Tom, this adds more info to the previous description.  Obviously, it is 
not a "bad trace" as I had said, since you replaced the motherboards.  I 
got the impression from your previous description that your motherboard 
was dead when cold - in fact, I suspect that it was running, but simply 
would not post.

These are the kinds of problems that I have been having with my most 
recent motherboards.  With ASUS it was the "code init" and "cpu init" 
problems.  With EVGA it was the "FF" problem.  They KNEW about these 
problems and kept on selling the boards, I think!  On EVGA, they even 
had a rinky-dink movie clip on suggested ways to fix the problem.  To 
their credit, EVGA discontinued the model and sold out their stock at a 
$100 discount - a week after I had purchased mine for over $300!  :(

My MSI motherboard has similar problems, and has got better with bios 
updates, but I have an immediate work-around that you can try right 
now.   It  **might**  save you the cost of a new motherboard!

When you are done using your computer, turn the power off at the power 
supply until the next time that you want to use it.  Then, turn it on.   
I have found that the only time that I have problems with my current MSI 
motherboard, a P55-GD80, is when I forget to turn off the power the 
night before.  If I do forget, then, when I turn it on in the morning, 
it sits and spins and turns off and on for about ten minutes, then goes 
through the boot process.  Since it ALWAYS boots up after about ten 
minutes, it is not a major problem, just a small hassle.  It usually 
works on a reset, but, if I turn it off, then decide to turn it back on 
again, I have to go through the waiting process all over again, so that 
it is not heat related.   (I bought that motherboard based on a glowing 
on-line review.  I sort of doubt the independence of that reviewer!!)

Also, use the MSI tool to check for new bios updates.  (Easy)   I had 
some memory problems which have cleared up with the newer bios.

Good luck,

Dean Kukral

On 12/16/2010 9:26 AM, Tom Waddell wrote:
> Have the MSI 785GTM-E45 MB. It starts but will not post when cold. Leave it on for 1/2 hour and it works fine. Have another computer with an MSI AMD MB. Swapped out CPU, HD, and memory. All work fine. Installed known good components from other computer with the same results. Something on this MB is getting warm and then works fine. Once warm can turn it on/off time after time or leave it on and use it for hours. NO PROBLEMS. Turn it off for an hour and it will not post. Have spoken to MSI tech support many times. All say it is the MB but do not know what the problem is. Exchanged MB 3 times and PS once, same problem. Never had a problem with MSI until now. Gave up on MSI, getting an ASUS M4A785-M or a Gigabyte GA-MA7854GM-US2H MB.
>
> SYSTEM: AMD Athlon Dual Core CPU, Corsair 800MHz memory, Corsair 350W PS, running Win 7 Pro. Can give more specific specs if needed. NOT looking to solve this problem, just posted to see if anyone else has had a similar problem with this board.
>
>
>    

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