Ta, bog - he is going to look into the Network connector, but it looks to me as if the VGA port on the back panel SHOULD have worked - if the mobo was ok?

He uses a D-Sub to DVI adapter for the graphics card but we just plugged in a standard d-sub VGA plug form the VGA monitor to the back panel.

Waiting on a ticket from the supplier (it is under12 months)

Trying BIOS flash on Thursday to see if it sorts.

Presumably the autorun on the install DVD searches the h/w config and only offers drivers for what it finds. The nic disappearing from device manager looks like the big clue. Pull the power cable and take out the CMOS battery for half an hour? Is there an option to disable nic in BIOS which has got itself set? Maybe reset BIOS to default and see.

Tried those, Mr O. Hopes hanging on a 'new' BIOS Thursday, if not, an RMA

Rather bizarrely my Gigabyte PC (different board and 4 months old) went bananas this am and would not boot, stuck in a 2 second re-boot cycle with everything 'out'. Tested it with a different PSU and the verdict is MOBO or CPU so the assembly is out of the machine awaiting an RMA. Co-incidence or what? This comes from my laptop .....waiting for the third of three...................

Hmm, as you say lots of stuff on google about reboot cycles. Wonder if it is the rtc giving the precise 30 min shutdown? Did the BIOS reported time and date show OK? Only constructive suggestions are either to move off the ley line or give Asus motherboards a try next time!

I don't know whether it's just me or not, but so much tech stuff seems to be of lower and lower quality. Ten years ago the kids and I knew that anything 'own brand' from Maplin had a 50/50 chance of not working. In the last couple of years I've had five WD hard drives fail, three Asus motherboards dead on arrival, and two more that died within warranty.

Those are just the more expensive bits, at least that many other tech toys eaten their last milliamp here.

It's been so bad that I've actually had the electricity bods out to test my mains supply, and absolutely everything is plugged in through surge protectors. And still it goes on.

Well I have had maybe 5 PC's and 4 laptops. Had one HDD fail and the video inverter in an lp. Never a problem with Asus but last bought a few years ago. Lead free solder?

I hadn't thought much about the 'why', but that and possibly the ever-increasing density of components might explain it.

Will have a look at lad's BIOS settings when we do the flash. No chance of seeing anything in BIOS on my machine!!

Tried pulling the power cord mid-cycle a couple of times. Will show it who's boss and you never know....

Mobo is boxed and ready for pick up for RMA so we will see.

Flashed lad's new BIOS and NIC and VGA output returned. Machine has gone 20 minutes past the 30 minute point, so good news, and I assume something knackered the original BIOS.

All the inputs etc much appreciated.

Just my mobo to sort now.....................

Have you read the list of bugs fixed between your original BIOS version and the version you just applied? Anything that suggests a known issue?

SD

No - will do, but since the original BIOS was working before I suspect somehow it got 'SNAFU'd'.

EDIT: SD - cannot find any revision data for the BIOS versions