A7V133 Need help w/setup

[kbieltz]

I'm new at assembling a computer from scratch
and can't seem to get a DOS prompt to save
the BIOS settings or install an OS.
Here's my setup:
Asus A7V KT133 AMD Socket A VIA ATX motherboard
AMD Althon K7 850 CPU
Swiftech MC370-0A Cooler
Crucial Tech. 256MB 168pin SDRAM DIMM PC133 ECC memory
Asus AGP-V7700 GeForce2 GTS 32MB DDR video card w/TV out
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live Value sound card
IBM 10.1 GB EIDE(ATA-66) hard drive
Toshiba SD-M1402, 10/40X ATAPI DVD-ROM drive
Mitsubisu 1.44 3.5 floppy drive
300W Power supply
I've read the manual and verified all the default
settings are jumpered on the motherboard.
I connected my hard drive to the VIA primary IDE
controller. I connected my DVD-ROM drive to the
VIA secondary IDE controller.
When I boot up the system sees all my hardware. Then
it says there is no OS on the hard drive and asks me
to insert a boot floppy. I insert a Win98 boot floppy
and press enter and the system hangs.
I've tried turning off the system and and rebooting with
the floppy already inserted and after the system information comes up it just hangs.
I've read most of the posts here about the A7V133.
Could my ECC memory be causing this problem?
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.


kbieltz

 

[Guest]

I am not an expert, but when I set up my system with A7V133, it was very picky as to the brand of memory. After trying 4 different brands, infineon ??? (Not sure of spelling) seemed to work the best.

 

[louie2001]

Acording to Crucial and ASUS this motherboard doesn't support ECC memory. I would change RAM and see what happens.

Rock out with your AMD out

 

[jc14all]

Wow! I thought I was the only one having this problem. My problem is identical to yours...after POST, all hardware read correctly: There is no DOS prompt (A:\)just a flashing cursor. I know the floppy disk, signal cable, pwr cable, and win98 boot disk are good, even the M/B is setup in "Jumper Free" mode and BIOS is setup properly, but CAN'T GET A DOS PROMPT...just hangs.

My system initial setup info:
AMD Thunderbird 1.3G
ASUS A7M266 M/B
256 Cosair PC-2100 DDR SDR (non-ECC, unbuffered
Sony Floppy Disk Drive
Adaptec 2940U2W SCSI Controller
Seagate 18.2G U2W HDD
Plextor UltraPlex Wide 40X/17X SCSI CD ROM
ATI Radeon 64 VIVO Graphic Card
ANTEC PP403X 400W P/S

I bought the M/B as a bundle from www.jncs.com with CPU and Cosair DDR PC-2100. The board was tested by them and they said the Cosair DDR PC-2100 SDRAM was top of the line recommended RAM. I am clueless why this problem is happening to us. I sure would appreciate some good feedback on this myself!

JC-------<*){{{>{~~~~~
Fisher of men<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by jc14all on 04/22/01 09:41 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Venom]

I'm having the same problem. I don't know what it is, I setup everything correctly as the manual says. But im still stuck and it won't take me to the dos prompt. Please help!!!

 

[kbieltz]

I just talked to a colleage who said that
the AMD K7 850 CPU can't work with ECC
memory. I've ordered a non-ECC memory stick
and will try that.
I also got a response from the Asus tech support
that told me to reset the BIOS to the default
settings. I don't know how much good that will
do since I didn't change anything except the time.

kbieltz

 

[jc14all]

I talked with the M/B bundle supplier and they said to try and boot without any HDD or Perpherial Cards connected, only the floppy drive. Since I am running everything SCSI they said the problem may be with my SCSI Controller or the HDD. WE WILL SEE. I will keep you posted on my find.

JC-------<*){{{>{~~~~~
Fisher of men

 

[Guest]

Not sure which motherboard you actually have. You said A7V133 in the subject but A7V in the post. The A7V has the KT133 chipset, the A7V133 has the KT133A chipset. Either way, I'm fairly certain neither one supports ECC memory. Nice choice on video card. I've got one and it has worked fine with just the original drivers that shipped with it. Of course, I don't have any of the latest, greatest games which might require newer drivers. But I'm happy. Good luck with your system, it should be sweet when working.

 

[jc14all]

No technical stuff in the resolution of my problem, but I did intimitely get to know my new PC inside out...assemble/reassemble.

Ok, Finally figured out the problem I was having not getting DOS prompt. When you create a windows start-up disk in the contorl panel utility... YOU BETTER TEST IT TO MAKE SURE IT IS GOOD! You can rely on the ASUS M/B's and AMD Tunderbirds to work properly together. Most of the problems that people are having is a result of human error. Just take your time, follow the instruction, and when you goof simple back track with persistance. Too many people are willing to throw in the towel too soon. PERSISTANCE PAYS!

Oh by-the-way my problem was 3 bad copies of win 98 boot disks. Always fully format a foppy disk before creating a start-up disk. DON'T COUNT ON WINDOWS TO AUTOMATICALLY DO IT FOR YOU!

Also, got confirmation from a trusted reliable source that Thunderbirds need NON-ECC/UNBUFFERED DDR/PC133 SDR, and AMD recommended pwr supply. Good luck with your setup.

Cheers : )

JC-------<*){{{>{~~~~~
Fisher of men

 

[kurokaze]

For all you guys having the same problem..

Suggestion:
Make sure that you have Legacy Floppy listed as one of your boot devices in the BIOS.

 

[kbieltz]

The first thing I did when my system
hung after inserting a Win98 boot disk
was check that the legacy floppy was
in the boot sequence in the BIOS.
I'm using the original Win98 boot disk
which has successfully installed Win98
on other systems.
I verified at the AMD website that the
Althon CPU requires unbuffered non-ECC
memory. I ordered a non-ECC stick of
memory to replace the ECC memory currently
in my system.

kbieltz

 

[kbieltz]

My system is now working.
I replaced the ECC memory with
Crucial Tech. 256MB 168pin SDRAM PC133Mhz 7ns CL2.
I also couldn't boot from my Win98 boot disk.
I created a system disk on a Win98 SE system
with SP1 installed and was able to use that to
get a DOS prompt to flash the BIOS.

I searched Asus web site for reasons my Win98
boot disk was not working and found a note
saying the A7V motherboard had a problem
with Win98 that was fixed in the latest BIOS
1007. Unfortunately, I have a A7V133
motherboard and the latest BIOS 1004 does
not address this problem. I was able to
load WinMe from a startup disk without
problems.
Thanks! for everyone's help in figuring
out my problem.


kbieltz