Very Odd Problems......

[NO LIFE]

I just got an Asus A7V333 (non-raid) mobo, and athlon xp 1900 (unlocked) from another person on these forums. I hooked up all the stuff turned it and it went straight to the bios. I looked things over and noticed the cpu voltage monitor was saying the vcore was at 2.12 volts!! I checked what the bios was set to and it said it should be at 1.75 volts, so i decided to exit the bios and try to install windows. I exited the bios, then the monitor suddenly got filled with snow flakes (like you get on a tv) only with more color. It the said on the monitor "INVALID SYNC" and went black, and it stays that way. So first I shut it down and went into the bios again and set everything all to default, I also set all the jumps right including the voltage jumpers to free. Same thing. I then tried a new PSU.....same thing. Tried new vid card....same thing. Then I reset the cmos....same thing. Each time it also claimed the vcore was running at 2.12 volt yet it was set in the bios for 1.75. When I set the jumpers to 1.75 the voltage went down to 2.00, but that was it. I also noticed the floppy drive had its busy light on and it didnt go off. All to connections are right too. I looked it over a million times.

I have no clue WTF is going on. Anyone please help me.:(

Thanks a bunch in advance!:D

[FunkDaMonkMan]

does the mobo have any physical signs of a voltage mod?

The previous owner may have hardwired the mobo to run at 2.1 volts.

[NO LIFE]

No not at all. He said it was stock and it looks that way. The unocking lines may have been smudged during shipping he said. So i will try that. I also want to not it never said anything completeing the POST. It just goes into the bio and says "cpu voltage out of range".

And I think iwas losing my mind last night because I didnt try another video card. I did just a few minutes ago, and I can either go into the bios where it says like always "cpu voltage out of range", or if I try to go past the bios it displays a message on the screen saying "Hardware Monitoring Error". The I get the c: promt but I cant do anything with it because its says bad command no matter what I type.

[Silversinksam]

I looked up the listing and the seller made this statement:





Guaranteed to not arrive DOA otherwise I will return your money.


You may want to notify this seller asap

[NO LIFE]

I have contacted him. Its not DOA. But it is having some problems that are tough to crack. Your a moderator and have probably been around computers for a while. Have any ideas?

[Codeman05]

What do your temps look like in the bios?? At 2.1 volts & air they should be pretty high. Just wondering if the bios is misreading the voltages, or if the chip is actually getting 2.1 volts.
Also, have you cleaned the bridges? If so, did that make any difference?

[NO LIFE]

The temps are around 47c. Thats with an antec cheap hs...but I did put a very beefy fan on it. I think its reading right because those temps are pretty high for just messing around in the bios. I cleaned the bridges that were smeared but left the other ones alone.

....new development....
I let it go through the mem check (took about 3 minutes) then it loaded some things and the message "Hardware Monitor Found Error"....f1 to continue del to enter setup. I hit f1 and it then said "Power on Self-test completed, attempting to load operating system", and then froze. However this is with a freshly formated HD. Sometimes it will do all that then instead of freezeing have a message that says "Microsoft Windows 98, Copryright...blah blah blah" and a c: promt after that. But whatever I enter into it I get the bad command file message. BTW this only happens with my G2....it goes through the mem check and straight to the bios with my G3.

I dont get it.

[deathstar13]

make sure the cpu overvolt jumper is disabled and is located above above the cpu socket.pins 2-3 disable it.it isnt listed in the manual either.

this is exactly what its supposed to do.if its needed for more voltage on the cpu.

[NO LIFE]

!!!! O man i never even saw that. If it works im sendin you a Big Mac!!!!:D :eek:

[deathstar13]

hehee i like big macs :D

asus hides all the goodies.also there are vdimm adjustments also.right above the agp slot.if u wanna read up on it later for your use look in the asus mobo section and use the search function for vcore overvolt ,and vdimm overvolt for thier settings.

[Neville]

Yeah I'm the guy that sold the mobo & cpu, but it left my place in working condition. I have never done any volt mods or anything to that mobo. I had the cpu unlocked and i mentioned that it might be smudged. But from experience on my other A7V333 mobo it will consistenly say something about over volting cpu if the jumper near the cpu was changed. It was never overvolted when I used it.

-check that overvolt jumper
-there is another jumper near the led panel on the mobo called voltage regulator output limit. page 22 in manual. removing this jumper will also cause that message to appear (i think)
-clear cmos aswell
-try stock standard auto settings for cpu and memory

if you dont come right pm me with your home number and I'll call you this evening

Neville

[Neville]

You also gotta change the drive settings in cmos, remember its still configured for my old drive and memory etc.

[deathstar13]

hello neville. its not mine but still sounds like a solid mobo.
id suggest just clearing the cmos so all bios stuff goes back to defaults.
also no life said gone threw the jumpers.that particuler jumper is set as disababled by defualt.and since its not listed in the manual i would think it should be enabled also.gotta guess since its not listed.

just one of those get the bugs out things :D

[Neville]

I just moved the jumper near the cpu on my mobo and it does displays that error message NO LIFE mentioned. Returning it back to its original place removed the warning message. Its possble that the jumper might have come loose when i removed the mobo from my case. Is that jumper there ? and jumpered to the far right of the 3 pins ?

Let me know how its goes NO LIFE.......i tried to get on earlier but kept on getting "server is too busy" message.


Thanks for assisting Deathstar, much appreciated. :)


Neville

[NO LIFE]

Yea thing are looking good but my HD might be th problem. Im trying to clear it up and I will keep you guys informed on what happens.

[NO LIFE]

Ok i was able to load the 98 startup disk so thats a really good sign. Once the HD is formatted I will try to install windows. Im keeping my fingers crossed!!!:)

[Neville]

So was the jumper moved or not there ? DId you also do an "auto" on your drives in cmos ? Let me know what you did to correct things.

Neville

[NO LIFE]

The voltage regulator was set at limted so I just left it. The overvolt jumper was set for enabled so I disabled it. That brought the volts down, however they are still a little high around 1.79-1.82 no matter what I set it for in the bios. But a voltage of 1.82 doesnt worry me at all since my new cooler will be here in a few days (plus the temps are around 40c which is not bad at all. I was having some problems with getting the Win98 CD to load so I could install my OS...I just talked to a computer friend at school today and he told me to change the boot sequence from Floppy, HD, CD-ROM to Floppy, CD-ROM, HD so it would run the CD instead of looking for my OS on the HD (since it isnt there). I will be getting home in about 1 1/2 hours and when I try the new boot sequence I will let you know if it works. Its funny...the only reason I bought a whole new mobo and cpu is beacause I wanted to newtowrk two comps at home and play BF 1942 with a friend in a mini LAN...I have now had to buy a new PSU, case, and HD. O well:rolleyes:

-JP

[Neville]

Thats odd cause i never run or use the overvolt jumper so I dont know how it got set like that. Like i said i had it running fine for 2 months stock standard. yes you have to look at boot orders and checking that it detects the right LBA or geometries for your drive.

[deathstar13]

that overvolt u talking about is asus's fault.
+.3 vcore is automatic on this mobo.dumb i know but never hurts.

just disable the hd in the boot sequence and then when windows restarts in the install just enable it again.ive had to use a floppy boot disk before on mine for some reason.good luck NL

and i like helping so its just another good deed this week 4 me :D

[NO LIFE]

Is there a way other than using the boot disk to format? For some reason I dont think it is getting every little win98 file because the mobo and HD both think its still there....however there is only like a few thousands bytes left. Its not wiping EVERYTHING. I need the drive to be so clean its nearly new...

Maybe I will ask my friends dad...his works at LHM, they can probably do somethin (it takes some powerful stuff to remove top secret data off HD's....). :D :D :eek:

[deathstar13]

format? yes
u do need a windows boot disk tho.
just pop it in and let it load
when i finally gives u the A:\ prompt
enter this A:\format c:
this will wipe the hdd clean.
A:\fdisk will let u partion and such.

but the foppy boot is needed to load this stuff.this way will posatively wipe the disk for u.

btw whoever made the hdd usually have a format tool at there site u can d/l and use does the same but sometimes is easier.

[Neville]

Check that your boot order is:

1. floppy
2. cdrom
3. hard drive

Then go to the 1st page in cmos ad do an auto seek of your hard disk. Make sure it detects it correctly. The box has unused ata/133 cables, use them. Check that if its the only drive then make it Cable Select and jumper accordingly otherwise mark it Master.

Install Sequence:
1. Either boot off floppy or use the Win98 SE cdrom. its bootable aswell.
2. Choose the boot and activate cdrom option,
3. then at the command prompt type in'cd\win98' and press enter.
4. Now type in 'format c: /s' and press enter.
5. Onceyou have done that do an XCOPY of the entire win98 directory onto your hard disk like 'xcopy win98\*.* c:\win98\*.* /s/v/e/h/r' and press enter
6. goto the c:\win98 directory and type in Setup and you away


Was your hard disk working before ?

Yes deathstar is correct, for some reason ASUS decided to up their voltages and that could be why their mobos are so stable and receve a lot of awards. Deathstar i also had a mobo that would not install WinXP unless I had a floppy drive installed - it never liked my ls120 - go figure

Give us some feedback on how far you go

[NO LIFE]

Attempting that now. The damn HD is just being as f'ing difficult as it can be. I may get a new one since this one is only 10gb. LOL then that would be 2 new HD's for this blasted machine.

[Neville]

Well does it at least report it correctly in cmos ?

[NO LIFE]

Ok now Im extremely ****ed off.:mad: :mad: I have reformatted/reparitioned the HD probably about 10 time between yesterday and now, yet the OS refuses to install. It finds some odd-ball error and each time I try after that the process gets stopped a little sooner, until I format again. It is recongnized correctly in the bios too. I have formated the drive with the boot disk and with the windows installed. I have tried putting the os in its seperate partion, no work. I switched the cables to the old ones...no work. I disabled the floppy while installing (it sometimes gives an odd floppy drive error)...no work. I have tweaked and messed in the bios. The only thing I havent tried is a new HD. But the annoying part is this HD will work fine in my old system. Maybe Gateway puts something on their HD's to screw you up when you try to add a new mobo and stuff. Maybe I will ask my friend to lend me a HD just to see if it will work.

This damn OS crap is getting on my nerves. :temper: :temper:

Heres one of the screwed up error messages:

"Application Error

SUWIN caused General Protection Fault in
module USER.EXE at 0001:B00B"

[ColtIce]

try going to simtel.net and download delpart.exe it gets EVERYTHING its also the only thing i know that gets rid of those pesky ntfs parts.

[Neville]

Go through the cmos one more time, where you not sure choose only the defaults. Do you have more than one ide device on your primary controller ? I know some older IDe drives will not function correctly if there is a differet type of drive on the cable. Whats the specs of the drive ? If its not ata/133 try to use a standard ide cable.

When posting, in the summary screen press pause and check that it detects everything correctly.

What specs is the old pc that your hard drive was working in ?

Try an borrow a friends h/drive if possible.

Also check that you have not pushed your memory settings too far, choose the SPD option if unsure.

There is an option about OS/2 memory > 64MB, make sure thats not enabled either.

It would be very helpful it you could jot down your cos settings for cpu, drives, memory, power/volts being used and we can take it from there. What size power supply do you have ? You know that AMD systems require at least 340watts ?

[NO LIFE]

ColtIce could you give me a link...I cant find the thing your talking about.

Neville I will try your stuff in a few hours once I try ColtIces's idea.

Thanks guys,
JP

[Neville]

Search on the web for Seagate and disk manager. Its pretty good. Otherwise email me and i will send you my personal copy of gdisk.exe. This is pretty good commandline tool from Norton Ghost. Just for the record I have never given my programs out but in this case since its just one exe and not the entire product and i'm trying to help No Life since i sold him the mobo & cpu.

[ColtIce]

http://www.simtel.net/

[1-Man-Army]

i had to format my new computers hard drive more then 20 times and patition it installing win 2k cause of sum funny error i had i dont no if its gone think it still there but w/e my computer works i dont care i dont wana format the drive again god pain in the butt!

[ColtIce]

did ya find delpart?it is dos.btw i just love simtel for dos stuff

[Neville]

I agree, give me a dos pc anyday. I loved tweaking every byte out of the UMB....... Long live TSRs

[Maximouse]

Originally posted by NO LIFE
I cleaned the bridges that were smeared but left the other ones alone.


I think that if you clean off even one bridge, then the rest of them have to be cleaned off as well. Maybe take the cpu out and clean it up with acetone or alcohol and a q tip in case some has gotten in to the pits.

[NO LIFE]

The site is really confusing and since "delpart" wont come up in the search at al it would take ages to look through everything they got. Could you give me the link to delpart.exe? Thanks

-JP

[Neville]

NO LIFE, how are things going now ? DId you find the problem yet ?

[NO LIFE]

I still waiting for coltice to put up the linke to delpart. I really think if I can completely wipe the HD it will allow me to install Win98.

About the PSU...I am using a 200watt, but I tried another 400watt PSU and it changed nothing.

COLTICE HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:p ;)

[NO LIFE]

The HD was in a Gateway P2 450...maybe thats the reason. Either way I am 99% sure it is the HD causing a problem. I just dont have an extra one to test my theory.:(

[ColtIce]

http://www.coxpc.com/delpart.zip
youll have to make a bootdisk.or you could check bootdisk.com they may have a bootdisk with it http://www.bootdisk.com/already on it

[Neville]

Thanks Coltice for assisting NO LIFE. does delpart almso remove all those linux and ntfs and hpfs partitions aswell ?

[ColtIce]

i dont know about linux as for the others i think so

[Neville]

gdisk (part of Norton Ghost) is pretty good for doing that kind of stuff and its commandline args are very powerful for automated distributions or setting up of any drive.

[NO LIFE]

Ok if delpart does not work then I guess I still have a few more options such as the gdisk neville is talking about.

I hope delpart does so I can finally play BF!!!!!!!!

PLEASE GOD LET THIS WORK!!!!!!!!:temper:

[1-Man-Army]

ok think i no ur problem brb i gtg to school post the rest damn it im gonna be late brb later

[1-Man-Army]

ok back i was lucky was not late any ways i think i figue out ur
problem i think it is because u did not set ur jumpers on the hdd at the back and plug it into primary on mobo too and that u did not set the hdd mode in the bios i think that might be why

[NO LIFE]

Well the HD was previously rig using a single drive. So it is already set as master through the jumpers (they are removed). It is plugged into the primary ide slot and it is set for auto in te bios. It is detected fine too.

Odd huh? :confused:

---also, delpart did not do the trick. I removed the partition fine then formatted....got an error during OS install. I then used delpart again and had windows itself format the drive instead of using a boot disk.....error message during OS install. Any more ideas??---

Thanks for everyones help!!

-JP

[Guero]

I would go to the HD manufacturers website and see if they have a utility to test the drive to see if it is error free. I did not see anyone mention that, so maybe it is worth a shot.

[Neville]

What are the specs of the drive ? ata/66 ? in the old pc did you have a single cable with only one attachment ? Try to use that cable aswell. Some WD drives need to be set as Cable Select to operate on single attached ata cables.