pci card failures with MSI K8N Neo V2.0 (ms-7030 ver:3.0)

[WEPrechaun]

(Just a head's up, this one's a head scratcher)

A little while ago while installing Ubuntu, my network & sound cards won't work properly. They were working fine under Windows XP so I blamed Linux. Out of curiosity, I tried both cards on another computer running Ubuntu & both cards worked fine. I've tried these cards on 3 different computers either running Windows or Ubuntu without any problems. However, if they return to this particular motherboard then they don't work under Ubuntu. I even tried new network & sound cards with this motherboard & still no success. However, the onboard network & sound adapters work but network connectivity is very slow. Just so everyone's clear, any pci network card I try results with a 169.254.x.x i.p. address. Any sound card used just pulses the audio then seizes.

Shortly thereafter, the same pc wouldn't POST properly so I flashed the BIOS with the correct BIOS version & utility. Strangely, the correct BIOS version isn't displayed in the CMOS menu. I've flashed the BIOS numerous times, cleared the CMOS settings via JBAT jumper settings, pulled everything that could store data (battery, memory, & power plug) but the BIOS just won't zero & install the correct version. I've tried everything suggested by the manufacturer but my problem persists.

Should anyone have any comments or suggestions then I'm all ears. Thanks for any input offered.

[MobilePCPhysician]

If the amount of time time spent were dollars, then a new motherboard would have been purchased.

[Ferrit]

Since the cards quit working have you tried xp again ?
To determine if something happened between the xp and linux installs

[WEPrechaun]

Network & sound cards are working fine after reinstalling Windows XP Pro. This was completed last night.