A7V + sblive = PAIN

[blammo22]

I was running an SBLive (MP3+) on my A7V... in both Win2K and Win98SE, I was getting lots of freezes requiring a hard-reboot (Ctrl-Alt-Del had no effect). The system was unstable both when overclocked, and when set to default speed/voltage in Jumperfree mode. I tried giving both the SBLive its own IRQ (11) and also giving the SB Emulation IRQ 5 using the BIOS settings, but this did't fix the problem...

After spending over a week reinstalling Windows, moving cards around, etc., I finally dumped my SBLive into my other machine, and picked up a Yamaha 744-based sound card (X-wave 6000 Pro). My machine is now running very stable in both Win2K and Win98SE - also no more crackling/popping noises. Anyone running an SBLive with an A7V and experiencing lots of freezes - try yanking the card out and reinstalling Windows (just yanking the card didn't fix my problems initially).

Anyway, I know some seem to be running a SBLive with an A7V with no problems, but for those who do have problems, maybe give this a shot.

 

[Brains]

hmmm...
ive been posting on anandtech tons of problems with my asus a7v
ive replaced the motherboard, ram, harddrive, powersupply, videocard
and still came up with that same freezing problem...
this has been going on for over a month..
it would freeze everyday randomly...
tried a geforce2mx and tnt2 = FREEZE
so i decided.. hmmm... maybe the sound card?
i had a Diamond mx300 A3D sound card and a Vortex2 (a3d again) sound card.. so i said.. well it still crashes with these sound cards.. maybe its the processor then... (its not overheating by the way)...
so i got fed up and stopped by local computershop and bought a SBLIVE MP3 ripoff $99 card just to see if thats the problem..
guess what.. it hasnt crashed this whole entire weekend!!!!!
the cpu even runs cooler by bout 3 degrees!
dont know man.. i hate computers.. nuff said

Specs:
asus a7v rev 1.02 bios 1003
700 thunderbird
sblive pci
geforce2mx
creative labs52x
phillips 8xcdrw
IBM Deskstar
300 watt powersupply\
128megs mushkin ripoff ram PC133 rev2 (why charge so much money!!?!)


should have gone with intel damnit
anyone get their diamondmm voodoo2 pci sli cards to work on the a7v? ive tried it on 3 different a7v motherboards and they still dont work!!!

 

[Gogga]

Have you tried setting the system settings in the Bios to "Normal" in stead op "optimal" The option is below the memory clock setting. Cant remember the name! My system is competely unstable running in optimal mode, but 100% stable in normal mode. To get the Soundblaster Live! to work properly I moved it to the 3rd PCI slot which has its own IRQ. In Windows I disabled Soundblaster16 emulation and so far I haven't had any problems with it!

 

[chottoed]

i have the following also in dual win98/win2k boot
geforce gts
sblive value - 2nd pci slot
NIC - 4th pci slot

see if that helps...
move the sndcard ... btw i also have the emulation disabled... who plays dos based legacy games nowadays anyways?

 

[wesman2]

I have a a7v and sblive! value, and have not have any problems, I the sb in slot 5 with nothing in slot 4 (shated irq) and reserved irq 5 for the legacy emulation. And I've been playing everything from wolfenstien3D (I play DOS games and it's a pirated copy, I hope ID doesn't come after me!) to DeusEx lately without any problems. I did have the demo for Hitman freeze up on me, had to flip the powersupply switch, but can't say if it was the sound card. I just installed the SBlive last week and it's great compared to my old Ensoniq card, no more hissing from the TV tuner cards line in that alone was worth the $50.

 

[juggernaut42]

Wolfenstein 3D is ... well public domain by now, as far as I know. You can get the full source code from ID and all ... and for doom and quake and so on, too

So don't feel guilty !

 

[blammo22]

Well, as I said in my original post, I know there are those who have no problems with the SBLive and A7V... in my case, it just wasn't working. Yes, I tried moving the card to the PCI slot with no shared IRQs... tried setting the system to "Normal" instead of "Optimal"... tried different BIOS versions... tried basically everything I could think of. But I still had lots of freezes, even when running non-overclocked with very conservative BIOS settings. I also had crackling/popping coming from the SBLive (seems to be a conflict with GeForce cards that occurs in some systems - see the www.geforcefaq.com or search the forums)...

I remember reading somewhere that maybe some older SBLive cards had problems with the A7V while newer ones do not... maybe this was the case (I bought my SBLive in Dec. 1999). I don't know... all I can say is it's stable now (with the Yamaha-based card instead the SBLive), even running at 800MHz with BIOS 1004a. Just something to consider for those having problems...

 

[blammo22]

wesman2,

If you get a hard freeze like you described, try holding down the power button for >4 seconds - this usually causes the system to shut down, and is maybe safer than flipping the power supply off... just a suggestion.

 

[loweyson]

I've got an SB Live! Value as well, plus a c/labs gts 2. Occasionally it crackles but thats when seti is running, without it crystal clear. My only worry is that it seems share it's IRQ 9 with everyone and anything, GT2 2, USB, ATA-100 ... It's in slot 3, and i've set the irq to 9 manually, i'm also using c/labs ref drivers, which doesn't come with emulation, so it's not that...

 

[loweyson]

I meant to say i've set the irq to 5.

My enlgish isn't too bad for someone whos lived in the england all his life

 

[cirrus1]

Well you can see my setup below and I don't have problems with it. The SB live is bought 1 month ago.

 

[wesman2]

Thanks for the advise, but if I have the bios set for softoff, and not suspend, does it make a matter if I push the button for four seconds or just once? I'm new to the atx power supply system, nothing wrong with good old AT, except when you plugin the motherboard wrong and fry it.

As I said I just bought the SBlive last week so I can't comment on the older revisons.

 

[lenjack]

SBLive requiers 2 IRQ's. Check Asus site...FAQ's?...for answer.

 

[Dyflam]

I get crackles with seti running too... what's up with that?

 

[loweyson]

I couldn't find anything in the FAQ to help with that problem, and I haven't installed the Legacy stuff, so at the moment it only needs the one.

 

[WWDude]

Sorry for my ignorance, but what exactly those "seti" mean?
I was going to go Thunderbird 800\A7V\ASUS V7100TV\SBLive! Value, but now I'm scared.. Considering going back to Intel. Any suggestions?

 

[paulip88]

SETI is Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence

As for suggestions:
I'd go and get the setup you were thinking of getting. Sure, the SBLive has some issues on an A7V, but the SB Live just has issues in general in Win2K. Also, any issues that come up can usually be easily fixed by drivers.

I guess you could go back to Intel, but have you checked the prices lately? Jeez its expensive!

 

[Davegod75]

don't they speak english in england too, hehe

 

[GremlinT]

I have been having identical problems with SBLive. Suspend is a hit and miss affair. There are many people (but not all) who are having this problem. I noticed that the BIOS only sometimes recognises the SB card during the boot process although windows does. I am sure that this needs a BIOS fix but getting any response from ASUS is futile.

 

[lenjack]

In BIOS, set IRQ5 to Legacy.

 

[Useful0ne]

I found this posted at tomshardware. Pretty sound advice.

"the easiest install is to first make sure you have the most recent approved bios (a7v1004c). I backed up the original bios and flashed BEFORE loading windows, then installed 98se doing a "traditional" set-up by using the ATA-66 channel, having the HDD set up as 3rd boot device after floppy & CD... when you get windows in load current approved Via 4in1 (I used v4.25). you're going to see a yellow "?" next to a "pci mass storage device" in device manager, thats your ATA-100 controller. nail the most recent drivers for it, u160b25, and install them.

at this point you can power down and change bios to boot from "scsi" (ata100 controller) and switch your HDD cable into the ATA-100 channel, and continue loading your other (video etc.) drivers... save the SB for last... if your experience is like mine you'll have noticed that your machine was screaming until these drivers entered the mix (although I have seen people here who claim no difficulties but many are running in the ata66 channel).

if you have problems loading win after your SB install though you'll have to get into safe mode and do the following (after you have tryed of course, putting your card into differant pci slots)... try doing just ONE of these at a time, in order, until win boots normally:

1. Disable "SB16 Emulation" in hardware profiles.
2. Look in your "windows" directory/file for an ini file called "ctsyn" and Delete it.
3. open system configuration (RUN> msconfig ), go to the "config.sys" tab and edit/delete the line that contains "sbe.init"

at some point during this win will boot just fine albeit a tiny bit slower than it was previous to our SB live experience so to speak

hope this helps!"

(I myself like jauggernaults bios 1003e2. I have zero problems with it. I am running w/all settings optimized!!! Win98/Win2k
as mentioned above win 2k doesn't see the secondary ata66 controller, but I can manage w/3 controllers.)



GOOD LUCK!
U-1

1003e2