Windows XP Pro install hangs!! :( PLEASE HELP!!

[BlueMagician]

Hi guys,

I'm about to go nuts.

Trying to install WinXP Pro on my new system (see below).

I have the Raptors in RAID-0 attached to ports 1 & 2 of the NVRAID SATA ports, and a simple PATA CD/RW attached to the Primary IDE port.

I am running Windows setup from CD (a late WinXP Pro OEM disc with SP2), installing the latest NVRAID drivers (both components) (6.39?) from Nvidia site, using F6 option from floppy. The format and install goes well, stupidly quick in fact

However, on the restart into Windows for the first time (where the dodgy logo animation plays and offers to 'help' you with your final account setup), the animation hangs immediately the computer freezes.
I am forced to tap reset, and Windows boots again, but this time to the 'User logon' screen. When I select Administrator and type my password, about 2 seconds of disc activity, and it hangs again and restarts.

I am running the latest trusted release BIOS1003, and am not connected to the Internet at that stage.
I have reset BIOS to pretty much default everything, but enabled PnP OS YES, and disabled Cool'n'Quiet.
I have also since disabled onboard sound and a serial ports that I do not intend to use, reinstalled several times, with no improvement.


Having tried this twice, with exactly the same results, I figured I would try installing WITHOUT the Raptors in RAID0 - just set them up as two drives in BIOS.

That time around, Windows setup completed and I actually got into the desktop! Woohoo - however...
I set about installing the latest ForceWare drivers of a CD I burnt... Windows seemed happy, and found a couple of devices, then asked to restart...
On restart, the same damn hanging issues.. So I'm pretty convinced that it's an issue with these Nvidia IDE/ATA/SATA drivers, but I'm using the latest everything, so I MUST be missing something!!


Please please please save my sanity!!
Suggest anything you think I may have missed! Is anyone else having these issues??

S.

[aidanjt]

its either loose/poor SATA data or power connections or a faulty board, (assuming you have a legit copy of winxp).

[Taz]

If you're not using RAID then can you install Windows XP without hitting F6 and installing the SATA RAID drivers? I have a different chipset on my Asus A8V-E Deluxe (VIA chipset) and I installed XP Pro with no VIA SATA RAID drivers and everything works fine (non-RAID).

If you can get that configuration to work then you can confirm it's the drivers that are causing the problem.

[BlueMagician]

1) When I install Windows on a RAID-0 array, using F6 to load the NVRAID drivers, I get the 'hanging at logon' issues described above.

2) When I install Windows without the RAID array, Windows is happy as larry until I hit it with the NVIDIA Unified Platform/Chipset driver pack - at which point it detects a few devices, restarts, and hangs.

I doubt that it is the connectors, and I'm not sure I would lean towards it being a hardware issue at all, as the system is stable throughout the DOS/GUI setup stages. It's only when the NVIDIA drivers get their say in the matter that things go pear shaped - so I'm hoping it's just driver issues.

Should I be installing Windows without SLI enabled?
Should I have my PATA CD/RW on the Secondary channel?

Lost. I'm used to troubleshootings issues with an OS, but not troubleshooting actually getting an OS installed too often!!

The only thing that's nagging in the back of my mind, is that my mobo (from overclockers.co.uk), came with all the cables and cd's sealed, but the board itself was in an unsealed antistat bag. It had no factory seal on the bag, which I would have excpected from an Asus product... (gives evil stare at overclockers....) Have I been thrown a returned board?


Grr... Advice appreciated, you help keep me sane..
S.

[aidanjt]

a lot of people forget that drivers activate certain hardware circutry which would otherwise be idle... if those circuts are damaged/faulty then all those faults that 'apear' to be a driver issue are in fact a hardware problem..

way too many people are far too fast to point the finger at old drivers 'Omg!!! those drivers are 0.0003 versions old!!!' thats just stupid, don't you think nVidia would have tested the drivers to see if the RAID array boots ok BEFORE posting the drivers?.

[BlueMagician]

Yes, the copy of XP is legit. It was purchased OEM, and is the version that includes SP2.

Is there any DOS util for the ASUS that I can run, to test the components/abilities of the board?

I made it a point, a few years ago, never to build a system again, and to always buy readymade to avoid headaches. I took a departure from that way of thinking with this system, and it's doing nothing for my faith in the technology industries, and thier poor quality control.

I remember asking the question "Is the Asus A8N-SLI really that bad" a few weeks ago, just after I'd bought it. If I have to RMA, then is there a better alternative now?


Thanks so far, any insight appreciated..
S.

[aidanjt]

oh come on, tearing your hair out with hardware/supplier problems is half the fun :/

it seems to me that this is a fault with your nVidia chipset, you'll need to RMA the board. All other related isses have been elimitated.

[BlueMagician]

It wouldn't be the fact that I've not plugged in any of the 'additional' backplane sockets for things like the extra firewire/comms etc, would it?

I have no backplane space in my case, so an unable to utilise them...

S.

[BlueMagician]

Can't actually get through to Overclockers Sales or Support.. Suprise suprise.

I am thoroughly <insert appropriate expletive here>... I'm wondering if it would be quicker to order another Asus or even a Gigabyte board from somewhere else, and have arguments about refunds later. It annoys me that £2k's worth of stuff is sitting there, cos a £120 board isn't doing its job.

You think I'd be used to this, being in the line of work that I am in, but that's the corporate world where companies actually care about reputations. The home enthusiast gets a rough deal and it stinks.

S.

[Betty_Swallocks]

Probably a long shot, but are you using the IDE cable that came with the motherboard for the CD ROM?
Sounds silly I know, but I had a similar problem with an nForce2 board. After disconnecting the CD rewriter from the secondary channel master and reconfiguring the DVD ROM drive to be master Windows would freeze part way through loading, even in safe mode.
Reinstalling XP cured the problem until I loaded the nVidia drivers at which point the problem came straight back.
I finally cured it by reconnecting the CD Rewriter with the cable that came with the motherboard.
Might be worth a try before resorting to buying another board.

[BlueMagician]

Probably a long shot, but are you using the IDE cable that came with the motherboard for the CD ROM?

I am using the black ribbon cable supplied with the mobo. Good call tho.

It has been bugging me all day, and the only thing I've left to try when I get home later, is to connect the CD/RW drive into the Secondary Master PATA socket, rather than on Primary.. Would this make a difference?

Sorry if I don't answer this thread tonight, but my home PC that had net access has been temp replaced by the troublesome new system...

S.

[BlueMagician]

Okay, so I disabled the Firewire port and the SiliconImage controller in BIOS, and removed my SoundBlaster Live PCI card (5 years old) for good measure, and FINALLY managed to install Windows on RAID-0 array!

I was sooo overjoyed that something was working, that I spent the whole night benching and dribbling over 3Dmark05, rather than trying to iron wrinkles out..

I still have some issues. I'm going to try enabling the Firewire port is BIOS again, and see how WinXP handles it. I've ALSO got an 'unidentified ACPI System device' in my device manager, which refuses to accept drivers saying "selected driver is inappropriate for this platform" - so I'm a bit lost on that one...

Once I sort that lot out, I'll stick my SoundCard back in - not sure why that would have been causing a problem, as I have the BIOS set to automatically handle IRQ's etc, and PnP OS = Yes... We'll see if it all falls apart then... Help appreciated!

Lastly, my OCZ Powerstream600 PSU has a damned annoying 'tick tick tick tick click tick' sound, both when running, and in standby. Looking on bleedinedge.com, it looks like a common problem over the last few weeks - so maybe a dodgy batch ?


Hmmm... I'm sure I'll get there...
Comments and assistance welcome guys, you keep me sane,
S.

[Spunkey]

the SB Live shouldnt cause you any issues with XP Pro.
I'm using an SB Live Value which i bought back in 1998 and its happy as.
The default driver XP loads for it should be fine - a good job too as the CD doesnt have any drivers for XP... although XP didnt exist back then so its not exactly Creatives fault. Although they are crap, but thats another thread by itself

[BlueMagician]

I've been running the SBLive sucessfully in my previous rig on Windows XP Home for a couple years, so I know it's supported.. My only guess is that there was some IRQ/resource conflict, or the Asus onboard sound maybe never completely disappears when disabled in BIOS, and this was causing grief.

It might not even be the soundcard - it could be one of the other ports I disabled - it annoys me now that I've got to risk a stable Windoze install, by putting it back in or re-enabling things I need on the board.

Does anyone know what this 'uninstalled inappropriate system device' is? I've read that it may be the AI NOS system component, but when I try to enable that in BIOS and install the software in Windows, it falls over and refuses to run the AIbooster at startup. NOT that I particularly want AI-NOS, but it bugs me to think that there IS still a hardware issue with the board, being masked by my 'put up with it, disable everything' attitude.

If I buy a deluxe board with bells and whistles, I bloody expect the bells and whistles to work...

S.

[noveltylamp]

Are you sure there are no heat issues with you CPU? Perhaps re-seat the HSF?

But assuming that's not the problem, try posting to dedicated A8N-SLi problem threads like on the hardforums, xtremesystems and anandtech - someone else may have had this problem, ironed it out and never mentioned it.

The only things i have known to cause problems like yours are cpu o/c too high, a crappy network card, and enabling different power management options in bios than windows was installed with.

[BlueMagician]

Well, I re-enabled the firewire ports in BIOS, installed my Soundcard, FINALLY got it working, but an hour and a couple of restarts later, the board fails to POST.

See my other thread re: sudden shutdown fail to POST, but it's looking more and more like an RMA for the mobo...

S.