OS will not boot on new Build

[stiffy17]

This is my first post and i am at my wits end. I have exhausted my trouble shooting abilities with a recent build and am considering a motherboard rma.

Intel i7 950
Asus ati 5850
gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
6gb (3x2) Ocz ddr3 2000
wd caviar black 640g HD
thermaltake tr2rx 850w power supply

SO...first booting windows7 (RC1) takes at least 35-40 minutes. After the the 1st restart and boot from hd, a black screen occurs and says files from the install are missing. Various trial and error versions of this have been unsuccessful for 6 days.
All hardware has been reset. New psu, vid card, hd have all been tried on the motherboard. Ram has been tested with memtest86 with no errors.
Xp sp3 had the same problems that windows7 had. 45min install with 'missing files' afterward. The only sucessful os thus far has been ubuntu. While i appreciate linux, everything do is on windows.

Preinstall sata drivers dl'd from the mobo site (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/Driver_Model.aspx?ProductID=3305&ost=others#anchor_os) have been attempted at install with no help.

Hopefully i have explained some of the troubleshooting things i have attempted.

I have tried all i know how to, but only want to send anything back as a last resort. The first to go back imo would be the gigabyte mobo.......
any thoughts???
thanks in advance

 

[stiffy17]

To add to the hardware list:
Sony optiarc blu ray drive.
Its a year old and has been successful on my old system. It was also replaced to troubleshoot with no change to the data loss from the dvd install of windows 7 rc1.
An additional copy of the actual win7 dvd install disc was made to troubleshoot as well.

 

[gkay09]

If the mobo has any hardware fault, then IMO even Ubuntu shouldn't have worked right ?
Have you tried flashing the BIOS to the latest one if any ? If NO, try that first...

 

[stiffy17]

The motherboard only has 1 version of BIOS available on the the gigabyte website, and it was flashed once with no change in install time.

Youre right though about Ubuntu. Thats the weird part. It was booted from an 8g usb drive. i havent tried to boot it for several days. As i remember, any hardware diagnostics available came back o.k.

 

[gkay09]

^ Have you tried installing the OS with just 1 stick of RAM ? And also did you change any BIOS settings ? And see if the BIOS has any AHCI mode for the HDD...If it has, then check what option is set...

 

[stiffy17]

The BIOS has ACHI IDE, and RAID. All were tested. ACHI only works infinitesimally faster on the long troubled install with no sucess.

 

[stiffy17]

All ram was replaced and tested individually on the correct slot for i channel. They all registered o.k. out as far as i remember. BIOS has been tweaked, but always returned to fail safe defaults (IDE) if anything went too crazy.

 

[stiffy17]

A replacement motherboard (the same model) is on its way. Hopefully it will resolve the issues. I'll report back when i give it a whirl.

Further theories always appreciated ........

 

[banthracis]

I doubt that RAM runs at stock voltage. Make sure you have it set in bios to w/e the manufacturer recommends.

 

[stiffy17]

the ram voltage wasnt overclocked intentionally. I set to factory standard 1.65v, i think, and it was reading close to that(1.64). the chip (i7 950) is set to run at 3.03 and i was getting a reading like 3.20. That was a little odd, but from what i heard, the i7 950 can stand a quite a bit of oc.in' so i assumed it would'nt damage anything.

 

[stiffy17]

My next thought...... When the new mobo comes in (2-5ish-10) and if the same problems occur. I will try to install windows 7 on an older PATA 240g hard drive i have been clearing. All the HD we've used have been SATA. I'll try the PATA to troubleshoot the Gigabyte motherboard's compatibility with the other SATA hard ware.

 

[Lutfij]

y r u using RC , y nt get the final 7600 build version thas been doing so well on many pc's?

 

[stiffy17]

I haven't tried a different version of windows 7, but we did try to install xp sp3 with the same results. Slooooow intsall then missing files when it boots from HD

 

[Lutfij]

get partition magic to scan ur disks - ur missing data, probably from a faulty HDD - logical answer :S there are bad sectors on it.

 

[stiffy17]

That was my first idea, the HDD, but we've tried 2 different HDDs still resulting in the slow install, then missing filles after the first boot

 

[Lutfij]

try burning the windows 7 installer on a dvd at a slow speed - 6x speed. and then try the instalation once again.

r u using a thumb drive to install windows 7? btw wats news wid ur replacement mobo?

see if u can get ur hands on the 7600 build (final) version of windows 7

 

[stiffy17]

the mobo i re-ordered was the same one. http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=3305&ProductName=GA-X58A-UD3R
I'm just too familar with it, and for the price its a deal (if it ever works!)

I definitely had that idea, though, about putting the windows7 on a usb, haven't tried it yet though.

Will the 7600 build start acting funky (popups from MS etc ) like rc1 will on feb 15? that would be nice to avoid...

 

[stiffy17]

Oh yeah, I ordered and new HD (just in case) Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA.

Its was only $5 more than the 640g and recently i've had some problems getting the 640g to pass WD diagnostic tests on my older rig, so its going back to newegg as well.

 

[Lutfij]

the mobo i re-ordered was the same one. http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=3305&ProductName=GA-X58A-UD3R
I'm just too familar with it, and for the price its a deal (if it ever works!)

I definitely had that idea, though, about putting the windows7 on a usb, haven't tried it yet though.

Will the 7600 build start acting funky (popups from MS etc ) like rc1 will on feb 15? that would be nice to avoid...

u can get the OEM version of windows7 and it works fine with all the new drivers + urs is a x58 board so no problems should occur.

hey i almost 4gt to ask - is the RC a 32 bit or 64bit? it mite b one reason for the slooooooooow pace. any how - the 7600 build sould take care of that!

 

[stiffy17]

The rc is 64bit and it has had at least 5 separate successful installs on other people' s machines. An additional copy burned at a slower speed of the same rc1 iso was used on my build with no success.

 

[Lutfij]

then the only thing giving the benifit of doubt is the data cables themselves...and try the usb method for installing the OS

 

[shortstuff_mt]

it wont, i can asssure you , and for the sake of not wanting any popups - try downloading the version that has been activated. If your downloading via torrent - u can get the OEM version of windows7 and it works fine with all the new drivers + urs is a x58 board so no problems should occur.

hey i almost 4gt to ask - is the RC a 32 bit or 64bit? it mite b one reason for the slooooooooow pace. any how - the 7600 build sould take care of that!

I would watch what you post. Suggesting pirated software is against the forum rules. A legal version of Windows only costs $105.

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $104.99

 

[stiffy17]

Thats my feeling. Some where it that sata bus, something is going wrong.

My 2 ideas at this point are, boot windows from usb, or boot win7 to a PATA HD. At least this would help me eliminate the data connections from the list of possible problems.

 

[stiffy17]

It was my understanding that rc1 is not pirated, but a legitimate copy for consumer review

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Yes, the RC is legal, but Lutfij was suggesting downloading the RTM version.