Motherboard Grrrr: the ASUS M2N-MX SE PLUS -- BAD news...

[phiscock-g851W1bGYuGnS0EtXVNi6w at public.gmane.org]

I wonder if Slashdot would publish this? Now *that* would get their
attention.

There is a precedent for this: Slashdot listed another mobo that had bios
issues - it would boot windows but not linux.

Peter

> Just to continue the grumbles I have been having with ASUS re: the
> M2N-MX SE PLUS motherboard, below is an e-mail I sent to the staff I
> have had contact with at ASUS. Anyone have the e-mail addresses of
> senior staff as ASUS that I could forward this on to?
>
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
>
> Dear Kara Renner, Elijah Alexander and Blanca Ortiz;
>
> This e-mail is to note and explain my current unhappiness with the
> experiences I have had with  purchase of one of your M2N-MX SE PLUS
> motherboards. I have normally been happy with ASUS products, something
> I have been very willing to note in publications I have written for,
> such as www.linuxjournal.com/article/8219 .
>
> Before purchasing the M2N-MX SE PLUS motherboard I did take the
> precaution of reading the motherboard manual to make sure it supported
> net booting, and according to your documentation it does.
>
> After purchase it took me some time and effort to determine why this
> new machine would not net boot. The diagnose process did include
> downloading and installing the latest available BIOS. In the end the
> issue turned out to be a multicast MAC address burned into the
> motherboard. This multicast MAC address makes successful net booting
> out of the question. Having determined why the motherboard would not
> work, I called your firm, obtained an RMA number (EL864256) and I
> shipped the defective motherboard to your facility in Indiana (this in
> spite of the fact that your Canadian office is less than a 1 hour
> drive from my home). The motherboard was then returned to me,
> apparently untouched, as the MAC address on the motherboard had been
> not been changed. Further a secondary issue of concern, noted in the
> cover letter included with the motherboard, a BIOS bug, "MCFG area at
> e0000000 is not E-820-reserved" was not touched.
>
> Further telephone complaints triggered the shipping of a replacement
> BIOS ROM, which by the time it arrived at my location had be knocked
> around in transit. After some effort, bending pins I was able to
> install the ROM, but found that the motherboard would not even get to
> the POST messages after this change. Returning to the original BIOS
> ROM would at least allow the motherboard to display the POST messages.
>
> Additional calls resulted in my obtaining a second RMA number
> (2EL874667) and the shipping the motherboard yet again to your office
> in Indiana. This time I trust the motherboard will be repaired or
> replaced with a AMD AM2+ supporting microATX motherboard that does
> actually work.
>
> Going forward, regardless as to the result of this latest repair
> effort, this motherboard is a complete and total failure.
>
> My goal with this motherboard was to build a prototype basic "dumb"
> remote multimedia terminal that could be inexpensively, quickly built
> in significant numbers.  For inexpensive, we are talking over $95, $55
> for the motherboard, then over $40 for shipping multiple times to your
> office, plus a number dollars for incidental costs like long distance
> phone calls. The M2N-MX SE PLUS motherboard compares very badly
> against your competitors in the $95 price range. In terms of time,
> this is not a system that can be assembled quickly. Not only have I
> had to spend significant amounts of time assembling / disassembling a
> PC around this motherboard. I have also had to spend time
> troubleshooting, packing / unpacking and waiting for the repair. I am
> now looking a minimum of about two months between purchase and being
> able to actually use this motherboard, a figure I do not have the time
> to repeat. In other words, this is a prototype I can not repeat. I
> will have to look to another motherboard, most likely from another
> manufacture, to achieve my original goals.
>
> You can assume this is the last M2N-MX SE PLUS motherboard I will
> purchase, and may be the last ASUS product I will ever purchase. You
> can also assume that I will passing word of my poor experiences on via
> a number of routes, my writing, my presentations before local user
> groups and the mailing lists / web forms to which I belong. This way
> the people I know or come in contact with will not make the same
> purchasing error I made.
>
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>
>
> Colin McGregor
> --
> The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
> TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
> How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists
>


-- 
Peter Hiscocks
Syscomp Electronic Design Limited, Toronto
http://www.syscompdesign.com
USB Oscilloscope and Waveform Generator
647-839-0325

--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists