New computer problems...

[Dreaming]

Hey, so I got my new computer, am running into some issues though.

1: The BIOS is so slow. Could I have damaged it installing the heatsink? I do not recommend anyone getting the scythe infinity, it's so massive I couldn't fit it properly and the LGA775 method of attatching heatsinks is a bit rubbish anyway. It takes about 2-3 minutes from the start to load into the BIOS.

2. Main issue, which may be causing 1, is I'm ****ed with my hard drives. I got 2xHitachi T7K500 250GB hard drives, and want to set them up in RAID0 for faster performance. However, it just wont work!!! There are three different controllers on the motherboard, I started with the intel... followed the instructions:

- go to bios change IDE configuration from IDE Standard to RAID
- restart and prses ctrl+I in POST to set up raid... this bit doesnt work. Ctrl+I doesn't do anything. After a while it comes up with 'intel storage controller' at the top but displays none of the options on screen. 2 minutes later it says something about not finding the boot information so please restart.

So after that, I changed the controller to the 'Ez something' which is ASUS' own controller. the theory is you just plug it in, change the jumper and it does it for you. I got a bit fruther with this, with some of the things working correctly. However in the BIOS where it lists devices none are detected.

I tried to install WinXP to see if I could get round it, but then it said no hard drives detected.

I don't know what else to do tbh.

[killie99]

something seriously wrong if the bios is taking 2-3 minutes to come up. Try resetting the bios to the default values and reboot (or pull the battery for a couple of minutes) - actually, just had another thought, remove your 2 hard drives and try to get into the BIOS - is it any quicker?

[Clunk]

Sounds like you possibly dont have the scythe seated flat on the cpu and it is overheating/throttling.

Before setting up raid or anything, I would suggest that you just connect one hard drive and get it booting first.

when you eventually get into the bios, what temps do you have?

[Dreaming]

its slightly quicker. But I read online and disabled what are called 'q fan controllers' (my fans have their own controllers anyway) and that sped it up loads. Still have the SATA issue. Tried going back to the intel controller, ctrl+i just doesnt do anything whatsoever though. I disabled the 'logo' screen so I can actually see the POST... it just says two things:

'Press 'Del' to enter set up'
'Press F8 to select boot device'

It's a brand new Asus P5W DH motherboard, I have no idea how to get it to recognise the hard drives. There must be a way though.

[Dreaming]

Sounds like you possibly dont have the scythe seated flat on the cpu and it is overheating/throttling.

Before setting up raid or anything, I would suggest that you just connect one hard drive and get it booting first.

when you eventually get into the bios, what temps do you have?

That might be the case actually.. the scythe can 'pop' out at times which is really bad. CPU temp: 30*C motherboard 40*C or something like that. Ok... one hard drive coming up.

[Dreaming]

Just tried with one hard drive.. first it said slave found. So I took it out and put it into a different SATA port (I have 5, Sata1, Sata3, Sata4 and two more which are supposed to plug and play).

So then it was working great in Sata1, (or whatever its called) so I tried to be optimistic and put in the next hard drive to Sata3 and then it didn't find any of the disks.

The disks are Hitachi T7K500 250gb drives

[Clunk]

The 4 plastic posts on the heatsink that hold it down...this might be of use to you..

take off the heatsink.

double check the barbs on the underside of the plastic posts to make sure you havent split them.

turn all of the plastic posts all the way anti-clockwise as far as they will go.

make sure you have some thermal paste on the cpu.

lower the heatsink back onto the cpu.

push the first clip in until it clicks, then turn it clockwise (you can carefully use a flat ended screwdriver to do this).

Repeat the above step on the next 3, the last one will be really tight, but itll go in...make sure it clicks and then turn it clockwise as far as itll go.

should be ok now

[Dreaming]

I think one of the barbs was split, but it seems to be doing the job ok now.

Worked out the problem - the second hard drive is damaged or something. You can hear it click but it doesn't work. Suppose you get what you pay for from ebuyer . I proved this by plugging them both into sata1, the working hard drive works fine, the other just doesnt.

Now to get XP on it