two unrelated problems !

[edp33]

Firstly the PC info - it's brand new components I put together just yesterday
AMD 4850e+retail fan
Gigabyte 780G
Using Integrated 3200 Graphics
2GB Corsair DDR2 800
WD 500AAKS 500gb HD
Windows XP home with SP3 and latest updates

On boot up, it sometimes stops at missing/corrupt system32/config message. It seems this is usually due to bad sectors on the hard drive? and chkdsk /r normally fixes this? - As it's a new hard drive i'm hoping this isn't the case, I haven't run chkdsk /r yet but I am running Western Digital's diagnostic software to check bad sectors etc at the moment. I have also tried reinstalling XP but the error still pops up...

Second error is HD playback, I downloaded HD samples 720p and 1080p, the 1080p plays fine but the 720p playback is green with yellow outlines etc of the objects, dolphins in this case !. If I turn off hardware acceleration in windows display driver properties they both playback fine but i'm worried it may reduce the performance. This is using the latest integrated graphics driver from the Gigabyte website. I have also tried downloading the Catalyst drivers but it's the same problem.

[Blenster]

Hi,
I`m building a similar spec PC atm.

Which chipset driver and BIOS version are you running ?

[edp33]

chipset driver is the latest 8.475 from Gigabyte website for GA-MA78GM-S2H rev 1.1
Bios version is F4

Well the WD Diagnostics said the Hard Disk Passed with flying colours. I will try MemTest now, have to give the computer to a friend in a few hours - don't want to give them the computer with boot up errors !

On a positive note, the system is very quiet and quick , definitely the right choice for a htpc, just odd that it plays 1080p easily, (cpu usage is really low), but get green artifacts playing 720p if anything I would have thought it would be the other way round !

[Blenster]

BIOS update to F5 might be worth doing.

[edp33]

ok both memtest and WD diagnostics gave the all clear which is good

I put F5 on as you suggested Blenster - it only seemed to add new cpu support so didn't upgrade it previously and changed the sata cables to other ports and it seems ok now. I've rebooted it 10 times and no error. Hope it doesn't come back

The green video problem with 720p wmv also goes away if I go into windows media player, click on advanced under performance and untick use video renderer, but then it won't resize to full screen. Very odd !

[Blenster]

Odd indeed,
There`s still something not quite right there.
WMP and IGP fighting over rendering duties?
Looks like you may have a SATA port failure, can you test the suspect port with something else?

[edp33]

spoke too soon

Had it turned off for 30 mins, went to system back on and same error message, system32/config etc. After a reboot now it goes into chkdsk screen and says

truncating badly linked attributed record 16390
fixes it and reboots
next time round it says truncating .. record 25362

Regarding the sata ports that's strange also the motherboard manual labels them as ports sata0-sata4, but if I plug the sata cable into each port they don't correspond to those numbers at all

sata 0 = ide channel 2 master
sata 1 = ide channel 2 slave
sata 2 = ide channel 3 master
sata 3 = ide channel 3 slave
sata 4 = ide channel 1 master

I assume ide channel 0 is the spare IDE port

I'm running chkdsk /r in recovery console now

Hmmz I did do a quick format during the Win XP Install, perhaps that wouldn't have highlighted any sata/HDD problems?

**Update - chkdsk /r has been stuck at 53% for 10 mins now... not good ! **

[Blenster]

Your seriously putting me off this board now !

Does sound a little like Hard drive problems, but the diagnostics tested OK.

As a matter of interest, what PSU are you using?

[edp33]

PSU came with the case it's Antec 380W, case is NSK4480B - had good write ups. As it's only going to be an internet pc should be plenty

[Blenster]

It seems the "truncating badly linked attributed record" is an indication that the Hard Drive is failing and unable to write correctly.

Can you try a known good HDD ?

I know you said these are new parts, but thats no guarentee of anything.

[edp33]

Ok, after running chkdsk /r for hours it completed and said one or more errors had been fixed. I rebooted and went into windows ok.

There I ran a full HD scan using HD tune up, this took 2 hours as well and it reported no errors. After turning the pc off then back on 10 mins later that horrible system32/config message has popped up again.

I do have another computer with a working hard drive, I didn't really want to have to wipe it and test with that though... Guess that's the only way, if it is the hard drive then I need to have proof that it is faulty because at the moment the diagnostic software by Western Digital and HD Tune up report no errors. chkdsk /r takes ages and states that one or more errors has been fixed but that very vague.

Days like this make me think about buying a computer next time !

[Blenster]

Is it not possible to use your other HDD without wiping it ?
I don`t think the WD (presumeably Data Lifeguard) test is infallible, you could try Seatools.
Clearly chkdsk is finding errors that the others are missing.
I`ve heard other 780g users needing to clear cmos to fault-find, often with good results.
As you had SATA problems, can you try a different cable?
Odds-on it`s a HDD fault.

[edp33]

Thought I would try doing a full format this time see if that helps, so far it's taken 2 hours it's got to be a broken hard disk surely, I've only formatted a 320gb or less before but 2 hours to format...

[Blenster]

It does sound like it`s struggling.
You might want to look at the 320GB AAKS or (dual platter) 640AAKS, which I`m told are superior drives.

I was on the point of getting the Abit A-S78H, but if it turns out to be a HDD fault then I may go back to the Gigabyte board.
Let us know how you get on.

[edp33]

Well it successfully completed a full format(it took 2-3 hours) I then used the Gigabyte motherboard CD instead this time for the drivers, the chipset driver on the cd is the latest version anyhow. Everything seemed fine, I made sure I didn't install SP3 or any windows updates this time just to see if that might be causing a conflict.

Well after switching it on this morning, the dreaded system32/config message appeared again, and kept appearing on restart. I unplugged the usb mouse and it booted into windows. So I thought perhaps it was a problem with the usb mouse not being enabled in the bios, enabled that turned the computer off then back on and the system32/config came up again, so I unplugged the usb mouse again and restarted but it still kept appearing.

This is driving me mad !

I have just tried another fix for system32/config which involves overwriting the current system/security/sam etc files in system32 with the files from the /repair directory. It boots up now but it resets the windows desktop and username changes to owner, startup ati drivers etc have gone as well. I will try again at lunch time to see if it boots up again.

The only thing I can think of to do is try another hard drive as you suggested and perhaps install a codec pack like k-lite for the 720p video problem.

[Blenster]

A new or used-known-working HDD, is the next logical step.
I assume you have used your XP cd on previous installs successfully ?