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

Hello. I'm having problems with a new AN8 board. I just bought a new pc
and had it assembled by the store but without an OS, and am having
problems getting windows up and going.

I've got no problems installing Windows XP pro itself and the drivers
for the nforce chipset, as well as nvidia ide driver and firewall. Once
i start on the drivers however, everything starts to play up - the
install programs complete but then on reset i usually get a hung screen
during either the "starting windows xp" screen with the blue bar, or at
the POST screen, and i have to reinstall windows. There's not really a
set driver that it gets stuck on - sometimes the driver for my sound
card (audigy 2) works, sometimes not, and the same with catalyst
drivers.

I thought that it might be a problem with windows xp and tried running
windows update on a clean install with nothing but the nforce drivers
on the hdd, but the same thing happened. The computer froze during
reboot (the starting windows xp screen) and on the next reboot i was
given a menu where i have to "revert to a previous configuration" to
get back in to windows. I also tried downloading SP2 to the desktop and
installing it, but the system froze during install, and the restarted
automatically. I've been getting bsod's sometimes whilst on the
"starting windows xp" screen, but they flash up and disappear before i
can read them.

For a few hours yesterday I managed to get everything installed (video,
sound and mouse drivers) and got some time in on halflife 2, but then
when i woke up and turned the computer on this morning it was very slow
booting up and then once i logged in to my account i got lots of error
messages saying that a whole lot of .exe's were "bad images", and the
taskbar was unskinned.


The fact that sometimes it hangs at POST as well as other people having
problems with windows makes me think it's a mobo problem rather than a
windows one... anyone got any ideas how to fix this?

My config (no idea what's relevant, so i'm listing everything):

AN8-Ultra BIOS 1.6
Athlon 64 3200 venice
1gb Corsair TwinX @ 500mhz
(http://www.corsair.com/corsair/products/specs/twinx1024-4000.pdf)
160GB Maxto Calypso Diamondmax Plus9 sata
Antec 480W TrueBlue PSU
Audigy 2 Value
Powercolor x800 256mb
VisionPlus TV Tuner



I've never installed ram myself and don't know anything about timing
and voltage, so i'm pretty clueless about everything. I ran memtest for
three passes with no errors, but it reported CAS at 3-3-3-8, but the
memory is listed at 3-4-4-8. The ram is supposed to be DDR500mhz, and
the user manual says that the maximum dram speed is DDR400. Would
either of these be causing the problems? I'm not sure how to check that
the voltage is set to 2.75 like it's supposed to be.


Thanks,

Jack

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

At what point, in the post sequence, is post failing?

You might try resetting the bios (use jumper) before any windows
reinstall.

Installing windows without any drivers, including nvidia drivers, is a
good thing to try when things aren't working. Unlike previous windows
versions, winxp is very good about not needing drivers. 64 bit is a
new technology so their can be problems in that area. Getting the
latest, MS uncertified, driver from company XYZ is not something that
I would do.

Forrest

Motherboard Help By HAL web site:
http://home.comcast.net/~mobo.help/


On 6 Aug 2005 05:28:59 -0700, soag242@gmail.com wrote:

< snip >

>... Once
>i start on the drivers however, everything starts to play up - the
>install programs complete but then on reset i usually get a hung screen
>during either the "starting windows xp" screen with the blue bar, or at
>the POST screen, and i have to reinstall windows.

< snip >

>The fact that sometimes it hangs at POST as well as other people having
>problems with windows makes me think it's a mobo problem rather than a
>windows one... anyone got any ideas how to fix this?

< snip >