The blinking LED is a clue. Does it blink the same number of times? I'd look on the ASuS forums for info regarding this.

It probably won't hurt you to upgrade to the latest BIOS. You can probably do it by putting the latest BIOS on a USB thumbdrive.

Congrats on BamaWISP coming out.

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currently playing: Halo 3, Shadowrun, Call of Duty 4 MP beta
currently supporting: Ron Paul - r3/\O¯|ution

Congrats on BamaWisp as well, but I'm not experienced enough to immediately see where to go with your problem. Like you, I would have started with the PSU. My next thought is the mobo. If it's getting power and simply won't begin to boot, I can't think of how any peripherals could cause that.

I think the blinking LED is a clue, too. You'd be surprised how counter-intuitive the Asus site is, though. I haven't been able to find anything specific as to diagnosing South Bridge LED light. FAQs, forums, nothing. I'm going to keep trying though. I hope to break through this, or else RMA the damm thing. The timing just seems ironic to me. I finally get high-speed, and my rig crashes just before. As if to say, "HA! You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?!"

I'd like to at least get to the point where I could flash the BIOS, but I don't even get a POST. I already had the latest BIOS version from Asus website (the only thing that DOES seem useful from their site!). I'll try with the CMOS jumper reset switch and go from there.

@ Midnight, yeah, the mobo seems the most logical culprit atm.

I made sure the wires to the power switch were properly seated. When I push the power button, absolutely NOTHING happens. Maybe it's a bad power switch?

I thought about the possibility that I got a power surge and the thing is fried, but it was on a surge protector, and the surge protector indicates it is still in protecting mode. Nothing else plugged into the same surge protector is having issues, including my 360.

@ rapture, yeah, the green LED on SB blinks the same # of times. Approx. twice a second, if memory serves.

There's some good info on the ASuS forums. However, they are hard to navigate. I had to make a custom Google search like this:

http://www.google.com/search?q=M2N4-SLI+blinking+power+POST+site%3Avip.asus.com%2Fforum

I'm thinking the blinking LED is a status code. Before you go hunting down what it means, try resetting the CMOS.

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currently playing: Halo 3, Shadowrun, Call of Duty 4 MP beta
currently supporting: Ron Paul - r3/\O¯|ution

Thanks, Rap, that's much better than navigating through Asus' site. I will reset CMOS when I get home, and see if that works...

If not, some of those threads your search yielded seemed to be touching on similar issues.

From skimming the manual for your mobo, it says the LED blinks when it's in sleep mode, so it kinda sounds like you've got a motherboard issue.

DJ

Update: it's definitely a mobo issue. I reset CMOS last night. To no avail. I called Asus Tech. Support, and after telling them the background, and the list of things I had already tried, they transferred me to the RMA dept. to get it shipped back to them. Fun sh*t. I will be waiting probly two weeks before I get it back.

Interestingly enough, the Tech. Support woman didn't have any specifics as to what the blinking LED meant, other than a bad mobo. Well, gee thanks lady, as if I didn't have that figured out already. She seemed nice enough, just not very informative...

That stinks that you've got to wait so long. BTW: I had to RMA my mobo. But as I was waiting to send it back, I kept hacking with it and eventually got it to work. My CPU was bad, not my MOBO. Of course, my mobo was POSTing. Yours is probably dead.

Did you get your WISP?

bamaWISP came and did a site survey, and determined I would need an amplifier to get a sufficient signal through all the foliage surrounding my house. They were all over the roof and back yard w/ an antenna to find the best spot. Now they're just waiting for the amp to come in, since they didn't have one on-hand. They said they'd be back next week, but I'll be out of town, so it probly won't be until the week after. Which may work out fine, since ASUS quoted me a 10-day turnaround on the mobo, not including shipping. So two weeks from now, I'll hopefully have the bamaWISP installed, and my PC running again. And the icing on the cake? Lag-free H3 games, baby! No more cell phone connections to XBL!

Looking forward to playing with you in some fashion that doesn't involve a cell phone.

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currently playing: Halo 3, Shadowrun, Call of Duty 4 MP beta
currently supporting: Ron Paul - r3/\O¯|ution

Sounds like you need a chainsaw.

I'm feeling your pain today. My PC went kaput this morning, right before Katie's online course has a test. I've been disassembling it all morning. Finally got it working as I found that my PSU went bad. It started whining very loudly.

"Oculus is just this guy, you know"

Got an email confirmation this morning that a new board is being sent back for the bad one I sent in. It was either unfixable, or the fix would cost more than just replacing it. Either way, it will hopefully be here by Wednesday, and be sitting inside my case with everything running on it the same evening.

@ Rap, same here! Some lag-free online gaming is going to be nice... one of these days.

@ Midnight, I wish it would only take a chainsaw, but I probly need a logging crew to get through all the trees in my yard, not to mention my neighbors'!

For all my troubles with this mobo/PSU issue, I did get a good quality 500W PSU for about $5 after the discount Newegg gave me for the one I thought was faulty. And I still have the original one.

Update 1: mobo came back last night. PC is alive again! Although, I realized I didn't have any thermal paste, and the thin coat that was on the CPU/HS was dried out. Seating the heatsink w/out any grease leaves the CPU running a little hot (~50 degrees C), so I am going to run out and get some Arctic Silver this afternoon.

Update 2: BamaWISP called me, again. They made an alignment adjustment to their tower, and want to come out and re-test the site survey that they've already done twice. I'm not getting my hopes up, but I suppose anything's possible. We'll see...

I've got some Arctic Silver to spare. Give me a call tonight and come get it.

BamaWISP spammed my neighborhood mailboxes with flyers offering their service. It's good to know it's an option for me. That will be good to put pressure on AT&T and Comcast at a later date.

I hope you get your service.

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currently playing: Halo 3, Shadowrun, Call of Duty 4 MP beta
currently supporting: Ron Paul - r3/\O¯|ution

If they're surveying for free I'd let them look around my roof all day long and try to find a way.

@ Rap: Sweet, all I need is a tiny drop. Much appreciated! I'll call you this evening.

@ Midnight: funny thing is, they practically have been all over my roof, for several hours at a time, both trips. And this has been initiated by them, so it isn't as if I'm twisting their arm. If they are even half as persistant with keeping customers as they are with obtaining them, then they will be a good provider to have. And the surveying is free. I haven't paid them a dime yet.

Yea seriously, bring them some hotdogs and/or beer next time they're out there. I'm sure you're their target market at the moment so might as well let them keep trying until they get you service.

When I first read Arctic Silver I first thought of beer. I'd sure like to sit down to a nice cold mug of Arctic Silver.

----------------------------
"Oculus is just this guy, you know?"

My PC is up and running and my CPU is at a happy temp of 37 degrees C, thanks to Rap and his tube of Arctic Silver. BamaWISP had to cancel the site survey this afternoon, due to Tornado Warnings, which turned out to be nothing. Oh well, they rescheduled for tomorrow. I guess we'll learn more then.

So, I hooked up the ol' Blackjack, turned on Windows ICS, and did a speed-test to see if speeds have changed at all. Supposedly, AT&T Wireless is rolling out their 3G Network here in Huntsville sometime this month, or the next. Sad to say, it isn't here yet, but the speed results still aren't that bad:

Ping: 768ms
Download: 126kbps
Upload: 72kpbs

I'm going to hop on XBL later on tonight, and see if the lag isn't too much to bear.