# MSI p35 neo2-fr



## Steven4696 (Dec 6, 2007)

Does anybody have a hint on how to get the MSI p35 neo2-fr to post?
I've checked the monitor and used my other psu bfg 800w but not getting the usual post screen nothing. I've tried setting mobo with just ram, cpu w cooler and video card out of case but the same as in case no post no beeps. Everything new but no post. yes both power cables in mobo and power to 8600 but its like the 8600 isn't hooked up. Is it a mobo bios problem can't handle the ram? I tried reseting the cmos also.
cpu:Q6600
ram: corsair dominator xms2 1024 8500 2gb
psu: antec he 550w
vga: bfg geforce 8600 gts


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## JC316 (Dec 6, 2007)

hmm, might be a bad mobo, or a bad video card, do you have another PC to test the componets in?


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## JrRacinFan (Dec 6, 2007)

Have you reset CMOS? Tried no ram to check for beep codes?


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## Polaris573 (Dec 6, 2007)

Can you get into the BIOS or is it not making that far?  If you can get into the BIOS you  may need to set you RAM voltage and timings to corsair's recommend settings.  Your RAM probably doesn't want to operate at the JDEC standards the motherboard is trying to set it to by default.


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## Steven4696 (Dec 7, 2007)

i tried mobo with just cpu w cooler and psu no ram and get no beeps just cpu fan and case fans run and mobo led lights go thru boot sequence but no beeps. i tried reseting cmos several times with mobo reset button and leaving battery out for 5 min still no beeps. i tried a another set of ram that is pc6400 that is suppose to be post up compatible with this mobo but still no post. looks like rma for the mobo unless someone else has experience with this mobo.


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## Polaris573 (Dec 7, 2007)

I have that motherboard, but it sounds like it is just dead.  It's unfortunate but I would send it back.


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## Steven4696 (Dec 7, 2007)

thanks for all of the replies.
Polaris what ram, video card and cpu are you using on your msi mobo?


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## Polaris573 (Dec 7, 2007)

E6550
eVGA 8800GTS
2GB of this

I just thought of one other thing however. Are you aware that you have to set jumpers on the motherboard to select whether you want 800MHz, 1066MHz, or 1333MHz FSB for the processor?  It comes from the factory set at 800MHz so you need to change it to 1066MHz if you havn't already.


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## Steven4696 (Dec 7, 2007)

Polaris, how and where is this done?


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## Steven4696 (Dec 7, 2007)

Is the red led3 next to the cmos reset button suppose to always stay red which signifies standby mode? Polaris were talking about JB1 and JB2 jumpers?


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## miamimuscleboy (Dec 7, 2007)

Steven4696 said:


> Does anybody have a hint on how to get the MSI p35 neo2-fr to post?
> I've checked the monitor and used my other psu bfg 800w but not getting the usual post screen nothing. I've tried setting mobo with just ram, cpu w cooler and video card out of case but the same as in case no post no beeps. Everything new but no post. yes both power cables in mobo and power to 8600 but its like the 8600 isn't hooked up. Is it a mobo bios problem can't handle the ram? I tried reseting the cmos also.
> cpu:Q6600
> ram: corsair dominator xms2 1024 8500 2gb
> ...


I have the same mobo . but what is your bios, you need 1.6 off the msi website it runs great did you CMOS reset , if you cant post after that theres a problem with your mobo or something isnt connected right.


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## Polaris573 (Dec 7, 2007)

Steven4696 said:


> Is the red led3 next to the cmos reset button suppose to always stay red which signifies standby mode? Polaris were talking about JB1 and JB2 jumpers?



Yes, I was talking about JB1 and JB2.  Yeah, the manual says LED3 should be on during standby.  Do you have any of the error codes listed here if you look at the array of LEDs below the SATA ports?


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## LongyFromCork (Dec 7, 2007)

*Boot Problem - Infinite power on/off loop*



Polaris573 said:


> Do you have any of the error codes listed here if you look at the array of LEDs below the SATA ports?



Hi, I have a similar problem.  I have: 
P35 Neo2-FR MB, 
Q6600 Processor, 
2GB Corsair XMS2-6400 CL4 memory
Asus EN8800GT

All settings are stock.  When I powered the PC up earlier today, I noticed that a memory module wasn't working correctly. It was halting on the Memory Detection Test (see LED GROUPS in illustration). After inserting the memory 1 stick at a time, I noticed that only one of the RAM sticks was passing the test. After playing around with the RAM positions on the motherboard, I eventually got a message on the screen saying that the memory speed was going to be reduced to 600MHz (it is 800Mhz ram). That was the last time I was able to get to the boot up screen.

Right now when I try and start it up the computer, the PSU and fans come on, and the GROUP 1, 2, 3, and 4, LEDs all light up for about 3 seconds, then the whole computer shuts down again. It then automatically starts up again, and all 4 LEDs go red (same as before) and after 3 seconds it shuts down again. This keeps happening over and over and over. I cannot even get to the stage where the post screen kicks in anymore. Also, there are no other combinations of the LED GROUPS during this process - only the 4 red LEDs.  This suggests that the processor may be damaged.  I think that this is unlikely though as it was working earlier today (when I was getting to the boot screen). This is a new system build - I have not got it working properly yet.

I tried resetting the CMOS using the red button, as well as removing the battery. But the problem is still the same. I also, removed the graphics card, hard drive, and DVDRW, but it does exactly the same thing without them.

Please, please spare some time to help - it is driving me crazy...

Alan.


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## Polaris573 (Dec 7, 2007)

What BIOS version do you have?  A lot of people are reporting memory trouble with version 1.3.


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## LongyFromCork (Dec 8, 2007)

Polaris573 said:


> What BIOS version do you have?  A lot of people are reporting memory trouble with version 1.3.



I'm not sure.  I purchased the motherboard in the last week. I didn't flash the BIOS with an updated one. I'm not even sure if I can access the BIOS to check as I can't get to the post screen anymore.


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## Darknova (Dec 8, 2007)

About it shutting down and turning back on. LEAVE IT! Seriously, let it do it's thing, eventually it WILL post, I'm not sure what it does, but eventually it boots up giving a warning about last known settings not working and then it resets to defaults for your hardware.

It's exactly what mine has done quite a few times, it's perfectly normal.


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## Polaris573 (Dec 8, 2007)

Darknova said:


> it's perfectly normal.



Not really normal.  It should only do that to recover from a bad overclock, not during day to day operation.


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## Darknova (Dec 8, 2007)

Polaris573 said:


> Not really normal.  It should only do that to recover from a bad overclock, not during day to day operation.



I guess I worded that wrong...I meant that it happens and it's not out of the ordinary. Mine did it the first time I built it.


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## Polaris573 (Dec 8, 2007)

Darknova said:


> I guess I worded that wrong...I meant that it happens and it's not out of the ordinary. Mine did it the first time I built it.



Yeah, mine has to restart three times when I clear the BIOS because it sets my DDR800 to 1066 at only 1.8v.  Naturally it claims "bad overclock".  The odd thing is that my first one didn't set my ram incorrectly, but after liveupdate bricked it and I returned it they sent me a different board that has this problem.  So while I love the board because its cheap, has great features, and overclocks very well it still leaves me going "WTF" quite a bit.


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## Steven4696 (Dec 11, 2007)

When have the psu, cpu w/cooler, 2 sticks of ram attached to the mobo out of the case after powering up i get 4 green led that represents computer booting up of course after it powers back down one time then back up. The fans and  led only no post even after resetting the cmos, etc. I checked out the psu, ram, cpu and video card on another computer and they are fine so I just did a rma.


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## monographix (Dec 12, 2007)

*PCIE16x ?*

I got this board and i placed an 8800GT in the white PCIE slot thinking that this is the 16x (#1) and the card was crawling at 9fps in 3dmark06, WTH ... i went to bios and changed the PCIEx4 speed controller from auto to 4x and disabled "Auto Disable DIMM/PCI Frequency" and 3dmark06 run 85-35 fps showing normal function

Is there a chance that the physical 16x is the yellow one ???



-Also,

with any bios version above 1.3 the CPU (Q6600) voltage options in the cell menu start from 1.300v, the only bios from the ones i tried (1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.76) that gives correct values in this field is v1.3 . The actual voltage the CPU receives seems to be right (aprox 1.260?), looks like its just the menu options that are labeled wrong, for example the 1.300 option corresponds to 1.252-1.272 of actual voltage. Again, WTH?


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## Grings (Dec 12, 2007)

monographix said:


> I got this board and i placed an 8800GTX in the white PCIE slot thinking that this is the 16x (#1) and the card was crawling at 9fps in 3dmark06, WTH ... i went to bios and changed the PCIEx4 speed controller from auto to 4x and disabled "Auto Disable DIMM/PCI Frequency" and 3dmark06 run 85-35 fps showing normal function
> 
> Is there a chance that the physical 16x is the yellow one ???
> 
> ...



The white slot is the 16x one
I just got one of these myself(only set it up last night) and yes, i think cpu voltages arent reading right, i set mine to 1.48 and it set it to 1.51! i lowered it to 1.45 an now it reads as 1.47

I have to say, im very happy with this board so far, though the bios voltages are incorrect, once set properly they're far more stable than my old vdroopy asus p5nesli, plus the p35 seems to get a lot better memory performance than the 650i (though i've not tried much, im still seeing what my new ram can do atm)

someone could have warned me about the bloody led's though!


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## monographix (Dec 12, 2007)

oh the leds lol rubish huh? LOL didnt know either

so if the card is where it should whats that deal with the "4x" PCIE speed controller and the 8800GT crawling unless checked?



Also, is there a way to get rid off the annoying USB scan beeps on POST ?
and is it possible maybe to disable (or selectively disable) those usb checks anyway altogether ? (or speed them up. i have lots of usb stuff on)
I have two sata drives. Is it normal that in AHCI mode they are detected only in two of the four ports? ("3" & "4" i think)


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## Polaris573 (Dec 12, 2007)

Grings said:


> someone could have warned me about the bloody led's though!



I didn't know anything about the LEDs being bad.  I could have warned you about the inaccurate voltage readings though.



monographix said:


> oh the leds lol rubish huh? LOL didnt know either
> 
> so if the card is where it should whats that deal with the "4x" PCIE speed controller and the 8800GT crawling unless checked?



You have installed the chipset drivers correct?



			
				monographix said:
			
		

> Also, is there a way to get rid off the annoying USB scan beeps on POST ?
> and is it possible maybe to disable (or selectively disable) those usb checks anyway altogether ? (or speed them up. i have lots of usb stuff on)
> I have two sata drives. Is it normal that in AHCI mode they are detected only in two of the four ports? ("3" & "4" i think)



I don't think you can disable the USB check.  I've never noticed an option in the BIOS.  If you have two hard disks they should only be detected in two of the ports and I assume you have them plugged into ports 3 & 4, unless I'm missing something.


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## Grings (Dec 12, 2007)

Theres nothing bad about the LED's as such, i just wasnt expecting them, i've kinda grown to like them now though (i dont have a windowed side panel anyway, so i only see them when it's open) plus, they would look good with a set of ballistix tracers (same style of micro-led's), i might have to get myself a set

So far this board does seem great, i've only been testing different settings on it for a few hours, but everything i've tried has been rock stable, and at far lower voltages than my previous board.


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## LongyFromCork (Dec 13, 2007)

*Boot Problem - Infinite power on/off loop*



Darknova said:


> About it shutting down and turning back on. LEAVE IT! Seriously, let it do it's thing, eventually it WILL post, I'm not sure what it does, but eventually it boots up giving a warning about last known settings not working and then it resets to defaults for your hardware.
> 
> It's exactly what mine has done quite a few times, it's perfectly normal.



Just though I'd let you know that I RMA'd the board.  Maybe I should have let it keep resetting until it finally posted. By the time I read your responses on this forum, I had the board sent back and all - probably a bit hasty of me. Went for an ASUS P5K (another budget board) in the end, which is a pity, because the Neo2-FR/FIR got a good review on Tomshardware in the Dual versus Quad article.  

In fact it also got a great review here....the only downside being the finicky BIOS.  If only MSI got their act together with the BIOS...

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3169

Anyway, I just hope the P5K gives me very little trouble - 'cos in the end all I wanna do is have a few games...know what I mean. 

Thanks for your responses.
Alan.


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## trog100 (Dec 13, 2007)

just bin in exactly your position.. all fans powered up and nothing else happens.. 

i had a bent pin on the bloody cpu.. they are that small and numerous its hard to see.. but thats what my problem was.. i did manage to straighten it.. very fiddly thow..

trog


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## monographix (Dec 16, 2007)

Polaris573 said:


> You have installed the chipset drivers correct?
> 
> 
> I don't think you can disable the USB check.  I've never noticed an option in the BIOS.  If you have two hard disks they should only be detected in two of the ports and I assume you have them plugged into ports 3 & 4, unless I'm missing something.



So, the funky PCIE 16x thing seems to be an issue with various boards/8800 combination, probably PCIE 2.0 ones. The PCIE linkd width in these cases is changing to 1x (or 4x) i still havent figured why and when, maybe some incombatibility between PCIE 1.0 & 2.0 is involved. I also am not sure yet how i did revive it back to 16x both the two times that this happened here. I suspect mabe was the complete power unpluging.


AHCI: So, in AHCI mode i can only use two of the four ports? or is it just that in case there are two drives only they have to be on the two specific ports, while if all four ports are populated all ports work ok?  Also is there a chance that there cant be a 4xHDD Raid on those ports?


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## monographix (Dec 16, 2007)

Do you have some OC voltage suggestions on this board for setting an Q6600 (G0) to 3Ghz for stable 24/7 use?

CPU Voltage
VTT FSB Voltage
NB Voltage
SB I/O Power
SB Core Power


Ram: Transcend Axeram 800+ Stock : 4-4-4-12@1.85v intended for 1066 5-5-5-15, voltage still to be found.


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## Polaris573 (Dec 16, 2007)

monographix said:


> AHCI: So, in AHCI mode i can only use two of the four ports? or is it just that in case there are two drives only they have to be on the two specific ports, while if all four ports are populated all ports work ok?  Also is there a chance that there cant be a 4xHDD Raid on those ports?



I guess I don't understand, but you only have two drives.  Why would more than two show up?


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## monographix (Dec 16, 2007)

Heres the case, i first installed my two sata drives on the "3" & "4" ports ( i think ) and the after POST i was getting a no drive message. (AHCI mode. Maybe this would happen in IDE mode as well i dont know)  So, then i switched the drives to the "5" & "6" (as labeled on the board) and they got recognized normally. So, i am wondering what if i want to add two more drives, would the ports "3" & "4" work normally maybe in this case? (all ports populated) ( i will add at least one more drive at some point)


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## monographix (Dec 17, 2007)

Had anyone else maybe had this vcore (CPU) default / minimum voltage setting in bios changing with some bios versions ? In my case (Q6600) with any bios above version 1.3 the CPU volt settings change from 1.25v default / minimum to 1.3v


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## monographix (Dec 24, 2007)

- Anyone else maybe had with this board the Cpu fan rpms stuck to 1100 ? (smartfan isn't working anyways ...) I have the stock intel hsf of Q6600 and its stuck there, when it should be 2000 minimum from what i see
- Anyone else experienced a loss of 16link width of the PCIE16x to 1x? happened twice here so far 

Should i consider RMAing it?


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