Asus A8N-E giving BSOD during Win XP installation

[Clytemnestra]

System info:

AMD 64 3200+
Asus A8N-E
XFX 7900GT
Maxtor 250gig SATA II HD
Enermax 535W PSU
1 gig Ram Dual channel set OCZ

I can't figure out what is going on with this...everytime I go into win xp installation it would crash before i even get to the format hd screen. It pops up varies BSOD screens. I tried flashing a new bios that's posted in the asus' website still doing same thing, I just can't figure out what could be the problem....

 

[peleuba]

I can't figure out what is going on with this...everytime I go into win xp installation it would crash before i even get to the format hd screen. It pops up varies BSOD screens. I tried flashing a new bios that's posted in the asus' website still doing same thing, I just can't figure out what could be the problem....

Have you tried testing the RAM with memtest etc. Who's memeory are you using? Are you mixing and matching, running in dual channel etc.?

 

[peleuba]

I can't figure out what is going on with this...everytime I go into win xp installation it would crash before i even get to the format hd screen. It pops up varies BSOD screens. I tried flashing a new bios that's posted in the asus' website still doing same thing, I just can't figure out what could be the problem....

Have you tried testing the RAM with memtest etc. Who's memeory are you using? Are you mixing and matching, running in dual channel etc.?

 

[Fox_granit]

hmmmmm try formatting the drive before you install the os, it just might work after that. if not double check your ram.....IMHO

 

[Clytemnestra]

It's a new dual channel kit from OCZ 1 gig...forgot to put that down. I formatted the 250g HD twice already....still does same thing...haven't tried memtest yet...so when i get home i'll give that a shot!

 

[blue68f100]

Clear your cmos settings.

Then check your memory timings. Iv'e had some problem with asus not reading the ram timming correctly. Also try with only 1 memory stick installed.

Verify your cpu fan is running, too.

 

[cmptrdude79]

It's a new dual channel kit from OCZ 1 gig...forgot to put that down. I formatted the 250g HD twice already....still does same thing...haven't tried memtest yet...so when i get home i'll give that a shot!

Memtest should shed some additional light on this situation. One thing to note is that OCZ RAM is notoriously voltage-hungry. You might try bumping your DDR voltage to 2.7, even if you're not overclocking.

-J

 

[Clytemnestra]

I'll try that out with power supply although I don't think that's the problem but I'll try anything here at this point. I don't think it's the RAM problem. My buddy came by with his pair of RAM and popped it onto my machine he knows his are fine and he tested it (he's been using it for the past 4 months with no problem and his are OCZ as well)... still doing the same thing...the nice BSOD.

 

[ditch]

My guess is that the XP installation does not recognize the SATA (or RAID) controller that the motherboard has. I have encountered that before. Have to go to the ASUS website and download the drivers to put on a floppy. Then when the installation first starts hit F6 (been a while, could be F8 ) to be able to add the drivers.

Hope that helps.

 

[Clytemnestra]

My guess is that the XP installation does not recognize the SATA (or RAID) controller that the motherboard has. I have encountered that before. Have to go to the ASUS website and download the drivers to put on a floppy. Then when the installation first starts hit F6 (been a while, could be F8 ) to be able to add the drivers.

Hope that helps.

You know what I didn't think about that...it usually crashes just before it asks to format the HD so that could be the reason. I'll go check that out and go to asus website. I heard from some places that the maxtor sata II hd had this problem before but that was in early jan-feb that I saw posts on those...Thanks! Hope this will work!

 

[icbluscrn]

It does require pressing{F6} when windows boots screep apears. But the question I have about this is how can a floppy be made. a8ne driver file is 31mb zipped what files should go on the floppy?

 

[ditch]

I think the key is to find the driver that states it is made for DOS. Let me look it up.

Sorry, it has been a while. If you have the CD that comes with the Motherboard, I think the drivers are on it.

Final edit (i promise)...it is in fact on the driver disc. I downloaded the manual, but Acrobat didnt let me copy and paste anything...Look on page 118 (section 3.5) of the manual and all will be clear.

 

[Clytemnestra]

Problem solved guys thanks...just to let you all know what exactly was the problem:

- One of the Ram slots for the motherboard was faulty (broken). I couldn't figure it out what the heck was going on, but I brought it back to the computer store they checked it because of that one slot it burnt one ram of each pair of OCZ ram...including my friend's...don't know how but it screwed it up.

The store gave me a brand new board along with a new set of rams...my friend bought his stuff at the same place so he get his ram replaced as well...I couldn't figure out why. I gave it and just told the tech. guy in the store to please look over everything...2 hrs later he found the problem...it was hell waiting and I even bought him a bubble tea for the trouble lol...because he stayed behind to try to fix my computer. Tech guy was suppose to be leave earlier but he helped me out so i can have my system for fun and games over the weekend... =)... Thanks all for all your help I told him everything that I tried which helped him narrow the problem down =)

 

[Fox_granit]

Wow that was wierd. I can't believe there were problems with the ram slots. Glad everythings working now.

 

[Clytemnestra]

Wow that was wierd. I can't believe there were problems with the ram slots. Glad everythings working now.

I couldn't believe it either...the tech guy didn't even believe it after he figured out there was something wrong with the slot. The tech guy himself was a bit stunned. He said this was a really rare case...normally it'll be the CPU, Ram, or the whole motherboard...

He installed winxp with one ram and it crashed...he changed ram put it same slot crashed wouldn't boot properly. He changed Ram slot and it worked but when he swapped the other one it screwed up....he took a lot of time...running tests on the ram and such...I didn't even know wtf he was doing at some point. He was just in his little world...

 

[icbluscrn]

This is just curiosity but did it actually burn the pad on the ram? I had 2 p5wd2-e and they burnt off pin 2 of the ram.