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Re: need motherboard recommendation




On Dec 26, 2010 12:11 PM, "Mark Neidorff" <mark@neidorff.com> wrote:
>
> On Sunday 26 December 2010 09:00 am, Russell L. Harris wrote:
> > * Stan Hoeppner <stan@hardwarefreak.com> [101226 13:35]:
> > > Russell L. Harris put forth on 12/26/2010 5:12 AM:
> > > > I am tossing into the dumpster the last two motherboards which I
> > > > purchased -- Asus M3A78-T (AMD64) and Asus P5Q-EM (i386) -- because of
> > > > video problems.
> >
> > >> With the M3A78-T, the POST screen displayed a cross-hatch pattern
> > >> of horizontal and vertical red and green lines with a variety of
> > >> monitors, both CRT and LCD.  The pattern also is visible in
> > >> terminal mode outside of X.  Three trips back to Asus did not cure
> > >> the problem.
>
> Well OK.  So, this seems to me to be a memory problem.  I'm guessing the video
> ram.  Whatever memory the 80X25 mode is mapping into has become flaky.  When
> you start X, you are using different memory, so no problem.  Why didn't ASUS
> solve the problem?  dunno.  Perhaps, once the MB booted into whatever they
> tested with (X, MS-Win, whatever), the problem isn't apparent.  Their bad.
> Also, the problem does not seem to affect the operation of the MB once it is
> booted.  So, how much worse is this than annoying?  Of course, you know that
> you can look at udev and the logs to see all the boot messages once the PC is
> in X.  Did I miss something?
>
> Now, for something else that just occurred to me....Are you using the same VGA
> cable when you attach the different monitors to the different motherboards?
> Could it be the cable, or are there instances where the cable works properly?
>

Could also be that he's using analog vga with no choke and is picking up RF or other line noise somewhere. Still think its RAM though. Asus wouldn't see that on an rma unless it was an issue with integrated video RAM and not shared RAM which comes from the modules he takes out before he sends it back. Oh and AFAIK, manufacturers don't generally test equipment before they process the rma.

Just the $.02 from someone who doesn't know what they're talking about and likes dell (actually Apple). :)


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