Tom's Hardware > Forum > Motherboards & Memory > Gigabyte > MA-78GM-S2H MOBO Won't Install Windows XP Pro

MA-78GM-S2H MOBO Won't Install Windows XP Pro

Forum Motherboards & Memory : Gigabyte - MA-78GM-S2H MOBO Won't Install Windows XP Pro

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:fou: I have a new MA-78GM-S2H v1.1 motherboard with an AMD Athlon X2 5000 2.6 GHz processor and 2 GB of DDR2 1066 MHz memory. I have a 160 GB PATA HDD and a 320 GB SATA HDD. I would like to use the onboard video instead of a video card. That is the main reason I bought this motherboard.

When I try to install Windows XP Pro from CD-ROM for the first time, it locks up when Setup tries to start Windows. I get the message "Setup is starting Windows" and the DVD-ROM drive stops spinning. Eventually the screen turns blue, then black (or sometimes, white). I am trying to install the SCSI driver for the SATA drive when Windows installs (F6 when Setup starts).

So far, I have tried the following:
1. Updated the BIOS to v6.00PG (latest update, dated 6/15/2008).
2. Disabled and disconnected the SATA drive to install Windows only to the the PATA drive.
3. Disconnected the PATA drive and tried to install Windows to the SATA drive in IDE mode.
4. Disconnected the PATA drive and tried to install Windows to the SATA drive in ACHI mode.
5. Disabled the onboard video and installed a PCI graphics adapter.
6. Disabled and disconnected the SATA drive to install Windows only to the the PATA drive with the PCI video adapter.
7. Disconnected the PATA drive and tried to install Windows to the SATA drive in IDE mode with the PCI video adapter.
8. Disconnected the PATA drive and tried to install Windows to the SATA drive in ACHI mode with the PCI video adapter.

I want to update the chipset drivers, but I can't do that without installing the OS first.

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:lol: It turned out the problem was with a PCI expansion card with extra USB 2.0 ports (4 extrnal, 1 internal) using NEC chipset. It makes my old PC (Soyo K7VTAPro) lock up too. I took it out and everything worked fine.

I did tweak the BIOS a little. GB Tech support told me that my OCZ memory requires a setting of +0.3V (2.10V total) in the "Tweak" section of the BIOS. It still only runs at 800 MHz though, since it's an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ processor.

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Tom's Hardware > Forum > Motherboards & Memory > Gigabyte > MA-78GM-S2H MOBO Won't Install Windows XP Pro
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