Albatron PX845PEV-800 HALP!

[mastertech01]

Sheesh, cant find a single thread on this board. I cant get this sukka to install windows, boot windows, etc. It will boot the SCSI CD and as soon as it loads all the drivers and says "Setup is starting Windows 2000" it will shut smooth down. I tried removing each and every device and connector one at a time. No help. Removed the motherboard and setup on a remote stand with video, ram and processor and the boot drives alone, same thing. Changed to PCI video card... same thing. I can format the SCSI hard drive in dos, navigate the bios just fine, and can do so for hours with no problems. But as soon as I try to install anything it shuts down. I even reset to all defaults, then it would shut down as soon as it scanned for system hardware. Processor temp shows 37C in bios.

P4 2.4
Mushkin PC2100 black PCB
Matrox Parhelia, or PCI video card

What the HALE is going on Skipper!

 

[mechBgon]

Hmmm, what if you use an IDE CD-ROM drive, any difference? Hey, welcome to the five-digit club too

 

[mastertech01]

Hi Mech, and thanks..

Well I would have to dig real deep to find one. But now its shutting down randomly at any point during the OS boot up. Im wondering if there may be a heat issue I cant see that occurs so rapidly that at the bios navigation point it is OK but put it thru a little work and hit soars up there or something. This processor hasnt been the coolest running one Ive had since the guy I purchased it from had removed the heat spreader and I had to reinstall it with ASG epoxy. But something is definitely screwy. The motherboard was a review sample so who the hell knows. I thought these Intels would just throttle back when they get hot though, rather than cause a system shut down.

 

[mechBgon]

Hmm, what power supply is that running on? It would also be interesting to hear what happens if you were to try running Setup from the CD-ROM with the hard drive completely unplugged, and see if it got further into the process and then griped about the lack of a HDD.

Another idea: I wonder if it's having an IRQ problem. Lessee here... dasm, Albatron doesn't say what PCI slots share IRQs with what. Well, I'd try a couple things: disable cacheing of system BIOS and video BIOS, set AGP Aperture to 128MB, threaten it with violence (maybe dangle it over the toilet by its ATX cable?), and try the SCSI card in various PCI slots to see what happens. Good luck!

 

[mastertech01]

Ive given a couple of those a shot but you mention some good things to try. Thanks for the ideas and Ill let you know if I managed to scare it into working.. LOL It didnt matter with or without a hdd on either that controller or a separate controller. I can try some other slots but still am miffed why it would shut down spontaneously under any circumstance.

Thanks!

Oh and Im using an Nspire dual redundant 420 watt server PSU, P4 compatible with AUX 12V connector. Thats 420 watts on each of the PSU.

 

[mastertech01]

Well I guess I have my answer now. It kept getting weaker and weaker, couldnt power it up with more than a couple drives attached, then suddenly one of the boards voltage regulators started smoking and glowing red.. Back to the drawing board and a new board at a minimum.

 

[mechBgon]

:Q

 

[mastertech01]

The PSU is fine anyway. Its running my dual Athlon system again with 8 drives. Twas a late night reassembling. Thanks for the help anyway Mech..