MSI Master2-FAR7 (MS9617) multiple problems

[tmiha71]

Re: MSI Master2-FAR7 (MS9617) multiple problems

Is this a single VRM for both CPU-s (all FPCAP in parallel) ?
Nice fun ahead...

[Uranium-235]

Re: MSI Master2-FAR7 (MS9617) multiple problems

with the exception of the KZG's in IMG_3089, they're all good caps. I actually have this exact same motherboard /w 2 opteron 240's, still in working order

still not sure if its the caps though, have you tried a different video card? PSU? Taking everything out but the bare minimum and seeing if it works from there?

"System date loss after extended power loss"...
replace the CMOS battery?

[Hadakajime]

Re: MSI Master2-FAR7 (MS9617) multiple problems

Sorry about the delay, turns out it was too difficult to compile this post on my iphone during the bus ride home.
Here are the photos a little larger, with links to flickr if you want to see them in full resolution. Sorry the thumbnails are a little large..


IMG_3078


IMG_3079


IMG_3080


IMG_3081


IMG_3082


IMG_3083


IMG_3084


IMG_3085


IMG_3086


IMG_3091


IMG_3087


IMG_3089


IMG_3090

[Hadakajime]

Re: MSI Master2-FAR7 (MS9617) multiple problems

Oops sorry about the pics, I thought they would link through to flickr. I'll try fixing that now..
The only measuring tool i have on hand is an old multimeter that needs a new battery.

An interesting note on the dropped keys is I don't remember it occurring with board #1

[DJduck]

Re: MSI Master2-FAR7 (MS9617) multiple problems

The pictures are tiny for some reason
Do you have an ESR meter? Sometimes caps go bad without bulging.
And yes, KZG are defective, and so are KZE.
Keyboard dropouts- software issue probably

[Hadakajime]

Hi. I just found this site a few days ago.

My system has had multiple problems since I got 2 of these motherboards secondhand some years ago. I have always thought they were just crappy BIOS related problems. I do not overclock the CPUs. I have tested very briefly but it eventually bluescreens. However, I have enabled Catalyst Overdrive for the video card and have had a tremendous amount of success with it. It is extremely important to note that the problems experienced occur regardless of Overdrive being enabled or not, and I have not been able to prove any direct link between Overdrive and any stability problems.

I am posting here for help determining if it is all likely NOT cap related, otherwise I will be sending it off to the badcaps workshop.

Here is the MSI (manufacturer) web page for the board:
link: MSI K8T Master2-FAR7 (MS9617)

First, here are the system specs:

• Latest BIOS at 1.2
• New CMOS battery
• MSI K8T800 Pro Master2-FAR7 (MS9617)
• 2 x AMD Opteron 290 @ 2.8GHz
• 2 x Thermalright Venomous X-RT SB-E
• 2 x Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1850rpm
• 2 x Infineon 1GB HYS72D128320GBR-6-B (ECC disabled)
• HIS Radeon HD 3850 512MB @ 720/950MHz
• Arctic Accelero Xtreme III
• Creative X-Fi Elite Pro w/ console
• 2 x WD RaptorX 150GB (RAID 0 onboard)
• Seagate 60GB PATA backup drive (second channel)
• FSP Aurum CM Gold 750W
• Samsung SH-B123A BD-R/multi (via the SiI3214 controller)
• Antec 1200v3
• Corsair Dominator Airflow RAM cooler
• Silicon Image SiI3124 SATA controller

Here are some photos of the caps. It's not all of them, just to show most of the different ones used. I didn't take the tiny surface mounted ones. I think the fat yellow ones might look a bit questionable, but all the rest have very flat tops and no stains on the board. So there aren't any obvious visual signs, unless those yellow ones are clearly bad (?).
From what I've briefly read, those KZGs are very troublesome, correct?







Both boards share a lot of the symptoms, however #2 is clearly worse than #1 in terms of crashing. #1 only had infrequent random hard crashes, or reproducibly with 48hours after mains power loss. #2 experiences reproducible hard crashes whenever certain tasks are performed.
What I mean by "hard crash" is the system is performing normally with no prodromes of a crash, then it's as if the power cord is suddenly unplugged and the system cannot be powered on until the CMOS is cleared. Hard crashes are the same for both boards. Generally the system will be pretty stable against the "infrequent" crashes once the CMOS has been cleared and BIOS reset.

Here is a list of symptoms board #1:

• No USB standby power
• No ethernet standby activity
• No residual standby power - unplugging from mains then immediately powering on results in no brief spin up
• Changing some BIOS settings results in system date loss (I think enabling the SATA controller - possible BIOS bug?)
• Booting with any disc in the BD drive results in the drive option being corrupted in BIOS. It shows up as blank or as unrecognisable chars in the BIOS device list (possible BIOS bug?)
• System date loss after extended power loss (either minutes or hours?)
• Hard crash within 48hrs after power loss
• Infrequent random hard crash
• Cannot load Windows with more than 1GB RAM in each channel (reset/bluescreen)
• Any hard crash requires clearing CMOS before system will power on again

Here is a list of symptoms board #2:

• No USB standby power
• No ethernet standby activity AFTER a hard crash
• No residual standby power - unplugging from mains then immediately powering on results in no brief spin up
• Changing some BIOS settings results in system date loss (I think enabling the SATA controller - possible BIOS bug?)
• Booting with any disc in the BD drive results in the drive option being corrupted in BIOS. It shows up as blank or as unrecognisable chars in the BIOS device list (possible BIOS bug?)
• Cannot load Windows with more than 1GB RAM in each channel (reset/bluescreen)
• Any hard crash requires clearing CMOS before system will power on again
• Hard crash when performing particular tasks (REPRODUCABLE!) - Eg. Installing Tribes Ascend via steam, loading specific websites (not pr0n), applying a specific photoshop filter, I noticed once when doing Windows update with heavy RAID activity, I remember a total of 2 times during Windows update
• Infrequent random hard crash
• Keyboard dropouts - keys stop responding in counter strike global offensive. Does not happen in Doom 2 (zDoom)

I hope I haven't forgotten much.
Like I said before, if it's obviously NOT a cap problem then I won't be sending it to the badcaps workshop.

Regards