Asrock Dual SATA2 freezes/hangs when loading Windows

[designit]

Originally posted by: designit

Originally posted by: boake
Turning on ssc could render your system unstable. I don't recommend turning it on.

And as you said,, af first I changed to sata2 mode using feature tool, and connected hdd to sata1 controller.
It is possible because t7k250 is backwards compatible.(like other sata2 hdds)
But it warns that it may render drive unstable in the system that doesn't support it.

Actually, my system suddenly rebooted while surfing internet after installing xp.
So, I connected hdd to sata2 controller. Then I changed to ide mode, installed sata2 driver, and changed to sata2 mode.

And it's absolutely stable now.

so your work around did not work after all, and decided to do it the right way.
but you should have changed the bios to sata mode first, and then install sataII driver during fresh winxp installation "F6" option.
did you use "f6" option or did you just install sataII drivers from within window?
within window is not recommended.

I can not understand why not?
Then use the Asrock 939sli-esata "sataII" drivers. It has sataII divers window installation interface and uses the same drivers as this mobo. Just download it, extract it to a folder(make a folder for it) and click on the installation icon. has 2 icons: one is for winxp64, and the other is for winxp.
I have tried it just as an experiment and it works.
If you have 2 hdd, use one in sata1 (black socket), and the other in red socket(SataII). use sata hdd (black socket) non-raid, install winxp. then go to winxp installation process again, only this time install in the other hard drive. you can set bios in sata mode (red plug) if you do it this way. winxp will install temp files in good hdd and then after installing the drivers it will install winxp in desired hdd. just make sure you format the hdd and know which one is sataII.
but the 939sli-esata win installation is easier.

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

I tried the walkaround suggested from Boake. I changed to sataII mode my drive using hitachi feature tool, then i changed controller and plugged-in my HDD to the red controller, in IDE mode. XP started correctly so I installed Jmicron 207 ******-driver....it told me to reboot. I rebooted and changed in bios to SATA mode and STRONG (then I tried with Normal too, with and without PCI-BUSMASTERING, an option that in the past let me load XP, I tried disabling 32 bit mode too) and my XP....froze as in the past. It began to load and then....HD LED alwasy ON for long time, then OFF, then ON again...and the blue bar loading...and stopping, loading and stopping. So I tried to go in bios again and change to IDE mode, but XP was not loading again (very strange..)! So I changed XP to sata1 port and XP loaded again. I've tried sata2 port too..it's the same. If now I connect my hdd on red controller (SATAII) it will not boot in IDE or SATA mode :-( ******! Installing now the previous version of sataII driver is impossible :-(. Anyone has tried the 109 driver? Any luck?

 

[boake]

Originally posted by: Athlon64SSE3
I tried the walkaround suggested from Boake. I changed to sataII mode my drive using hitachi feature tool, then i changed controller and plugged-in my HDD to the red controller, in IDE mode. XP started correctly so I installed Jmicron 207 ******-driver....it told me to reboot. I rebooted and changed in bios to SATA mode and STRONG (then I tried with Normal too, with and without PCI-BUSMASTERING, an option that in the past let me load XP, I tried disabling 32 bit mode too) and my XP....froze as in the past. It began to load and then....HD LED alwasy ON for long time, then OFF, then ON again...and the blue bar loading...and stopping, loading and stopping. So I tried to go in bios again and change to IDE mode, but XP was not loading again (very strange..)! So I changed XP to sata1 port and XP loaded again. I've tried sata2 port too..it's the same. If now I connect my hdd on red controller (SATAII) it will not boot in IDE or SATA mode :-( ******! Installing now the previous version of sataII driver is impossible :-(. Anyone has tried the 109 driver? Any luck?

Did you format C drive and fresh install xp?
I suggest you updating to latest SP2 immeditealy after installing xp in sata1 mode.
That's what I did. Then I switched to sata2 controller.

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

I installed XP from a disk with SP2 integrated. It was my XP installation (a clean installation) that I was using. I can format thousand times and reinstall XP thousand times, but my SATAII controller is not working. SP2 helps XP to "see" hdd larger more then 130 GB (if I remember well..) and I have not problem in doing that with my XP. I can partition my hdd correctly using that cd. But my sataII controller has problems. I think the only thing to get rid of this problem for me is:
a) RMA the board
b) trying the HDD connected on another controller PCI....and watching the system for a week or two....

The only positive thing for the experiment done.....is that I've cleaned all my system and filters and now it's quieter

 

[boake]

I'm sorry to hear that.
But there are several things I wanna add.

1) I installed xp from pata hdd, not from cd.
1) I didnt connect my dvd-rw.
2) I turned off "auto rebooting in unexpected error(I dont know the exact English name for that)" in system property option. If you turn if off, you will see blue screen instead of sudden rebooting.

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

I have not another pata hdd, but I think it's the same. Why you didn't connect your dvd-rw??? I have a dvd-rw a cdr and a cd-rw. In the past I've tried to disconnect all optical devices without fixing anything.
I already turned off that option. Now I don't have sudden rebooting, i can see the BSOD that is "Machine Hardware Check Excpetion error 0x0000009c writing dump file" and then.....even with this option disabled.....it reboots

 

[boake]

Originally posted by: Athlon64SSE3
I have not another pata hdd, but I think it's the same. Why you didn't connect your dvd-rw??? I have a dvd-rw a cdr and a cd-rw. In the past I've tried to disconnect all optical devices without fixing anything.
I already turned off that option. Now I don't have sudden rebooting, i can see the BSOD that is "Machine Hardware Check Excpetion error 0x0000009c writing dump file" and then.....even with this option disabled.....it reboots

It is very strange. We have got a same model: T7k250. But different result. hm.....

ps. I disconnected dvd-rw because of securome7 and starforce3.
Dvd-rw may have nothing with this issue.

 

[cpl366]

 

[cpl366]

Imp,

You asked what kind of error I was getting. I found it this morning (I left it playing mp3 files last night and found the BSOD this morning). Unfortuantely I absent mindedly closed the door to the room the computers are in, and when I opened it this morning had one toasty room (my machine was still up and running fine). Anyway, put the fan back on it and all is fine again.

The error read: Machine Check Exception ..................Stop 0x0000009c (0x0000004, 0x80545FF0, 0xB2000000, 0x00070F0F)

It ends with the "Memory dump" thing.

Anyone know what that error is? I "think" I know how to prevent it, but I would still like to know what the error code is.

 

[boake]

@Athlon64SSE3, qsrk

I found something interesting.
My t7k250 firmware is different from yours.

My firmware: V44OA96A <--- the latest version


ps. I chatted with hitachi technitian about this issue on-line, he said that the workaround I used has no problem.

 

[imported_Imp]

Thanks cpl366 for the error message, was wondering if you had a similar problem to us or completely different. Yep, I think all of us are also getting the 0x0000009c error a lot. From googling, it seems like it's something to do with hardware not answering back to a query or something like that. So it points to a hardware problem, BUT can and will be caused by screwy drivers. Google for more discussion and official MS description...

Interesting SATA connector problem thing qrsk. I wish I gave my system a longer burn in before putting more Ram in. I got cold boot issues before I went into my case after first boot with the "lag" in windows. All of which got progressively worse as time went on. So it could be the SATA connector, but I doubt it. But then again, this board likes to be screwy so it could be anything.

 

[professor1942]

Originally posted by: cpl366
Imp,

You asked what kind of error I was getting. I found it this morning (I left it playing mp3 files last night and found the BSOD this morning). Unfortuantely I absent mindedly closed the door to the room the computers are in, and when I opened it this morning had one toasty room (my machine was still up and running fine). Anyway, put the fan back on it and all is fine again.

The error read: Machine Check Exception ..................Stop 0x0000009c (0x0000004, 0x80545FF0, 0xB2000000, 0x00070F0F)

It ends with the "Memory dump" thing.

Anyone know what that error is? I "think" I know how to prevent it, but I would still like to know what the error code is.

The error is reported by the cpu and is the same error you get from overclocking it too far with too little voltage; however that is not the problem in this case. As I mentioned a few pages ago, I was getting the same thing a lot until I moved my tower to a different spot (off the desk, away from everything else) and it is now 100% stable. I'm sure it's caused by interference from something.

One poster recommended enabling Spread Spectrum, which I didn't try (tired of fighting so I just leave it on the floor now where I know it won't crash).

 

[imported_Imp]

Hmmm... apparently a cold boot problem MAY exist on the ASsRock NF4G-SATA2 board too. Just one report in this forum, but not surprising if it's true. Guess the same team made that board too, or they're sharing parts.

 

[designit]

Originally posted by: Imp
Hmmm... apparently a cold boot problem MAY exist on the ASsRock NF4G-SATA2 board too. Just one report in this forum, but not surprising if it's true. Guess the same team made that board too, or they're sharing parts.

which ear did you pull to come up w/ that brilliant discovery?
You should frame it

 

[imported_Imp]

Well, I pulled up my third ear that grew in a place that will remain a mystery. No, I don't want to frame it, the bling bling attached to it does it for me already. You are hiliarious, don't ever change.

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

boake, so I have an old firmware :-( maybe my hdd is not correctly recognised. I've contacted the shop where I buyed this mobo...I'm considering RMA. But...I will do in the next days a try..I will connect my Hitachi drive to another similar configuration with the same motherboard, with a 3500+ and an AGP Radeon 9800 and a Creative Audigy (same drivers for all). I will connect to his sataII controller....and we will see what happens ). He is having problems too with this mobo...in recognizing ide peripherals..his mobo takes 20 secs to start XP loading..what can it be? :-(

 

[boake]

Let me summarize the methods we've found so far.

1) Switching sata mode (install in sata1 => change to sata2)
2) Relocating case to the floor from the desk.
3) Ventilating and Cooling chips.

We found 3 methods~!!! Way to go~!!!

 

[konsboy]

Hey all, finally chewed through this thread

I have the same setup that Astro described.

the 160 Seagate SATA2 and the DUAL SATA2 Asrock, and I've had nothing but problems with it. I can't boot into windows and copy more than 600 files, that will freeze my PC to the point where I have to unplug the power cable before I can turn it on.

Haven't tried the Sata1 jumper mode on the SATA1 controller, but if that worked for Astro, then it might work for me as well. I guess I can live with only utilizing SATA1 speeds.

Is everything still good Astro?

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

boake can you tell me how to chat with Hitachi support? Because I can't find the link to do that...! I suppose that upgrading my hdd firmware could solve my problem?! I want to try that...before doing rma for my mobo!

 

[boake]

http://www.hitachigst.com/portal/site/e...item.9d9c342d03880f8056fb11f0aac4f0a0/

You can't because it is weekend.
Maybe you need to contact with your local dealer to upgrade firmware.

 

[konsboy]

does your hitachi work on the sata1 controller in the ULI chipset? with or without the jumper forcing sata1

 

[Pessimism]

have any of you folks tried removing the chipset heatsinks and cleaning off the paste, then reapplying with AS5?

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

konsboy, my hitachi is working on sata1 controller but I have BSOD "hardware machine exception" and reboots of XP. I got out for two hours and I found my pc rebooted :-(. My hitachi has not jumpers....there is an utility to set SATA2 or SATA1 mode, but it's the same. Now I'm using it in SATA2 mode on sata1 controller..but it's the same for me...same BSOD. I would try to get, if possible, a firmware upgrade for my hard disk, possibly the same firmware of Boake's drive....it should work. Thanks for the link...boake, I found it but there is not a button to activate the chat...because of the weekend . Maybe monday I will chat or maybe I will call italian support line and ask for the firmware

 

[imported_Imp]

have any of you folks tried removing the chipset heatsinks and cleaning off the paste, then reapplying with AS5?

Don't think that is an issue for most us since I haven't had a problem with an IDE HDD, and everything but the SATA-2 chip is on the South and Northbridges. However, very interesting suggestiong since the SATA2 J-Micron chip has no fan or heatsink. Has anyone ever checked how hot this chip gets? cpl366 got it solved by cooling off the bridges. Anyone have a table fan to blow on the SATA2chip?

 

[qsrk]

I checked the JMicron chip recently and it was just warm, not hot.

Athlon, you should be relatively stable on SATA1 as long as your HDD is not in SATAII mode. I just received updated firmware for my HDD, and will report back once I've tried it.