/925/945/955 chipsets?
>
> That's very discouraging to hear about these problems and I think that Intel
> owes it to it's customers for a fix, but I think you're right in that they
> probably won't do anything.
>
> I was going to install a separate PCI USB 2 card to get around the problem
> but are you saying that doing that may not work? I will have to try it as
> it's the only way to save my face since they use a portable notebook hard
> drive on the front USB to dump/retrieve data. That is probably what has
> been killing the boards...the increased current requirement for a portable
> drive.
>
> Thanks again Paul....I'm going to try and contact Intel about this and see
> what they say. I don't want to start a class action lawsuit, but I will if
> I have to.
>
> -Steve
>

My P4C800-E has been fine so far. I'm just concerned with the
long term prognosis, and what happens after the warranty has
expired.

I've seen no reports about a problem with ICH6 or ICH7. Those
are the Southbridges for the chipsets you listed above.

With regard to the PCI USB card - yes, it does help. It eliminates
one source of stimulus for the problem. What I am concerned about,
is the one reported case, where the Southbridge "blew" right after
the computer was rebooted. In that case, there probably was not
an electrostatic discharge happening at the time, so in that one
case, I'm assuming that a PCI USB card would not have prevented
that person from losing the use of their board. Again, I'm still
waiting for more reports of "ESD-free" failure cases, where
the Southbridge blew, even though no USB devices were plugged or
unplugged just before it happened. So, by all means, install
a PCI USB 2.0 card - from a failure probability perspective, it
will be helping you. I just cannot guarantee that it might not
happen anyway, say during a simple reboot. I mean, judging by
the repeatability of the burn marks on the Southbridge, I'm
pretty certain of the phenomenon doing this - what I cannot
guarantee, is that the USB interface on the Southbridge won't
fail with virtually no stimulus fed to it (just the bias from
the normal supply voltages).

Don't expect staff at Intel to comment on your observation.
Staff in big companies have a vested interest in keeping their
mouths shut, especially in tech support, where all the calls
could be "recorded for monitoring purposes". Now, if you could
take an Intel staff member out for a few beers, they might tell
you something (like how much they like free beer).

Paul
.

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