Asrock Dual SATA2 freezes/hangs when loading Windows

[imported_Imp]

Getting that from a voltmeter? My POS monitoring values are borderline with the accepted variance percentage. Yours look great if they are 12.2 and 3.4, the 12 rail looks great, 3 looks fine. Hope you solved your problem, need some hope here at the bottom of the box. Meanwhile, scratchy scratchy.

 

[professor1942]

Nope, POS crashed again... last thing to try now is removing SATA and using IDE drive... then it's stomping time.

 

[imported_Imp]

I'll cross my fingers for you hoping an IDE fixes it. Only IDE I have spare is ancient, and hooked up to a perfectly working (booting and stable) system. Anyways, did more research (what else CAN I do anymore?), may have a reason why there's a cold boot problem. Thanks to NCIX forums, it's something about not having enough time for the HD to spin up since with an SATA1 drive, it checks the Ram too fast(took <1s for me). With my drive on SATA2, it takes 5s ish to check Ram, no problem. Now, let's try to explain why it wouldn't boot after a lot of resets, and on reboots. Regardless, piss poor design.
http://forum.ncix.com/forums/index.php?...65&msgcount=19&overclockid=0#msg993450

Don't know if normal or not, but just booted this POS getting back from work, took like 20s for it to even start POSTing after pressing power. HD LED was stuck on, optical is still disconnected, but it booted, and hasn't crashed yet. And if you stomp it, can you write my name on your boot first.

 

[professor1942]

I'll post pictures, be sure.

And on second thought... why the hell should I be bothered to try an old IDE drive in it - if SATA doesn't work I don't want the board anyway.

 

[AustroBerrichon]

Hi guys,

Here is my report about my IDE HDD attempt:

I boot now on an (old) IDE drive (as master) and uses the SATAII as slave (even thouh I didn't set any jumper for that one). Actually it worked easier than I expected. I plugged the SATAII HDD on the SATAII connector and WINXP detected it immediately even though I didn't install any SATAII ASRock driver on the new WinXP install.
As carstea expected the freezing didn't show up until yet.
Well, that's perhaps pure luck since the SATAII drive is not accessed as often now as the (new) master (old) IDE HDD. ;-)
Still I will run the system that way for at least one more week and see what happens.

Beside that IDE attempt I tried to put the SATAII HDD on a SATA connector but that didn't work at all for me, I could not even boot.

I also tested during 2 hours my RAM with Goldmemory but no problem reported here.
Also no problem from the SATAII HDD itself (tested with Seatools+WinXP chckdsk), so I will start to look for another mobo (any advise here?) since I refuse to buy a new IDE HDD to work with this POS. I already wasted tooooo much time with that crap.
Like Imp did I will also write a complaint to ASRock. That the first time in my life I get such much problems with a mobo and it is NOT the first PC I put togother.

 

[AustroBerrichon]

Hi guys,

Here is my report about my IDE HDD attempt:

I boot now on an (old) IDE drive (as master) and uses the SATAII as slave (even thouh I didn't set any jumper for that one). Actually it worked easier than I expected. I plugged the SATAII HDD on the SATAII connector and WINXP detected it immediately even though I didn't install any SATAII ASRock driver on the new WinXP install.
As carstea expected the freezing didn't show up until yet.
Well, that's perhaps pure luck since the SATAII drive is not accessed as often now as the (new) master (old) IDE HDD. ;-)
Still I will run the system that way for at least one more week and see what happens.

Beside that IDE attempt I tried to put the SATAII HDD on a SATA connector but that didn't work at all for me, I could not even boot.

I also tested during 2 hours my RAM with Goldmemory but no problem reported here.
Also no problem from the SATAII HDD itself (tested with Seatools+WinXP chckdsk), so I will start to look for another mobo (any advise here?) since I refuse to buy a new IDE HDD to work with this POS. I already wasted tooooo much time with that crap.
Like Imp did I will also write a complaint to ASRock. That the first time in my life I get such much problems with a mobo and it is NOT the first PC I put togother.

 

[qsrk]

Austro, are you running the SATAII drive in IDE mode or SATA mode? Did you remember to slow down the SATAII drive before attaching it to a SATAI port? Were SATAI ports enabled in BIOS? Just making sure because I still have to do a fresh install on my new SATAII HDD.

 

[AustroBerrichon]

@qsrk: the SATAII drive is running currently in IDE mode but to my experience the mode didn't change anything regarding the (in)stability. I didn't forget to enable the SATAI ports in the BIOS but I didn't slow down the SATAII drive. How do you do that actually?

 

[qsrk]

Austro, if everything is running fine with SATA mode without SATAII drivers, that's good news. It's just that I've seen four references to the stability of running in IDE mode: 1) Personal experience - my first Windows install was in IDE mode, and I never had freezing problems, but I did get some BSOD that were sometimes related to the SATAII driver. 2) Tech support told me that they prefer to build new systems with IDE mode since it tends to be more reliable than SATA mode. 3) Grooge referred to the stability of Microsoft's IDE drivers 4) A guy on the NCIX link that Imp posted also referred to stability of Microsoft IDE drivers, although he may have read Grooge's comments first.

SATAII can be slowed to SATAI speeds using jumpers on most drives, and using the Hitachi Feature Tool on Hitachi drives. Without slowing down, you may get a BSOD during boot up.

 

[AustroBerrichon]

Thanx qrsk for the details.
I bought my SATAII HDD in bulk so I didn't get any manual nor tools.
For the ones interested I found how to set a jumper for slowing my SATAII Seagate HDD down:
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/faq/sata_lock.html

I gonna a give a try this evening.

 

[imported_Imp]

Good to hear Austro, sadly I will probably buy an IDE drive and pawn my SATA off to someone. I DON'T want to spend so much replacing this POS as much of a pain(plague) it has been. It's $60 minus what I can get as opposed to $400 so done deal there. Although the $200 for video is inevitable (Oblivion), and why would I want this POS if it can't use any type of SATA. Then again, I can just get an REALLY small IDE just for booting/system files. I NEVER had BSOD problems on the SATA channels, only boot. Speaking of which, SATAII channel is crap afterall, my drive is set to IDE mode.

Also, right again Carstea, not my DVD (though it IS busted, and I'm taking it to the store later today); it just BSOD'd twice and auto-restarted d once.

By the way, do you think I could sell this POS off? I mean the defects are by design, it is not defective afterall. That and demand is pretty high.

@Austro: Tips for your complaint (or things I forgot to mention in my pissed off rage):
- tell them you DID update your BIOS.
- tell them you aren't dense, and did plug the right wires in.
- don't use any sentences that contain two words starting with F and Y one after the other.
- also tell them you'll spread the word and preach.

 

[AustroBerrichon]

I can't even sell that POS (or maybe I can try for a couple of beers) since I had to bend some of the rips of the heat sink near the processor socket (GREAT design) in order to be able to mount the processor heat sink...
If it works with the HDD connected to the SATAI controller I will keep the system like it is but I won't be happy with a system booting on an IDE HDD because in the first place I purchased (like all of us) a SATAII HDD in order to have a fast HDD...

@Imp: thanx for the advises, do you think writing F**K would still be ok?
I guess you can sell this POS off and mention that you do so because it simply doesn't work with your SATAII drive. If the buyer plans on using that pos with an IDE HDD there should be no problem.

 

[imported_Imp]

I actually have an SATAI (one) hard drive, I only put it on the SATAII channel because it stopped booting on the "ones". Writing F*** would be VERY healthy, just hide it in the middle or at the end in case they dismiss your letter as "improper." I recall using the phrases "wasted my time" a lot. Don't forget to say you want 2 months of your life back.

Yep, great design huh? I had to disfigure my PSU 24-pin plug thanks to their great placement of a capacitor beside it. Also, great placement of all plugs overall you incompetent mofos.

I'm about to head out to exchange my drive, seriously considering picking up an IDE drive too then putting my SATA as a slave. If I gotta spend $400, what's $60-ish and two months of my life wasted worth...

 

[qsrk]

You needed a 24-pin to 20-pin adapter to plug into the 20-pin socket. 24-pin sockets provide more power to the motherboard, and I think that they are part of the latest ATX spec, which means this board should have had 24-pins. Anyway, the adapter costs ~$5.

 

[imported_Imp]

Actually, my PSU has 20 + 4 pins, so it's 24 with the 4 removable. The clip that attaches both of them was knocking over a crappily place capacitor RIGHT beside the power socket on the board. Had to cut the thing off so it wouldn't twist anything off. Again, this board is the epiphany of craptasia.

 

[Spatulator]

Before you guys go buying new hard drives check this out
http://cgi.ebay.com/2530-SATA2-Serial-A...categoryZ74941QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

 

[qsrk]

Definitely an option, but is that a good brand? After dealing with this motherboard, I'd want to make sure that I am going to get solid drivers with the SATAII controller, and that the controller offers equivalent or increased performance vs. the on-board controllers.

 

[Spatulator]

I have the siig version of that card. Its not raid but its the same card, different bios. The sil 3132 is a pretty cool sata II controller. You can even get a siig port splitter in the future and run a raid5 array on that card. I am using mine with 2 sata I drives in a windows dynamic raid volume. Works great, faster transfer speed than my old promise sata controller. If you have this installed in the pcie x1 slot on the asrock board you wont be able to use a pcie graphics card if it has a huge double slot cooler. My x800gto fits fine though.

There isnt much at all to these controllers so I wouldnt worry about the brand, its got a good chipset.

 

[imported_Imp]

I've considered getting an SATA controller card before, but I the only ones in my area are about $50+ so that's another hard drive right there. Also, just came back from store, mofos are only RMAing the thing for me, so 6-8 weeks. Will probably be sooner, but I guess I'll just leach my 5 years and running working DVD drive off my old system; boy do I miss that thing's stability, as old and a POS that thing was.

Almost bought an IDE drive just now, but saw the 2MB cache and checking it out now. How important is cache to a hard drive?...

 

[grooge]

Originally posted by: Imp
Actually, my PSU has 20 + 4 pins, so it's 24 with the 4 removable. The clip that attaches both of them was knocking over a crappily place capacitor RIGHT beside the power socket on the board. Had to cut the thing off so it wouldn't twist anything off. Again, this board is the epiphany of craptasia.

what?? you're not using the 4 pins that clip to the main power in the 4 pins connector, arent you???

You need then ATX 12v wire, it has yellow and black connector!!!

 

[imported_Imp]

what?? you're not using the 4 pins that clip to the main power in the 4 pins connector, arent you???

Wow, I'm not that retarded... Ok, to settle the issue, I have my power plugs properly plugged into the POS properly so that the sun will never shine in those sockets again.

Anyways, interesting update. I splurged and bought a Western Digital IDE HD(wanted Seagate, but 80Gb only had 2mb cache) and some *ss of a rounded cable. Had to strip the pull cover things (they took up more space than a ribbon cable, and actually bent the wires, also the store I got it from sucks), hope the electro something interference doesn't create any errors. There goes $70 (my speaker money, goodbye Z-2300). Had to mount the drives ontop of each other too (tried leaving 1 space between, but they got in the way of cables, hope it doesn't overheat). ~Why did I go cheap on case, why did I get a mini tower?). Also, my craptastic Lite-on drive (shoulda listened to those negative reviews) was a POS, and will take 6-8 weeks (according to store) to RMA it. Meanwhile, using my tried and tested 5 year and running Hitachi (why does no one sell Hitachi nearby?). Also, I put the SATA drive back on the SATA1(150) channel from the SATAII(300). It is now my back-up.

I installed the drive initially and moved the jumper from default to master. However, on first boot up, after 3 hours of actually putting the two drives back in, it wouldn't recognize the new drive. I soiled myself. Then I put the jumper back to defauly, la di da, Windows installed properly for the 4th time? Things I have noticed:
- booting from CD is WAY faster, barely any waiting from POST to "Inspecting hardware..."
- XP boot is WAY faster, only about 4 passes of blue line. Use to take 5+ and like 15 when the *hit hit the fan.
- Don't notice much of a difference in speed in terms of loading.
- I now have 4 partitions.
- No problem recognizing SATA so far.
- Initial boot/reboot, there's a longer period between *click* sound of reset and POST.
- Ram is being checked way faster now.
- My bezel looks like *ss. Great contrast of cream DVD with black case.
- The neighbours are hearing "colourful" language less, particularly those starting with M, F and S.

So far so good. No crashing yet (how many times have I said this..search "fixed" in this thread). If **it hits the fan again, I'll just tear out the SATA.

 

[qsrk]

I have a Lite-on DVD rom drive as well. It makes a quiet grinding type noise during boot, so I hope it's not dying. It's the SOHD-16P9SV that seemed to get the best reviews out there, if it matters. Someone should compile all of our hardware specs and settings and find the common elements to our problems.

 

[imported_Imp]

About your drive, it may just be vibration. Mines started doing that during boot, and when it was spinning slow/accelerating. Tightened the mounting screws a bit, went away. Probably doesn't matter though.

 

[professor1942]

Originally posted by: Imp
- My bezel looks like *ss. Great contrast of cream DVD with black case.

Well if you've got $6 left, go down to Home Depot and get Rustoleum "For Plastic" black spray paint, slide the bezel off and give it two light coats a few minutes apart, let dry overnight and put it back on. Worked beautifully for mine

 

[AustroBerrichon]

Yesterday evening after slowing down the SATAII HDD to SATAI speed I plugged it to a SATAI connector. Everything went fine and UNTIL NOW no freezing to report...
But how often did we think we got rid of the damn' freezings and then notice that they suddenly re-appear (especially for me when I decide to pack everything and close my case)?