I posted this on TechSupportForum.com and got a couple replies, but so far nothing that has worked. Figured I'd post it here as well, to get more people that may know what is wrong.
------------------------------------
I wrote:
I have gone over the installation five times, everything seems to be connected properly. Everything has power. I will boot the computer and the first screen will come up. Everything is fine with this screen, except it lists the processor as 1100 Mhz instead of 1900Mhz. Then it detects the HDD and cdroms, and goes to a second screen. Here it lists the HDD and the cdroms and other stuff that I don't recognize, then goes to a screen saying that windows did not load last time and to pick a select. No matter what selection I pick, it will go to a black screen then the computer will reboot.
My boot sequence is floppy, HDD, CD-Rom. When I have a floppy boot disk, it will not boot from the floppy. When I have a OS cd in the cd-rom, it will not load the cd (even when I put the cd-rom to boot before the HDD). No matter what I do, it does exactly as I mentioned above.
I received a reply from their helpdesk that said to set the external frequency, so I looked up the correct things to set and set them, but that didn't help at all (it did make my cpu display correctly, though). I also set the memory frequency to 166 to match my CPU.
Still, without fail, it reboots at the same spot. It will also reboot if I replace it with a HDD that doesn't have an OS on it.
Asus A7N8X (A7N8X2.0 ACPI Bios revision 1007)
AMD Athlon XP 2600+ (Barton) 333Mhz FSB
Geil Value Series 3200 512MB non-ECC unbuffered DDR
Allied 400W +5V@40A, +3.3V@28A, +12V@15A, -5V@0.3A, -12V@0.8A, +5VSB@2A
DiamondMax Plus 8 40Gig 7200rpm HDD
nVidia GeForce 4 MX440 SE
The NewEgg Wishlist for these parts (sans HDD, Video)
http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishLi...W&ID=627922
Xulander wrote:
Try setting your memory to 200, set cd drive as first boot device, and be prepared to hit any key to boot from cd,
I just built one of these, and the only trouble I had was getting the memory settings right, and Im taking for granted you realize you have to reinstall the operating system, when you swap out mobo's, post back and let us know how it goes
Then I wrote:
Just did as you said, set ram frequency to 200 and first boot device as CDROM. This time, on the third page, it said:
Boot from CD:
Boot from CD:
then went to the screen that said windows didn't load properly last time. When I picked it went to a black screen and rebooted.
Then Midnight Tech wrote:
Have you tried resetting the BIOS to factory defaults then changing the memory settings back?
I replied:
You mean removing the battery then resetting the external frequency, and the memory settings? Yes, I just tried that.
Everything seems to be working, I don't quite understand what's up. It gets to that cursed screen asking whether to start windows normall or in safe mode, I pick one and it reboots.
So frustrating.
Xulander added:
It sounds to me like its just trying to boot whatever is on the hard drive.
After you set the first boot device to your cd drive in the bios and f10 save and ecscape, you should see the post screen, with chance to hit delete for bios setup or f9 to select boot device,
then after your hard drive and cd drive are listed it should say at the bottom , boot cd: and you push any key and it should boot from the cd.
Did this MoBo come with the bios version 1007 already installed?
I said:
I thought that as well, but the only difference between this HDD and one that doesn't have an OS on it is that the one with the OS gives you an option of safe or normal mode, while the other one goes to the NVIDIA Boot Agent. It says this:
"NVIDIA Boot Agent, PXE-2.0 (build 082 V1.82)
Copyright (C) 2001 NVIDIA Corporation
Copyright (C) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting NVIDIA Boot Agent
DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER"
I know my cables are connected correctly, and when I insert a system disk and hit enter, it goes to a black screen and nothing happens. There's a blinking cursor at the top left of the screen.
On that screen that allows you to enter setup, it didn't give me the option to hit F9 for boot device.
Neither did it ask me to hit a key when it said "Boot from CD:" it just did it by itself then disapeared.
EDIT: After a couple minutes, the black screen turned into:
"
Boot from CD :
Boot from CD :
"
then loaded the NVIDIA boot agent again, and said the same thing over again.
EDIT EDIT: The MB came with 1007 already installed.
Xulander said:
Sounds like you have checked everything I would have, if the cables and jumper settings are right on the 2 cd drives.
The asus MoBo I used also listed one of the cd drives by model number in the bios (if I remember right).
when you select cd drive as first boot device is there also cd drives listed by model numbers?
The error message pretty well tells us it is a problem with finding the media (your install cd).
In the bios settings check and see how it has your cd drives listed and see if you cant find them by model number in the first boot device menu.
I wish I could be more help, but hopefully we are getting closer to finding out whats up
I replied:
In the BIOS, Main tab, it lists the secondary master as LTN526S (which is the CD-Rom) and the Secondary Slave as SONY CD-RW C.
When I go to pick the boot order, the options are as follows:
Floppy
LS120
HDD-0
SCSI
CDROM
HDD-1
HDD-2
HDD-3
ZIP
USB-FDD
USB-ZIP
USB-CDROM
USB-HDD
LAN
Disabled
I don't know what an LS120 is, but from what I can read on the Yahoo search it's some sort of ZIP type drive, not Cd-ROM.
I'm not really sure what's up either, which is why I've come here. As it is, I'm thinking either I have a DOA motherboard/bios, or the ram/cpu is busted? Actually, I have no idea.
Xulander finished with:
Ya, Im beginning to think that is a good posibility, but hang in there for a little longer there are people in this forum far more knowledgable than me, there may be something we overlooked,
Im going to do some more looking around, if you figure out whats up pleeeeez let me know
Well I think your right, I would be contacting Asus tech support, and getting an RMA number.
Im reasonably sure your memory and cpu are fine, the reviews are good for that memory, the few bad reviews I noted were DOA's.
You might ask Asus tech support if there is a possibilty of you flashing the bios, sorry we were unable to help, good luck to you and please keep us posted...X
----------------------------------------------------------
So, if anyone has any other ideas that weren't tried, has had this same problem, or knows what's wrong, please let me know.
------------------------------------
I wrote:
I have gone over the installation five times, everything seems to be connected properly. Everything has power. I will boot the computer and the first screen will come up. Everything is fine with this screen, except it lists the processor as 1100 Mhz instead of 1900Mhz. Then it detects the HDD and cdroms, and goes to a second screen. Here it lists the HDD and the cdroms and other stuff that I don't recognize, then goes to a screen saying that windows did not load last time and to pick a select. No matter what selection I pick, it will go to a black screen then the computer will reboot.
My boot sequence is floppy, HDD, CD-Rom. When I have a floppy boot disk, it will not boot from the floppy. When I have a OS cd in the cd-rom, it will not load the cd (even when I put the cd-rom to boot before the HDD). No matter what I do, it does exactly as I mentioned above.
I received a reply from their helpdesk that said to set the external frequency, so I looked up the correct things to set and set them, but that didn't help at all (it did make my cpu display correctly, though). I also set the memory frequency to 166 to match my CPU.
Still, without fail, it reboots at the same spot. It will also reboot if I replace it with a HDD that doesn't have an OS on it.
Asus A7N8X (A7N8X2.0 ACPI Bios revision 1007)
AMD Athlon XP 2600+ (Barton) 333Mhz FSB
Geil Value Series 3200 512MB non-ECC unbuffered DDR
Allied 400W +5V@40A, +3.3V@28A, +12V@15A, -5V@0.3A, -12V@0.8A, +5VSB@2A
DiamondMax Plus 8 40Gig 7200rpm HDD
nVidia GeForce 4 MX440 SE
The NewEgg Wishlist for these parts (sans HDD, Video)
http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishLi...W&ID=627922
Xulander wrote:
Try setting your memory to 200, set cd drive as first boot device, and be prepared to hit any key to boot from cd,
I just built one of these, and the only trouble I had was getting the memory settings right, and Im taking for granted you realize you have to reinstall the operating system, when you swap out mobo's, post back and let us know how it goes
Then I wrote:
Just did as you said, set ram frequency to 200 and first boot device as CDROM. This time, on the third page, it said:
Boot from CD:
Boot from CD:
then went to the screen that said windows didn't load properly last time. When I picked it went to a black screen and rebooted.
Then Midnight Tech wrote:
Have you tried resetting the BIOS to factory defaults then changing the memory settings back?
I replied:
You mean removing the battery then resetting the external frequency, and the memory settings? Yes, I just tried that.
Everything seems to be working, I don't quite understand what's up. It gets to that cursed screen asking whether to start windows normall or in safe mode, I pick one and it reboots.
So frustrating.
Xulander added:
It sounds to me like its just trying to boot whatever is on the hard drive.
After you set the first boot device to your cd drive in the bios and f10 save and ecscape, you should see the post screen, with chance to hit delete for bios setup or f9 to select boot device,
then after your hard drive and cd drive are listed it should say at the bottom , boot cd: and you push any key and it should boot from the cd.
Did this MoBo come with the bios version 1007 already installed?
I said:
I thought that as well, but the only difference between this HDD and one that doesn't have an OS on it is that the one with the OS gives you an option of safe or normal mode, while the other one goes to the NVIDIA Boot Agent. It says this:
"NVIDIA Boot Agent, PXE-2.0 (build 082 V1.82)
Copyright (C) 2001 NVIDIA Corporation
Copyright (C) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting NVIDIA Boot Agent
DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER"
I know my cables are connected correctly, and when I insert a system disk and hit enter, it goes to a black screen and nothing happens. There's a blinking cursor at the top left of the screen.
On that screen that allows you to enter setup, it didn't give me the option to hit F9 for boot device.
Neither did it ask me to hit a key when it said "Boot from CD:" it just did it by itself then disapeared.
EDIT: After a couple minutes, the black screen turned into:
"
Boot from CD :
Boot from CD :
"
then loaded the NVIDIA boot agent again, and said the same thing over again.
EDIT EDIT: The MB came with 1007 already installed.
Xulander said:
Sounds like you have checked everything I would have, if the cables and jumper settings are right on the 2 cd drives.
The asus MoBo I used also listed one of the cd drives by model number in the bios (if I remember right).
when you select cd drive as first boot device is there also cd drives listed by model numbers?
The error message pretty well tells us it is a problem with finding the media (your install cd).
In the bios settings check and see how it has your cd drives listed and see if you cant find them by model number in the first boot device menu.
I wish I could be more help, but hopefully we are getting closer to finding out whats up
I replied:
In the BIOS, Main tab, it lists the secondary master as LTN526S (which is the CD-Rom) and the Secondary Slave as SONY CD-RW C.
When I go to pick the boot order, the options are as follows:
Floppy
LS120
HDD-0
SCSI
CDROM
HDD-1
HDD-2
HDD-3
ZIP
USB-FDD
USB-ZIP
USB-CDROM
USB-HDD
LAN
Disabled
I don't know what an LS120 is, but from what I can read on the Yahoo search it's some sort of ZIP type drive, not Cd-ROM.
I'm not really sure what's up either, which is why I've come here. As it is, I'm thinking either I have a DOA motherboard/bios, or the ram/cpu is busted? Actually, I have no idea.
Xulander finished with:
Ya, Im beginning to think that is a good posibility, but hang in there for a little longer there are people in this forum far more knowledgable than me, there may be something we overlooked,
Im going to do some more looking around, if you figure out whats up pleeeeez let me know
Well I think your right, I would be contacting Asus tech support, and getting an RMA number.
Im reasonably sure your memory and cpu are fine, the reviews are good for that memory, the few bad reviews I noted were DOA's.
You might ask Asus tech support if there is a possibilty of you flashing the bios, sorry we were unable to help, good luck to you and please keep us posted...X
----------------------------------------------------------
So, if anyone has any other ideas that weren't tried, has had this same problem, or knows what's wrong, please let me know.
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