Abit KT7A-AMD BIOS problems

[sarah]

Hi, I am trying to upgrade my MoBo and CPU, I purchased the Abit KT7A and a AMD Athlon 950 Processors but having problems setting up the BIOS (tried every-which-way)- it's all a bit new to me. Is there a website where you can put in your system set-up and it will advise on BIOS settings? In addition to the above my system includes Windows Me * ATI All in Wonder 128Pro * SB Live Card * HP 9100 series CD-RW * Creative DVD Drive* Maxtor 10Gb main HardDrive * Maxtor 30 Gb HardDrive for Video * Pinnacle Studio DVPlus * 256Mb RAM * All usual Printer-Scanner-Modem-ZipDrive etc.
After setting up KT7A+AMD 950 Athlon I started with a formatted hardrive but Windows Me will only partially load (not always to the same point) the furthest has been to putting the product key in. Today I took the Abit board out and returned to my original set-up and reloaded WinMe without any problems, also re-loaded main programs. If I now change to KT7A and AMD set-up but leave Windows as it is will I be OK? Can someone cheer me up with a BIOS set-up for the above.

Thanks - Sarah in a very wet and cold UK!!

 

[Guest]

Hi, I had the same problem, running both PC133-Infineon and old PC100 RAM. I removed the old RAM, now everything works just fine.

 

[hammerhead]

Swapping a motherboard then attempting to run Windows without re-installing will almost certainly come to grief.

It's not impossible in some situations, but not advisable.

If you cannot install Windows with default BIOS settings, chances are your motherboard has a problem with your other hardware (assuming it's not faulty).

Try installing with minimum hardware configuration (memory, video, hard drive, CD-ROM), see if that works.

Have you tried the advice from the previous reply and swapped out the RAM?

 

[sinner]

Try installing Windows with only your Video card plugged in. After windows fully installs, start installing your other cards one by one. I found no irq issues, nice fresh install this way. Also, be sure your printer,scanner, etc is all unplugged, install everything seperately after windows is completely installed.

-sinner.
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by sinner on 03/11/01 04:05 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[phsstpok]

Here are two good resources for the Abit KT7 family of motherboards.

<A HREF="http://www.icrontic.com/faqs/kt7faq/kt7faq.htm" target="_new">Paul's Unofficial Abit KT7 FAQ</A>
<A HREF="http://www.apushardware.com/?action=articles&id=44&order=&pos=0" target="_new">Incrontic's KT7 BIOS Guide</A>

...and here are some fast tips that should get you going.

You need to have a good power supply. I recommend a 300watt unit at the very least but a more powerful one definitely will not hurt. (I like the Enermax EG351P-VE and EG451P-VE. Larger power supplies usually provide more current on the +3.3 line which is important if you have a lot of PCI cards). Connect your drives and install your video card. Leave the modem and and sound card out of the system. Reformat the hard drive and try to load Windows.

If this is successful the next thing you want to do is update the Via 4-in-1 drivers. 4.28V are the official drivers but I like 4.29v betas. 4.28V drivers are available at <A HREF="http://www.viatech.com" target="_new">http://www.viatech.com</A>. (Sorry, I misplaced the link for 4.29v betas).

Next, start installing the rest of your hardware, one item at a time, rebooting in between each installation. Use the instability section in <A HREF="http://" target="_new">Paul's Unofficial Abit KT7 FAQ</A> as a hardware installation guide.

Each time you change or add a PCI card or a video card set <b>Reset Configuration Data</b> (in some KT7A BIOSes this might be labeled "<b>Force Enable ESCD</b>") to <b>Enabled</b>. This will ensure that Windows detects the change. You will find the option in the PnP Configuration section.

When you get all hard installed, and working, you can start worrying about updating individual device drivers.





<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by phsstpok on 03/11/01 06:19 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

Sarah in a very wet and cold UK???

Does this means MANCHESTER?

All previous advice was good as gold, nothing more important to add except about the previous signature winner juanmi's advice - search first then post.

i.e. I previously wrote alot of advice of detailed and very detailed stuff related to BIOS, RAM timing, calculations, estimation of this and that etc. They may or may not be helpful, Good Luck!

cx5 in Salford University, Manchester with the best sky view in the world - period.

continuation is not computer related----

At times manchester weather sucks.

At times you could not possibly imagine how heavenly it is, where the sun shines and buildings reflects of like a innocent kid smilling at you saying "hello and good morning sir" and that the moon shines clearly before the suns too high up greeting you at the same time.

Will miss all this good and bad mood once I graduate and go home permanently to Malaysia.

Best regards
cx5

 

[hammerhead]

Keep taking the pills fcchin ;-)

I grew up in Manchester, got out as soon as I could.