Help needed badly regarding BIOSTAR K8NHA Pro mobo.

[tmskilz]

Hi,

Ok this is my 1st try @ building my own PC. I bought a Bare bone system (PC Case & Mobo) the Mobo is a BIOSTAR K8NHA PRO.

I plugged in everything (Cables, connectors) installed NEC DVD/CD burner, memory, all seems fine.

I tried installing a Seagate barracuda 120 GB SATA HD. but my system won't recognize it, so I can't install WIN XP.

BIOSTAR only offers Email tech support, which really sucks, so I wrote them & am awaiting a response. I called Seagate tech support #, the tech rep suggestion was that the mobo only supports SATA HD's in a RAID configuration & I can only setup up IDE HD's as single storage, which to me doesn't make sense.

I read an article on this site which reviewed 2 BIOSTAR mobo's, including the one i have the K8NHA pro. It was posted on Nov 23, 2003 by Tarinder.

Can anyone here help me out with my dilemma? Is the advice the Seagate tech gave me correct or is the solution to my problem simply to upgrade my BIOS or is it neither one & something else?

Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Carlh]

Hi,

With the barebone system there should have been a floppy drive with the serial ATA drivers on the majority of issues are resolved by going to install the OS (making sure the system is set to boot from cd) and when windows is copying all the files to start the installation it should say Press F6 to install additional devices (or similar quote) when it states this press F6.

After it has finished copying the files across it should ask for the floppy drive from the manufacturer, insert the floppy drive with the serial ata drivers and then Windows should be able to see the Serial ATA hard drive.

Hope this helps.

[tmskilz]

Hi,

With the barebone system there should have been a floppy drive with the serial ATA drivers on the majority of issues are resolved by going to install the OS (making sure the system is set to boot from cd) and when windows is copying all the files to start the installation it should say Press F6 to install additional devices (or similar quote) when it states this press F6.

After it has finished copying the files across it should ask for the floppy drive from the manufacturer, insert the floppy drive with the serial ata drivers and then Windows should be able to see the Serial ATA hard drive.

Hope this helps.

Hi Carlh, thanks for the reply.

It didn't come with an FD, the Mobo box came with some IDE cables, screws, software & a Cd Driver,but no FD drivers.

Some one from another forum provided me with a link to DL the drivers for my mobo (Sata Drivers) he instructed me to do as you stated above, about hitting F6 during WIN Xp setup & when prompted to insert FD with the SATA Drivers, but when I did that I received the following error message.....

" File \raid\winxp\viaraidmraid.sys caused an unexpected error ( 18 ) @ line 2108 in d:\xpsp1\base\boot\setup\oemdisk.c. "

[tmskilz]

Here's a quick update....

I received an email back from BIOSTAR's (MobO Manufacturer) tech support, they provided me the link & instructions to D/L the proper SATA Drivers from my CD Driver that came with my mobo.

I followed the instructions & was able to get the SATA DRIVERS TO INSTALL & thus was able to continue on through the 1st part of the WIN XP install.

I was able to get WIN XP to recognize the HD during setup. I was taken to the partition/format screen, ran through it, Win XP began copying files, then it rebooted. I took out the FD & CD before restarting, POST was run, then the PC just froze & went blank.

I then restarted & the PC booted up into the 2nd part of WIN XP setup, it stated how many mins it would take for WIN XP to finish install
(39 mins), it began installing devices, the little green bar on the lower left hand corner started moving, the mins started counting down, then I received the following error message....

" VIA SATA RAID CONTROLLER has not passed WINS logo testing to verify compatibility with WIN XP, continuing with install can result in setup or future WIN XP operation failure, do you wish to continue with install, Yes or No?"

I click "YES" & the install continued, but then shortly after I received a blue screen with the following text on my screen......

"A problem has been detected & WINS has been shutdown to prevent damage to your PC.
Memory_Management
If this is the 1st time you're seeing this stop error screen, restart your PC, if this screen appears again follow these steps:
Check to make sure any new hard/Software is installed properly. If this is a new install ask your hard/software manufacturer for any WINS updates yo may need.
If problem continues, disable or remove any newly installed hard/software.
Technical Info: stop: 0x0000001a (0x00041284,0x07302000,0x000038b,0xc0503000)
beginning dump of physical memory,
physical memory dump complete,"

I tried over & over & I get the same error messages. Sometimes the 2nd error message (blue screen) shows up fast or later during setup. The shortest amount of time I went before the blue scrren appeared was with 19 mins left for WIN XP install to finish. I have never gotten past that.

Anyone know what can be causing this? Damn one thing after another, I tell ya.

[Agent]

Download memtest and give it a run, see if you get any errors.
You can grab it from memtest86.com, or see this post for a disk that has shed loads of system checking utilites on it
Its pre-OS, so you dont need to worry about not having windows installed.

[Zak33]

Agent knows.....do as he says. Memtest is a bootable floppy...think it runs in Linux, but you dont need to fret about it.

Unzip it to a floppy, and reboot with it in the floppy drive.

It will run a set of tests on your memory sticks...it has a small menu at the bottom if you want to reset tests or try them again etc.

If you have any memory issues with your chips, it will show them. If SO you need new ram...if not....come back

[tmskilz]

Agent knows.....do as he says. Memtest is a bootable floppy...think it runs in Linux, but you dont need to fret about it.

Unzip it to a floppy, and reboot with it in the floppy drive.

It will run a set of tests on your memory sticks...it has a small menu at the bottom if you want to reset tests or try them again etc.

If you have any memory issues with your chips, it will show them. If SO you need new ram...if not....come back

OK I DL & ran the memtest-86 v3.2. I actually went & DL the whole Ultimate Boot CD basic program, burned it onto a CD. Thanks Agent for the link & heads up.

So I run memtest & it ran test #0-8, I hit the C button (configuration) & selected option 4 (Error summary) & the following is what I got:

Note:This is my memory setup:
Settings: Ram : 200Mhz(DDR400) / CAS: 3-3-3-8 / Single Ch (64 Bits) ECC:disabled. I have 512MB PC3200,

test: 0 errors: 0
test: 1 errors: 0
test: 2 errors: 8316
test: 3 errors: 0
test: 4 errors: 0
test: 5 errors: 29894
test: 6 errors: 883
test: 7 errors: 463
test: 8 errors: 150
test: 9 errors: 0

What does this mean guys? Doesn't look good eh?

[Agent]

It goes without saying that its pretty much a certainty thats where the problem is.

What brand RAM do you have ? If its a generic, no name brand, it would be worth while to swap it out with some branded stuff to see if thats the issue. If you cant do that, try it in another system.
Also, back off on your memory timings, even if they are rated for the ones you have chosen, it'll help eliminate somthing else.

Also check for newer BIOS's from the mobo's page. Newer ones often solve problems.

How are your voltages ? Check to see if the CPU or RAM is being undervolted. Even if it doesnt appear to be in the BIOS, try upping the voltage to them a little bit (small amounts wont hurt them) and see if it helps. If you get less errors, you know your on the right track.
Also, Is the PSU upto the job ? (often related the the above)

They are, generaly speaking, the most common things. Check as many as you can, one by one, untill hopfully you find out which ones causing it.
If your still at a loss, come back and we'll throw some more at you

[tmskilz]

Hey Agent & guys,

Good news!

I tried WIN XP installl again, inserted the new SATA Drivers that I got off the VIA website & bam!!!!!!!! Win XP installed without a hitch! No error messages @ all.

I just booted up & am @ the Win XP welcome screen, logged in thru Admin account & now the Win XP animated tutorial is playing.

Things seem kool thus far!

I'll be back later after tweaking/customizing with it.

One thing though, my Seagate Barracuda 120GB HD only shows up as 111GB. Is this normal?

[RDevz]

It is correct: Disk manufacturers interpret 1 Gigabyte as 1,000,000,000 bytes, in accordance with the SI system of prefixes. Operating systems interpret 1 Gigabyte as 2^30=1,073,741,824 bytes, for historical reasons, and because it makes sense when using binary.

120,000,000,000 = 111.758 * 2^30, so Windows will think that your drive has a capacity of 111.76GB. Which is does, by the latter definition.

This problem is alleviated somewhat by referring to the latter as GiB as opposed to GB (Giga-binary, or something) as championed by the SI people. Hardly anybody uses it, though.

[Agent]

Glad to see its working now, but i would *really* get those memory errors checked out

[tmskilz]

Glad to see its working now, but i would *really* get those memory errors checked out

Back guys.

Well today I calle dout from work, so that I could stay home tweaking/testing out my fresh install of XP.

I started install hardware driver updates for my Graphics card, NEC DVD Burner, etc..some went thru without a hitch, but others gave me problems.

Then I enabled my intregrated (AC 97) audio & NIC(REALTEK 10/100/1000)
connected to the internet. Audio works fine, but I got mixed results with IE.
I would receive numerous error messages about IE not responding & having to be shut down, then @ times it would cause the blue screen of death to appear.

WIN MEDIA PLAYER WOULD WORK THE 1ST COUPLE MINS THEN ERRROR MESSAGES LIKE ie WOULD APPEAR & SOMETIMES CAUSE THE BLUE SCREEN TO APPEAR, REBOOTED EVERYTIME.

I tried installing NVidia's latest drivers for my video card, but then I get the error win saying the drivers are not verified by MS & haven't passed MS Logo verification crap.

To me the install of XP is too unstable to continue thru, so I am in the process of doing a brand new install all over again.

I'm hoping maybe it was just a bad install with the previous one, this time I hope I don't receive those same problems again.

Pray for me guys.

Agent, I definitely am looking into the memory. i called up Crucial Tech tech support & asked them some questions.

The memory I have installed on my PC (came with the barebone PC) is....
Manufacturer: Elixir
Model #: M2U51264DS8HB3G-5T
Unbuffered PC3200 512MB DDR400 CL3 unregistered

The crucial tech rep recommended I get Registered memory whenever I decide to upgrade. Agent you seem to know about memory, is the memory installed on my PC decent, avg, below avg, good, etc...?

I definitely plan to upgrade it, but searching the net, the prices for 1GB are off the hizzy fo shizzy my nizzy!

My mobo BIOSTAR K8NHA PRO supports up to 2 DDR devices & 200/266/333/400 MHZ with ECC DDR devices, Max memory size is 2GB.

Any recommendations guys?

Thanks in a dvance.

[tmskilz]

Hi guys,

I can't believe this crap man.

After I finally got Win XP to fully install late last night, I started to install drivers & D/L MS WIN XP security updates.

I tried some programs but some were giving me error problems. After about 2 hours, I decided to try a brand new install of XP again, b/c my PC was too unstable. Win media Player would mess up after a 1 min of playing files, IE would lock up, other programs would give me me problems.

Well the SATA drivers went through, but then Win XP started giving error messages. Sometimes, I get the blue screen of death with text on it, or the Win XP install will just freeze up, with only a few mins left to finish.

I've tried formats/installs over & over, I don't get this man!

Is it my damn copy of Win XP or is it my PC hardware setup?

I'm discouraged, this is unreal. I'm open for any suggestions. I am thinking of updating my BIOS, but when i go to BIOSTAR's website & try to D/L the file, it doesn't D/L. Help please.

The BIOS Model in my PC: NHA0319 BS PRO, but it's outdated. I need the following BIOS file to update: NHA0713.BSP.

Please help guys,
:erm: :huh: :blink: :angry: :blank: :blushing:

[tmskilz]

with 16 mins left until Win XP completion I got the blue screen again, this time it said something about....

CDFS_FILE_SYSTEM

[RDevz]

If you're getting that many BSODs, and memtest is giving errors, then there's something wrong with your hardware. There are several things that can cause it, but there's going to be something wrong with one of the following: RAM, CPU, Motherboard.

Much as I hate to suggest shotgun debugging, if at all possible, it's almost certainly time to start swapping the individual components out with known good ones. I don't have any experience with BIOSTAR motherboards, but I would start with the RAM, as it's most likely to be that which is crapping out. What brand is it, or is it generic?

[tmskilz]

If you're getting that many BSODs, and memtest is giving errors, then there's something wrong with your hardware. There are several things that can cause it, but there's going to be something wrong with one of the following: RAM, CPU, Motherboard.

Much as I hate to suggest shotgun debugging, if at all possible, it's almost certainly time to start swapping the individual components out with known good ones. I don't have any experience with BIOSTAR motherboards, but I would start with the RAM, as it's most likely to be that which is crapping out. What brand is it, or is it generic?

Hey RDevz,

Here's the memory that came with my barebones system.

Manu: Elixir
Model #:M2U51264DS8HB3G-5T
PC3200 DDR400 512MB CL 3 CAS:3-3-3-8


It's a lost cause, I can't get it to work anymore.


Everytime I get to the 2nd part of WIN XP setup ( 35 mins shown on the bottom corner with green status bar moving) & the install starts, I keep getting this blue screen error:


"A problem has been detected & WIN has been shutdown to to prevent damage & protect your PC.

PFN_LIST_CORRUPT
or
CDFS_FILE_SYSTEM
or
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
or
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Check to make sure any hard/software is properly installed. Ask manufacturer for new WIN updates you may need. If problem continues, disable/unistall any Anti-Virus, Disk defrag or backup utilities, check HD configuration & check for updates. Run CHKDSK /F to check HD corruption."

These error messages pop up individually @ different moments & force me to restart. :angry: :huh:

I'm truly @ a loss, I had this PC up & running late Wed night, the issue before was the SATA Drivers I was 1st using from off the CD driver that came with the Mobo were outdated & causing the error messages before, once I D/L & installed the more recent ly updated SATA drivers the install went smooth, but that was just one time. That was Wed night, but as I mentioned before, certain programs weren't operating properly (ie; Win Media Player, IE), so I figure I try a new clean install, well now I'm back to Sq one.

I am going to make a couple tech calls to some PC techs near by, if anything I'll just be forced to take the PC & drop it off with one of them & hope they can fix the problem. It's going to cost me, but what other choice do I have?

I even tried using a Samsung SATA 80 GB HD I have laying around the crib & I still run into the same problem/error messages. Maybe something in my PC isn't connected properly? I doubt it. I've double checked over & over.

Whoa is me! :erm: