If you came here from a Search Engine, please just scroll down to the “Problems & Solutions” area. LOL. All this ranting below is for friends of mine umm well I am not sure who will read it all :p.

The Ranting!

Hmm, so I have got hands on Asus P5B Deluxe on 30th September, sadly it became the reason for me not being able to give enough time to other things around me. I love this motherboard, it’s simply awesome, speaking of the Hardware components it’s made of but ALAS it has disappointed me when it comes to drivers for the Onboard HD Audio device and Jmicron controller (which has been included in it as the Intel’s South Bridge did not have PATA/IDE Interface). Further disappointing is the fact that I must have read like LOTS & LOTS & LOTS of Reviews online before opting for this motherboard and none of those mentioned problems with it’s drivers & performance!!! I prefered it over the ASUS “DIGITAL HOME” Motherboard with 975 chipset as there were lot’s of reports coming up that it won’t support Intel Core 2 DUO out of the box & if that’s the case then you have to get a non-Core 2 DUO processor and flash it’s BIOS to the newest.

Anyways…I was really frustrated in the first week because of this Motherboard because I paid a hefty price for it & when I pay ENOUGH I don’t expect it will give me a headache and when it does, well it _____ me off. I was almost going to call the Distributor and exchange this Motherboard with the 975 chipset one (which is OLD) but then I decided to wait and research before going ahead. Here are the problems I found with this Motherboard, not Motherboard to be exact but two drivers.

The motherboard arrived on 30th around 11 am. I set everything up till 1 pm and due to very easy installation of the front panel controls, it booted just fine on the very first try. LOL. I have dealt with cheap Intel motherboards only before. It’s a pain in the posterior to set the front panels (power button, reset button, hd & power led, front USB as well) as the Motherboards usually does not come with a manual & the sticker which comes with it sometimes is I don’t know why sometimes now up2date! So you end up being like a moron as you won’t be able to switch the system ON if you don’t set those properly. Then the screw driver technique comes in, what you basically do it that touch all of the front panel pointers present on the Motherboard with a screw driver, you will see a spark and the system will boot up, then do all the installation and get a manual from the driver’s cd or from Internet and set it properly!

With ASUS P5B Deluxe it was no pain. They provided EZ installation modules, you set it up on the front panel module on the Mobo, every thing’s written on it. Install each cable according to it and you are done. Same modules are provided for front USB and firewire ports. So the Motherboard boots, I boot it by Windows XP cd and do the installation. Noted the time, it took 12 minutes for the installation :D! Was happy with it, Windows boots up, I install Nvidia drivers then inserted ASUS drivers CD and chose automatic installation of drivers. It installed drivers for the Intel chipset, HD Audio and JMicron SATA/PATA controller. I also installed the softwares by ASUS to monitor and overclock the motherboard. So when everything was done and I restarted the system, I noticed SLOW boot time. I ignored it and thought it’s because of all the clutter on start-up perhaps? I was not worried about it at that time as I was going to optimize the boot related matter later.

Next step was installation of the required daily use Softwares. I did, until I had to reboot after installing Alcohol 120% because when a reboot took place after it. The boot time which was taking around 5 XP tickers now took around 12. I was like WTH? I was thinking about it when Windows boots, I go in My Computer, as soon as I double click on a Drive letter to see a few things, it would double click, I would hear the clicking noise and then it would be jammed then go in the folder. This was definitely not a good thing. I had an open mouth to see this and the very first thought came was, this Motherboard is screwed up! I did not think any thing else than formatting the whole installation and doing it again. This time, I wanted to see things in detail. So I installed the Windows then drivers. Then with each program installed, I would reboot and check for the boot time. Alcohol caused the problem again, I did a System Restore and it worked fine. I decided to disable all the Windows services and enable them one by one to see what is causing the problem. The problem appeared to be with “Plug & Play”. I disabled it and the boot time was fine and there was no jamming either when I would double click folders or get back but wait do you know what Plug & Play does for Windows XP? No body can live with it disabled. Your printer won’t work if it’s disabled, to put it simple, it’s looking over all the hardware your computer HAS and which might be plugged in it in future. This thing never gave me a problem before, so I decided to see what services depend on Plug & Play. I disabled those and enabled one by one, the problem thing came up…guess what was it? The Windows Audio service!!! I could disable it but then there would be no sound in Windows. Then another thought came. I went in Control Panel and disabled the Windows sound scheme as a whole. No Windows sounds but I could still hear the games I play etc. There was no lagging after double clicking then! Next, I enabled the Windows sound scheme but disabled the CLICK for STARTING, as in when you double click a folder, you hear a sound. I disabled that, enabled all the rest and it worked! I knew something’s wrong with the Onboard Audio. Oh & when you played the audio, you would hear cracking sound, it won’t be clear!!!

After hours of search on Internet, I came across a few people having same complain as me. The culprits appeared to be the Onboard Audio driver (which I had already an idea about) and also the driver for Jmicron controller!

The Problems & their Solutions

(1) HD Audio Driver :

This Motherboard is using High Definition Soundmax AD1988B chip for it’s audio. The CD which came with it had version x.x.4530 drivers for the said audio chip. I even installed the latest x.x.4570 drivers but the problem remained there. The slow down on double clicking folders with Windows sound scheme enabled and the hissing in background while playing sounds. The solution for this is simple, which I am not going to do for the time being, go to BIOS and disable the Onboard HD Audio device…which means you will not be able to hear anything unless you have got an extra PCI Audio device! Most of the people on Internet who own P5B Deluxe are not using the onboard audio device. Not that it’s bad but because they are NUTS, lol, they are using extreme sound cards like the Creative X-FI which cost in thousands!!! I paid thousands already, I expect to use the Onboard audio. I don’t have the funds to pay extra for the audio. Anyways. Let’s hope they release a newer audio version soon which will solve the problem.

(2) Jmicron driver :

Download the latest from ASUS website. Install it BUT you will I am very sure feel slow down during boot time and perhaps during Windows too. Install it as you will see Unknown Device (which is a bother). Install it, reboot, then go to Device Manager and under SCSI and RAID controllers see for Jmicron. Rite click it and click Update driver. Select No, not at this time and click Next then select Install from specific location and click next, then select Don’t search. I’ll choose the driver to install (from a list). You will see two options there, “JMicron JMB36x Controller” and “Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller”. Select the later one, “Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller”, click next and allow the Computer to do the rest. There is no need to reboot after this change, though do reboot to see that the boot problem is gone. If you want to use the RAID capabilities then there is enough offered by the Intel chip, use that instead of this. I would have disabled this in BIOS but I can’t do that as using two IDE/PATA optical drives.

Remember, the boot time problem and performance lag was gone ONLY when both of the above solutions were adopted. Which means getting a seperate PCI sound card and changing driver of the Jmicron controller. Or if you can live with it like me, just disabled the Windows sound scheme all together or disabled the one which happens when you double click.

I will say again, I am very much disappointed by all the review sites which praised Asus P5B Deluxe. It is a sweet thing indeed but they have no where mentioned it having a problem in performance due to the stupid drivers offered by Jmicron and Soundmax!!! They should have mentioned this…Another very simple idea is there in my mind too, I will not offer it here yet as I have not tested it yet. As soon as I do and the problem is solved (I am sure it will) then I will announce it. I have contacted ASUS about the said problems, basically I want to see what have they got for explanation. I hope they “acknowledge” the problem that it’s there due to drivers or if it’s hardware related (which I am sure is not) then they better say I can return this Motherboard and get an exchange. I am loving the MOBO already so I just hope it’s only the stupid drivers.

Oh & anyone of you drove a car @ 320 KM/HOUR? I did :D, in “Need for Speed Most Wanted Black Edition 2007″, lol and when I mentioned that I wrecked a few police cars which were trying to chase me…the friend mentioned it as “VIOLENCE” :\. C’mon, I did not hurt anyone! I guess I did but well, it was the computer, they don’t feel any thing!

Ok. So here is the story. Well, I did not create or make this story, it’s something which happened in real, I hope you will enjoy it and say :wub: like I did at the end of it.

So there are two brothers. Daniel and Stephen, Daniel is six years old and Stephen is four. Whom do you think should be acting like the BIG brother? Oh & let’s include their mother too, umm she’ll act like a referee? LOL. So one day, Daniel and Stephen were fighting over a toy bus. Stephen told his mother that Daniel was being selfish. Daniel said “I’m not selfish!”. Stephen asked his mother “What does selfish mean?” Mother answered, “It means you want things for yourself and don’t care what other people want.” Stephen thought about it for a moment, then with a shine in his eyes and a devlish sweet smile (For which you would WUB him) he said, “I’m selfish.” Then he asked his elder brother, “Daniel, are you selfish?”. Daniel said, proudly & trying to do his best with making an innocent face (For which he should be WUBBED too), “I’m not selfish”. Stephen said with a winning smile on his face, “Well, I am, so give me the bus.”

HeHe. Who’s the big brother masha’Allah se? Gawd, some kids of the new age are sho sho clever. Watch your back Billy ;). Oh & my friends, well actually ONE friend only has been complaining alot lately (:p to her) that I am not commenting on her blog. Busy + Lazy + Bypassing the Blogspot censorship = impossible for Mr. Patri0t to visit the Blogspot blogs and comment. I will be making few changes to the Favourite URLs now. By default they will be routed through the “Bypassing BLOGSPOT technique” provided by PKBlogs.Com. It will be easy and convinient for me then. This will remain as long as the ban on Blogspot is here in Pakistan.

Don’t forget to send your WUBS to the two brothers, also say Masha’Allah and pray for them all! :wub:

Got my self to write this today. I hope my “Internet Vacations” are over now. Find me a reason for the following…

A young man, smiling and laughing, goes out on work to the mountains, he is a “mountaineer” or “rock climber”. The group he works in is known as the most hardworking group in the crew of 1500 people. He prepares everything, does all the safety precautions he could, he tries to climb and then something happens. He falls, his head hit by a rock, ambulance is there ready, on his way to the hospital, he is no more. What did you feel? Did you feel anything? Or you did not feel anything for every minute, someone dies in this world? I felt sad when I heard this, only the next part made me find a reason for why it happened.

He was a hard working man, doing this job a thousand kilometers away from his home in the other end of this counry. Why? For the two parents who grew him up; who are old now and won’t be able to feed themselves, he was there for his seven sisters, so he can save up and get them married that is every brother’s dream, isn’t it? Oh and he has a wife too, with a five years old daughter and two years old son. Put it short, he was the only person available at his home to feed all of them and now he is no more. How do you feel now? Does it appear normal to you?

This world and life is indeed not forever, it will end tomorrow if not today, the next hour if not now. In a way, perhaps not living in this world is better than living in this world. I don’t know. Allah is the ONE indeed who decides all these things and I am no no no no no one to object what happens. But…I am a human and I have a few unanswered questions which will remain unanswered, perhaps forever, perhaps till I share the same fate as the one’s before. Why was this guy meant to die? Why was the only person to feed the whole family of 13 people meant to die? There are alot of people who are BURDEN on this earth, they hurt people, hurt people very seriously, they are killers, kidnappers, they deveice people, they rape, they loot, they are robbers sitting in the houses of Parliament, there are people who will suck the last drop of blood out of the poor and needy, there are people with long long beards calling themselves MULLAHS and the saviours of Islam but you will find them doing all the sins. Why can’t one of them die instead of a guy like this???

Find me the reason…