system starting in safe mode

[kcins]

I thought this would be the best place to ask this question.

I recently got an AN35 Shuttle mobo. AthlonXP 2700. I had it set to "Aggressive" in the BIOS. I only had 1 stick of Muskin 256MB DDR 3200. Today, I got another stick of the same stuff. The RAM works good, except in the BIOS, I have no choise but to leave the setting to "Optimal". If I try to change it to Turbo, or Aggressive, it gives me the message:

system starting in safe mode - re-seat your CPU or check your memory timings.

What gives? It worked fine when I had only 1 stick...

I'll hit F1 to continue with the settings (Turbo, or Aggressive), and the system will work fine. When I restart again though, it goes right into safe mode. <grumble...>

Any ideas or assistance would be great! Thanks!

 

[DreamingWolf]

I would start in one of two places in the bios. I would check whether the "Halt on..." was set to 'all errors' (is so change to video only or none) or I would go to the section on memory timings and tweak them one by one to see if you can determine which one is causing the problem.

Aggressive is only a bunch of presets, you can still go in and tweak individual settings after setting things to agressive. At least you can on every mobo I've had (though on my current gygabyte i have to set it to manual for some reason )

Hope this helps

DWolf

 

[kcins]

Yep, that supressed the safe-mode booting. Thanks!
Funny though, seems "Optimal" settings are quicker then Turbo or Aggressive. Whenever I switch to one of them, it drops the Memory to 200, rather then the prefered 400. <shrugs>

 

[ShaRen]

Ok, I had the same problem as he did earlier. I set it to halt on nothing. This works fine, it lets the system boot up, but with the lowest possible setting on FSB and the Multiplyer. I was actually able to let windows load, then reboot, and it would read the settings correctly. This only worked though for the first 2Mhz of upping the FSB. Any ideas?

 

[Balrog]

You can try selecting Load Optimized Defaults saving & rebooting then change memory to Expert, Aggressive, 100%, Expert 11-3-3-2.5 timings, Auto VDimm or forgo the L.O.D. & go straight to those settings. Once the board & your RAM have burnt in a bit you should be able to run 11-2-2-2 timings with no issues.

Regards, Balrog

 

[ShaRen]

RAM is saposed to be able to run at 2-3-3-6. Voltage for the ram is at 2.7, max for this board. Ive had this board for about 2 months now. had a 2400+ desktop that was locked in it before the 2500+ mobile. I have had the ram for about 4 weeks now too. Should I still try what you said to?

 

[ShaRen]

Ok, tried what you said, no luck. Any other ideas?

 

[Balrog]

Try running single channel using slots 1 & 2 - I found I could acheive a 15FSB higher OC doing this over running dual channel.

I've heard that some Mobiles just don't like to work in the AN35N, you might want to throw your 2400+ back in until this is resolved.

What multi & FSB are you trying to run the Mobile at?

Regards, Balrog

 

[ShaRen]

The 2400 was running slower than this 2500. It ran across the same problems, onlly it wouldnt go over 2.25Ghz(I think it was that, somewhere around there). I discovered I can use the Nvidia System Utility program in windows to raise the FSB. Is there any performance loss from taking it out of dual channel?

 

[Balrog]

A small amount of performance loss but if you gain stability then thats more important IMHO The tests I ran showed that if you can run ~5FSB higher in single channel then you can equal the performance of dual channel when running over a 200FSB.

Whats the specs amps\rail & outputs of your Raidmax PSU?

Regards, Balrog

 

[ShaRen]

Ok I will try that. I upped my settings to 211x12. Will now try taking it out of dual channel. Will a higher FSB cause the temps to rise?

 

[Balrog]

Raising your FSB will raise temperatures if you leave the multi where it is, if you are worried about temps then drop it to 10 or 11 as XMS memory should be running 220FSB minimum w\ good timings. Try 11-3-3-2.5 memory 220FSB & 10multi.

If you have a Raidmax PSU it could be part or all of the problem.

Regards, Balrog

 

[ShaRen]

Ya know, now that I think about it, it might be the PSU. I moved the ram out of dual channel, still no change. Im going to run Prime95 real fast and see how hot it gets at 213X12. Probably gonna lower it down to 210X12. What PSU replacement would you recommend?

//Edit//

Ok checked the voltages in the BIOS. (they were fluctuating slightly)
3.3 is at 3.39 to 3.37
+5 is at 5.16 to 5.13
+12 is at 11.9 to 11.96
-12 is at 12.44 to 12.85

how do these sound?

 

[Balrog]

Those look OK but check them while you're running Prime, give it 5 or 10 minutes to get going & then look at readings. I usually keep both Prime & MBM5 or Speedfan on the screen at the same time to watch the results.

How many amps on your 12V rail? Its printed on the sticker on the side of the PSU.

What are the rest of your BIOS settings?

Have you read www.rojakpot.com BIOS Optimization Guide yet? If not its worth a few minutes as you'll pick up lots of tweaks & good advice quickly.

Regards, Balrog

 

[ShaRen]

13A on the 12V rail. I am thinking I will go ahead and get maybe an Antec PSU. I noticed with this one, if you move the cables around some, sometimes power doesnt get through them.

 

[Balrog]

Get rid of that PSU ASAP!!! If you move cables & it causes power outages then something is shorting & could easily fry your entire rig. Also 13amps on the 12V is not sufficient for that set-up IMHO. Antec, Fortron\Sparkle or TTGI\Superflower are all good & have internal pots for tweaking your rails if required. 350watt is sufficient but if you can swing the $ get a 400watt & make sure it has SATA power connectors as its just a matter of time & you'll be kicking yourself in a year for not having them if you don't.

I happen to like the Fotron\Sparkle PN series which have a single 120mm fan, are strong & stable & have the adjustment pots. Some can be had with 120MM LED fans if you want something fancy.

Heres a review I caught regarding one of them.
http://www.gurureview.co.uk/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=275

Don't move anymore of those cables until you get your new PSU!

Regards, Balrog

 

[ShaRen]

Ok, will be getting a new PSU soon. Thanks for the suggestions and the help with this.

 

[Balrog]

No problem, you might want to read this short guide which will help you see the power demands of the different components & help with determining your rigs requirements .

http://firingsquad.com/guides/power_supply/

Regards, Balrog

 

[ShaRen]

Wow, that info was extremely helpfully in that link. The 12V rail is too low. Looking for a slightly high setting for if I was overclocking, the 12V rail needs to be 18.45A. Looks like the next thing I buy for this PC is a PSU. Thanks again for all of your help.

 

[Balrog]

Cool! Glad it was of help.

Thats why I like the Fortron\Sparkles as they have internal pots for tweaking your rails to help balance your rigs requirements. Technically this voids the warranty but I don't know of anyone thats received a PSU with the "Do not Remove" label & besides the tweaks are only minor & really shouldn't harm anything. This mod is potentially very dangerous though & should only be attempted by someone who knows exactly what they're doing. The TTGI\Superflowers also have a couple of pots, the new Antecs do not.

Regards, Balrog