View Full Version : UDMA100 Motherboards
Maybe it is just me, but I am having terrible problems with Socket A UDMA motherboards.
I am trying to build a new machine and decided to try a socket A with an Athlon CPU and, on the reviews, bought an ASUS A7V motherboard.
Put it together, put in a Matrox G400 video card and a Soundblaster Live Platinum sound card - locked up.
I have played around with it switching PCI slots, setting IRQs etc but it is still tempermental as hell. The following is the list of suggestions, would you believe, from their own site:
Flash upgrade the BIOS to version 1004a or c.
Upgrade the Promise ATA100 driver (U160b25).
Reserve IRQ 5 (and DMA) exclusively for SB.
Upgrade the creative SB driver (37MB download).
I also bought an ABIT KT-7 RAID motherboard. Same sort of problem with the SB but I got through it by using WIN2000. Then I decided to attach my USB devices and the fun started. Just trying to attach a USB printer, network adaptor and ZIP250 I can, by changing the sockets I plug them into get BSDs, missing devices, reboots or devices loading then dropping out.
The ABIT site gave me a link to an enthiusiasts site with a few "solutions".
These include:
Flash upgrade the BIOS for the latest HotRod drivers.
Download and use the latest matching HighPoint drivers.
Download the latest VIA 4in1 (V4.25) drivers.
It went as far as suggesting people had had success by decreasing the CPU voltage by .oo5V.
Now, looking at these sites it looks like it is not just me being unlucky. At the same time, these 2 boards are the ones being selected as the best with nothing between them by PCW and are used by almost all the fastest machines to the mags for review.
Now, am I missing something here? I am using the most standard off the shelf components available with the 2 (Win98/ME and WIN2000) OS available and I cannot get a stable system. Or are the UDMA boards just still as buggy as hell and I would be better off staying with a DMA66/100 bus machine or going back to an Intel 820E/840 solution?
The reason I ask is that, giving up, I am thinking of buying a new system from Dell/Dan etc with a soundcard/network card/firefire card/SCSI card as standard and attaching all accessories.
(At which stage I will then have 4 machines again! My old one, a full server with the ASUS, a midi-tower with the ABIT and the new one. As I only have a two bedroom apartment I was wondering whether to fit the 4th one in the kitchen or the bathroom?)
[This message has been edited by ORAC (edited 04 November 2000).]
mindstorm
4th Nov 2000, 23:46
Try this link:
http://go.to/kt7faq
or look at 26th Oct on
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/news.htm
There's a good guide to the Abit M/Board and how to get it to work.
I only know cos I'm workin up to the same - help!!
Yep, those, amongst others, are some of the sites I have been using.
My aggravation/problem is I do not have the spare time or want to have to go back to doing a months worth of debugging, downloading, fixing in the time when I am not at work. (I do have another life (really!!))
I am willing to spend the money to get a system which is truly plug and play SCSI/Firewire/USB. (which is what the manufacturers were promising with P & P/USB/Firewire in the first place)!
The problem seems to be that the motherboards expect cards to be ACPI compliant, i.e. they will share IRQs with up to 4-5 on a single IRQ. When they boot just have a look at how they load. But, most old cards are not compliant. Certainly not the SB cards (DOS/SB16 backward compatible)and not my network card or SCSI card. (I even bought a USB network adaptor but it obviously uses the same basic components internally because as soon as it is recognised - bang BSD with a memory error and reboot.)
I went looking for an ACPI compliant network card and found a 3COM card (3c model, the 3b isn't) but it costs £80+. I cannot find any sound card that claims compliance or any details of compliant firewire/SCSI cards. I found an Adaptec joint SCSI/firecard to try and get around the problem, but that costs £450!!
The only sure answer seems to be to totally disable the motherboard plug and play and set the everything by hand. But, because they are P & P, the manuals for most of my cards/devices do not give any IRQ/DMA or memory details at all.
[This message has been edited by ORAC (edited 05 November 2000).]
Feeton Terrafirma
5th Nov 2000, 14:54
Loose the SB live card. They have known issues.
------------------
Once I was VERY good, now I'm very good, once!
Squiddley
6th Nov 2000, 08:25
ORAC/mindstorm,
Sorry to hear you're both having trouble with the Socket A / UDMA100 boards. I slapped together a Duron 700 on a KT7-RAID a month of so ago, and fortunately had no problems with it.
Unfortunately though, I think I fell into the "I have a 933MHz or faster CPU and my disks occasionally get corrupted. Why?" trap mentioned in the linked FAQ, as things went awry and I had to reinstall. (Running @950mhZ with an IBM DTLA-307015 hard disk, part of the 75GXP series). It's nice to know that it's a known issue which MS won't fix http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/frown.gif
At risk of asking the obvious, have you tried installing the video card or sound card separately? What was the outcome? If memory serves from the KT7 manual, the 6th PCI slot shares IRQ with the ISA slot, and the 5th PCI shares with the highpoint chipset. Since I don't use ISA, I've put my SB Live in the 6th PCI slot, and it works for me.
For SB drivers, I have downloaded "Liveware 3.00" instead of the drivers on the CD that came with it. I mention this because when I tried reinstalling the SB drivers from the CD, I'd get so far but the system would get stuck and choke on me. Liveware 3.0 seemed to do the trick.
Same might apply for the Matrox, but I don't know the chipset or anything else about those cards. (I have a new cheap and cheerful Leadtek Geforce2 MX.)
If it's any use, here's the setup in it's entirety :
AMD Duron 700@950
CPU core voltage 1.65v (default, so doubt your prob is there)
Abit KT7-RAID with "UL" BIOS
128MB PC-150 & 128MB PC-100 (I know, waiting for payday :))
IBM DTLA307015 UDMA100 15GB (on IDE3 RAID)
Seagate ST320210(?) 6.2GB UDMA33/66 on IDE 1
Pioneer DVD S115 & Zip 250 on IDE2
WinME (clean install)
As far as I know, all drivers are current. On that note, the VIA 4-in-1 only updates what it needs to, which was the AGP controller in my case, rest seem current.
If all else fails, is the shop you bought the board from likely to entertain an exchange, or use it themselves to try and replicate the problem?
Good luck and sorry if not able to be of much use. Feel free to email if you want nitty-gritty.
Cheers
Sq
Edit : If you haven't already, go through this specific FAQ page, as there's plenty to think about/try here. http://www.apushardware.com/faqs/kt7faq/faqinstability.html
[This message has been edited by Squiddley (edited 06 November 2000).]
Thanks,
I am, as I said, using the Abit board at the moment. I tried all the slots and ended up with the SB in slot 3 (not shared) using the V3.0 SB software download.
256MB PC133 (Kingston).
HDD is a 30Gb IBM UDMA100.
Video card a Matrox G400 (not Max).
Monitor Philips P150 LCD.
Pioneer 16 x DVD
Plextor 12/10/32A
USB ZIP250
USB Smartcard reader
USB Netgear network adaptor.
That is all I have installed at the moment (hardware).
The problem,now, is with trying to get a network card/adaptor up and running to connect it to my ADSL connection. Either a PCI or USB network adapator just get a WIN2000 BSD (memory violation)and the machine reboots. I plug in a smartdrive reader and my zip becomes an unknown mass storage device etc.
Trying all the reported USB fixes but no joy yet - which is why I was looking at the 3COM cards.
Squiddley
6th Nov 2000, 10:43
ORAC,
Is your power supply at least 300W? It could be something as simple as that : by adding additional hardware that requires power could be causing the problems. (N.B> AMD recommends using power supplies endorsed by them, but it's probably not a must, just a should be.)
Out of interest, are you having any conflicts reported with either "SB16 emulation" or your LPT port ? I had this the first time round, but everything is happy now.
Good luck
Sq
drwing
9th Nov 2000, 05:33
Dear ORAC
The problem you describe sounds like a sound card problem. Try getting a replacement soumd card. I have seen 2 creative sound boards matching your same description.
See, it is a 300W supply - bought a new one and swapped it just in case!
Thanks, all, I am going to pull the SB and try another card. Any recommendations for use with the Abit/ASUS? I found a reference saying the Montego III is ACPI compliant, true?
[This message has been edited by ORAC (edited 10 November 2000).]
By George! I think I've done it!
Abit board, new Montego II Quadzilla sound card; new D-Link ACPI network card; new i-Hub USB hub.
Put them all together, Load Win2K;load all the latest company drivers (Via 4in1; Turtle etc). No problems! Hooray!
Time to load application software. Load Office 2000. Locks up! Steady. Try again 10 times with various combinations of apps, drivers. No go.
Deep breath. Re-format AGAIN, load WinME, new drivers etc.....Load Office. Lock-up!
Deep breath. Re-format. Load Win98 and old drivers. Load Office 2000. Locks up twice but, eventually after a couple of reboots, loads. Upgrade to WinME; load all new drivers. All works!!
Tonight is time to back up the HDD and then try to add all the other USB accessories like printer etc.
If that all works back to the ASUS and build the other system again......
Did I say I did this as a hobby to relax??
No, all locked up again with memory errors on boot up. no way round.
Anyone want to buy a motherboard??
drwing
19th Nov 2000, 21:50
Dear ORAC,
The problem you described sounds like you have an interrupt problem. Give it a check. Removing the network card may solve your problem. If that is the case, then we need more info on how you populate the slots.
It is definitely an interrupt problem (and driver, and DMA etc etc).
Now got to the stage of having an up and running system with network card/Firewire card/Turtle sound card/USB printer/USB smart card (camera reader) and USB ZIP250.
Had to sweat blood with each and every one of them woth latest drivers (some dated 13/11/2000!) to get this far.
Just tried to load a USB camera (Chicony VC-350) and that is now locking the system up as well. I suppose I need their latest driver as well!
After that the last thing is the USB scanner (HP scanjet 5300C).
Of interest, the solution to the last set of lock ups was the Doc Solomon (McAfee) Virus scan, I uninstalled it, and I uninstalled the motherboard software RAID from the control panel. Everything then loaded.
The hardware configuration for each new device does take the system 15-20 minutes to sort out and load!
Squiddley
20th Nov 2000, 07:35
ORAC,
You have the patience of a saint! One small suggestion:
If it's IRQ allocations that you think are causing the problems, go into the BIOS and change the setting for "Plug and play OS" to "NO" instead of "YES".
You'll have to map out the hardware positions and will probably have to resolve conflicts by hand, but maybe this will give a workable solution.
The only other thought is faulty RAM (Though Kingston has a good reputation.). Do you have/can you borrow another stick you can try out? Or will the shop test it? It sounds like the lock-ups are "random".
Good luck
Sq
Third memory stick, second processor etc, All tried.
The lock ups are not random. Each time I add another new device it locks with a BSD and a memory error location.
The only cure, so far, has been the absolute latest drivers and/or new components with new drivers and ACPI compatibility.
Did a search for new camera drivers. The sites I can find say the makers no longer support legacy hardware! So it looks like a new netcam. Anyone know of with with ACPI/WinME drivers?