# Asrock P67 Extreme 4 problem



## joeyck (Oct 10, 2012)

Hello every one, I just bought myself a couple toys and I am having a problem. 

My set up :

i5 2500K 
P67 Asrock Extreme 4 
G.Skill Ripjaws : My Ram   < - That is my RAM

6950 with MOST up to date graphics 

and a 750GB Seagate something.. lol its a 7200RPM...

but my problem is :

1) I am trying to get my RAM In duel channel... every time and I mean EVERY TIME!!! (yes every time lol) I get a error code of 55 on the debug LED = no ram installed (this says it on the user manual) 

2) I have tried every slot with both pairs.... One DIM at a time... Well all RAM slots work perfectly fine. And it boots up perfectly no problem ONLY and ONLY IF I do not run the memory in dual channel. 

3) So now I have a 8GB of RAM running in single channel and it is annoying but not a game breaker though. 

Any help will be very helpful. I know a lot of people have this board I just need help on getting this quirk solved.


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## eidairaman1 (Oct 10, 2012)

have you tried clearing CMOS first. Have You read the motherboard manual?


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## Mussels (Oct 10, 2012)

remove the CPU from the socket, clean the pads on the CPU and blow dust out of the socket.

put it back together, and if its a third party cooler make sure its not over-tightened.


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## joeyck (Oct 10, 2012)

Yes CMOS cleared multiple times

@ mussles 

I've done that already  Pins aren't F'd up and its not tight its just snug in there


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## Mussels (Oct 10, 2012)

damn. normally its the cooler/dirty pads.

look for a newer BIOS?


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## Sulphur (Oct 10, 2012)

In case you have already updated the BIOS, did you find the same issue before updating the BIOS?


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## joeyck (Oct 10, 2012)

Ima update the bios tonight see what that does. But yea everything chip wise and motherboard pins wise it was all good. I saw everything and it was fine. I then matched the socket pins and all went smooth. Honestly i have no idea why its like that. It works perfectly fine. I was like 190 FPs on BF3 all low @ 1280P... idk i even played on a 64 man server. it was heavenly (sounding like a nerd right now ) but yea ima try to get the bios updated. if you guys have any other pointers for me to look into let me know please.

thanks guys


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## Jetster (Oct 10, 2012)

So was it working correctly at one time? And now it wont?

When you update the bios be careful. It will reset to IDE mode and if you were using AHCI it wont boot


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## joeyck (Oct 10, 2012)

oh no it never worked. i put it in for the first time I got error 55... i was like dafuq? i then played with the dim slots i first ran only one ram stick worked, i then did the other didnt work. i then put each ram stick in each dim worked flawlessly.. i then tried dual channel again error 55.. (grr) then i just put the ram sticks in single (right next to one another) worked perfectly. 

and I am not fallowing... what is AHCI? - > sorry


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## Mussels (Oct 10, 2012)

joeyck said:


> oh no it never worked. i put it in for the first time I got error 55... i was like dafuq? i then played with the dim slots i first ran only one ram stick worked, i then did the other didnt work. i then put each ram stick in each dim worked flawlessly.. i then tried dual channel again error 55.. (grr) then i just put the ram sticks in single (right next to one another) worked perfectly.
> 
> and I am not fallowing... what is AHCI? - > sorry



AHCI is a setting for the SATA controller. he was basically telling you to check all your BIOS settings before and after the update, so they dont default to incorrect settings.


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## Jetster (Oct 10, 2012)

joeyck said:


> oh no it never worked. i put it in for the first time I got error 55... i was like dafuq? i then played with the dim slots i first ran only one ram stick worked, i then did the other didnt work. i then put each ram stick in each dim worked flawlessly.. i then tried dual channel again error 55.. (grr) then i just put the ram sticks in single (right next to one another) worked perfectly.
> 
> and I am not fallowing... what is AHCI? - > sorry



Then run memtest...your memory may be bad


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## joeyck (Oct 10, 2012)

yea im  do that


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## fullinfusion (Oct 10, 2012)

memory is screwed for sure, I was getting the same 55 memory not installed code.

I just sent the sticks back in for RMA and the new ones worked flawless.

what memory are you using? whats the command rate set at in the bios, 1T or 2T?


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## MT Alex (Oct 10, 2012)

Using the same board, here, with G.Skill Snipers.  I ended up having to RMA one of the two 4GB sticks when one just up and flaked out in the first few days.  I debated sending both but since one was fine, and I wanted to keep my rig running, I opted to just send the bad one.  Turnaround time was pretty fast. I'm clueless as to why both of your sticks will boot in any slot, my bad stick wouldn't allow the machine to boot.  I'm currently running dual channel in slots A2 and B2.


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## joeyck (Oct 10, 2012)

thats whats confusing me. Both sticks in any slot booted just fine. both sticks in slot 1 and 2 (not dual channel) booted fine and played everything i wanted. both sticks in slot 3 and 4 booted just fine played some more bf3.. i cant even get passed boot when i plug into dual channel

and idk man, ima have to take a look tonight. im in school atm

edit : 

this is my ram though 

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ...


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## OneMoar (Oct 10, 2012)

joeyck said:


> thats whats confusing me. Both sticks in any slot booted just fine. both sticks in slot 1 and 2 (not dual channel) booted fine and played everything i wanted. both sticks in slot 3 and 4 booted just fine played some more bf3.. i cant even get passed boot when i plug into dual channel
> 
> and idk man, ima have to take a look tonight. im in school atm
> 
> ...



check the cpu socket for bent-pins I am sure there is one bent
=/
dim slot not working = bent pin 
either straiten the pin or LIE and hope they don't check it (asrock have chronic issues with there cpu sockets)


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## joeyck (Oct 10, 2012)

but thats the thing all them work i ran both sticks through each of the dims one at a time and both worked fine. i will recheck for bent pins on the motherboard though.


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## animal007uk (Oct 10, 2012)

Go into bios and try to manualy set one stick of ram with the correct settings, Save settings and shut down then add your other stick of ram, Make sure you have the ram is slot 1 and 3 and see if that helps. Other than that no idea, I have the same board and my g-skill ram has been working fine.


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## BlackOmega (Oct 10, 2012)

Oh man...... did I have fun with this EXACT problem on 2 AsRock boards (z68 extreme 4, z77 Extreme 6).

 So here's what I have to ask you, Joey what CPU cooler are you using?


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## joeyck (Oct 10, 2012)

I am using a H50

i am currently doing a prime95 test using FFT (the one that uses the most RAM out of all) i know its not memtest but thats all i got for now i got class in a bit.

this is my ram settings :







also quick question :

is this a major problem? i dont seem to notice any FPS lag and Prime is running just fine. I know it sucks, but does it really make much difference?


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## Mussels (Oct 11, 2012)

joeyck said:


> I am using a H50
> 
> i am currently doing a prime95 test using FFT (the one that uses the most RAM out of all) i know its not memtest but thats all i got for now i got class in a bit.
> 
> ...





change to the stock cooler and see if it helps. ram problems are very often related to a too-tight CPU cooler on intel these days.


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## joeyck (Oct 11, 2012)

Alright i will work on that tomorrow will report my findings. thank you all so much.


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## joeyck (Oct 11, 2012)

Update :

Nothing seemed to work. Idk this is weird memtest said no errors... the pins look good to me. this h50 isn't even tight... idk :S hell i'm even OC'd right now @ 4.5 (only multiplyer) and everything is stable.


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## brandonwh64 (Oct 11, 2012)

joeyck said:


> Update :
> 
> Nothing seemed to work. Idk this is weird memtest said no errors... the pins look good to me. this h50 isn't even tight... idk :S hell i'm even OC'd right now @ 4.5 (only multiplyer) and everything is stable.



Have you tried EVERYTHING stock in bios?


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## OneMoar (Oct 11, 2012)

defective proc ?
test the sticks in another machine


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## joeyck (Oct 11, 2012)

@ brandon : CMOS cleared multiple times

@ MOAR : i have no other machine =[

does single / dual channel memory affect the system that much? (noob question)


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## OneMoar (Oct 11, 2012)

joeyck said:


> @ brandon : CMOS cleared multiple times
> 
> @ MOAR : i have no other machine =[
> 
> does single / dual channel memory affect the system that much? (noob question)



depends encoding video yes 
games meh ... not so much


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## joeyck (Oct 11, 2012)

I'ma order return this RAM... gonna try to see if that is the problem


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## OneMoar (Oct 11, 2012)

I suspect the problem is proby the cpu/board
ram either works or it doesn't
edit: its extremely rare on modern boards but it could be a case of this board not `liking` that brand of ram check the ram against the qmvl


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## eidairaman1 (Oct 11, 2012)

OneMoar said:


> I suspect the problem is proby the cpu/board
> ram either works or it doesn't



probably the board


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## joeyck (Oct 11, 2012)

I did the check the RAM against the board and it is not on the supported products page...


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## OneMoar (Oct 11, 2012)

joeyck said:


> I did the check the RAM against the board and it is not on the supported products page...



normally that doesn't mean anything but you might have struck one of those odd combos that simply doesn't work right lol


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## joeyck (Oct 11, 2012)

*dafuq*

I'ma update the bios...


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## BlackOmega (Oct 11, 2012)

joeyck said:


> I am using a H50
> 
> i am currently doing a prime95 test using FFT (the one that uses the most RAM out of all) i know its not memtest but thats all i got for now i got class in a bit.
> 
> ...



Ok, your RAM settings have nothing to do with it. Your processor isn't bad, neither is the board. Believe it or not, it's your CPU cooler that's the culprit. 

 So here goes my story:
 Earlier this year I bought an AsRock Z68 Extreme 4 with the intent of putting a 3770k, 4x4GB Corsair XMS 3, 2 x 6950's, etc. For cooling I bought a Thermalright Venemous X. 

 At any rate, I put the rig together with all 4 sticks of RAM installed, fire it up and, just like you, got a 55 code. 
 So I strip the rig down; I pulled both video card (used onboard), left 1 stick of RAM in the first slot, then lo and behold the rig fires up and works just fine. Then I added 1 part at a time to see where my problem was. Put the video cards in, worked fine; added 1 stick of RAM, worked fine (so it was still running in single channel), added 1 more stick, which would've put two sticks into dual channel, code 55. 
 So thinking that my CPU may be bad, I took it out and put a 3570k in. Same exact result as the 3770k. 
 So at that point I was like WTF?!  

 Thinking that I had a bad board, I bought another one --an AsRock Z77 Extreme 6. Put the same components in it, same damn problem --Code 55. Tried all of the same stuff with this board, same result as the last.  
 So at that point, I thought to myself, it has to be the RAM that's bad. So I bought another 4x4GB Corsair Vengeance kit. When it arrived, I installed it, same damn result. So at that point I was seriously like   

 By this point I was thinking that AsRock was a piece of shit company that sells defective boards. 
 So with the Extreme 6, I pulled it out of the case and was testing it sitting on a table. I decided to get a 2500k to test with thinking that something may be wrong with the BIOS and IvyBridge CPU's.
 However, all this swapping of components, I got sick of remounting the Venemous X so I decided to use the stock intel cooler. 
 As soon as I did that, everything seemed to work.  Installed all of the RAM, works perfectly well; no code 55. 

 So obviously something to do with the Ven X was causing my problem. So I took a closer look at it, and paid extra close attention to where the cooler meets the board. Upon close inspection I noticed that the screws that slide in the backplate had an oblong metal base that  protruded beyond the plastic of the base and would contact the board. 







 Then I looked at the back of the board where the cooler was mounted. Wouldn't you know it, the printed circuits run VERY close to the mounting holes. 






Then when I traced the exact circuits that ran right next to the holes, guess where they lead? The memory slots. /facepalm. 











 When I looked very closely at how the base of the cooler sat, sure enough, it was bridging two or three circuits that run directly to the memory. 
 So just to verify that this indeed was the case, I went to my local hardware store and bought four 4mm thick rubber/teflon washers. Installed them between the Ven X base and the board; the system worked flawlessly. 
 Verified it on my z68 as well, both boards work perfectly. 

 Hope this helps.


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## MT Alex (Oct 11, 2012)

This is why my  EK block has teflon standoffs between both the backplate and the front of the motherboard.  Give BlackOmega's idea a go, it could be a .20 cent solution.  Mussels was alluding to the same solution.


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## brandonwh64 (Oct 11, 2012)

This is why some of the X brackets that come with aftermarket coolers have a plastic sheet on it and some people take it off thinking its part of the packaging it comes it when ITS NOT. It is for these types of situations were the X clamp is close or could be touching other solder points


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## BlackOmega (Oct 11, 2012)

brandonwh64 said:


> This is why some of the X brackets that come with aftermarket coolers have a plastic sheet on it and some people take it off thinking its part of the packaging it comes it when ITS NOT. It is for these types of situations were the X clamp is close or could be touching other solder points



Yeah a lot of people mistake that plastic stuff for packaging. On the Ven X though, there was nothing there. I believe that once it's screwed together, it actually pulls the screws up and makes contact. I believe they're supposed to be recessed further.


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## joeyck (Oct 11, 2012)

Does this also apply to using a h50 where the mother board back piece/plate is plastic?


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## BlackOmega (Oct 11, 2012)

joeyck said:


> Does this also apply to using a h50 where the mother board back piece/plate is plastic?



Are you sure it's plastic and not aluminum? Aluminum can feel a lot like plastic, and can be difficult to differentiate when painted. 

 I'm kind of doubting that it's plastic because of the force required to seat a cooler to the socket which is typically ~40lbs. of force. Plastic would distort too much. 

 However, an easy check to make sure that what I described is indeed your issue:

 Set your rig back to stock clocks, remove the H50 and install the OEM cooler. If you no longer get the 55 code then you know it's bridging (shorting) a couple of circuits. 

 Give it a try. 

PS: For what it's worth, with my boards I also updated the BIOSes and that made no difference whatsoever. 

 Good luck.


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## eidairaman1 (Oct 12, 2012)

Aluminum and fiberglass too



BlackOmega said:


> Are you sure it's plastic and not aluminum? Aluminum can feel a lot like plastic, and can be difficult to differentiate when painted.
> 
> I'm kind of doubting that it's plastic because of the force required to seat a cooler to the socket which is typically ~40lbs. of force. Plastic would distort too much.
> 
> ...


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## joeyck (Oct 17, 2012)

tried it all. i just send the board and ram back. if problem continues then ima send the cpu back. 

i ordered the new egg special today 

a z77 extreme 4 + 8GB of RAM for free. which is also compatible with the board (says compatibility list) will update when i get a chance.


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## drdeathx (Oct 17, 2012)

1st of all I read someone said put the memory in slots 1 and 2. This not correct. They need to be in  slots 2 and 4. Second, did you see if your memory is on the approves list from ASRock. The ram may be incompatable. Next up: is the ram working at default frequency? or was it XMP, or overclocked. So far you have been to vague.


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## eidairaman1 (Oct 17, 2012)

drdeathx said:


> 1st of all I read someone said put the memory in slots 1 and 2. This not correct. They need to be in  slots 2 and 4. Second, did you see if your memory is on the approves list from ASRock. The ram may be incompatable. Next up: is the ram working at default frequency? or was it XMP, or overclocked. So far you have been to vague.



why not just download the manual from the site, thats what i do, reading the manual has reduced the amt of headaches for me when building a machine initially.


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## joeyck (Oct 17, 2012)

I put my RAM in all the slots possible. Each stick worked... but when I tried dual channel it would not boot error 55... I ran the RAM under frequency, increased  voltage, as for compatibility it was not on the list. My next Mobo + RAM combo will be compatible as stated in the asrock manual


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## drdeathx (Oct 17, 2012)

joeyck said:


> I put my RAM in all the slots possible. Each stick worked... but when I tried dual channel it would not boot error 55... I ran the RAM under frequency, increased  voltage, as for compatibility it was not on the list. My next Mobo + RAM combo will be compatible as stated in the asrock manual





Ok, you still did not clarify. Did the code 55 come up when the memory setting in the bios was on auto. You need to run the sticks in slots 2 and 4 only not other combos on the platform.


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## joeyck (Oct 17, 2012)

Dude I don't know how else to say this so I'm going to be blunt with caps...

I HAVE TRIED EVER MEMORY CONFIGURATION POSSIBLE WITH EACH STICK.

and yes it has been on auto, when that didn't work I lowered the frequency to 1333 that didnt work I went to auto and up'd the voltage that didn't work..

I concluded that it can't be a short because it was on the mobo box and the anti static bag. so I said F it... im going to RMA


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## eidairaman1 (Oct 17, 2012)

joeyck said:


> Dude I don't know how else to say this so I'm going to be blunt with caps...
> 
> I HAVE TRIED EVER MEMORY CONFIGURATION POSSIBLE WITH EACH STICK.
> 
> ...



best move to do, and ive noticed ton of complaints about p67 around here


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## drdeathx (Oct 17, 2012)

Your memory is NOT on the ASRock supported memory list BTW:


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## eidairaman1 (Oct 17, 2012)

drdeathx said:


> Your memory is NOT on the ASRock supported memory list BTW:
> 
> http://i435.photobucket.com/albums/qq77/AAdeath/geil.jpg



dude why are you arguing about it, the guy is RMAing the board, enough said, besides most companies dont keep their board/ram compatibility listing updated like they do board/CPU listing


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## joeyck (Oct 17, 2012)

drdeathx said:


> Your memory is NOT on the ASRock supported memory list BTW:
> 
> http://i435.photobucket.com/albums/qq77/AAdeath/geil.jpg





Yes I know if you were reading what I post you would of read that a couple of lines above.


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## drdeathx (Oct 17, 2012)

joeyck said:


> Yes I know if you were reading what I post you would of read that a couple of lines above.



Just trying to help but your a bit argumentative.


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## drdeathx (Oct 17, 2012)

Joey, I test memory by the way and I am trying to help.


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## eidairaman1 (Oct 17, 2012)

just let him rma the board, once he gets another back and still dont work then it be time to change the ram then...


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## drdeathx (Oct 17, 2012)

eidairaman1 said:


> dude why are you arguing about it, the guy is RMAing the board, enough said, besides most companies dont keep their board/ram compatibility listing updated like they do board/CPU listing





Eidair, I am trying to help and I am asking him not you so please help me help him. The Memory is NOT on the list. What else can be clearer.


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## joeyck (Oct 17, 2012)

i rma'd RAM and board and I ordered a new egg special. z77 extreme 4 + 8GB 

this is the RAM

Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ...


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## drdeathx (Oct 17, 2012)

joeyck said:


> i rma'd RAM and board and I ordered a new egg special. z77 extreme 4 + 8GB
> 
> this is the RAM
> 
> Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ...





Hope that works out for ya Joey. I apologize for coming in late... I review memory so I gave it a shot.


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## drdeathx (Oct 17, 2012)

joeyck said:


> i rma'd RAM and board and I ordered a new egg special. z77 extreme 4 + 8GB
> 
> this is the RAM
> 
> Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ...



You will like the G2. I reviewed them and they worked in every board I had BTW.


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## joeyck (Oct 17, 2012)

no its fine. i will report my findings when all my stuff comes in! 

How i will do this :

1) on stick at a time in slots 1 and 3 for dual channel 
2) make sure ram is boot-able as signal channel
3) go dual channel. 

thanks for trying. again will update once i get the stuff home . order is out, just need to wait 2 or 3 days. prob by this friday the latest.


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## radusorin (Oct 17, 2012)

Btw did you try 2 sticks in and set the bios to 1T ? That is if you can of course. I'm thinking of some weird one in a trillion possibility that the memory has a problem and wont work on 2T whit 2 sticks in.

Anyway the RMA is the best for now.


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## eidairaman1 (Oct 17, 2012)

radusorin said:


> Btw did you try 2 sticks in and set the bios to 1T ? That is if you can of course. I'm thinking of some weird one in a trillion possibility that the memory has a problem and wont work on 2T whit 2 sticks in.
> 
> Anyway the RMA is the best for now.



2T is relaxed command timing which actually reduces the strain on ram and memory controller, so this is possible but not likely


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## joeyck (Oct 17, 2012)

my first intel system is getting annoying ey?  lol thnx guys


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## radusorin (Oct 17, 2012)

eidairaman1 said:


> 2T is relaxed command timing which actually reduces the strain on ram and memory controller, so this is possible but not likely



Well yeah but as you can clearly see this is not something in the "usual problems/fix/solution". It's more out of curiosity if by some mystical universal forces he is in that situation, nothing more.



joeyck said:


> my first intel system is getting annoying ey?  lol thnx guys



Neah ... this is why such a community is build ... we just love weird problems and fell the need/addiction to find out what is the fix


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## eidairaman1 (Oct 17, 2012)

radusorin said:


> Well yeah but as you can clearly see this is not something in the "usual problems/fix/solution". It's more out of curiosity if by some mystical universal forces he is in that situation, nothing more.



ya just like solar flares, electron creep, gremelins, gnomes lol


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## drdeathx (Oct 17, 2012)

Sometimes memory is just not compatable with some boards. Poop happens. I had G.Skills new Tridents not work on a Gigabyte board. Who would have thunk? Popped in some kingston Hyper X and Bingo.


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## joeyck (Oct 19, 2012)

All is fixed now, memory instantly boot into dual channel no problems. I switched from my h50 to the hyper212+ (kinda regret that = lots of noise lol) umm only problem i had was with the AHCI or what ever disabled that and put it into IDE. all in all intel is finally starting to behave for me.


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## eidairaman1 (Oct 19, 2012)

joeyck said:


> All is fixed now, memory instantly boot into dual channel no problems. I switched from my h50 to the hyper212+ (kinda regret that = lots of noise lol) umm only problem i had was with the AHCI or what ever disabled that and put it into IDE. all in all intel is finally starting to behave for me.



different board as of Model and SN, or just SN?


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## animal007uk (Oct 19, 2012)

drdeathx said:


> 1st of all I read someone said put the memory in slots 1 and 2. This not correct. They need to be in  slots 2 and 4. Second, did you see if your memory is on the approves list from ASRock. The ram may be incompatable. Next up: is the ram working at default frequency? or was it XMP, or overclocked. So far you have been to vague.



If you was on about my post i said slots 1 and 3 and seeing as i have the same mobo as the op i think i should know if slot 1 and 3 works with dual channel mode and it does.


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## eidairaman1 (Oct 19, 2012)

it dont matter at this point as the guy replaced the board and the problem was solved. Ohwell Crap happens ya know


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## joeyck (Oct 19, 2012)

Yes i got theed z77 extreme 4. Nice mobo way to use and the instaboot feature is bad ass


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## animal007uk (Oct 19, 2012)

joeyck said:


> Yes i got theed z77 extreme 4. Nice mobo way to use and the instaboot feature is bad ass



Glad you got it sorted mate enjoy


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## joeyck (Oct 21, 2012)

Hell yea I am  boot up times = like 2 seconds?


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## BlackOmega (Oct 26, 2012)

joeyck said:


> Dude I don't know how else to say this so I'm going to be blunt with caps...
> 
> I HAVE TRIED EVER MEMORY CONFIGURATION POSSIBLE WITH EACH STICK.
> 
> ...



Just so you know some anti static bags can conduct electricity. I verified this years ago. Note, not all do.
the point of the antistatic bag is to conduct any incoming electricity away from the component inside. So it gets redirected across the bag.


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## eidairaman1 (Oct 26, 2012)

BlackOmega said:


> Just so you know some anti static bags can conduct electricity. I verified this years ago. Note, not all do.
> the point of the antistatic bag is to conduct any incoming electricity away from the component inside. So it gets redirected across the bag.



dude he fixed the problem so its done done


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## BlackOmega (Oct 26, 2012)

eidairaman1 said:


> dude he fixed the problem so its done done



I know he's "fixed" the problem. I'm just saying, for future reference that the bags are conductive.


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