ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

[Jac70]

I have an ECS Z77H2-AX motherboard with an i7 3770K and 8GB Crucial Ballistix Elite memory. I have had various minor issues with the board since I got it. However over the last 6 months or so I had an issue where I could not enter the BIOS. Everytime I went to the BIOS screen, any input from the mouse of keyboard would cause the system to freeze. Only way to change a setting would be to press the clear CMOS button - this would allow me to get past the BIOS splash screen and change settings though I would need to enter all my settings each time. Also when trying to put a small overclock on my CPU I noticed that changing the multiplier would not affect the CPU in Windows - at least not correctly. I have run the CPU with at 4GHZ with no issues but I found that attempting this again the system would display the CPU running at 3.7GHZ.

So attempting to get to the bottom of this I went into the BIOS after doing a clear CMOS. Set all my settings to my preference, enabled XMP profiles and set my multiplier to 4.2 to see if I could run at that speed ( something I assumed a 3770K should not have a problem with). When I re-booted the system got to the Windows boot, blue screened and then powered off. Since then my PC will not boot. The system starts, fans and lights come on, the debug LED shows activity until it gets to code 32 where the system hangs. I believe that code is 'cpu/memory' issue. The BIOS chip is an AMI Aptio.

Since then I have stripped the machine apart completely. I suspected maybe battery issue so I replaced the CMOS battery - no help. I tried running the machine with just the CPU and memory - no help. I tried using each stick of memory in all combinations of slot with no help. I tried each stick in each slot individually. I purchased a 2nd user Pentium g630 for testing and that made no difference. I have now purchased a second hand Gigabyte motherboard and my system appears to be working fine now so it seems the ECS board is definitely the problem.

What I am wondering is if a repair is a possibility. I don't believe any of the caps are faulty, they are all good quality parts and appear fine. My intuition is that the BIOS has become corrupted. I posted on motherboards.org and they suggested someone here may be able to suggest a repair service or course of action -

Thanks for reading
Jac

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

I don't believe any of the caps are faulty, they are all good quality parts and appear fine.

do not assume anything. post pictures of the board and what caps it actually uses and we will be the judge. poly caps can also go bad and fail like one of our members here found out. another one of our pro tech members has also pulled failed good quality jap poly caps from a board he repaired. this type of failure is typically caused by using a junk psu.

so u might also wanna state what psu u are using so that we can determine if the problems are caused by a bad psu or not. while the system may be working again with the used gigabyte board, no guarantees it wont fail again unless a bad psu is identified and eliminated from the equation.

btw, i also have a gigabyte ep35-ds3 with almost the same problem as yours: system hangs/freezes when entering bios setup. the culprit is strongly believed to be a junk psu with fuh-joo-yoo caps.

i also have another board, an asus a8v that hung at post code 31/32 or c2/c5 similar to yours. the culprit again is a psu that used junk capxon caps. recapping the entire board brought it back.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

do not assume anything. post pictures of the board and what caps it actually uses and we will be the judge. poly caps can also go bad and fail like one of our members here found out. another one of our pro tech members has also pulled failed good quality jap poly caps from a board he repaired. this type of failure is typically caused by using a junk psu.

so u might also wanna state what psu u are using so that we can determine if the problems are caused by a bad psu or not. while the system may be working again with the used gigabyte board, no guarantees it wont fail again unless a bad psu is identified and eliminated from the equation.

btw, i also have a gigabyte ep35-ds3 with almost the same problem as yours: system hangs/freezes when entering bios setup. the culprit is strongly believed to be a junk psu with fuh-joo-yoo caps.

i also have another board, an asus a8v that hung at post code 31/32 or c2/c5 similar to yours. the culprit again is a psu that used junk capxon caps. recapping the entire board brought it back.

Trying not to hijack the thread here too much, but you have a post card reader? If so, which one do you have and do you like it? I wish they made some good ones for laptops.

I wonder if the OP has one.

[Jac70]

Re: ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

I've done a visual inspection of the board - checking for domed or leaning caps and they all appear fine. The board is advertised as a 100% solid cap board and this is the top of the line Z77 chipset from the manufacturer as far as I know...



This is the board....



The power supply is a Coolermaster Silent Pro M 500W. It is about 3 years old now. I did consider there may be an issue with it but short of buying a voltage meter it's going to be hard to find out. I am currently on a tight budget so I am looking to spend as little money as possible.

[diif]

Re: ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

Did you clear the CMOS after your over clock attempt ?

[Jac70]

Re: ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

One of the issues I was seeing was that I could not enter the BIOS. The system would freeze if I moved the mouse or pressed a key on the keyboard. Therefore anytime I wanted to access the BIOS I would need to Clear CMOS - that would allow me to enter and change settings.

This meant I would have to restore all my settings manually everytime I wanted to make a change. So I disabled various bits I didn't use like onboard audio, IGP, LAN, etc. I then set my i7 3770K to 4.2 (a very modest clock IMO), I also set the XMP profiles for the memory.

I 'saved and exited' the BIOS. The system cycled, Windows started to load, I got a BSOD, the system powered off and attempted to restart and since then the board will only get as far as 32 on the debug LED. I have since moved all components to another board and they appear to be fine.

I did try to clear the CMOS on the board a few times to see I could undo any changes I had made but it makes no difference.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

hmm, i have identified the caps on your board as samxon x-con ulr series polymer caps or else the deckard cain of cap identification here, wester547, can correct me.

btw, poly caps typically dont bloat, dome or lean when they fail. they fail silently. therefore, if any poly caps go bad, its like their failure has been swept under a carpet. poly caps arent as godly as they may have been made out to be.

anyway, since the system works again with the used board u bought and since u're on a tight budget and lack the tools to fix the board, a cheaper and faster solution for you would be to just sell the board on ebay as faulty for parts or not working for 10-20 pounds.

fixing a board with a corrupt bios chip is a technically challenging exercise, requiring u to desolder the bios chip, flash it with the proper equipment and soldering it back. the board cant even boot to display the bios boot up screen so swapping the bios chip is the only option.

[Jac70]

Re: ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

Yeah I figured that putting it up as faulty on eBay was probably the easiest option. Shame because it is a really nice board of it's era. Are there any reputable operations in the UK that will fix a BIOS chip - preferably no fix no fee?

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

any bcn members here in the uk willing to help out jac70 fix his board pro bono?

[diif]

Re: ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

I'm happy to have a look for you if you like. No fix, no fee.

[Jac70]

Re: ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

Well I appreciate the offer. What course of action would you take and what kind of setup do you have? Have you done similar work before?

[diif]

Re: ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

I have been building and repairing PCs for 15 years, laptops a little less.
I have a fully equipped workshop, with a BGA rework station, hot air station, soldering irons, stereo microscope, programmers etc.

I'd remove the chip, program the .BIN file and re attach the chip.
If you have a spare CPU you can include when you post, I can test it before returning it.

The last BIOS chips I programmed were on a Dell laptop last week.

[Jac70]

Re: ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

Ahh, I did have an extra CPU that I had just bought for testing but it is currently up on eBay for sale Should have held onto it for a bit longer.

Anyway it will probably be a few weeks before I can get around to it. Do you have a website?

[diif]

Re: ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

That's a shame, but not a disaster, they don't seem to be going for too much on ebay.

Unfortunately I don't have a website to show you at present, I'm currently working on the content.
Cover the shipping, and pay me what you like when you get the board back.

[Jac70]

Re: ECS Z77H2-AX Won't Post

Again thanks for the offer Diff but after some consideration I have decided to take the other guys suggestion and put the board up on eBay as 'parts or not working'.