A8V Deluxe Reboots while using video processing!??!?!?!?!

imported_Stormshadow

Junior Member
Nov 12, 2004
23
0
0
Okay, I'm usually fairly computer savvy but today I have a big problem. I have been trying to get this motherboard to work and it's not cooperating with me. Here is what I have in my computer:
480 Watt Antec True Power
Radeon 9700 Pro
Athlon 64 3500+
A8V Deluxe Rev 2.0 bios 1007
2 seagate barracuda 7200.7 plus (placing them on the promise raid controller)
2 Gig's of PC 3200
DVD burner and DVD drive (pioneer)

Now here's the problem!! I have installed WIN XP about 15 times on this thing. Sometimes an error will occur while copying files and sometimes it won't. After installing windows correctly (80% of the time) I would go through all the installations. I would install certain games like HALO and C&C Generals. I would install all the updates on XP and make sure I had everything up to date. When I would run a game or do intensive video processing of any kind (windows media player, WIN DVD, etc) the computer would freeze and reboot. Sometimes I would get the blue screen of death sometimes I wouldn't. Here is what I have tried to remedy this. I sent the first motherboard back to ZipZoomFly and they sent me the same box with (supposedly) a new motherboard in it and gave me the new serial number on a piece of paper. Well okay so here are the other solutions. I tried different RAM, Different video card, different hard drive on the different raid controller (SATA on the Via instead of the promise), and different power supply. Switching out all of these individually and all together yielded the same results. No matter what combination I tried, it would still reboot when running a game. The only thing I couldn't try that was different was a processor since they are quite costly. I don't know if ZipZoomFly sent me the same motherboard I had initially which I had to troubleshoot a lot more than I already have this one. Well I don't know if anyone can shed some light on this subject. The first time I ended up taking the comp to a tech and he told me it was the motherboard. I don't want to do the same thing again to get the same result. Should I just go to ZipZoomfly and return the mother board and ask for a refund. IF anyone has any suggestions please let me know. My next thing to try will be to download the win 64 demo and install it on the computer. Any insite is greatly appreciated!
 

BBond

Diamond Member
Oct 3, 2004
8,363
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0
I experienced a similar problem recently. It was ATI graphic driver related.

Abit IC7-G BIOS 2.6
ATI Radeon 9700 AIW Pro
P4C 2.8 MHz (oc'ed to 3.2MHz)
Two RAID0 arrays (ICH5R, Sil Image controller)
1 GB OCZ Gold PC 3500 DDR
Sony DRU500a 2.1a

When I first installed the ATI AIW 9700 I had problems with graphic driver crashes. I believe the early Catalyst drivers were to blame, along with high VPU temps. Make sure your 9700 Pro is getting plenty of cool air. I installed a side intake fan over the VPU and that worked for me. You might not want to install a side intake fan, so just make sure you clean your VPU fan and RAM sinks frequently. They pick up a lot of dust and that really affects temps.

I recently had a problem with spontaneous reboots when I tried to play a DVD file, edit or burn video. The machine was stable for months and then the problem just came out of nowhere. I believe my Catalyst drivers got hosed somehow, so I updated to Cat. 4.1 suite and the problem disappeared.

You have to be careful how you update your Catalyst drivers.

Donwload the latest Catalyst suite and install following these directions which I found at a site about a year or so ago. I updated them for the Catalyst suite which includes ATI's Catalyst Control Center and for use with ATI's Software Uninstall Utility.

1. Download Driver Cleaner.
2. Uninstall your monitor INFs/drivers. If you have the ATI Software Uninstall Utility in Control Panel use it to uninstall all ATI software then skip to step 6. If you don't use the ATI Software Uninstall Utility on your machine then -
3. Uninstall Hydravision from Add/Remove Programs. Do not reboot.
4. Uninstall ATI Drivers from Add/Remove Programs. Do not reboot.
5. Uninstall ATI Control Panel from Add/Remove Programs.
6. Reboot directly into SAFE MODE.
7. When the Found New Hardware wizard opens click Cancel. If it opens again click Cancel a second time.
8. Go into Device Manager and delete any yellow question marks under Sound, Video and Game Controllers. (Be sure to go to View and check Show Hidden Devices)
9. Run Driver Cleaner.
10. Go to Start/Run, type regedit in the box. Click OK.
11. Go to HKEY_LOCAL MACHINE/Software and delete the ATI Technologies folder. (If you used ATI Software Uninstall Utility the entry may have already been deleted)
12. Go to C:/Program Files and delete any remaining ATI folders. (If you used ATI Software Uninstall Utility the folders may have already been deleted)
13. Disconnect your internet connection by unplugging the modem or network cable.
14. Reboot into Normal Mode.
15. When the Found New Hardware wizard opens click Cancel. If the wizard opens again click Cancel a second time.
16. Go to where you downloaded the new Catalyst suite and install the suite. It will install the Catalyst Control Center etc. along with the drivers.
17. Reboot into Normal Mode again and follow any on-screen instructions to set your screen resolution etc.
18. Reboot one more time to properly engage SMARTGART.
19. Once you've rebooted right click on your desktop, choose Properties/Settings/Advanced. Open the Catalyst Control Center, select the SMARTGART tab, move the slider around then return it to its original position. Click Apply. (This solves the problem some people have had with slow 2D performance)
20. Install Hydravision if you like.
21. Reconnect your internet connection.
22. Reinstall your monitor INFs/drivers.
23. If your board has Intel ICH2 or ICH4 (not ICH5/ICH5R and above) and you're using Intel Application Accelerator, go into Control Panel and uninstall IAA.
24. Reboot and reinstall IAA if you wish.

You should be good to go. I tried following ATI's installation instructions and encountered more problems. This method worked for me. :)

I hope it works for you as well. ;)

 

imported_Stormshadow

Junior Member
Nov 12, 2004
23
0
0
Thanks for the advice Bond, I'm going to try it out. It still wouldn't explain why this was happening when I tried a different video card. It's a very weird problem. I haven't heard of anyone having it. Thanks for the avice and I will try it.

 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
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Notice how BBond nicely breaks up his post into paragraphs so it's easy to read :D ;)

Stormshadow, what brand and model of memory modules do you have, and what voltage did you give them? If it's on AUTO, then that's my prime suspect. As a first recommendation, try 2.7 volts.

Next, what PCI cards (if any) does the computer have? Sometimes it matters which slot they're in.

Lastly, if you have Cool n' Quiet enabled, you might disable it and see what effect that has. I see in the detail notes for the 1008 BIOS they mention solving a stability issue with CnQ. You could update if you thought it might be relevant.

Congrats on building a very nice rig :) I hope it's just looking for a bump in memory voltage here.
 

imported_Stormshadow

Junior Member
Nov 12, 2004
23
0
0
Hey mechBgon that sounds like a really good idea. I do have the settings on AUTO. I didn't think about that one. I will try that as soon as I can. I probably won't be able to until tomorrow. I don't have any PCI cards installed. I don't have any additional devices hooked up to my motherboard because I would first like it to work with stuff that is neccessary, hard drives, ram, dvd drives, and video card. I will try to increase the voltage and get back to you with the results. Thanks for the tip!
 

imported_Stormshadow

Junior Member
Nov 12, 2004
23
0
0
I tried what you sais mechBgon and it worked. My computer hasn't rebooted yet. I was playing Generals, Halo, and the Doom3 Demo. My video card does tend to heat up a lot though. I'm supposed to use 0.8 V when set to the 8x AGP but this motherboard doesn't allow me to go lower than 1.5V. I'm going to purchase a better cooling kit for my video card and see if that helps a little. Thanks again for the great tip. I never thought to do that. I can't believe I didn't snap. THanks again for the tip!!
 

cchg

Junior Member
Nov 15, 2004
22
0
0
i got a problem wiht this crap, it reboots on itself while i am installing stuff...


up to this point i just format my comp, no freezes and blue Screen (hopefully)




Edit:
Well nvm, i freezes again just 2 min after i post the original message.... how sad, F*** i am refunding this P.O.J. This will be the First and Last AMD chip i will ever buy....
 

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
Super Moderator
Aug 22, 2001
30,452
27,165
146
Download and run memtest86+ to determine if it is memory related. You have 2gbs and I presume it is 4 sticks and not 2? If so that is a lot of ram and could be a source of instability. Try removing 2 sticks and see if it is stable that way if memtest turns up errors with all of it installed, set conservative timings too.

I would also disable 8x agp support and fastwrites for troubleshooting purposes and leave the case open with a fan blowing in to eliminate heat issues as the source of the instability.
 

Ryland

Platinum Member
Aug 9, 2001
2,810
13
81
You might want to try a new version of the bios. Beta 1009.002 is on ftp.asuscom.de for that board.