A8N-SLI Premium - Can't get into BIOS

Okay, I've seen this problem in a lot of forums/newsgroups, but no
answers. So, here goes.

I've got an A8N-SLI Premium that boots just fine, and loads Windows
just fine (or would, if my Windows install wasn't hosed), but when I
try to get into the BIOS, it just sits with a flashing cursor in the
top-left corner of the screen, doing nothing.

I've tried pretty much every combination of hardware on my system to
no effect (the system works fine, except for this), and I replaced my
CMOS battery on a tip elsewhere, which didn't help. I was running
BIOS v. 1303, then downgraded to 1302, and back up to 1303, which
didn't work.

A few quick specs:
nVidia GeForce 7800 GT (PCI-X obviously)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
2GB RAM (paired dual-channel Crucial 1GB DIMMs)
Generic 200GB IDE WD HDD (no SATA for me)
Generic DVD-RW
Generic CD-RW

At the moment, I'd really just like to reset the system clock, turn of
my SATA/RAID controllers which I don't use, and set my boot order.
Shouldn't be too complicated, right?

Thanks in advance for any help. I'm just about frustrated with this
thing. =)

On Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:55:38 -0800 (PST), Palironsat
<kerstenc.RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote:

>Okay, I've seen this problem in a lot of forums/newsgroups, but no
>answers. So, here goes.
>
>I've got an A8N-SLI Premium that boots just fine, and loads Windows
>just fine (or would, if my Windows install wasn't hosed), but when I
>try to get into the BIOS, it just sits with a flashing cursor in the
>top-left corner of the screen, doing nothing.
>
>I've tried pretty much every combination of hardware on my system to
>no effect (the system works fine, except for this), and I replaced my
>CMOS battery on a tip elsewhere, which didn't help. I was running
>BIOS v. 1303, then downgraded to 1302, and back up to 1303, which
>didn't work.
>
>A few quick specs:
>nVidia GeForce 7800 GT (PCI-X obviously)
>AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
>2GB RAM (paired dual-channel Crucial 1GB DIMMs)
>Generic 200GB IDE WD HDD (no SATA for me)
>Generic DVD-RW
>Generic CD-RW
>
>At the moment, I'd really just like to reset the system clock, turn of
>my SATA/RAID controllers which I don't use, and set my boot order.
>Shouldn't be too complicated, right?
>
>Thanks in advance for any help. I'm just about frustrated with this
>thing. =)

The 3 obvious ones first... assuming that you are seeing some form of
Windows or text-screen when you do boot-up the machine.

You are repeatedly pressing the DEL key after a POWER-up ???

The DEL key on your keyboard actually works ???

You did switch the CMOS jumper to clear CMOS, with ALL POWER
PHYSICALLY DISCONNECTED FROM THE COMPUTER, and left the link in
the CMOS-clear location for at least 20 seconds ??
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Did you try ALT-F2 at power-up?. This should get you to the BIOS
programming screen. If this screen appears, physically POWER down
again.... do not attempt to program the BIOS.. yet. ( If you do not
get any text on ALT-F2 <and> you have checked using an alternate PC
that your DEL, ALT and F2 keys are not obviously faulty.. then you
have hosed the boot-block on your BIOS chip, actually quite difficult
to do. Time to seek a replacement BIOS chip from Asus.)

So, if ALT-F2 does indeed respond, then...

Disconnect all your hard-disks and cd/dvd-drives. POWER up while
repeatedly pressing the DEL key. Still no luck getting to the BIOS
screen? Then remove the RAM. If still no luck, you probably have a
BIOS hosed in a strange way. Now you might consider ALT-F2. And your
original install-CD might have a BIOS image on it. Consult the MB
manual. If there is a BIOS image on the disk, then I strongly suggest
installing that one and restoring a pristine copy of Windows BEFORE
attempting any upgrade, especially if you are using the BIOS utilities
that run under Windows.


John Lewis