Loading ...NOTE: This post pertains to ASUS Maximus boards hanging during POST at the DET RAM and COUNTMEM stages.
UPDATE: Update #6 at the bottom of this post explains that the latest BIOS update from ASUS fixes this issue finally.
I was up until god-knows-when last night troubleshooting what was wrong with my new computer that I’m trying to put together before I went blind. The motherboard I got, the ASUS Maximus Formula, has an LCD that displays the POST codes as the computer boots up. The computer locks up 75% of the time on the COUNTMEM post code, over and over again. If I reboot enough it will finally continue past it.
After running the memtest x86 boot ISO for a few hours and getting no errors with the ram, I started to Google for problems specifically with my motherboard and my ram, which is 4GB of the Crucial Ballistix 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 ram, I found a handful of reports that identify the exact same problem, but with some other ASUS boards, not just the Maximus Formula.
To clarify:
ASUS Motherboard + Crucial Ballistix = Hang on bootup at COUNTMEM
I’d also like to point out that the memory will test just fine, with no errors. It’s just at bootup during POSTing it will hang the machine more times than not and you just keep rebooting until it will continue past that point.
The only solution is to swap the ram out for some other kind.
I would also like to mention if you get this motherboard, the first thing you want to do is upgrade the BIOS. When I first installed this board, it came with BIOS 0602 (0907 is latest) and it was buggy as hell. My mouse input during Vista install was jerky and wouldn’t register, speed was significantly decreased or just irradic. Once I upgraded some of that was corrected, but naturally the memory error persisted.
So… like I said, fuck you ASUS.
P.S.> Did I mention that this exactly model of RAM is listed in ASUS’s manual as supported/certified RAM? That’s why I picked it… WONDERFUL.
Update #1: If anyone is interested, I replaced the RAM with 4 sticks of this Crucial RAM which is also listed as certified RAM in the motherboard manual. Let’s hope that does the trick.
Update #2: I just replaced the RAM above with the replacement Crucial RAM and the machine is still locking up at the COUNTMEM stage, so it looks like a wonderful piece-of-shit-ASUS motherboard problem…
Update #3: NCIX Forums has a long thread of folks using Crucial, Corsair and OCZ RAM that are all seeing the same problem. It seems to be a problem with the motherboard.
Update #4: A lot of the solutions rolling around I have tried and had no success, they are:
- Manually setting RAM voltage to 1.9V (some said it defaults to 1.8V on AUTO). I tried 1.9V and 2.0V and neither worked.
- Swapping RAM from different vendors.
- Manually setting the FSB Strap to 333 or 400 then adjusting the voltage manually
Update #5: It seems that the 1004 BIOS Update (USA Mirror, Global Mirror) from ASUS has helped but not corrected the issue completely. I’m seeing it a lot less now after upgrading.
Update #6: The new 1201 BIOS Update (Global Mirror, Chinese Mirror) seems to completely fix the lockup problems now. Note that one of the line-items for this is update is “Improve memory compatability”. You can go to the ASUS Support site your self and drill down for your specific Mobo if you like. The links are for the Maximus Formula board (and most likely the same for the Extreme as well).
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February 8th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
another “not so good” motherboard (in terms of memory compatability) i’ve had problems with is foxconn.
the best ones for me till now have been Asrock and MSI (but these are older machines..).
Anyway, right now motherboards come with so much God dam features, that is enivitable that shit like this happends.
i always try to go for a bit older but reliable, tested technologies. I try to stay away from Bleeding edge… You will avoid many headaches.
anyway why 4gb ram ?
February 8th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Manny funny you mention that… was talking with a friend this morning and that is *Exactly* what they said about avoiding the bleeding edge because of this.
You are spot on about the features… it’s rediculous now how complex these things are.. mini computers already and twice the price they were 5 years ago.
4GB is because of software development. IDE + Application Server + other utils == lots of RAM. I’m hitting about 2GB now, so I figured I’d future-proof it a bit more.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Maximus Formula board with 2×1gb 800mhz corsair memory did the same thing. Tried my own 667 ram and got the same results (hang on memcount). Corsair ram tested fine in another system. Ncix is replacing the board. A friend told me that he recieved 3 dead boards from a supplier (out of the states, not sure who) and that the failure rate of the formula board is near 35% (don’t know source and couldn’t verify).
April 10th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Ken,
ASUS released their 1004 BIOS update for this mobo a few weeks ago and I upgraded and I’m not seeing the lockup as much as I was… I think it helped.
You can download it then upgrade the BIOS when you get your replacement and see if that helps:
(USA Mirror, Global Mirror)
April 11th, 2008 at 7:34 am
I should mention that I tried both 0907 and 1004 in all memory configs and still had this memcount prob, this is why they are rmaing the board.
April 11th, 2008 at 8:16 am
Ugg, thanks for the heads up Ken, I thought maybe ASUS got on the ball and fixed it, sounds like no
May 12th, 2008 at 5:06 am
WOW! Well its nice to see im not the only one who feels screwed over here, i have the same problem. I have RMA’d 1 maximus formula because it ate up 8gigs of the crucial 8500. Got the new board, and it seemed fine for the first couple of weeks, them, blamo, BSOD at random followed by DET RAM error. I am so sick of this crap now im gonna get a whole new mobo and mem.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Wayne did you double-check that the 1004 bios didn’t fix it? It *seems* OK for me now, but since you said after a few weeks it went back to shitting out, now I”m just waiting for the ball to drop… again.
I’ll go freaking nuts if this starts doing that again.
This *is* the last ASUS I’m getting, there is no reason to pay a premium if they can’t even catch a basic problem like this on their premium boards. So maddening…
May 20th, 2008 at 2:53 am
its surprising that all of u ppl hv had problems with the maximus formula.
i have this board for 6 months . a q6600 and 2×1gb of corsairddr2 800mhz RAM.
it is a great board . easily overlockable and runs like a charm. i am using the 907 BIOS.
June 22nd, 2008 at 12:47 am
I too have this motherboard and am running 2 gigs of pc 800 ddr2 Corsair ram. I have never had an issue with it whatsoever. Sounds to me like Asus may have had a defective board run of so many units, this unfortunately from time to time happens with any manufacturer. I have been using asus boards now for about 8 years and have built well over 800 systems all using Asus. My recommendation to you folks is try RMAing these boards….you have 3 years manufaturers warranty from ASUS and if theres an issue they will deal with it promptly and unlike other manufacturers like Gigabyte which will send you a (fixed used)board that theyve refurbished, Asus will send you a brand new tested guaranteed to run board. Asus stands behind their products 100% thats why they are the only board il ever use.
June 22nd, 2008 at 7:59 am
abletech,
Thanks for the heads up, I didn’t actually know that ASUS would do this.
Fortunately for them (And unfortunately for me) I am too lazy to take my entire computer back apart and do that… I think I’d rather put up with the lockups than do that.. *sigh*
Maybe if it gets worse I’ll do it. I did have a run of 6 reboots (including power offers) recently that *wouldn’t* get past the lockup COUNTMEM phase… I always have to clear the CMOS (using that button on the back) when that happens, then it fires up like a charm.
The one thing that drives me shitty is that it fucks up my time since the mobo won’t ever remember the right time, which screws up Window’s time, and if your clock is more than 24hrs off, Windows Time won’t sync it… lovely =/