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p4p800 question about endless loop install (interesting)

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bardos

Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2002
Location
Haiku, Maui
Hi all,
I'm working on a p4p800 deluxe and I'm involved in the strangest loop... i am trying to install winxp and i have set in the bios the boot order cd-rom, hd, floppy... something I've done thousands of times. It does boot from the cd-rom and begins to load windows... but it does not ask my permission to boot from the cd-rom drive, as it usually does with other motherboards.

The reason I mention this is that after the first stage of install is over and it is ready to begin the second phase which begins with 39 minutes, it doesn't get to that screen because it doesn't really reboot. It reboots once again to the beginning of the cd-rom install process and it starts over again... Remember there is no message that says, "press any key to boot from cd-rom drive"; it just goes ahead and loads the cd-rom drive.

So after it did this once, I went back to the bios and changed the boot order to normal: A, C, cd-rom. but the same behaviour continues... endless install process.

Any one have any ideas?

I have swapped out cd-roms, changed BIOS from 1006 to 1014 to 1009, all to no avail. I have changed cd-rom cables as well.
 
new endless loop:

i sorted out the previous loop by formatting the hard drive, something that I couldn't do with partition magic. I did it with the windows install process by choosing a new install.

However now i'm in the endless loop of BIOS checksum error and it finds the CD and reflashes and then reboots and it's a bad BIOS checksum again and again ad finitum.
 
not overclocked at all. i have given up on the board. It now presents just a blank screen.
 
Old thread resurecting but I'm having the EXACT same problem with the exact board for one of my older PC.

Anyone know why?
 
OP here. first of all, let me commend you on a diligent search to find this thread. I had to RMA this mobo. that's what I did. I RMA'd it to Asus Holland as I live in Europe. The staff there were very kind and understanding and did me several solid favors. The board was obviously screwed.

If you can RMA the board, I suggest you do that, unless someone has come up with a fix in the meantime.

as you can see by my sig, I am still using the mobo that they sent back to me.
 
I can't RMA it since it's been so long.

Tried diff vid card = same problem.

Now it's down to PSU, HDD, or MB. :( Do I have to go swapping them out each to test?
 
I repair computers, among other trades that I practise. In my experience, the best way to ascertain hardware culpability is by swapping out, yes.
 
There many things in to the game.

1) The CD rom device is not that compatible ?

2) The Bios has special setting of what is the primary CD rom drive, if there are two ? Plus there is another setting for first boot device ?

3) set all DDR settings to auto ?

4) Is that boot CD .. really bootable ?

Try all this first ..
 
I fix it guys. It's the damn BIOS. it's soooo outdated though the drivers CD is specified for XP. It's so misleading, thinking that the BIOS is XP ready :doh:

Over, thanks guy for the help. I used the 1019 BIOS.
 
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