Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

Im having a problem here I've never come across and it's driving me stupid.
Just done a fresh build for a friend, P4B 3.06, IC7 Mobo, radeon 9600 gfx,
twinmos 512 meg mem. Got everything together, no problems, when I try to
install windows, it gets to the part where it says "installing windows" and
you need to press return, then the terms and conditions where if you agree
you press F8. I press F8 and it reboots every time. I've reseated memory,
removed one stick of memory, tried the other stick, reseated gfx card,
removed all drives except cd and HD, still the same. The only thing I can
think of now is PSU. The case is a Globalwin GW 802, the PSU is 300w which
admittedly is a little low but surely it should handle the above, and why
the reboot at exactly the same moment every time? I've even tried a
different windows disk, still no joy, anyone got any ideas besides PSU ?

TIA

Dion L Heap
www.thetophouse.com

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

Hi, Dion. Bump the memory voltage up 1 or 2 steps -- just enough
to stabilize the RAM. You can bump up to a max of 2.8V.

TwinMos memory likes voltage. Too low memory voltage on
875P boards is known to lead to spontaneous reboots during
Windows setup.

Also check the AGP voltage and the voltages produced by the
Power Supply. (See the BIOS setup screens.) Some Power
Supplies ship with the voltages set slightly low -- which when
combined with an 875P board that is already prone to being
cranky when supplied with low voltages -- creates an "over the
edge" condition which causes instability.

For 875P boards, you want the supply voltages to edge on the
high side of their tolerance, not the low.


Best I can do for now. <tm>


Bill



Dion L Heap wrote:
> I'm having a problem here I've never come across and it's driving me
> stupid. Just done a fresh build for a friend, P4B 3.06, IC7 Mobo,
> radeon 9600 gfx, twinmos 512 meg mem. Got everything together, no
> problems, when I try to install windows, it gets to the part where it
> says "installing windows" and you need to press return, then the
> terms and conditions where if you agree you press F8. I press F8 and
> it reboots every time. I've reseated memory, removed one stick of
> memory, tried the other stick, reseated gfx card, removed all drives
> except cd and HD, still the same. The only thing I can think of now
> is PSU. The case is a Globalwin GW 802, the PSU is 300w which
> admittedly is a little low but surely it should handle the above, and
> why the reboot at exactly the same moment every time? I've even tried
> a different windows disk, still no joy, anyone got any ideas besides
> PSU ?
>
> TIA
>
> Dion L Heap
> www.thetophouse.com

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

In article <40aaa295$0$4575$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk>,
NoSpam@ThankYou.Com says...
<Im having a problem here I've never come across and it's driving me stupid.
<Just done a fresh build for a friend, P4B 3.06, IC7 Mobo, radeon 9600 gfx,
<twinmos 512 meg mem. Got everything together, no problems, when I try to
<install windows, it gets to the part where it says "installing windows" and
<you need to press return, then the terms and conditions where if you agree
<you press F8. I press F8 and it reboots every time. I've reseated memory,
<removed one stick of memory, tried the other stick, reseated gfx card,
<removed all drives except cd and HD, still the same. The only thing I can
<think of now is PSU. The case is a Globalwin GW 802, the PSU is 300w which
<admittedly is a little low but surely it should handle the above, and why
<the reboot at exactly the same moment every time? I've even tried a
<different windows disk, still no joy, anyone got any ideas besides PSU ?
<
<TIA
<
<Dion L Heap
<www.thetophouse.com
<
<
<


Try running memtest on it for a while:

http://www.memtest86.com/

It should help you to winnow out whether it's a hardware problem or
windows maybe looking for a driver to be installed when you're at
the 'Press F6' stage. Depending on which version of windows your
trying to install. < Say, for the SATA drivers? >

Bill

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

boost DDR voltage to at least 2.7 volts and you may want to consider a
better PSU.

--

Thomas Geery
Network+ certified

ftp://geerynet.d2g.com
ftp://68.98.180.8 Abit Mirror <----- Cable modem IP
This IP is dynamic so it *could* change!...
over 130,000 FTP users served!
^^^^^^^




"Dion L Heap" <NoSpam@ThankYou.Com> wrote in message
news:40aaa295$0$4575$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk...
> Im having a problem here I've never come across and it's driving me
stupid.
> Just done a fresh build for a friend, P4B 3.06, IC7 Mobo, radeon 9600 gfx,
> twinmos 512 meg mem. Got everything together, no problems, when I try to
> install windows, it gets to the part where it says "installing windows"
and
> you need to press return, then the terms and conditions where if you agree
> you press F8. I press F8 and it reboots every time. I've reseated memory,
> removed one stick of memory, tried the other stick, reseated gfx card,
> removed all drives except cd and HD, still the same. The only thing I can
> think of now is PSU. The case is a Globalwin GW 802, the PSU is 300w which
> admittedly is a little low but surely it should handle the above, and why
> the reboot at exactly the same moment every time? I've even tried a
> different windows disk, still no joy, anyone got any ideas besides PSU ?
>
> TIA
>
> Dion L Heap
> www.thetophouse.com
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

Re the memory voltages etc, come on guys, you underestimate me ;o)
(especially you Tom) It turns out the PSU was the culprit, one Antec power
supply later and all is fine and dandy, rock solid now. Strange thing was,
it was doing the reboot at the same time every time, just at the agreeing to
the terms & conditions, (hmmm says a lot for microsoft there, a hidden
message maybe). However, many thanks for the suggestions guys.

regards,

Dion L Heap
www.thetophouse.com

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

I figured that you knew to up the voltage but you didn't post that info so I
felt it needed to be said -- *again*! glad to hear that my second
suggestion was closer to the target...

--

Thomas Geery
Network+ certified

ftp://geerynet.d2g.com
ftp://68.98.180.8 Abit Mirror <----- Cable modem IP
This IP is dynamic so it *could* change!...
over 130,000 FTP users served!
^^^^^^^




"Dion L Heap" <NoSpam@ThankYou.Com> wrote in message
news:40ab8535$0$4584$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk...
> Re the memory voltages etc, come on guys, you underestimate me ;o)
> (especially you Tom) It turns out the PSU was the culprit, one Antec
power
> supply later and all is fine and dandy, rock solid now. Strange thing was,
> it was doing the reboot at the same time every time, just at the agreeing
to
> the terms & conditions, (hmmm says a lot for microsoft there, a hidden
> message maybe). However, many thanks for the suggestions guys.
>
> regards,
>
> Dion L Heap
> www.thetophouse.com
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

Hi, Dion. One of the little-known things about the MS install routines
is they *test* for things like memory-stability -- and the install routine
is *supposed* to be cranky when the hardware isn't right.

One of the tests for memory is to see what happens during a longer
than normal wait-for-refresh cycle. This stresses the hold-up-time for
the DRAM memory-cells in the same way that multitasking occasionally
does.

Voltage-stability on the DRAM during long wait-for-refresh cycles is
critical. And if the voltage is not stable during long wait-for-refresh
intervals, then the RAM will fall-over-and-die during said intervals.

By default, Windows (and the BIOS) will automatically reboot the
machine when either one detects that something has fallen-over.
What you're seeing is a predictable and repeatable memory-failure
at that point in the install routine's test suite -- and then either the
BIOS or Windows' auto-reboot that accompanies said failure.


Because of the nature of the failure, it is not possible for the machine
to display the failure-mode -- so you get recycling reboots at that
point. Normally, Windows will detect the failure (because the install
log will show the install crashed at that particular point in the log)
and Windows will try to work-around the problem. Because there is
no software-based work-around for memory-instability, the Windows
install will continue to spontaneously-reboot at the same point in the
install-routine where the memory-instability manifests itself.


As noted in my previous post -- and as you have found -- installing a
better-quality Power Supply with either higher settings for the +3.3V,
+5V and +12V rails and/or better filtering on said rails -- so the
voltage-jitter is lower -- solves the problem nicely.

You have just banged-into -- and confirmed what is already well-known
about 875P boards -- that using "el cheapo" Power Supplies with these
boards is simply an exercise in frustration.

Normally, I don't even bother trying an off-brand Power Supply with an
875P board. It goes straight into the "use with some other motherboard"
pile -- or in the case of really-cheap -- straight into the garbage.


Best I can do for now. <tm>


Bill




Dion L Heap wrote:
> Re the memory voltages etc, come on guys, you underestimate me ;o)
> (especially you Tom) It turns out the PSU was the culprit, one Antec
> power supply later and all is fine and dandy, rock solid now. Strange
> thing was, it was doing the reboot at the same time every time, just
> at the agreeing to the terms & conditions, (hmmm says a lot for
> microsoft there, a hidden message maybe). However, many thanks for
> the suggestions guys.
>
> regards,
>
> Dion L Heap
> www.thetophouse.com

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

Thanks for an informative post Bill. There was no way in which I could
install XP without raising the DDR voltage to 2.7v. This was true for an
Enermax VPE465 and a Thermaltake 480W Butterfly. I always wondered what was
going on inside all those little silicon thingummybobs. I learn something
new every time I come here. At this rate why, within a couple of brief
decades, I could raise my Nerd Quotient, (NQ) a whole couple of points.
As you will know from my earlier announcement here, my silicon thingummybobs
have coloured and flashing lights, which is nice.:-)