DX79TO EB hang in post with pcie NIC present

idata · ‎08-28-2012

() Brand-new DX79TO board.

() Known-good TP-Link gigabit PCI-E (1x) adapter in 1x slot (Model TG3468). Has been working in another system

On attempt to boot, system hangs forever at "EB" step with "D" LED blinking, indicating "reading legacy option rom".

Just has a blinking cursor at top-left of screen.

When this PCI-E gigabit adapter is removed, BIOS completes POST and system boots (Linux) happily.

This problem was reproduced on several different DX79TO motherboards with several different of the

same-model PCI-E gigabit cards. This popular card is widely used in dozens of different kinds of systems

in the department. The DX79TO motherboard should be able to work with it.

Tried this on the original SIX7910J.86A.0460.2012.0327.1627 BIOS that the system came with.

Also upgraded the BIOS to the latest (as of this date) "537" version. Same problem in both

cases.

I would be happy to try other diagnostics and/or supply additional information. However, note that

since the BIOS does not complete POST with this card present, there is a very limited amount

of runtime diagnostic that can be done.

Note that the "424" version of the BIOS release notes claim that a fix was done for a similar-sounding

issue, but this does not seem to have fixed this particular instance of it.

idata · ‎08-31-2012

Hello Paul,

I understand that you are having problems booting up when you have a PCI card installed and you get the POST code EB.

In regards to the problem that you are experiencing, some cards are not compatible with the newest Intel(R) controllers and this prevents the motherboard to recognize them properly. Unfortunately for this error, the only work around will be to use a different card.

Regards

PV

idata · ‎09-01-2012

Try http://www.tp-link.com/en/article/?id=331 this fix. Let me know how it goes.