Abit KT7A-RAID + PCI sound card problems

[ap0calyps]

Hi,

Is per title, I'm having problems with this mobo and PCI sound cards. I KNOW the problem is not the different sound cards I have tried. I have tried a SBLive! Value, an Aureal Vortex 2, and a few cheapos based on different SPUs.

My right channel cuts in and out, crackles and pops. I know it's not the stereo. It's my computer FOR SURE. Normally I OC my Duron 600Mhz to 1125Mhz (150FSBx7.5) and my RAM at 150Mhz CAS2, so I tried backing everything off to stock. I tried a different CPU, different RAM, tried switching to the HP370 RAID, tried EVERYTHING in the FAQs at VIA Hardware. I have tried enabling and disabling HLT and numerous other register hacks. I'm starting to think the mobo is defective.

If ANYONE can help me it would really be appreciated. I'm getting fed up with this ****. The mobo is perfect other than this and I would hate to give it up.

 

[ap0calyps]

nobody?!?!?!??!!

 

[Gus]

Well! Sounds like BIOS upgrade! Latest BIOS? Tried different slots? Plug headphones into your soundcard out jack and see if its still there. Maybe the cable.

Just shots in the dark!
Hope it helps!

 

[ap0calyps]

Using the newest BIOS, tried older ones. Tried different slots, tried plugging different sets of headphones right into the card. Same thing. Any more ideas??

 

[AZZKICKER]

turn your PCI caching to ENABLED in the bios

 

[dozier768]

irq sharing? 686 southbridge bug? ??? one of these may be the culprit

 

[ap0calyps]

PCI master read caching is enabled in the BIOS. No IRQs are being shared with the sound card. I have done everything that can be done to eliminate the 686B bug. I can transfer large files from drive to drive etc. plus I'm not using a Live! card.

Really appreciate guys. Any more???

 

[Gus]

Uhhh! Sounds like RMA territory!

Pardon the Pun!

 

[ap0calyps]

You think so??? I have tried everything else, and nobody on any forums can think of anything else that could be causing this problem.

Thanks for your help.

 

[V@no]

Have u tryed reinstall whole system? reformat HD and start from beginnig?
and install first VIA drivers, and next your soundcard?

 

[JEFF]

as a last resort, try putting plastic or paper washers between retaining studs.kinda sounds like a short on the mobo.check for tiny screwthreads hanging out or matalic dust on backside.

 

[Muso]

Well... I too have an the exact same raid board and have experienced NUMEROUS stability problems but I think I have locked them down for now.
First off...two words...sb emulation. From all that I have went through and read, this particular mb DOES NOT like it when you mix it with a SB sound card. However, some people get away with it forever...I guess its one of those 'batch specific' type problems. Anywho...go into the device manager and disable it. I believe the mb has been through a couple of bios updates and the last time I checked it was KT73C but I am running KT7ZT. I had many...many, did I say MANY?...so many I lost track, problems with getting this board to even boot. Every time it would boot to desktop,load all the taskbar icons and when that last icon loaded that was when you knew if it was going to run or not. I would wiggle that mouse around but that damn pointer would just sit there. LOCKED! CRUD! Any way after a half million bios settings and a couple of thousand emails to all my 'good friends'(thats what you call them when you need their expertise) I have come to a great, stable running state. My sound card is in pci slot 4 and I have my ethernet in #3. Like I said I disabled sb16 emulation in the device manager(SB cards...dunno bout other cards having this option). The very last thing I done was upped my vcore to 1.80 and that seemed to help it tremendously. You have to watch the heat issue but its worth a try. I asked a friend what that done because I was just taking shots in the dark and he said sometimes upping it helps the system run a little more stable. Now all my problems came from ANY change I made to my setup. I got it running and had just about everything in bios disabled and still anything extra I added to it, the darn thing would lock up. Another HD,an optical mouse, anything. I upped my vcore and now I have all bios settings(atleast for the peripherals) enabled, my opty mouse, scanner,printer,everything hooked up and for the last month havent had one lock up(.me says with crossed fingers.) and I used to get ATLEAST one a day on the average. Well I hope this helps instead of being a bunch os useless jibberish and if not I wish you the best of luck in getting it straightened out. Comp problems suck when you cant figure them out, of course they wouldnt be considered problems if they never occured right? **Muso exits stage left still babbling about something or another...**

 

[ap0calyps]

Tried multiple OSes (98SE/ME/2K pro/XP) and problems occur under ALL of them. The problem is not with the SBLive! card only, but ALL sound cards I have tried. I switched to an inwin q500 full tower case, and the mobo is insulated from the case. The problem is hardware related. I think my mobo is defective. Should I try and return it to the store I purchased it at (there ******** and tehre techs are retarded and proly unable to reproduce problem) or return it to Abit?? THing is I don't have a replacement or money to buy one.