Well I'm not sure what the psu was in the old case I tried the asrock mobo in, but I've tried it in a new case with a 300w supply and I'm still getting the same beepcode.  I thought it might be the memory, so I bought some new memory from crucial.com, using their memory help guide so I know the memory is definately compatible with the board.  Anyway, I've emailed ASrock with the problem, so hopefully they should get back to me soon...

About the beep, you can try perhaps the manufacturer of the bios (Phoenix, AMI...)

Thanks...the guy who started the post suggested that the mobo is AMI bios, I checked out the code and it suggested something like 64k ram failure?  They suggest reseating the memory and if it doesn't work still, try replacing the memory.  I've done that already and its STILL beeping so I have no clue what it's problem is.  However, I don't even know if AMI is the board's bios - the asrock site is as useful as a chocolate tea kettle as far as I can see, and I have no idea of discovering what the bios actually is because I can't get a display.

 However, just a quick question - the memory I bought is 333mhz, on the box my mobo came in it says something like '2 ddr 266 slots' - please don't tell me my memory's too fast or something...I used the crucial.com memory guide and it said the memory was definately compatible with the K7VT2 board so that can't be it...can it?

Did the mobo work before you buy it ?

I've not been able to get it to work since I bought it in the shop.    Problem is, I've had it over a month now, so they might get a little tetchy about giving me an exchange especially since there's a perfectly good cpu attached to it...if the problem isn't solved then I guess I will have to take it back but hopefully asrock can give me some help.  Thanks anyway  

I have a K7VT2 too..
as far as i can tell, this board should work fine and perfectly with SDRAM and DDRRAM..my initial config
Duron 1600
256MB SDRAM (both PC133)
K7VT2
at first i can't start the system on 1.6GHz but it's OK when started with 1.2GHz , finally i discovered they are memory problem and then everything works fine
later on i upgraded memory to 512MB DDR 266 (2X 256MB RAM), and it works fine uptil now(although i am only using an ATi R7000 PCI for display as i don't have a spare display card)
so my advice is, if the system don't start, doubt the motherboard first...(my experience)
hope this can help

I've found the problem.

When using DDR RAM, at least 2 Banks of memory are required.

That means: use either 1 module with 16 chips (8 on each side) or
two modules.

I've come to this conclusion after trying many different combinations.

It was the motherboard.  I took it back to the shop and got a replacement.  Now everything is fine...I'd forgotten about this thread - thanks people for all your suggestions!

Hi,

I've had a similar problem, upgrading my Asrock K7VT2 MoBo with an Athlon XP 2600 (from Duron 1300). At First I got Athlon 2100, then 2400 but after increasing the frequency of the FSB to 160, the MoBo froze. I could not reset the bios and there is no POST. The floppy drive keeps whirring, and when I unplugged it I got 8 short beeps. According to Asrock FAQ website, this means Video Memory Failure.

I emailed the Tech Support, and they are as useless as the manual. No idea except to take the MoBo for repairs.... Ha! It was given to me and I can't afford to throw away £25 just for checking it! I might as well buy another Ass_wipe_Rock mobo instead.

Any ideas please? How can I flash the bios if I can't get any video. I tested everything (two PCI and 2 AGP cards too) : still no POST.

Many thanks for any commments & advice

SonicMat

What Athlon 2600+ are we speaking ?
XP 2600+ with an operating frequency 2083 mhz and a FSB freq. 333 mhz (2*166)-> AXDA2600DKV3D
XP 2600+ with an operating frequency 2133 mhz and a FSB freq. 266 mhz (2*133)-> AXDA2600DKV3C
XP 2600+ (Barton) with an operating frequency 1917 mhz and a FSB freq. 333 mhz (2*166)-> AXDA2600DKV4D

The K7VT2 can recognize a cpu up to 2600+ but with a FSB 266 MHz (2*133)-> AXDA2600DKV3C
So if your Athlon 2600+ has a FSB freq. 333 mhz, you're overclocking the mobo.
Problem : it seems that you can't with this mobo choose the processor multiplier.
Really dangerous.

So if you can't reset the bios, try to remove the cmos battery (near the pci slots) and then start with the Duron.

What's your 2600+ ?