DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

can only boot by pressing mem ok!

27 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/can-only-boot-by-pressing-mem-ok.160988/

vishalg
vishalg Original post #1
Aug 1, 2012 at 8:50 AM
i am able to boot only by pressing the mem ok button (twice) on by asus m5a97 evo board, it gives continuous 1 long and 2 short beeps and the dram led on the board is lit.

i have 2x2 gb corsair ddr3 value rams @1333

1. i have tried clearing cmos by jumper as well as removing the battery.
2. tried booting with single stick of ram
3. cleaning the contacts of ram sticks
4. tried different slots
5. have manually entered the ram timings

but everytime i shutdown my pc for say a few hours, the problem reoccurs:cry:
sharang.d
Aug 1, 2012 at 12:37 PM
Why don't you revert all the BIOS settings to the original values?
tkin
tkin #3
Aug 1, 2012 at 7:32 PM
Take out the ram, then re insert it, happens to me every time I clean my pc and remove the ram, asus boards are very sensitive to ram connection.
d6bmg
d6bmg #4
Aug 1, 2012 at 7:45 PM
1. Power your PC off completely.
2. Take out the RAM modules.
3. Reinsert them.
4. Press Memok button for 5 seconds.
5. Start your PC.
vishalg
vishalg #5
Aug 1, 2012 at 9:05 PM
Why don't you revert all the BIOS settings to the original values?
already did that by clearing cmos

Take out the ram, then re insert it, happens to me every time I clean my pc and remove the ram, asus boards are very sensitive to ram connection.
did that several times and also cleaned the contacts

1. Power your PC off completely.
2. Take out the RAM modules.
3. Reinsert them.
4. Press Memok button for 5 seconds.
5. Start your PC.
you mean to say press mem ok before powering on??
saswat23
Aug 1, 2012 at 10:34 PM
Keep pressing the memOk button and switch on your PC till your RAM gets detected and system boots. Then restart again and check.
sharang.d
Aug 6, 2012 at 12:56 PM
Did it work?
d6bmg
d6bmg #8
Aug 6, 2012 at 6:40 PM
you mean to say press mem ok before powering on??

Yes!!
MemOK button should never be pressed while the motherboard is powered up.
vishalg
vishalg #9
Aug 9, 2012 at 10:19 AM
Keep pressing the memOk button and switch on your PC till your RAM gets detected and system boots. Then restart again and check.
did so, but the pc powered on by just pushing the mem ok button.
is this normal?

although it booted up fine after some days again the same promblem occurs :(


Yes!!
MemOK button should never be pressed while the motherboard is powered up.
i used to press it with the pc powered on and booted

can this be due to any grounding issues, coz one of my mobo standoffs(brass) is not properly fitted to the chassis
d6bmg
d6bmg #10
Aug 9, 2012 at 7:08 PM
Press memok button in the process I've already mentioned. Your problem will get solved I think.
vishalg
vishalg #11
Aug 20, 2012 at 8:54 PM
did the above but the problem remains, each time i boot the system after few hours it beeps with mem ok led on

i have to press memok button each time to boot, this is really getting annoying now :(
d6bmg
d6bmg #12
Aug 21, 2012 at 5:47 PM
^^ Well, then send the board for RMA. It is motherboard problem.
sumonpathak
Aug 21, 2012 at 5:51 PM
^^its 1.65V? yes? tried setting 1.5v in Bios?
vishalg
vishalg #14
Aug 21, 2012 at 7:23 PM
no its 1.5v
i am posting the cpuz screens for what the memok has set!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
d6bmg
d6bmg #15
Aug 21, 2012 at 8:23 PM
He meant to say set the DRAM voltage manually in the BIOS to 1.5V.
vishalg
vishalg #16
Aug 21, 2012 at 8:42 PM
yes it is already set 1.5v only, did you look at the crazy timings the memok has set?
sumonpathak
Aug 21, 2012 at 8:59 PM
try 9-9-9-18 1.5v manually...the timings are not crazy per se...at about 444*2 its supposed to run at that settings....
vishalg
vishalg #18
Aug 21, 2012 at 9:09 PM
ok, will do and report
vishalg
vishalg #19
Aug 22, 2012 at 10:26 PM
that didnt help either :(
everytime the system is powered off for few hours it will only boot after pressing memok
its like bios cant remember timing setting
sumonpathak
Aug 22, 2012 at 10:29 PM
erm.....is the battery ok?
vishalg
vishalg #21
Aug 23, 2012 at 11:50 AM
i guess so, coz its only 8-9 months old mobo + other bios setting like date/time etc. are stored correctly
vishalg
vishalg #22
Sep 4, 2012 at 12:41 PM
took the mobo to repair center with my cpu and ram, and my surprise it booted just fine!!!!!!!!

came back home assembled the pc again and same problem occurs :(

this time a didnt connect front usb ports, used the stock amd cooler too

also i have one empty standoff slot on my cabby, can it be the reason for this?
topgear
topgear #23
Sep 5, 2012 at 5:54 AM
test the mobo+cpu+ram+psu by putting those on a table - don't even use the cabinets power button - use mobo's power button/ start pin header instead.
vishalg
vishalg #24
Sep 6, 2012 at 3:55 PM
ok, so did what you suggested
but the mobo didnt boot again :(

man i am fed with this, what to do??????????
topgear
topgear #25
Sep 7, 2012 at 4:50 AM
^^ have a little more patience.

any chance of testing with some other PSU ?? and did you run the above test without gfx card ??
vishalg
vishalg #26
Sep 7, 2012 at 11:06 AM
i have a spare PSU, but thats only 400W

actually my mobo dosent have onboard graphics
topgear
topgear #27
Sep 8, 2012 at 2:47 AM
^^ so the guys on service center must have tested it some different PSU and gfx card - see if you can borrow a PSu and gfx card from to test and if your bios has some option called video bios / system bios caching disable those.