# Striker extreme mobo dont work!!



## Gulo Luseus (May 12, 2007)

Hiyas all
having read the raves, i got an Asus Striker Extreme mobo, supposedly supporting quad core (got a nice new Q6600 as well). Put it all together ( see specs in the sig), and what do you know? It wont post. I had a look through a few forums, and it seems i am one of many having probs withthis board. I tried asus support, their advice was unplug everything except 1 mem stick and one gpu, clear cmos, reboot. Tried that, and it still doesnt work. There are two main issues from what i have picked up outside of asus; first being the 8meg L2 cache on the chip - it seems strikers dont like it - and th eother is mem. I have 2 gig of patriot 1066 mem, running at 2.2v, and the mobo defaults to 1,8v, so it wont recognise themem. I tried DDR800, and got the same overall effect, just in a different place. 
It seems it is an easy to cure prob, all you have to do is flash the latest bios, and the board hopefully works again. 
NOW for the q - how do you flash the bios when you cant get a post? Seems a complete catch 22 situation. The best solution i saw was on ebay, where you could get a new bios chip with latest installed, which as solutions go is pretty ugly and should NOT have to be done, but if it wirks, it works. Trouble is, they dont seem to be there any more -i wondered why they sold so well, now i know.
If anyone has a solution, would really love to hear it, coz after the money i spent i am really gettin humpy!


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## bigbear (Apr 27, 2004)

There should be an option in bios to change the ram voltage.


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## Gulo Luseus (May 12, 2007)

yup, according to the manual you can change just about every possible setting. Unfortunately, it wont get to post, so i cant get into the bios settings. Thats the catch 22 bit... change settings, all works, to change settings, needs to work.


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## Bronko23.5 (Sep 12, 2007)

Did you check the back lcd poster that should tell you where it hangs the sytem and you might be able to know more with that info, I know how you feel though becuase im in the same boat i tried many thing but nothing worked,right know its in with some tech guys getting looked at so when i get it back i will let you know what they did


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## oldskoolhead (Sep 13, 2007)

hi, glad im not the only 1 with this problem........ no offence ;-D
yes ive just bought a striker extreme on ebay and a q6600 and im having exacly the same trouble, 
i assembled it all switched it on and the boards fairy lights illuminate and the cpu fan spins but the screen remains blank and the lcd poster reads cpu init........ ive just wrote back to the guy i bought my board off giving him loads and then found this when looking for info on erased bioses as i assumed this guy got rid cause he tried to flash it and erased it then offloaded it to me...... ooops
on reading this i dont know if it makes me feel any better because after spending my rent to get the parts i now have to either buy another lga775 processor so it will post so i can flash the bios or buy a removal tool then pay for a bios flash to the updated version and what is most annoying is that the box it came in quite clearly states quad core ready are asus having a laugh at my costly expence.
has anyone got a resolution to this problem that doesnt cost anything...... free loan of a duo in the manchester uk area for instance ;-) as my current pc is s478 prescott so wont fit, or does any1 know if the bios chip can be removed without the special tool that id probably never use again, could i say bend a bit of wire to shape or something.

also i read an article on recovering erased bioses and it states that if you have a compatable motherboard bios (it suggests you use the same mobo to be sure the bios is compatable though different mobo can be used as long as bios is compatabe) you can run the bios update on the good board and before you proceed with the flash the bios chip can be CAREFULLY removed while the pc is on and replaced with the dead one then proceed with the flash, so my current pc has the same ammount of pins + same socket does this then conclude that it will be compatable or not.
for referance my other board is an as rock p4vt8+


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## Bronko23.5 (Sep 12, 2007)

well i got my rig back from the tech guy and suprise suprise he has no idea what he did to fix it.... all he said was he tried a generic piece of ram instead of my dual OCZ PC2 8500 and it posted just fine then swapped them back in ... im just glad im up and running again. but i am having some odd volt readings with pc probe II ... seems its detecting all volts readings and 4.08 if that was correct my MOBO would be toast so it just must be a software issue or a **** bios


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## oldskoolhead (Sep 13, 2007)

cheers for that bronko ill give it a bash tomorrow i have a mate at works gonna bring me some in and he also has a core 2 duo hes gonna bring me to try as well so fingers crossed if i can get it to post i can update the bios as well as the board says ver 1.00G so i presume this is the very 1st version though if it works without an update i may just leave it...... dont want to tempt fate now i know how tempremental the effin thing is.
the electrician at works been on it today and he recons its not the bios as it goes through the cpu 1st and the cpu init displays whether the cpu is in the board or not so therefore his conclusion was its not seeing the cpu which he said it probably means the cpu is goosed which is doubtfull as its a bran spanker factory sealed or the boards knackered........ but im not giving up that easy ;-)


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## sixsigma (Sep 24, 2007)

I have a Q6600 processor as well and just purchased a ASUS Striker Extreme mother board. After taking three different mother boards back to a store manager who is pulling is hair out at the roots, I still can not get my board to post the BIOS. My error code display blinks CPU INIT. Some of my fans come on but some don't. Nothing on my monitor. I have tried everything I have read on the forums including using and not using insulators for mounting the board.  I have called Asus  at least twenty times and still no post. One time I talked to a tech at Asus and he had the nerve to tell me to buy a different computer case. I thank God that he was not in the same room with me when he said that. Regardless, I am really angry with ASUS. They know that the Quad Core processor just does not get along with this board and to have to spend hours waiting for a CMOS reset to try resetting it is ridiculous. I am going to call them tomorrow and ask them for a complete refund and if not, then I will take them to small claims court. My next move is start a web site called www.asussucks.com and see if I can find some other like minded people to file a class action lawsuit against them. ASUS needs to be held accountable for their greed and for failing to warn people about this board. I would appreciate if someone would reply and tell me if their error display blinks or not.


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## oldskoolhead (Sep 13, 2007)

hi im writing to let everybody here know that i solved my cpu init problem and found the problem to be my memory which has gone back to ocz....... though i did buy it on ebay as untested but never suspected it as i thought cpu init meant that my cpu wasnt being seen by the motherboard so wasnt getting to the mem test but apparently not i found out by fluke really as i had 4 sticks and 3 were dead and happened to try the good one when trying it without my mouse connected at bare minimum and was told by ocz that the 680i chipset significantly reduces the life of the memory if ran at the full spec voltage so i should reduce it from 2.3v to 2.1 or if im using all 4 id possibly get away with 2.2v they said the 2.3v spec applies to the p35 chipset, so i would suggest if you have any reason to suspect youre memory module/s then try and get hold of an alternative and as soon as you get in adjust the voltage accordingly.....hope this helps


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## oldskoolhead (Sep 13, 2007)

ps this also applies to the auto setting as the default voltage was 2.3v as well so ocz recomended i manually set it to be sure and also running sli mode auto sets it to 2.3v (with the memory im using anyway (flex xlc pc 9200))

pps if you have more than 1 module id also suggest trying each 1 on its own first as well as if there is 1 dead 1 and 1 good 1 it still wont boot and make sure you leave it for at least 20 seconds as it takes a min to come on

and ppps to sixsigma yes the cpu init blinks once i think even when it boots ok it may possibly blink more but i dont have my memory at the moment to swich it on and see but i did notice it blinking


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## Liquid_Venom (Oct 3, 2007)

Just finished putting together my beast tonight and as you can see from the time- it wasnt easy

However forget ****ing around with the voltage and sum such 

Easy fix is thus:

Flash Bios to latest version as the Bios that is loaded as standard DOES NOT SUPPORT QUAD CORE

All is sorted once i flashed to 1308

Hope this helps


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## oldskoolhead (Sep 13, 2007)

my board was bios revision 1.00g and it took my quad core ive not updated the bios at all though i wouldnt say it wouldnt benefit from a bios flash for memory issues. maybe there is a difference between the b3 stepping version and the go version as mine is the older b3 so i cant speak for the go steppers but quad core ready it says on the tin and it definately does take the b3 quad at least :up:


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## Gulo Luseus (May 12, 2007)

Liquid, hate to say it but that is NOT an easy fix. To flash bios, you need to get a boot. To get a boot, you need to flash the bios....
I at least dont have a spare 775 chip lying around, and i have no intention of buying one just to get a mobo up and running.
I tried asus support, got a mail saying do this, this this.. i did and nothing changed, so i wrote again. Anf again. And again. And guess what? No replies. Asus have behaved abysmally over this, with nu support for what they claim, and no real customer support. I will not be buying any of their stuff again, which is a shame because igenerally find it good, but after this, they can whistle for it.


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## oldskoolhead (Sep 13, 2007)

gulo, youre 1 of the lucky ones who actually got a reply in the first place ;-D


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## Liquid_Venom (Oct 3, 2007)

Soz guys,

I stand corrected in my haste to type a reply: the shipped bios does not support GO stepping so you need to flash to the latest 

As for flashing it, i usesd the Asus disc and went to updates and flashed it that way 

As long as the pc is stable for 5 mins seemed a pretty safe way to do it

You can also down load the bios revision straight off the Asus website, thats where i realised the go stepping was not supported under my current bios revision

Ive now got a very stable system


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## jkstudios (Oct 22, 2007)

Ok, having read the countless posts on this forum - and indeed all around the web - it is clear that the Striker Extreme is an absolute disaster of a motherboard, the only redeeming factors being semi-decent functionality IF you can get it working. And even then you're more likely not to.

Ok so I also have been the victim of one of these atrocious boards. Here is my spec.

The aforementioned sh**ty motherboard (Rev 1.00G)
E6850 Core 2 Duo @ 3Ghz
2 x 1GB Crucial ballistix 800mhz
8800 GTX
500GB Western Digital SATA

Anyway...

I originally bought my bits....having had some of them arrive before others, I ended up (successfully no less) installing my striker motherboard, 2gb of my crucial ballistix, a 120Gb IDE hard disk and a 16mb 3dfx voodoo card (Dont ask - I was using this purely for a video output, and since my 8800 gtx had not arrived yet).

It went perfectly, I merely put all the parts in, plugged everything together, turned on...installed windows....it ran like a dream. Nothing more than i'd expect from any component, having completed hundreds of builds before.

Then came the 'fun' part, the same as 90% of other striker extreme owners out there.

I took away the IDE, and removed the crappy 3dfx card. I installed my 8800 GTX, my new SATA drive and an upgraded PSU (going from 450W to 750W). CPU INIT.

Ssince then I have done every possible thing to this piece of crap motherboard in order to get it to work. So far the following has happened (in sequential order)

-200 + boot attempts with random RAM moving in slots, card removal/adding/cmos clearing etc.

-1 successful POST allowing me entry into my BIOS in order to see that I am running 1102.

-Following on from this the system went straight back to the CPU INIT hang.

-Another 300+ boot attempts as before.

-Finally access again to the BIOS, this time to change the voltage settings to the ones specified by crucial for the 800mhz ballistix. I did this successfuly, saved, smiled, rebooted, CPU INIT.

-400+ more boot attempts to try and get in again, in and out of case, with cmos clears, different RAM slots etc etc etc. And it simply wont.

-It wont even work on the original components, the IDE and graphics card, that it so happily ran on first time with. Which is utterley ridiculous.

I have tried to clear CMOS. Using the variety of 'methods' which are littered around the internet. The fact is, even in the manual it doesn't explain it clearly a to how to do it. So far it is my belief that it is impossible to clear your CMOS on some of these boards. In some attempts i have disconnected everything from the board, taken the battery out for 24hrs+ and nothing. Nothing changes.

Having had beyond enough with this board (I nearly stammped on it last night) - I have decided to pay through the teeth and order a replacement flashed bios from a bios recovery company, stating allmy details and asking for the besst bios to be installed for my hardware.

My problem now is THIS:

I know I do not have a DOA or defective board. It has ran and installed windows etc.
I know I have a defective clear CMOS, I am unable to do this.
In light of this, I have a new bios chip coming in the next few days and knowing that I only have one shot of installing everything, putting the new chip in and getting it right (running the risk that if I get something wrong it will hang and lock me out with a CPU INIT again - so i'll have two bios chips, both unusable) I NEED TO KNOW THE BEST METHOD OF PUTTING MY LIFE TOGETHER AGAIN....ERRR...I mean the best method of putting all my components into the board, with the new bios chip. What order. Bios chip first. Power on or off. Etc etc.

The thing that i've found is that on most motherboards, the above 'order' of things, simply wont matter. On the triker Extreme, it does...and you have to get it perfect or it will simply die on you.

Let this be advice to anybody who wants to buy a SE, and take this into account before you decide to get one. Let this news propogate throughout the internet and fall into the minds of uneducated consumers, such as myself - expecting a product to work out of the box. It simply does not and you need to have a good knowledge of what to do - some mmight say an expert knowledge, to get everything just right and perfect....IF your SE is EVER going to work.

Rant over. Any help?

p.s I'm with sixsigma in starting asussucks.com, if it hasn't already been done (and it wouldn't surprise me)

DONT buy a striker extreme. *sigh* They are naturally defective out of the box.


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