ASUS Striker Extreme - CPU INIT Error

After wasting tens of hours on internet searching and many more on clearing my mobo's CMOS, I think I found out the solution, which I would share with all the folks out there who experience the same issues.

If you get the CPU INIT error message and you try to clear the CMOS, but the mobo seems dead, then probably your problem is your memory's voltage.

Briefly, my mobo seemed dead, with no beeping, no posting. The only thing I could see was the CPU INIT message on the mobo's LCD. However, the CPU fan together with all the mobo's leds where on, which means that there was voltage across it. I tried all the possible ways of clearing the CMOS, with and without cards, swapping memory stick or sticks and so on, but with no results.

Your mobo is most likely fine if the CPU fan works and here is the way to bring it back to life.

First of all you need to have a low specification RAM, running on probably 667 MHz, but the most important of all is the memory voltage. The memory needs to run with 1.8 Volts. The OCZ 9200 I got uses 2.3 Volts for operating, which is far away from 1.8 Volts. Note that the default settings for the memory voltage on your BIOS is set to AUTO, which is actually 1.8 Volts. This is probably the reason that you cannot clear your CMOS with high data rate modules, as all of them use higher voltage than that.

Step 1

Remove all the power cords including the 24-pin ATX connector (EATXPWR) and maybe the 2×4 (8-pin EPS) or 1×4 ATX12V connector (the one which powers up the CPU and is located just next to it).

Step 2

Remove all the cards including your graphics card

Step 3

Place only one Memory Stick at the last slot (the one further from CPU).

Step 4

Clear your CMOS.

Extreme Procedure to Reset CMOS.01 - Take out the power cord. All this must be done without the power connected.
02 - Put the jumper "CLRTC" (above the CLR_CMOS button) from pins 1-2 to pins 2-3.
03 - Push the reset button "CLR_CMOS" in. (Battery is now disconnected normally).
04 - Take out the cmos battery and leave it like that for at least 3 hours. (This is to be sure).
05 - After 3 hours put the battery back in.
06 - Push again the the reset button out.
07 - Replace the jumper back to it's original place. Pins 1-2
08 - Put back in the power cord and turn on the power.
09 - When booting, scream very hard "YES" and quickly push the "Delete" to get into bios.
10 - Flash the new bios with the floppy and you should hopefully be fine.
11 - When all works, connect everything and starting having fun with your system.

Step 5

Put the graphics card on.

Step 6

Connect all the power cables, including the 24-pin ATX connector (EATXPWR) and the 2×4 (8-pin EPS) or 1×4 ATX12V connector.

Step 7

Power UP

You should now hear the desired BEEP and the motherboard should normally post. If everything works fine, shut down your PC, remove the low performance memory stick and install the high rate memories. During the posting enter the BIOS and change the memory voltage from AUTO to the appropriate value.

Please note that, if you do not have the newest BIOS version you should do so as soon as possible. My BIOS version is currently 1102, which is the latest. If you notice on the BIOS updates, there are many memory combatibility issues fixed on each updated version. Therefore the very first thing when you bring the motherboard in life is to update the BIOS keeping the low performance memory and then install the high data rate memory sticks.

In case that you have any query about the process mentioned in this post or you did not eventually brought your motherboard back to life, please feel free to leave your message here.