K7S5A and Athlon XP 1600+ won't read certain files on hard..

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

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 13:14:13 -0500, Jeromy Van Dusen
<raryNOSPAM@mts.net> wrote:

>This is very strange. I'm working on a friend's computer which has an
>Athlon XP 1600+ running on a K7S5A. The CPU settings in the BIOS had
>been set up wrong (100/100 instead of 133/133), so he's been running at
>1050MHz for as long as he's had this computer. When I change the BIOS
>settings, it shows "Athlon XP 1600+" when the system posts, which is
>correct, however, it starts having strange problems reading files from
>the harddrive or the CDROM.
>
>The system currently has Windows XP on it. When I try to boot into
>Windows, I get this error:
>
>Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
>corrupt: WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
>
>I'm trying to install Windows 2000 on it, but when Win2K setup begins, I
>get this error:
>
>File \i386\ntkrnlmp.exe could not be loaded. The error code is 4.
>
>If I set the BIOS back to 100/100 so that it runs at 1050MHz, then these
>problems magically go away.
>
>Anyone have any idea what I should try?

Either the memory, the motherboard or the powersuppy.
You can try swapping those out and find the problem by elimination.

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

Jeromy Van Dusen wrote:

> This is very strange. I'm working on a friend's computer which has an
> Athlon XP 1600+ running on a K7S5A. The CPU settings in the BIOS had
> been set up wrong (100/100 instead of 133/133), so he's been running at
> 1050MHz for as long as he's had this computer. When I change the BIOS
> settings, it shows "Athlon XP 1600+" when the system posts, which is
> correct, however, it starts having strange problems reading files from
> the harddrive or the CDROM.
>
> The system currently has Windows XP on it. When I try to boot into
> Windows, I get this error:
>
> Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
> corrupt: WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
>
> I'm trying to install Windows 2000 on it, but when Win2K setup begins, I
> get this error:
>
> File \i386\ntkrnlmp.exe could not be loaded. The error code is 4.
>
> If I set the BIOS back to 100/100 so that it runs at 1050MHz, then these
> problems magically go away.
>
> Anyone have any idea what I should try?

Check the memory. Maybe whoever set it up knew it had 100 installed.


--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.

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

"Jeromy Van Dusen" <raryNOSPAM@mts.net> wrote in message
news:_bH0d.267$Uo1.2442@news1.mts.net...
> This is very strange. I'm working on a friend's computer which has
an
> Athlon XP 1600+ running on a K7S5A. The CPU settings in the BIOS had
> been set up wrong (100/100 instead of 133/133), so he's been running
at
> 1050MHz for as long as he's had this computer. When I change the
BIOS
> settings, it shows "Athlon XP 1600+" when the system posts, which is
> correct, however, it starts having strange problems reading files
from
> the harddrive or the CDROM.
>
> The system currently has Windows XP on it. When I try to boot into
> Windows, I get this error:
>
> Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
> corrupt: WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
>
> I'm trying to install Windows 2000 on it, but when Win2K setup
begins, I
> get this error:
>
> File \i386\ntkrnlmp.exe could not be loaded. The error code is 4.
>
> If I set the BIOS back to 100/100 so that it runs at 1050MHz, then
these
> problems magically go away.
>
> Anyone have any idea what I should try?

What is the speed of his memory?
If you are using two sticks of quality sdram, just try one stick.
If he is using PC-100 ram, it probably won't work.
You could also slow down the ram timings to their slowest to see if it
is ram related.

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

"Jeromy Van Dusen" <raryNOSPAM@mts.net> wrote in message
news:_bH0d.267$Uo1.2442@news1.mts.net...
> This is very strange. I'm working on a friend's computer which has an
> Athlon XP 1600+ running on a K7S5A. The CPU settings in the BIOS had
> been set up wrong (100/100 instead of 133/133), so he's been running at
> 1050MHz for as long as he's had this computer. When I change the BIOS
> settings, it shows "Athlon XP 1600+" when the system posts, which is
> correct, however, it starts having strange problems reading files from
> the harddrive or the CDROM.
>
> The system currently has Windows XP on it. When I try to boot into
> Windows, I get this error:
>
> Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
> corrupt: WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
>
> I'm trying to install Windows 2000 on it, but when Win2K setup begins, I
> get this error:
>
> File \i386\ntkrnlmp.exe could not be loaded. The error code is 4.
>
> If I set the BIOS back to 100/100 so that it runs at 1050MHz, then these
> problems magically go away.
>
> Anyone have any idea what I should try?
---
Usually when you can run at 100/100 and not 133/133 it points to a too weak
power supply. 300W is rarely enough for this power hungry board and it
demands quality like Antec or Enermax.

You could use SFC to replace the faulty Windows file (or however XP would do
it) and see if that error still exists.

Upgrade the BIOS?

Reset the CMOS jumper and maybe at the same time unplug the PSU from the
board for a minute or so. How to reset the CMOS is in the board manual with
a diagram.

The most thorough text ever written about this board is at:
www.ocworkbench.com

You will probably have to register to get in. Go down the main page and
click on the ECS sector. Near the top of the ECS page is a K7S5A Guide link.
It includes troubleshooting, etc. You could also make a post in that group
and get a lot of expert help.

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

Jeromy Van Dusen <raryNOSPAM@mts.net> wrote in message news:<_bH0d.267$Uo1.2442@news1.mts.net>...

> I'm working on a friend's computer which has an Athlon XP 1600+
> running on a K7S5A. The CPU settings in the BIOS had been set
> up wrong (100/100 instead of 133/133), so he's been running at
> 1050MHz for as long as he's had this computer. When I change
> the BIOS settings, it shows "Athlon XP 1600+" when the system
> posts, which is correct, however, it starts having strange
> problems reading files from the harddrive or the CDROM.
>
> The system currently has Windows XP on it. When I try to boot into
> Windows, I get this error:
>
> Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
> corrupt: WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

You may want to check the forums at www.amdmb.com and
http://pub65.ezboard.com/bk7s5amotherboardforum, and there's a website
dedicated specifically to the K7S5A:
www.tldp.org/HOWTO/K7s5a-HOWTO.html

I had a very similar problem with my K7S5A and K7S5A Pro, and it
didn't go awy until I changed the memory. One memory diagnostic,
MemTest86 (www.memtest86.com0 showed errors only after 4-5 hours, but
another, Gold Memory (www.goldmemory.cz) detected them in just a few
minutes (but with another memory module Gold Memory never found
anything while Memtest86 always did). I first encountered this with
K-byte brand PC2100 modules filled with Spectec brand chips (Micron's
brand of used chips), the next time was with a Kingston PC2100 module
assembled in China from no-name chips (Identical module assembled in
USA was fine). I tried every BIOS memory setting, including manual
and SPD (some settings could be set manually even when SPD was
chosen), but unless the memory bus ran at 133 MHz, errors alwyas
occured, even with the slowest settings. The memory errors
disappeared after I replaced the first K-byte module with another
containing Elixir chips (Nanya's brand of used chips), and I had to go
through a couple more Kingston modules before finding one that ran
right. Kingston couldn't explain to me what was wrong and gave me
contradictory information -- the USA and China modules were the
same/were different, both modules were made/were not made for the
K7S5A, etc.

I had similar problems with these modules in a P4S5A2, a Pentium4 mobo
also mde with an SiS chipset, but they worked fine in a K7VTA3 v. 8,
based on a VIA chipset. That was the first time that a VIA chipset
gave me less trouble than different one.

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

"larrymoencurly" <larrymoencurly@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:755e968a.0409112231.4dae96ad@posting.google.com...

<snip>

| I had a very similar problem with my K7S5A and K7S5A Pro, and it
| didn't go awy until I changed the memory. One memory diagnostic,
| MemTest86 (www.memtest86.com0 showed errors only after 4-5 hours,
but
| another, Gold Memory (www.goldmemory.cz) detected them in just a few
| minutes (but with another memory module Gold Memory never found
| anything while Memtest86 always did). I first encountered this with
| K-byte brand PC2100 modules filled with Spectec brand chips
(Micron's
| brand of used chips), the next time was with a Kingston PC2100
module
| assembled in China from no-name chips (Identical module assembled in
| USA was fine). I tried every BIOS memory setting, including manual
| and SPD (some settings could be set manually even when SPD was
| chosen), but unless the memory bus ran at 133 MHz, errors alwyas
| occured, even with the slowest settings. The memory errors
| disappeared after I replaced the first K-byte module with another
| containing Elixir chips (Nanya's brand of used chips), and I had to
go
| through a couple more Kingston modules before finding one that ran
| right. Kingston couldn't explain to me what was wrong and gave me
| contradictory information -- the USA and China modules were the
| same/were different, both modules were made/were not made for the
| K7S5A, etc.


FWIW, Crucial uses Micron manufactured memory devices, they make their
own. If you have a stick with Spectec chips, they are apparently
lesser quality stuff sold by a subsidiary of Micron (this is according
to some info on the net). I strongly recommend Crucial branded memory
sticks.

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

Jeromy Van Dusen wrote:

> This is very strange. I'm working on a friend's computer which has an
> Athlon XP 1600+ running on a K7S5A. The CPU settings in the BIOS had
> been set up wrong (100/100 instead of 133/133), so he's been running at
> 1050MHz for as long as he's had this computer. When I change the BIOS
> settings, it shows "Athlon XP 1600+" when the system posts, which is
> correct, however, it starts having strange problems reading files from
> the harddrive or the CDROM.
>
> The system currently has Windows XP on it. When I try to boot into
> Windows, I get this error:
>
> Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
> corrupt: WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
>
> I'm trying to install Windows 2000 on it, but when Win2K setup begins, I
> get this error:
>
> File \i386\ntkrnlmp.exe could not be loaded. The error code is 4.
>
> If I set the BIOS back to 100/100 so that it runs at 1050MHz, then these
> problems magically go away.
>
> Anyone have any idea what I should try?

Wow, lots of responses. Thanks everyone.

The problem has gotten worse, and now I can't boot at all, so I suspect
that what was happening was only a sympton of a larger problem, or else
I screwed something up with all my tinkering -- which is certainly possible.

Some of the things I have tried since my previous post included swapping
the RAM with some other RAM I have (it's a single stick of PC133 RAM -
256MB). That made no difference. I also swapped the CMOS battery, since
it started giving me a message that the battery was low. This made no
difference.

"Smoker" pointed out the PSU issue. The PSU is a Deer 300W, which is on
the Athlon compliant list, but is a low-end cheap 300W PSU, so that
could potentially be the problem. I ran a similar system (Athlon XP
1700+, ECS K7S5A, Deer 300W PSU) for about a year and a half until the
motherboard just died one day. I'm going to try hooking up the PSU from
my main system (450W, can't remember what brand but I think it's a
decent one) and see if that helps.

Again, thanks for all the help.

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

"Jeromy Van Dusen" <raryNOSPAM@mts.net> wrote in message
news u11d.504$Uo1.5060@news1.mts.net...
> Jeromy Van Dusen wrote:
>
> > This is very strange. I'm working on a friend's computer which has an
> > Athlon XP 1600+ running on a K7S5A. The CPU settings in the BIOS had
> > been set up wrong (100/100 instead of 133/133), so he's been running at
> > 1050MHz for as long as he's had this computer. When I change the BIOS
> > settings, it shows "Athlon XP 1600+" when the system posts, which is
> > correct, however, it starts having strange problems reading files from
> > the harddrive or the CDROM.
> >
> > The system currently has Windows XP on it. When I try to boot into
> > Windows, I get this error:
> >
> > Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
> > corrupt: WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
> >
> > I'm trying to install Windows 2000 on it, but when Win2K setup begins, I
> > get this error:
> >
> > File \i386\ntkrnlmp.exe could not be loaded. The error code is 4.
> >
> > If I set the BIOS back to 100/100 so that it runs at 1050MHz, then these
> > problems magically go away.
> >
> > Anyone have any idea what I should try?
>
> Wow, lots of responses. Thanks everyone.
>
> The problem has gotten worse, and now I can't boot at all, so I suspect
> that what was happening was only a sympton of a larger problem, or else
> I screwed something up with all my tinkering -- which is certainly
possible.
>
> Some of the things I have tried since my previous post included swapping
> the RAM with some other RAM I have (it's a single stick of PC133 RAM -
> 256MB). That made no difference. I also swapped the CMOS battery, since
> it started giving me a message that the battery was low. This made no
> difference.
>
> "Smoker" pointed out the PSU issue. The PSU is a Deer 300W, which is on
> the Athlon compliant list, but is a low-end cheap 300W PSU, so that
> could potentially be the problem. I ran a similar system (Athlon XP
> 1700+, ECS K7S5A, Deer 300W PSU) for about a year and a half until the
> motherboard just died one day. I'm going to try hooking up the PSU from
> my main system (450W, can't remember what brand but I think it's a
> decent one) and see if that helps.
>
> Again, thanks for all the help.
---
Deer got such a bad reputation that they changed their name. I had their
300W unit and it lasted maybe 6 months.

Disregard AMD's approved PSU list. There's no way they can predict how much
hardware you're going to put into your system and the power it will require.

There's a label on the side of PSUs with it's statistics. For the K7S5A the
minimum reads should be:

+3.3v = 28A
+5v = 35A
Total Combined Output (TCO) = 220W
Total watts is hardly relative anymore.