MSI 7411 Motherboard Sneak Peek (share your thoughts!) - Page 116

Hello mpattonm,
I did try an RMA recently, and although the MSI employee finally agreed upon a 'out of warranty' RMA in my case they couldn't help because they don't have any parts left due to EOL.
As for your symptoms, nobody mentioned something like this yet, and I did go through this entire thread a couple of times. Sorry.

Well I think I have a suspect... still hoping in entire part swap, although fix could be easy in this case. Question is whether broken component is the only casualty, or there are some other damaged components too. Does anyone know how to identified proper replacement (diode)?
Its surface only says SF V4

I have been encouraging people to call tech support at MSI to get RMA's because the on-line forms do not provide RMAs for the MS-7411. It is possible that MSI still has replacements for the amplifier (MS-4140) and the pre-amplifier (MS-4141) because there have been only one report of capacitors failing on an amplifier in this thread. However, now it may be easier to purchase these parts on eBay. They go for $25 or less and motherboards are about $40.

The other reason to call tech support is to show MSI that there is still interest in such a product and the lack of sales was likely because of the many reports of failing motherboards. Of course D2Audio never released the software to the public that would have fully delivered the audio hardware's full potential.

Water under the bridge.

You see here in Czech it works a way different: you do not claim your waranty at MSI, but at dealership you bought parts at. And they are only willing to do swaps if they still have stocks themselves. If fhey do not, its much easier for them to return money or offer similar product (which is none at the time beeing).
Thats why I am skeptical about my amplifier card beeing replaced and most likely having this board repaired by someone capable of SMD soldering is my only chance. But I have to identify that SMD part first, so far I have no clue where to look.

Maybe you should try http://www.badcaps.net/forum/. I've posted some questions there, and always got a helping hand.
Furthermore, I believe that forum came to existence because of poorly designed motherboards, which is what we are dealing with here, only some years later than one would have thought.

Edit: I should rather call it poorly built by MSI, because the design by D2Audio and Java Jack should be pretty decent. Would love to know if he is still using this setup.

I just received an email from Intersil, who appearently designed amp card for MSI. They have all been very polite and helpful and thanks to their help I know missing diode specs now. Fix should be pretty strigh forward now.

Got the replacement diode soldered on, but no change. End amp IC component got fried as a result of diode malfunction. At least I have been able to take working component from center channel circut, so now my left and right speakers are working, while center is mute. I kind a doubt I will be able to source broken IC so probably its time ti give up and look for entire replacement board.

Sad news to report, but it looks like my beloved Diva 7411 is finally giving out on me. I noted a number of tray popups and entries in the Event Log pointing to errors starting an ATI service, so I tried updating my old Catalyst driver. I think I was on 11.2 or something.

I blew out the dust while I had the HTPC unplugged and noticed that 10 of the caps behind the CPU socket are peaked on top. None are leaking, but it appears I need to have the board recapped. Its had been working great, so I hope to have it fixed in less than a month.

After almost 3 yrs mine has decided to call it quits. It does not boot (although the MB lights are one). I guess I'll replace it with a regular board and try and fix it this summer. Too bad they had such reliability problems with it. It was a very interesting approach to a HTPC (although I used mine in my home office).

I should note that my PC ran almost 24 hrs a day 7 days a week in the stated period, so in my case it seems to have treated me fairly well.

Really sad, but exactly what I experienced last time, although only after a couple of hours. I strongly believe that it depends on two factors: the quality of the capacitors and the cooling of the associated vrm's. As mentioned before in another post, none of the 7411's I've seen so far had vrm capacitors of the same brand. That alone brings up questions about the reasoning behind it. But if cost savings were a reason one could assume that the capacitors are specified at the bare minimum, and then temperature becomes a critical factor as it reduces their lifespan significantly.
I'm not an expert but that is my suspicion so far, and that's why I'm now trying a custom built vrm cooling solution. But anyway, for how long has your board been used?

EDIT
@WalkinTarget: Could you do me a favor and take some pictures of the domed capacitors in order to figure out brand and model?
@Raul GS: Could you have look at your board to see if there is anything wrong with the capacitors as well?

One of the caps on my backup board just popped. I was just re-building my system and I decided to use my backup board for this build. When I fired it up I heard a loud pop, and since I was leaning over it checking out the diagnostic LEDs I got a face full of capacitor goodness

I noticed that a couple of other caps are domed as well, I think they were the KZGs, but will have to check later in the week.

Nick

I pulled mine out of storage about a month ago - it got locked in a POST loop and pissed me off so I just replaced it and bought a real Receiver. I figured I'd give it one more try then throw it away. I had another motherboard, and was testing it with an old CPU.

Well, when I turned it on the power regulating capacitors on the board literally burst into flames. Not only did the board die but it killed the CPU as well.

BS73,

I'll have a look when I take it apart later this week

A quick update: Board still running fine since replacing the D50 diode.
So everyone with that problem, there`s hope.

When my first board past away 3 years ago I knew nothing about electronics, so I don't know if that was related at all.
However, last time I had this issue I noticed domed caps near the vrm's and one near the amp slot, all of them being KZG's. Has 'capacitor plague' been considered as a possible cause at all?

BS73, sorry I did not get back to read the replies, but my caps appear to be labeled 'TK' and also have '824A' listed on them. They are approximately 3/4" in height. I took a pic which I will upload later tonight.
Passing the board along to my friend to re-cap later today. Out of all of my PCs, this is the one that is the most irreplaceable to me in terms of what it does.

Same caps as you (TK), located near amp card, near CPU and near RAM, others seem to be OK. Let us know if changing the caps solves the problem. The cap that is nearest the amp card was the worst, but the other caps of the same value at the locations stated were also domed (i.e. the warmest areas of the MB).

PS, I should note that my PC, which ran 24/7 for the past 2-3 yrs was a little too dusty (some of the vents were partially blocked with "dust"). My guess is that if I had cleared my vents every 6 months and air blasted the insides, the caps would probably be OK)

Pardon the horrible pic that my BB phone takes, but here's the puffy caps:



My buddy pretty much taught me all that I know about PCs, but when it comes to cap jobs, he tried to show me, but I just don't have steady enough hands for that work.
He did not have those caps in stock, so it will be 2 weeks til they get ordered and replaced. Fingers crossed, as I already miss my Diva

Thank you for the updates. TK is Toshin Kogyo. Could not find anything bad about them, although I have a board where they bulged within no time literally. The fact that yours worked for years implies that it can't be the capacitors alone.
I found this thread http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7883 by 80sman who has more knowledge about this apparently.

Just like Raul, my HTPC ran 24/7 for the past 3 years. I did make it a point to blow the dust out at least once a year. I also kept a close eye on the caps and never noticed any bulging until recently. Keep in mind I upgraded it from an AMD 5050e CPU (45w) to an X4 820 (95w) in the Fall, so if I had to guess, I'd say this is what started its downhill slide.

The PC would go into S3 sleep after one hour, so it did not run over that time other than when being used by me or over a nightly backup to my WHS.

Would anyone of you with dead mainboard be willing to sell 5.1 amp card (MS-4140) as spare art? Please email me at atarian(at)seznam(dot)cz

OK, after having my board recapped by my buddy, I was crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. He was not fond of the no-solder method to remove the bad caps, and in fact nicked the underside of the board at a spot. He fixed the trace, but my heart sank when I thought of not having this board working again.

So after getting it all hooked up, I fit the power on button and it lit right up. It worked fine !! SWEET !! I checked on it the following day and had a full backup to my home server, so all was looking great, .. until ... I hit the reset button.

I then heard a muffled 'POP' through the sub and the PC shut down completely. I proceeded to pound my head into the carpeted floor ... no, really, I did.

I tore it down later in the week, swapped out the PSU, RAM, removed all cards from it and tried a naked boot ... still dead. So, off to Ebay ... GrRRrr..

As luck would have it, I found one being offered from a parts dealer in Texas. I sat on it for a week, debating whether I really wanted to spend the money before offering him $10 less than what he wanted for it ($99). Got the board yesterday, and even knowing it was probably running the older BIOS, I tried to boot it with an X4 820 CPU. No dice, so back to my old reliable 5050e chip.

I'm now updating the BIOS on it so I can use the quad core, but I still feel like this board just didn't like the added voltage that the X4 chip required (95TDP compared to the 45 for the 5050e). The 'new' board has already had its caps replaced, so it looks identical to my old dead board, so I have every reason to believe it may outlive my original board.

I have a LOT of PCs, and currently have 9 built and up for sale locally, but of all of the rigs that I've built, the one I consider the most irreplaceable is this MSI Diva. I use it for DVD playback via WMC, the audio playback is superb, and I just can't toss in the towel on it .... it LIVES AGAIN !!

Yet another update on my refurbed 7411 - it has been running fine with the exception of coming out of sleep mode. I get a message that a network cable was unplugged, but it isn't. I set it so that the OS doesn't turn off the device to save power, but no change. I then tried the newest driver from Realtek for the NIC, but still no change.
I can disable the NIC and then enable it and its back to working again, but it is a kludge workaround and not as I would have hoped. Worst case scenario - I add a PCIe NIC (Bigfoot Killer NIC comes to mind) and call it a day.

This is just a heads up to anybody interested - I've thrown my 5.1 Amplifier card for the Maui on eBay.

This is the 5.1 Amplifier daughter card for the MSI Media Diva Live 7411 Maui. It can only be used in that motherboard, but can be used to replace either a failed amp card or in place of the 7.1 output card to provide it with an amplified output.

I pulled this from my system when the BIOS locked up and the motherboard refused to POST. Includes the low profile back bracket and the speaker cable jack. Sold as-is, but it was in working order when I pulled it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320972877115

POP and my motherboard is gone too. 65W CPU

This is exactly what my Diva looked like. Three different boards, and they all looked like that. I had each one of them repaired at a local shop here. My guy suggested that this is characteristic of a bad 3.3 volt rail out of the power supply. I took his advice and replaced the power supply with a Corsair 600 watt supply and so far no issues.

I can relate to your sense of dread. I love this machine. It's served me and my family well for almost 5 years. I have two replacement boards and two 5.1 channel amp boards. When they die, i'll really be in trouble. Maybe by then someone will announce the coming of the next generation Diva boards..

Ok, last thursday, my HTPC froze during P.O.S.T and ever since then, there is no video output. From a past memories, I thought D50 is to blame, so I took board to local SMD repair center, which swapped D50 for Schottky 1A spare. While doing so, they also replaced balled capacitor located nearby D2D chip. Still, my motherboard does not start. Sometimes, on hot start attempt it continously beeps in an infinite loop with about 3 sec delay between single beeps.
Does anyone have an idea what else should I look at? Does anyone know where to get new/repaired working Diva as replacement?

Well, its been a fun run while it lasted, but my Diva died an hour ago

I had a few Windows Updates to perform, and clicked on 'Restart Now'. I came back 30 seconds later and saw no screen .. hmmmm, that's odd. I hit the reset and it started to boot, I saw the Windows splash screen .. then dead again. I hit the reset button a second time, and this time I heard a faint "POP' just like my original DIVA did when it died. I first tried pulling the TV capture card and the amp card, then tried to get it to boot. Nothing .. CPU fan spins maybe a full revolution and then off. Again, all signs I have seen before.

Worst part of all of this is, I recently added a 96GB SSD as a boot drive and a 3TB storage drive, so I had it EXACTLY like I wanted it ..... aaaand it dies again within a month of me calling it good to go *sigh*

Currently shopping for an AMD mATX replacement, but I already know there is no replacement for this thing. It clearly was a unique piece of hardware, and I enjoyed it immensely. Its just sad that there is no direct replacement for it. It will remain my favorite board that I have purchased in the 20+ years I have been into computers.

Does this support 1080P over VGA? Can't get it to work at 720P on my new gt50 and my highest rez is 1400x something.


720p is just all static and rolling lines.

It does but your monitor/TV needs to accept it. You would need to look up the accepted resolutions for your monitor/TV which are usually listed in the manual.