zimmermatt

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Dec 31, 2009
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I just finished putting together the following system:

Motherboard: Asus Rampage II GENE
Processor: Intel Core i7-920
CPU Cooler: Thermalright AXP-140
Memory: 3X 2gig CORSAIR VS2GB1333D3 G
Graphics: Gigabyte GV-N98TSL-1GI GeForce 9800 GT 1GB Silent Cell
Hard drive: Kingston SSDNow V-Series SNV125-S2BD/64GB
Optical: Pioneer BDR-205
PSU: Enermax Liberty ELT500AWT-ECO 500W
Case: Lian-Li PC-V351B
OS: Windows Professional 7 OEM

All settings in the bios are at their default position. SATA Configuration is set at Enhanced and Configure SATA as IDE. No type of overclocking is turned on.

After assembling everything I was able to boot to bios no problems, temperature at idle on the cpu is around 30C. I was also able to install Windows 7 quickly on the ssd. Everything seemed fine for a couple hours. Only thing of note I did was install about seven updates Windows said were important. Later the computer rebooted unexpectedly and Windows would no longer boot.

Tried repair install and no luck. Tried reformatting the drive several times and could not get Windows 7 to go past “Expanding Windows Files” step. I got Error 0x80070057 several times and also got Error 0x80300025 at least once.

This morning I was able to get Windows 7 to install again. Prior to that I had used the command prompt tool in the Windows install and the program there diskpart and did a format and clean of the disk. Not sure if that made a difference.

In any event shortly after having Windows up and running again I ran into the same problem. This time it happened as I was installing some drivers off the Asus disc (Intel Chipset, Realtek LAN driver, and JMicron Controller). It was painfully slow to get the drivers to install and when it went to reboot after the JMicron I got an error saying Windows hadn’t shut down properly would I like to repair (ugh!).

So since then I have had no success at all in getting anywhere with installing Win 7. I have a live disc of the latest distro of Ubuntu and that boots no problem can surf the internet etc. From there I did a ntfs format of the ssd still no luck. Also tried formatting it and leaving out the file system also no luck.

I have also run a check of the memory with Memtest86+. It completed one pass through all the tests with no errors.

I’m about out of ideas, so I’m turning to you all for help. Anyone have some suggestions?

Thanks,
Matt
 

zimmermatt

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Dec 31, 2009
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Coming back to see if I can get any help from you all with the ongoing problems with my system. You can see above my original issues. Since then I have upgraded the power supply to a 750 watt Seasonic since I suspected inadequate power could be contributing to my issues, but I still am having problems.

I also suspected the ssd, but I encountered the same issues with a mechanical drive. Namely the os works for a while then I get stalled responsiveness, which can lead to a hard reboot. Sometimes after a hard reboot the bios fails to recognize the drive or I get disk read errors preventing me from booting the os. With the ssd I was seeing disk errors in the log complaining about the hd having bad blocks and with the mechanical I get atapi errors saying device controller errors.

These errors eventually lead to the total corruption of the os and an inability to boot at all into the desktop necessitating a clean install and then the same problems slowly cycle through again. I have lost count how many times I've installed windows 7 but its at least five separate occasions.

I have tried updating the bios and the chipset drivers but neither has made a difference.

Has anyone had similar problems? I'm thinking something could be bad with the sata controller on my motherboard, but I hate to tear it all apart to rma the board without knowing for sure.

Suggestions for troubleshooting and any possible solutions would be tremendously appreciated.

Thanks,
Matt
 

helsinki98

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Nov 19, 2009
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I read that people where having issues installing windows 7 if there was more then 3/4gig in the machine while installing. Try taking out two sticks then try again. Also check the bios is uptodate. Might not work for your issue but i have found this to work in a few cases.
 

zimmermatt

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Dec 31, 2009
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Thanks for the tip. I initially thought my problem was in installing Windows 7 but I've been able to get the os installed (more times than I care to remember). However, the problem is that I have problems that seem to be related to the sata controller, which shows up as "device controller errors" in the event logs. I had similar problems with an ssd drive but for it the event logs showed "device has a bad block".

These errors are not present upon initial install of the os, but then after some time the errors manifest as the system hanging and being unresponsive. Then the system will reboot. Upon reboot I'm some times able to work normally until it happens again.

Eventually I get disk errors during the boot process, sometimes the boot drive doesn't show up in the bios. Finally I'm unable to boot at all into the system and I have to do a clean install. After a clean install it works for a while and then all these problems start to reappear again.

I've searched everywhere for an answer and have tried everything I can think of. My next thought is to rma the board suspecting that something is bad with the sata controller.

Before I do that I want to see if anyone else can help me figure out what is going on. Thanks again.
 

zimmermatt

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Dec 31, 2009
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Thanks for the tip. Not sure if I get what you mean though. All my SATA/IDE settings were always at their default settings, and I was only using standard hard drives, so I can't understand why any BIOS setting would need to change. In any event I did RMA the board and will be getting it back today.

Asus says they repaired the board but they could not tell me what repairs had been done. Perhaps there will be more explanation in the return packaging. Would be nice to know what they had done, but I'm afraid I may not be able to find out...

I will be rebuilding the computer tonight and I'll have my fingers crossed that the problems won't reappear. If you have any thoughts or clarifications its much appreciated.

Thanks.