Abit Kt7a raid - boot and usb problems - Who knows the answer? Everybody with cold boot? Come on let's get to a solution!!!!!

[anza]

I bought a usb modem ( creative modem blaster ) and was trying to install it, everything was going fine, so when i first connected to internet after a few seconds the mouse starts to slow down until it stops and the connection drops and my sistem freezes so I had to restart the system. I am using the latest 4 - 1 driver and usb filter.

I tried to isolate the problem, despite there was no visible incompatibility in windows device manager, so I changed the sound card from slot 4 to 3. Nothing changed.
So I tried almost all slots and nothing.

I was going crazy cause the system works flawlessly until the modem starts to change data.
I updated all my windows 98 files and my internet explorer from 4 to 5, but the problem remains there.(I updated my modem's drivers also)

I realize that, sometimes when i disabled the sound card live device(live platinum 5.1) the modem works without problems, so I insisted in changing IRQS, but with no sucess at all.

When I was thinking I've tried every thing ,I made one last shot. I changed some other settings in my bios (I've already changed other things). I changed the multiplier and fsb from 9*133 to 12*100 and,for my surprise, the system works perfectly.

My cpu was not overcloked an I'm using global win FOP 38 fan. My power supllier has 400w. I have 2 IBM's 75gxp hd(46gb)no raid. I am only using a creative geforce gts 64m on agp 4x, and creative platinum 5.1 on slot 3, and the creative modem in usb. My system has 256m of mushkim rev 2 memory 2.2.2. So I think the 9*133 combination must work well. Am I wrong?

So, now I have a new problem, the boot one. When I left the system off for more then 30 minutes when turn it on I hear some beeps and don't get any video signal, then I press the reset and the system boots fine. I've already cleaned the cmos, and read the kt7 faq but this problem is still there.

What should I do? I like this board very much, but...

Ps:Sorry about the english

 

[Homebrew]

Welcome to the club. Quite a few people having USB problems with the KT7a.

I have a USB modem and mouse and experienced the same lockups/freezes as you describe. Tweaked with the setup for 3 weeks and finally got it somewhat stable. First of all do NOT install the 98se USB microsoft fix and Via USB filter fix. I also did not install any Via 4 in 1's except the AGP. After doing all this things were much better but still locked up once in awhile.

Finally went out a bought a USB PCI card (mainly to troubleshoot) and the problems are eliminated. Shouldn't have had to do this but $30 is worth the time and hassle saved.

 

[anza]

Well as far as I tried my new bios setup (12x100) I did not have anymore problem with the modem, but I indeed prefer to use the 9x133.
What is really annoying me right now is this boot problem.
Any advice will be very appreciated.

 

[anza]

Please, I really need some expert's advise

 

[Homebrew]

Others with your exact boot problem say that setting the bios CPU operating speed to "user defined" fixes that issue. Hope that works.

Yes your system should do 133 fine. Mine is 140x8.5 but like I said the freezes and lockups were only fixed by replacing the USB. Bought this board to do 133+ and was determined to get that so never tried the default 100 FSB for the USB fix you experienced..interesting.

 

[anza]

I think that 12x100 is user defined, but I will check anyway.
BTW how much performance am i losing? I didn't change anything else in the bios, so my memory is supposed to be a 133 ; am I losing something? The fsb just determines the processor velocity or the main ram also?

PS: The strange thing is that after i do the boot, i can restart the computer anytime without problems and even turn off the computer and a few minutes after (maybe less then 30 minutes)turn on and everything is right

PS2(NOT THAT ONE): Thanks for the help.

 

[nippyjun]

does this problem occur with windows millenium?

 

[TRD]

hey there!

I have had nothing BUTU USB problems with the KT7A RAID.... my printer always loses connection after a bit of being idle and I have to reboot to get it back... there is no excuse for it and it seems to be a bug.

As well, these problems occur with Win ME as well.

As for the loss in performance by clocking at 100 vs 133? Well you are clocking 33% faster when you move up to 133 so yes there is a differencr in overall CPU performance. Maybe 10-15% overall as the higher clockrate also pushes you PCI and AGP clocks higher as well. If you are running 100FSB tho be sure to set the memory under USER DEFINE to HOST+PCI in order to push the ram to PC133.

 

[moonkat]

Guys,
Check out Paul's KT7 site. I solved my USB problems with his "Why don't my USB devices work?" and other FAQs.
Linked through apushardware.com..........................
http://www.apushardware.com/faqs/kt7faq/kt7faq.htm

 

[quirionz]

Your boot problem is well known among owners of a KT133 board. Look at the thread labeled

MSI K7T-Pro2-a spontaneously refuses to boot

and you'll get more info.

 

[anza]

Well, I don't know what to think about this "cold boot"; reading Paul's kt7 unofficial faq, in this specific problem, was of no use for me.
Yesterday I reinstalled all my cards after reset the cmos, the proble remains always that annoying beeeeeep beep beep, indicating that video card is not being detected. The card looks correctly connected for me, but I tried it without the screw anyway, just for nothing.
Can this be a problem with my creative geforce 2 gts 64m video card, cause before I use to have a Criative Geforce Pro 256 DDR working perfectly ( 6.34 driver )

Any others suggestions will be welcome.

PS:I was thinking to buy usb- usb hub with the external power supplier. Do you think this could be of some use to go back to the 9x133 multplier-fsb setting? ( I really don't want to use the pci hub)

 

[anza]

Here I am again, begging for some HELP!

PLEASE

 

[Technonut]

I have never had any of these issues with a bunch of KT7's and now a KT7AR. I use the one on board USB port for my SupraExpress modem, and have a powered hub with 2 USB/1 serial, and one printer port on it in the 2nd onboard port. I have a scanner, printer, and digital camera on the hub.

The only thing that I do different than a lot of people on any VIA chipset system I build, is to only install the AGP driver in Turbo mode in 98SE & 2000, and NONE of the other 4 in 1's. I have done it this way with any type mobo with a VIA chipset, and the many systems I have configured that way have never given me USB or cold boot problems, and have been the most stable, best performing systems I have built. I would give it a try with a clean install, and start out with only the drives and video card to load Windows. Right after that, DX7A or DX8, reboot. Then the VIA AGP driver in Turbo mode, reboot. Install video card drivers, reboot. Install your soundcard/drivers, reboot (go into device manager right after that and disable Creative SB16 Emulation under Creative Devices) reboot. Plug in and install your USB modem, reboot. Add your other cards one at a time, rebooting, and checking for any conflicts each time.

EDIT: on the ABIT KT7's & KT7AR, I have always found PCI slot 3 to work best when installing a SoundBlaster Live.

This is a proven method that has always worked well for me. While others may disagree, it has not failed me yet, after many systems built for customers, and myself. I also use good quality power supplies such as the Enermax.

 

[anza]

I know it's a silly, but how do I do a clean install of windows I mean step by step.
Do I need to format my Hd?
What drivers should I install? Where are they?

It's curious , I've made a lot of things in my computers, but never a clean install of windows.

 

[billyjak]

Make a sytem boot disk, format your hard drive with format C:/s to copy system files.
Boot off the floppy, let it load the CD Rom driver support and type setup.
Windows will ask you for a previous Win version, if you have win 95 or win 98 put it in, it also works with the old win 3.1 on disk 1, after it recognizes the disk put your WIN 98 CD Rom back in and install.

 

[anza]

Well, just for information:

How a clean install of windows may help me with the cold boot question?

I mean, the problem appears before loading windows. Am I wrong?

 

[Tummy]

Hey, I have the exact same problem on my Epox 8kta3 dude.. it really sucks, it's super annoying to me, too. I haven't solved the problem and have been trying for awhile - in fact, I've tried everything i could think of and in fact have just ordered a kt7a 'cause i thought it was my mobo!! I'll be darned if it's not... hmm...

ps i have a cl geforce 2 regular

 

[Mustanggt]

I am having 0 trouble with usb or boot with my KT7A Raid. One thing I noticed with any trouble I did run into with my KT7A was that the fixes were my fault or the OS fault and not the mobo. Step away for a little bit and the fix might come to you as a simple solution.

 

[drjefft]

The problem may well be Windows use of ACPI power management. ACPI can appear to have a performance hit if too many peripherals are forced to share just ONE IRQ. One user, running Windows 2000 on an ABIT KA7, had six devices sharing IRQ 7 - including his video and network interface card. After disabling ACPI in the BIOS and reinstalling Windows 2000, his Quake III frame-rate increased from 55 fps to 135 fps (in low res) and from 65 to 87 fps at 1024x768! This may be an extreme example - video cards tend to need their own IRQ (hence the "reserve IRQ for VGA" option in the BIOS) - but it does illustrate the point.
My advice would be to leave ACPI enabled if possible, but if you have unacceptable IRQ sharing, resulting in instability or a performance hit, disable it. Note that disabling ACPI can cause a CPU temperature increase, but that disabling "Enhance Chip Performance" in SoftMenuIII of the BIOS can resolve this.

Note that some people have found that disabling ACPI (in the BIOS if supported, else when installing Windows) can solve many intractable hardware problems. It is worth trying when all else fails.
To prevent Windows98 from enabling ACPI when you install it, you can install using the command "setup /p i".
To prevent Windows 2000 from enabling ACPI when you install it, you can hit F7 at the point in the installation process where it asks you to hit F6 to install SCSI drivers.

 

[DaddyG]

I bigger 400 watt PS has solved this problem for some users. I think that at cold boot power on, the transient load on the PS is greatest. Some Power Supplies take longer to establish stable voltage and this may be causing the problems.

 

[Ermel]

Hi!

I have exactly the same problem with the PC not booting up properly after it has been turned off for more than an hour (roughly). When I switch the power on all the fans starts up, and there are three beeps: One long, and after that two short ones. -"Beeeeeep-beep-beep..."

After that nothing happens. There appears to be no videosignal to the monitor, because it stays in Stand-by mode. The HDD-indicator is lit, but the HDD doesn't do anything...

When this occurs I just push the reset button, and the PC boots up properly.

I've read that this problem can be solved by slightly adjusting the I/O voltage up to 3.4 volts, and/or adjusting the AGP Driving Strength to EA or FF in the Advanced Chipset Features in the BIOS.

It has also been reported that flashing to the 2.14 BIOS available on the Asus web site (ftp page) solves the problem.

I've checked my BIOS and found that my I/O voltage already is 3.40 volts.
As for adjusting AGP Driving Strength to EA or FF, I do not really know what they mean.
Anybody who does?

Come on and let us solve this problem! It bugs me day and night. Can't get my beauty sleep until my PC is okay...