Software install problems from MB?

[Peyton]

Something in my brand-new computer doesn't want software installed on it.

Clean install of Windows XP Pro on a partition formatted for NTFS. ASUS P4C800 Deluxe MB, P4 3.0c processor, 120 GB Maxtor IDE drive, 300 GB RAID 0 array with 2 Seagate drives, 1 GB Corsair TwinX RAM, Radeon 9800 Pro video card, Audigy 2 Platinum sound.

I get similar aggravating results when installing software from the hard drive or from a CD. I get these errors when using the CD-ROM drive or the Pioneer A05 DVD drive. Examples:

Installing Vegas Video from a file copied to a CD got me a "CRC mismatch" and an aborted installation.

Installing Norton Antivirus 2003 from a download copied to a CD got me something about a file on the hard drive not matching the one in the installation media; clicking Retry got by it and a successful installation.

Installing 3DMark 2003 from a file copied to a CD *and* downloaded to the hard drive from the web got me a similar error, and required many clicks of Retry to install. The program won't start, though - crashes with an error about the free skins being corrupt.

Installing Return to Castle Wolfenstein from the original CD, used once, got me a message about corrupt installation media at the 56% installed point on the CD-ROM and the 53% installed point from the DVD drive.

Something is fundamentally wrong. I've switched cables connecting the CD and DVD to the MB, and I've gotten the latest BIOS from ASUS' global web site.

Anyone ever seen anything like this?

Hopeful,
Peyton

 

[Black_Cat]

Smells like bad RAM.

Okay, brain. You don't like me, and I don't like you, but let's get through this thing and then I can continue killing you with beer. -- Homer Simpson.

 

[ChipDeath]

I agree, sounds like it could be bad RAM - try running it with each stick separately.

Also, what are your memory timings? These new-fangled intel chipsets prefer slacker timings. Although it doesn't really sound like timings to me, but might be worth a shot.

---
The end is nigh.. (For this post at least)

 

[xeenrecoil]

heya Peyton;

You are on the edge of instability, infact your OS may even be corrupt because you installed it on an unstable System, when you get the stability situation worked out i suggest you reinstall your OS to make sure there is no corruption.

Your problem is most likely the result of bad memory timings i would suggest adjusting the timings and see if you can get it to run stable.

If you are Overclocked in any way you need to reset back to default settings before you go messing with your ram timings.

I think you will find that your ram is the culprit, if you trouble shoot it and find that both modules when tried independantly have the same problem then its likely your timings are too agressive.

If you relax your timings and still cannot get stability, then i would look more towards your Power Supply, you may not have enough juice.
You have a setup that is Seriously demanding and i would recommend atleast 350 watts of TRUE power, if you dont have it then that could be why your unstable.

Try these things and let me know how it goes.

XeeN

 

[Peyton]

Good ideas, all!

Power supply should be OK. I have an Antec 430W TruePower.

Looking for a central point of failure, I hadn't thought of the RAM. I tried to identify the "best available," got that and didn't give it another thought. Corsair TwinX XMS DDR400/PC3200LL, is what's in there, two DIMMs for a total of 1 GB, in slots A1 and B1.

Two things I did not mention among my examples, but they do seem to pertain:
a. I've had periodic hassles with a CD-booted installation of XP Pro, files not copying and such. That seemed to go away when I finally got ahold of the new BIOS.
b. Internet Explorer periodically crashes. It's a memory hog, so......?

OK, then, let's beat up on the RAM. I've searched Asus' site and support area, and can find no diagnostic utility for the P4C800 Deluxe MB. The Probe utility on the CD will let me monitor memory performance, but not test it. I have not overclocked any elements in the machine - I haven't found the utility to do so, yet, and I woulnd't try until I was confident of how the machine was performing.

Two basic questions:
1. Can you suggest a diagnostic utility that would at least test the RAM, and preferably all the basic hardware?

2. How would I relax/back off the timing of the RAM? What increments should I do that in, then test against the problems I've seen?

Good stuff, and hoping for a little more from y'all.

Encouraged,
Peyton

 

[xeenrecoil]

heya Peyton;

I would suggest you try ram timings of 2.5-3-3-6 and see if that makes it more stable, if not dont relax them anymore then that, instead bump up your Ram voltage by one step and see if that does the trick.

Both of these combined should bring some stability to the system.

XeeN

 

[Peyton]

Good deal, XeeN! Thanks for the suggestions.

<<I would suggest you try ram timings of 2.5-3-3-6>>

What order are those numbers in? I ask because of a couple nuggets I found in the Corsair help forum:

-snip- Corsair's timings are stated as CL, RCD, RP, RAS, whereas the ASUS BIOS displays the timings as CL, RP, RCD, RAS -snip-

I guess with both RP and RCD set to 3, it doesn't matter much, does it?

Are these set directly in the BIOS setup screens? I'm at work, and can not easily take a look right now.

I read many people recommending MemTest86, do you also? I think I'll run it before any changes, then after subsequent changes, to measure progress. (Aren't I an optimist?)

Thanks very muchly!
Peyton

 

[pIII_Man]

before you start fooling around with timmings...

Run memtest86 <A HREF="http://www.memtest86.com" target="_new">http://www.memtest86.com</A>

It is a GREAT program for burning in and testing your ram...

If you still get errors bump up the dimm voltage by .1 volts (in the bios)...re-run memtest...if you get errors...return the ram...corsair has been having trouble with asus boards...kingston seems to work well...but on the new intel chipsets there are no guarantees :frown:


Proud owner of DOS 3.3

 

[Peyton]

Yes, indeedy, Corsair seems to be having troubles. There are at least three threads on the Corsair message board where a Corsair rep invites someone with an Asus board to fill out the RMA form.

I ran four different recommended permutations of voltages and timings through Memtest86, plus the default settings. I got 7681 errors with default settings, and things got worse from there.

Testing the individual DIMMs in slots A1, A2 and B1 revealed that one of my DIMMs is apparently just fine, and the other gets 4452 errors in slot A2 and 4810 errors in slot B1.

Bad DIMM! Bad, BAD DIMM!

What a fun week it's been, getting to this point. A good relief, though, to finally know what the heck is going on.

Back to Fry's to exchange my Corsair sticks for one of the Kingston sets recommended by Asus.

Thanks to all who helped me out. I learned a lot and solved the puzzle.

Cheers,
Peyton

 

[xeenrecoil]

heya Peyton;

Im glad we could help you out, please feel free to come back to THGC in the event that you have anymore troubles, or just have some questions, I and others in the THGC community will be more then happy to help ya out.


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