New Build/XP Load Issue-- Problems

[DHC120]

Allow me to introduce myself... My name is Charles (never felt the need to be called anything else), I am NOT a "Gamer" (I am a former Pro Motorcycle racer, tho.. but that was probably before most of y'all were born ;-} ) I'm just a "computer user".. not a "geek", but a mechanic who decided to build his own "box"..
I bought my first (off the shelf) computer in '99, the three I've had since were "semi-custom builds" by a Computer Guru friend of mine (I fixed his car, he fixes my computers).. these units were aptly named "Frankenbox", "Frankenbox II" and "Frankenbox III" as they were initially built with mostly used parts with a couple of new "goodies" added along the way.. The last two iterations were in a larger ATX case..
The current build (or rebuild) is going to be called "The Beast" and reuses the ATX case, CD Burner, Floppy and Zip 100 drives (don't laugh!! I like both my 100MB & 250MB Zip Drives!).
Other than that, everything else has been replaced..

The ADX Case has the following Bay set-up:

Three External 5.25", Two External 3.5", One Internal 3.5" configured as follows:

CD Drive (5.25" External).
Fan Controller (5.25" External).
Floppy (5.25" to 3.5" adapter w/Face Plate... External).
Zip 100 (3.5" External).
HDD w/Cooler Attached, Cooler on bottom to allow unblocked access to air movement (3.5" External w/Blanking Plate for top "half", 3.5" Internal for bottom "half").

The "Bits & Pieces" installed are:

Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual Core, Toledo. used.
ABIT AX8 Ver 1.0 Has Built-In LAN port, Sound "card", four USB slots with an optional two more fitted to an Expansion Slot. (NIB, believe it or not).
ANTEK 430 Watt TruePower 2.0 ATX12V V2.0 (NIB).
XFX NVIDIA GeForce 7300GS Turbo Cache 512MB (128MB on-board) (NIB).
Tornado 92mm 4800rpm, 110cfm Front Case Fan (NIB).
Tornado 80mm 5800rpm, 81.5cfm Rear Case Fan (NIB).
MASSCOOL Mod # 4ED1 HDD Heatsink and twin 60mm Fans (NIB).
All three Fans are Individually Connected to:
VANTEK Fan & Light Controller Mod # NXP-301 (NIB). Ain't them lights cute.. built-in "Shop Lights" when one needs to work on the computer!!
Hitachi 250GB Deskstar HDD (used but reformatted).
RAM is Four One Gig Sticks of G.Skill F1-3200PHU2-2GBNS DDR400, Non-ECC (NIB as Pairs).
and, finally, a brand-damn-new, never before opened, still sealed, legal CD of Windows XP-Professional SP1 (I have SP1a Installer and SP2 on CD's, ready to update if XP Pro can ever be installed!).

Using two new and one recycled IDE Straps, the Connections are as follows:

IDE1 to HDD (Master) & CD-ROM (Slave, but First Boot in BIOS) [Used Cable].
IDE2 to Zip (Slave) [New Cable]
FDC1 to Floppy. [New Cable].
The "choice" of cable use was dictated by length and placement of drives.
The MoBo (Factory/Default) Jumper Settings are: USB PWR 1 & 2 are Enabled, PS2-PWR1 is Disabled. CMOS is, of course, "Normal" on the #1 & #2 pins. CMOS was "cleared" before power was put to the MoBo.
(In y'all's opinion, have I got these drives connected correctly?? (I know the Floppy is correct ;-} ). Help accepted and appreciated.

Okay, now the "dumass" questions..
I'm assuming I need to change the PS2 Jumper (on the MoBo) to "Enabled", given I have both PS2 Mouse & Keyboard (but don't know for sure, but they both worked in BIOS Set-Up, which was really nothing more than going thru and confirming Factory Default Settings (I'm not an Overclocker, either-- Yeah, I know, why build a system like this? Will explain, later). I did, however, go back into the BIOS and "disabled" all the drives except the CD & HDD on my fourth or seventh ;-} attempt to install XP Pro..
What appears to be happening is, at some random point during the install process, "something" just "locks up".. the "download indicators" (streaming dots at lower right of screen) stop and both Keyboard & Mouse functions cease (I thought the PS2-PWR Jumper on the MoBo might be the cause, but I understand that to be a "Wake" issue.. Am I wrong?)
Additionally, I have to "Boot from CD" (understandable), it downloads all these files then asks if I want to partition the HDD.. No, I don't! but to install XP in this manner, I must either partition or reformat the HDD.. Fine, I okay the reformat.. two hours later, it starts reloading the same files it loaded before the reformat.. Okay, we know Windows is a crappy O/S and does stupid things. Once it's finished with the install, it tells me to "Remove the floppy from the drive, if installed" (okay, no floppy in drive, idiot!) then to restart computer. If I remove the 'XP Install' CD and try to restart, I get a prompt to reinstall the CD with SP1. So, I either leave the CD in, or replace the CD into the drive and restart the computer.. it goes to the "Boot from CD page" and starts the whole damn routine all over again!! (the CD/Computer will continue this "loop" if left alone!!)
If I "Cancel" the "second Installation process", remove the CD after it's restarted, then do another restart, it opens in Windows XP but asks for the "CD with SP1".. I reinsert the CD and it starts loading all sorts of files.. It's during this process that whatever is locking up, locks up.. It doesn't seem to be happening at the "same time" (I didn't note what files were loading), but time gets difficult to judge when one has gone thru this process for over eight hours!!
Any and all bits, bytes and pieces of wisdom, information, and random hundred dollar bills gratefully accepted..

Now to explain "why" I'm building (built?) a "gamers" computer, albeit an out-of-date one.. All I'm after is a computer that is reasonably fast, can handle high meg photos without going ballistic and can actually do two things at once.. like running an AV Scan and still being able to check e-mails or surf the web without having to wait five minutes for the RAM to send the signal to the processor (or vice versa).. at least that's my (simple) understanding of how the "Dual Core" technology is suppose to work.. or do I have that wrong, as well?? And, I wanted a Hard-Drive that Bill Gates wouldn't be able to fill-up in a couple of years with his incessant "updates" that are probably the biggest reason computers start slowing down to begin with!

Looking forward to y'all's advice and help..
Thanks.
Charles.

[whubbard]

I was a bit overwhelmed by the post, but I'll give it a shot.

I would suggest that you remove all components but the optical drive, motherboard, one stick of ram, videocard, hdd, processor, keyboard, and mouse.

Give it a shot with just the bare parts. If it works, great, now slowly (one by one) add and install the other parts.

If it doesn't...should be easier to troubleshoot.

[DHC120]

[QUOTE=whubbard]I was a bit overwhelmed by the post, but I'll give it a shot.

I would suggest that you remove all components but the optical drive, motherboard, one stick of ram, videocard, hdd, processor, keyboard, and mouse.

Give it a shot with just the bare parts. QUOTE]

I appreciate the reply..
From what I read in other posts. you guys want "details" of the build to aid in answering the question.. I guess I told more than anybody wanted to know..

After I posted my version of "War and Peace", I did read where it was suggested to strip the unit down to "bare bones" and I did that.. In addition to getting POST codes that aren't listed, it would not only not Boot from the CD, it didn't even recognize the CD... and I got a cute little message of:
"CPU unworkable or has been changed. (it hasn't been moved!)
Please check. (how does one "check" a CPU if the thing won't "connect"?)
CPU Soft Menu" (I've got a "soft hammer" I'll use to "adjust" it!!)
At that point I almost took the computer upstairs... so I could throw it out the second story window!! (and I still may!!)
Is there a "Classifieds" section on this site?? I'll probably be listing some "New, Installed but Unused" parts for sale...
Thanks, again, for being the only brave soul to reply..
Charles.

[minsonngo]

What is a short summary of the problem? The original post is really hard to comprehend and I think more people will be able to reply if you get to the point. Its just a suggestion though.



Have you tried clearing the CMOS via the jumpers on the motherboard or pulling out the CMOS battery for 5 to 10 minutes with the PSU unplugged from the outlet?

Have you tested each stick of memory by leaving only one installed at a time?


Your 430 watt PSU may be overloaded with everything you have hooked up to your system also. Try this: Having problems with a new build? Try this.

[DHC120]

Originally Posted by minsonngo What is a short summary of the problem? The original post is really hard to comprehend and I think more people will be able to reply if you get to the point. Its just a suggestion though. Have you tried clearing the CMOS via the jumpers on the motherboard or pulling out the CMOS battery for 5 to 10 minutes with the PSU unplugged from the outlet? Have you tested each stick of memory by leaving only one installed at a time? Your 430 watt PSU may be overloaded with everything you have hooked up to your system also. Try this: Having problems with a new build? Try this.

Yup..
According to my math, the 430 watt should handle everything.. I had more stuff (dual hard drives, etc. in the "old" computer on a 350Watt cheap-o "JustPC(USA)Inc" power supply and it was still doing just fine (and about five years old)..
However, the "new" problem, today is, apparently the CPU died between the time I shut it off yesterday and fired it up today.. The "boot up" screen?? reports "CPU Unworkable or has been changed" and "CPU Soft Menu" What?? Is it toothless??
Is there a good list of "POST Codes" somwhere?? Seems the only POST Codes I'm getting are the ones that the ABIT User Manual doesn't list! (like 5C, 74, ".2.2", etc.) Frustrating..

[minsonngo]

Go into your BIOS setup and under the Soft Menu option settings to optimized and see if that works. Double check and make sure the CPU and memory speeds are being detected correctly also... if not... make sure you correct them.

[DHC120]

Originally Posted by minsonngo Go into your BIOS setup and under the Soft Menu option settings to optimized and see if that works. Double check and make sure the CPU and memory speeds are being detected correctly also... if not... make sure you correct them.

Ahhh.. A Fellow Texan to the rescue (I'm just "up the road" from you a bit.. of course the road is I-45 and the "bit" is three hundred miles , but what the heck, it's almost that far to the mail box.. isn't it? -- I'm just south of Ft. Worth)
Okay, Serious Question about the BIOS.. I do not recall seeing a heading of "Soft Menu" or "Soft Menu Options" Is that the "main heading" or might it be hiding under one?

I do appreciate the help.. Thanks..
And, I do want to apologize if I sounding (writing?) kind of short to anyone .. It's been a long three days on this box and it seems that nothing has gone right.. and I shouldn't "snap" at the folks offering aid and assistance ..
Charles.

[minsonngo]

Once you enter the BIOS setup... look to the right hand side and you should see "Load Optimized Defaults"... select that... save and exit the BIOS setup and see if that works.

[DHC120]

Originally Posted by minsonngo Once you enter the BIOS setup... look to the right hand side and you should see "Load Optimized Defaults"... select that... save and exit the BIOS setup and see if that works.

Great!! Thanks.. I really do appreciate your help .. Again, I apologize for my frustration..
Additionally, I went back and added up all the wattages for all the "stuff" I have in my machine and came up with 317 total.. so I ought to be in decent shape with the ANTEK 430.
I'll go into the BIOS tomorrow and reset the BIOS to "Load Optimized Defaults", hopefully this will straighten out the problem.. Hate to think that the processor got "smoked", although I don't know how that would be possible ..
Charles

[minsonngo]

Let us know if it works after you load the "optimized defaults".

[DHC120]

On my ABIT AX8 Motherboard is a "Jumper" labeled "PS2-PWR-1" that is set in the "Disabled" position.. In with the board's documentation is a "sticker" (an actual Peel & Stick sticker) that is 5.25" x 6", titled "AX8 Series Motherboard Jumper Settings" with the notation to "Post this sticker to the chassis where this motherboard is installed"
Additionally, it says "Before changing any jumper settings, please refer to the user's manual for detailed information."
The sticker shows the "PS2-PWR-1" jumper "Enabled".
The only information the User's Manual has about this jumper are the three lines as follows:
"PS2-PWR-1"
"Pin 2-3 shorted (default): Enable wake-up function support at Keyboard/Mouse port."
"Pin 1-2 shorted: Disable wake-up function support at Keyboad/Mouse port"

I don't know what this means, nor where the jumper should be set.
Help would be appreciated.

Charles.

[Staren]

That jumper allows the computer to wake from sleep or hibernation (perhaps turn-on) when a key on the keyboard or mouse is pressed. Sort of a quick activation feature rather then needing to hit the power button. Personally I find that sort of thing more annoying then useful.

[DHC120]

Originally Posted by Staren That jumper allows the computer to wake from sleep or hibernation (perhaps turn-on) when a key on the keyboard or mouse is pressed. Sort of a quick activation feature rather then needing to hit the power button. Personally I find that sort of thing more annoying then useful.

I'm assuming you find the sleep/hybernation feature more annoying than useful?? If so, we agree.. I had one computer that had that.. never could get it to "wake up" as it locked-up during it's "sleep" (died?) phase.. I disabled that feature entirely, and don't want it in this build, either..
Thanks for explaining that to me.. I appreciate it.
Charles.

[minsonngo]

Did you try loading the "optimized defaults" yet?

[DHC120]

Originally Posted by minsonngo Did you try loading the "optimized defaults" yet?

I had to change, mount & balance two tires on my son's '73 Chevy today.. also checked it over for state insp, needed a bulb, of course, before I could get back to the computer (and it's "Houston weather" outside.. Temp & humidity are both in the 90's!)

Anyway, I have spent the last four hours trying various "set-ups" to get the unit to "Boot from CD"..
The first thing I did was to go into the BIOS and write down some of the current settings like the processor frequency & voltage (auto detect) etc. Checked the standard CMOS features, the "day/date" was correct and still running, and I was checking the status of the various drives (although most were not connected) when the keyboard quit responding (this has been a common happening during these trials and tribulations.. POST Code read: "5.C." which is not listed in my Motherboard's User Manual. (not many POST codes that are displayed are listed in the manual's four pages of POST Codes.. How lucky can I be??)
Decided to clear CMOS then did a restart, back into BIOS and selected "Load Optimized Defaults".. screen blinked POST Code now reads "6.C." (still not in my book-- plus, I've never seen a POST code from this display that did NOT show the decimal points!). Inserted WIN XP CD and did a restart.. I believe the "Post" page displayed... it blinks so fast, I can't read anything, then it shows the bottom of "some page" with the cursor blinking in the lower left corner.. Keyboard is not responding (I can only tell this as neither the "Caps Lock" nor "Numbers Lock" lights will come on.. the "F Lock" does toggle).
I realized the Floppy drive was still plugged in, removed the MoBo to Drive cable and disconnected the power connector and restarted.. POST Code of "2.5." came up (search for valid VGA device...) Screen was black!
At one point, I took out the one stick of RAM just to see what would happen.. got a series of one second beeps, black screen and a POST Code of "0.4." (not in my book!)
I decided, since this is a "Dual Core" Processor, to install two sticks of RAM, one in each "first slot" of each "side" (this is actually the #1 and #3 slots on my MoBo)... Restarted.. POST Code of 65 (oh goodie, it's trying to starrt my mouse..) The screen shows the ABIT Logo (this is a first!!) so I insterted the XP CD and nothing happened (hoping for "AutoPlay).. Restarted.. it went to the "Post?" page, displayed POST Code "7.5.", at the bottom of the screen was "Verifying DMI Pool Data... Update Success".. another first! But it still didn't Boot from the CD..
At this point, I shut down the unit, unplugged the HDD and plugged-in another HDD with a copy of Win XP Pro already installed.. Restarted.. SOS..
I have decided enough is enough.. something is screwed up, I'm into this process for over $700 and all I have to show for it is, in my opinion, a pile of high-tech junk.. I don't understand what I'm doing, altho "mechanically" I'm going thru the motions, there is nothing "visable" to fix.. this is frustrating for a mechanic!
Barring some great epiphany, my plan at this point in time is to eventually "gut" the case, reinstall everything I had originally removed and hope like hell that stuff still works..
I wish to thank those who replied and thank everyone for their help and efforts..
Charles.

[minsonngo]

Try only hooking up the bare essentials. The motherboard, processor, processor heatsink and fan, PSU, video card, and ONE stick of memory.

If it is still giving you issues... then one of those core components is faulty and you need to swap them into another working machine one by one to test them.


If the bare essential setup is NOT giving you any issues... then I would start adding in your other parts one at a time and see if the issues appears... starting with the primary HDD. If it does... the last part you added is probably the culprit.

[DHC120]

Originally Posted by minsonngo Try only hooking up the bare essentials. The motherboard, processor, processor heatsink and fan, PSU, video card, and ONE stick of memory. If it is still giving you issues... then one of those core components is faulty and you need to swap them into another working machine one by one to test them. If the bare essential setup is NOT giving you any issues... then I would start adding in your other parts one at a time and see if the issues appears... starting with the primary HDD. If it does... the last part you added is probably the culprit.

That's roughly what I did, had it down to absolute minimum.. at one time, I even pulled the RAM out, just to see what it would do.. It gave me a series on one second beeps and I got another "unknown" POST code..
As previously noted, I was going to "gut" the case.. I did! Tore that ABIT MoBo out of the case, along with it's attached high dollar Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+, (for sale.. make offer that covers my cost, expenses and aggravation ) refitted my very old "iWill KK266Plus with an old Athlon 1.2GHz (Socket A) processor. I should note that this MoBo has no digital display for the POST codes to read-out.. Ignorance IS bliss
The only thing "new" I kept was the Hitachi 250Gig Hard-Drive.. Slapped in the CD of Win XP Pro and it booted right up.. Between reformating the HDD (for the fourth time) and loading "some" of my programs, it's only taken abut five hours.. Beats the hell outta five days any time..
It really sucks when you buy expensive (to me!) new stuff and it's DOA (or dies after you try to turn it on).. and the "well used" stuff works fine.. This is one of the reasons my "Daily Drivers" (cars) are 34, 37 and 45 years old respectively.. Also restoring a 1953 Jaguar XK120 DropHead Coupe.. one of 1471 built! (that I bought in May, 1967) Now there is a trouble-free car
Charles.

[DHC120]

Message Deleted because PCMech automated system said I wasn't logged in when I was.. after re-logging in, it posted the same reply a second time.. Why waste bandwidth....
Chas.

[yoloksky]

hello,

this is what happens when a car mechanic and pc mechanic mix. Just kidding

from what i understand is winxp stops at certain times during installation. im not very sure if it stops during the 'component' driver detection OR reading 'data' from CD. Your CD is still new 'neatly packed' xp complete with their SP upgrade, but i suspect it is the xp cd OR maybe the cdrom drive is having difficulty from reading the xp CD's

try this one. Using another computer, try copying the whole xp cd and if it get 'Stuck' somewhere then THERE is your problem. Or try using a spare cdrom from other computer, just to make sure its not a cdrom problem. Otherwise, 'getting stuck' is cause by other component, sadly it would be a trial and error out of case assembly as mentioned. The difficult thing is getting xp to aggree with what components/bios setup you have.

wbr,

[minsonngo]

I found your issue!


The ABIT AX8 Ver 1.0 motherboard DOES NOT SUPPORT the AMD Athlon X2 3800+ processor you tried to install.

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/amd-athlonX2-t.php



There is no BIOS update for that motherboard to allow it to support the X2 3800+ processor either... So your only choice is to get another motherboard that will support this processor or get another processor this board will support.

[DHC120]

I just wrote a note and when I went to send it, the website said I wasn't logged on and dumped my message.. Augghhh..
Anyway, I responded to let you know that I just learned, yesterday, that my AX8 MoBo wouldn't handle the X2 Processor, as well.. The pisser is, I had gone to the ABIT website to check this stuff out.. The "newest" info I could find was like 2002, etc. No mention anywhere of the AX8.. I figured it was so new, the website hadn't "caught-up" yet.. Then ABIT shut-down the website, moved the forums, etc. and two days later, I now not only find info on the AX8, I find it's a discontinued product!! As are all Socket 939 boards.. Talk about needing some Vaseline!!
Now I'm stuck with a MoBo that may or may not work and a processor that doesn't fit the board I bought it for, and it may or may not work.. Make that two jars of Vaseline!!
Oh well.. it's only money (that I could have used on something a lot more entertaining, warm and female! ;-}
Chas

[minsonngo]

Yep... did you see my previous post?


You either need to get a board that supports the new processor... or install a processor that the ABIT AX8 Ver 1.0 motherboard supports.

[DHC120]

Originally Posted by minsonngo Yep... did you see my previous post? You either need to get a board that supports the new processor... or install a processor that the ABIT AX8 Ver 1.0 motherboard supports.

Yes, I did read your previous message, I noted in my post that I felt you and I found out that the AX8 was a defunct board about the same time..
Also, the link you sent doesn't work for me.. I ge a "Page Cannot Be Found".. If I try "abit-usa dot com" then search for anything, the URL changes to "uabit dot com"..
ABIT did change it's servers or something, this past week.. don't know it that matters, or not.. would like to see that page, tho.
Chas.

[minsonngo]

Looks like that link is down still... hopefully it will be up and running again later on.

[whubbard]

...What have you decided to do?

would you like to buy a newboard, or processor. I would suggest new board...

[DHC120]

Originally Posted by whubbard ...What have you decided to do? would you like to buy a newboard, or processor. I would suggest new board...

There is a story, here..
I originally decided to "upgrade" my "FrankenBox III" with a faster processor, a new board with goodies like four RAM slots (with four One Gig sticks), PCI-E x 16 video card slot and a 250 Gig Hard-Drive.. I had planned to use my old board, processor and hard-drive to "upgrade" an old computer, that I gave my son, from Win98 to XP Pro (the old computer was laying around the house so the price was right ;-} )
Well, with the mis-match problem I encountered with the ABIT AX8 Ver 1 Board and Athlon64 X2 Processor, I opted to buy another board to fit my X2 and another Processor to fit the AX8 Ver 1.. Of course that lead to buying another PCI-E x 16 Video card, four sticks of 512MB RAM and another Antec Power Supply, a 350Watt (his won't be running the extras mine is).
Since the Comp I gave my son is an old H-P (with a short stumpy case), I'll use my ATX case for his build and I bought me a larger, with more bays, Black ATX case for my build..
For what I spent, I could have bought a couple of new Dells.. but they wouldn't have the "horsepower" of the "home-built" hot-rods ;-}
These boxes won't have the "Latest and Greatest" whiz-bang stuff in them, but compared to what we are running, they will be lightening fast!
Charles.