Strange Problem

[samtoo]

Really need help on this one…
Last week my computer stopped working - it appeared to be the motherboard – so I replaced that. It then started to boot up and got to the Windows startup screen but then rebooted and recognized the 20 gig and 60 gig HDs but then said that the two HDs failed and stopped there. So, I placed the boot drive on another computer to check if the HD had crashed, it hadn’t and was fine. I then disconnected everything and started with the boot HD and it got as far as saying that there is an error in Windows and so I attached the CD drive to put in the Windows CD to fix the problem. But then it went back to the same problem of (as above) first recognizing then not recognizing the HD.

Stumped… Someone mentioned that the power supply could be gone… replaced that. The first time it booted up and was about to go to desktop when it rebooted and went back to the same problem of first recognizing then not recognizing the HD.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks

[Vic 970]

cables/leads secure & in good order ?

[samtoo]

yeah - I replaced the HD cables and still the same prob.

[ski]

Replacing a MB normally requires that the bootable HD be formatted, and Windows reinstalled. Otherwise, there can be problems with the previous Windows hardware configuration on the HD.

[Budfred]

I agree with ski, it sounds like you installed a different mobo than the one you had and the hard drive is getting indigestion. If you need to recover data on that drive, you have a couple of options.

You can get another drive, install Windoze on it and then put the old one in as a Slave drive.

You can install the old drive in another machine, back up what you need, wipe it and put it back in the machine with the new mobo and install Windoze on it...

And Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif

[Beta Geek]

Or you could use a boot disk with deltree on it to just wipe the Windoze directory. This can get messy and should only be done if you feel confident and you don't have a spare drive or the means of backing up your data.

[samtoo]

Thanks for the great suggesions - however, I disconnected all the HDs and connected a formatted blank HD and tried to boot up with the Windows CD but it still doesn't even get to windows - at the bios stage it again just sees the HD then says HD failed.

totally stumped!

[Budfred]

That suggests that you may have a connection problem. Triple check your cables and try different ones if you have them. Make sure they are plugged in the right way, it is easy to put them in upside down....

[samtoo]

I'll give that a try
Thanks

[gwallen4]

1) Please post your system specs and operating system.

2) What was the original problem before you replaced the MB? "Stopped working" is not very descriptive. Did it boot ok and then crash? The problems you have now could very well be related to the original problem.

3) You stated that the HD you are trying now is formatted. Even if partitioned and formatted, it may not have been done correctly or in a way that your bios recognizes. If all the connections and jumpers are correct when you check them, I would boot with the HD manufacturer's installation floppy, check the integrity of the drive, then repartition and format the drive again.

4) While you are trying to get the HD working, I would disconnect all other IDE drives. It might be a good idea to remove all extra PCI cards too, leaving only your graphics adapter.

5) Once the HD appears to be working correctly. I would reconnect the CD Rom on the secondary IDE line.

6) If you can't boot from a Windows CD, try a Windows StartUp floppy. Specify "Boot with CD-Rom support". After the boot completes, you should be able to see your floppy drive, HD, and CD Rom in DOS by typing the drive letter followed by a colon 'A:', 'C:', 'D:', etc. Your Cd-Rom may be one letter higher than expected, 'E:' instead of 'D:'. The directory of each drive may be seen by typing 'dir' while at the prompt for that drive, eg. at the c: prompt (C:\>) type 'dir' - then hit the enter key.

[Whyzman]

Originally posted by gwallen4
4) While you are trying to get the HD working, I would disconnect all other IDE drives. It might be a good idea to remove all extra PCI cards too, leaving only your graphics adapter.

I'm with GW here, I would go for a barebones boot first and make sure you get through POST...then add the floppy and see if you can get to an A: with a bootdisk...

Then add the harddrive and see what happens...then one component at a time...

[samtoo]

System: MB is AUS A7VXX-x ACPI Bios Revision 1006
Processor: AMD Athlon MP 1800+
Memory: 756Mb
Power supply: OKIA Switching Power Supply 420 Watt
OS: Windows 2000 Prof.

As suggested, I cleaned out the MB of everything except my main HD, Video, Floppy, and CD drive.

I booted it up and started up the Windows CD - aked it to fix the Windows problem with the HD and it went through the process and started up Windows. Then it died.

I rebooted and it started Windows and was about to go to the desktop and then flashed a blue screen (but too fast for me to read the error that seemed to be displayed) it then rebooted then again said it found the primary HD then said the primary HD failed.

I then tried another HD that was formatted from my other Windows 2000 machine. It started the process of installing Windows and started to format the HD when it died again and back to the same of HD found then failed.

Again - I'm stumped - is it a Windows problem or a bios or a HD problem?
Thanks

[gwallen4]

1) Use a Windows StartUp floppy to boot as described above. You can make a StartUp disk in Windows - usually somewhere in Control Panel.

2) Disconnect your CD-Rom until you get the HD to work. The CD-Rom may be the problem.

3) For best results, try to read our posts carefully, answer our questions as best you can, and follow directions.

[Budfred]

Unless your Windoze CD is corrupted, which is unlikely if it is legit, you almost certainly have a hardware problem. Whether it originates in the BIOS or in a hardware component is not clear... You will need to go step by step to isolate the problem however....

[Whyzman]

Originally posted by samtoo
As suggested, I cleaned out the MB of everything except my main HD, Video, Floppy, and CD drive.A bare bones boot is done without the Harddrive or CD attached.

You are attempting to isolate components to see which one creates a problem...

As mentioned before, it is best to only have the Video, RAM, Keyboard and mouse...not even a floppy during the first attempt...

Once you make it through POST then shut down, hookup the floppy and crank it up again with a boot disk inserted...if you make it to the A:...shut down again and add the HD...if it is recognized...shut down again and add the CD-ROM...

[samtoo]

did the bare bones thing. Started with only video attached then added things - got to having the floppy, CD drive and HD. I then installed windows 2000.

Okay - so far so good...

Got to the desktop and my USB mouse and acc graphics card wouldn't work - all I could get was the standard VGS. Tried installing, setting jumpers etc to get them to work - nothing.

Then... here is the kicker - it rebooted itself and now it is back to the BIOS finding the HD then saying the HD failed!!!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhggggggggggggggggggggggg!

[gwallen4]

Take out the CD-Rom and floppy and boot using your HD. Then see if it reboots.

I know this is frustrating but don't give up. If taking out the Cd-Rom and floppy doesn't make a difference, put them back in and try a different video card. We will eventually find the culprit.

The problem is arising when Windows initializes all your devices. Some device is being initialized, but the device is faulty and the initialization causes the computer to reboot.

[Whyzman]

Does this ASUS Motherboard have a Promise Controller?? Is your Harddrive plugged into the Promise (if you have), or into the IDE??

Also, are you using an AGP Video card??

[samtoo]

Hi:

Got it up and running - then found it was a memory problem causing most of the HD problems. I didn’t know I had one old and one new DDR RAM. Took off the old and it read the HD find – not the old HD it apparently had errors.

So, I've installed win2K on the formatted HD and it works. However, I can't read the APG video accelerator card now – Win only loads the standard video driver and when I put in the CD for the video driver it says there is no such card on the system.

I’ve loaded the MB update drivers from the MB CD but still it doesn’t see the video accelerator card.

Any ideas?

[samtoo]

Sorry - forgot to answer the last question - I meant that yes, I do have a AGP Video card.

[Whyzman]

Have you been into the BIOS to make sure that the AGP us enabled??

[samtoo]

Yup - did that.

[Whyzman]

What video card are you using??

[samtoo]

it is a:
MSI GeForce2 Ti Pro 64Mb w/TV

[Whyzman]

Most importantly, is the card being recognized in the BIOS...

If it is, then the problem would have to do with the driver...

I'm an ATI man myself, so you may need to wait for one of the folks that use NVidia to give you a hand with the correct driver...

[gwallen4]

The driver you need is at the following nVidia site:

http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

Select 'graphics card', 'geForce', and 'Windows 2000', then 'GO'

The nVidia ddrivers are 'unified' which means they will work for all the cards listed including yours.

You just download the 45.23 driver, click on the download file, and the drivers will be installed automatically. Very easy.

[samtoo]

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Well... what happened is that I installed everything and it was working fine.

Then... I installed my video capture card and wammo! Back to the initial problem of BIOS see the HD then the HD failing.

I got it figured out though... it must be the DDR memory - it is a newer MB and I think it isn't the proper RAM memory so I'll replace that and see what happens.

Also... on another problem, the USB ports are not working. I tried moving the USB MB jumpers around and still nothing. I loaded the MB USB drivers and still nothing. The drivers in Windows are working fine but when I plug in my USB mouse... nothing. Any ideas?

Thanks

[Whyzman]

ASUS motherboards are notorious for their being picky about the RAM you feed them. I've been using Kingston with no problems. ASUS Tech support recommends Mushkin, but I think you'd be safe with Crucial.

Most folks around here swear by Crucial...

You need to be extremely careful about where you decide to locate PCI cards on your ASUS. In the manual you will see a page with something to the effect of the IRQ Allocation table...

Depending on the card, some don't like to share. And, if you put them into "force share" slots you will get conflicts and weird behavior, if not lockups...

So, check the Allocation Table and see which slots you want to avoid sharing...

For example, if using and AGP card you don't want to put anything into PCI slot 1 as it shares with the AGP...