Asrock Dual SATA2 freezes/hangs when loading Windows

[designit]

Well, I hate too see people having problems w/ their investment, and hate too see this good mobo not working properly for some.
I guess we will never know the cause of problems if not willing to go the distance and re-install winxp. A fresh install w/ the guide in the link I posted, and the suggested settings (link provided), there are many many happy campers @ Ocforum, specially those who had similar issues as some of you have here.
Instead of thanking me for trying to help, Do what others did (@ ocforum), and follow the instruction in those 2 links. If by any chance still having problems, then you may need to do vcore and vdimm mods, and change the bios to 04xx (product of a German forum). If none works, then you have a bad mobo, HDD, or bios flash.
The problem I see has very simple solution. You either install winxp in Sata mode or IDE.
And stay w/ what you installed. Your OS will be unstable or corrupted if you installed winxp in sata mode and now using IDE, or vice versa.
Your ram could be another problem here. you may need more vdimm. Probably you installed winxp w/ lower vdimm voltage than your ram needs and OS was not installed properly.
If you are not doing any voltmods, at least set the vdimm on high, and don?t overclock beyond 20%. And make sure your Rams require less than 2.7v vdimm.

Edit: Also make sure your HDD is getting proper voltage(s). look @ the spec, some SATA HDD require 12v,5v,and 3v rails. Some only 12v and 5v rails. and make sure your SATA ATX is providing the right rails (all 3 or just 2, per HDD spec.)

 

[imported_Imp]

designit, it's great and really appreciated that you're trying to help, but your suggestions are pretty much the most basic things that most of us have tried. I screwed around with this board for two months, going into my case every other day just trying to get it to boot again. I can say with some confidence that the problem is with the board as it is so widespread and so common(more than other boards I've seen) that people running SATA drives can't even boot. I have reinstalled windows (clean and repair and system restore) about 5 times. The only thing that worked was me ripping the SATA drive out, which works perfectly in another system.

@Athlon64SSE3: If you are tired of messing around, and don't want to trash the board, your options are probably to either get an IDE HDD (bad idea if you need a big drive) or just get a PCI SATA controller. Go back to the first few pages, I linked a forum POST at NCIX about someone who got it working by using an SATA PCI card. However, I have never used one before and have no idea what brands are good or bad. Check around.

@vatoman: Looks like the problem is the SATA drive for you. However, you have TWO IDE HDDs which is really good for you. When I first hooked up by IDE, I still had the SATA HDD connected, and it still kept BSODing. Once I completely unhooked and uninstalled the SATA HDD from the system, I haven't BSOD'd ONCE in almost two weeks coming up on Monday. So try to just run without the SATA, see if the problem goes away. By the way, if you were using an old IDE HDD at first without reinstalling windows, that was probably the problem, and not the drive.

 

[carstea]

Hi there. Here's the latest update. one week with no freezing at all. here's what i did this past week.

at the end of last week my windows crapped. it couldn't boot because it didn't find some file. i tried a windows repair but with no luck. i then wanted to reinstall windows on the same partition without formating, i didnt want to loose some data. I deleted the windows folder as i was asked to and then it said the computer would restart. bam the computer restarts and goes to windows no problem. i then thought as a last alternative to move the sataII drive to the sata1 controller to see what it happens (wanted to do this before replacing the board).

guess what, no more freezing at windows starting up, no more problemes recognizing the drive, etc you know the deal.

hope this is it.

@Imp i think you have the biggest problem here of us all. i mean we pretty much succeeded in getting past this problem in a way or another. (at least i hope i have), but you haven't yet. im sure you tried anything, all i can say is try to replace the board as a last option.

 

[qsrk]

carstea, good to hear you are running stable now, and I noticed that you remembered your password. I ran stable on SATA1 for two weeks as well, except for the cold boot problem.

Anyway, I had 4 more freezes today, even with the new SATA cable. I'm going to speak with tech support and then maybe reinstall Windows, just to make designit happy. Why do freezes start after several days? Why do they become more frequent by the day? Why do they often re-occur after a hard reset?

 

[designit]

Originally posted by: qsrk
carstea, good to hear you are running stable now, and I noticed that you remembered your password. I ran stable on SATA1 for two weeks as well, except for the cold boot problem.

Anyway, I had 4 more freezes today, even with the new SATA cable. I'm going to speak with tech support and then maybe reinstall Windows, just to make designit happy. Why do freezes start after several days? Why do they become more frequent by the day? Why do they often re-occur after a hard reset?

do a fresh install on a formatted HDD (follow the instruction on the link I provided). And then set the page file in another partition. use 512K min and 2048k max.
It is a good idea to have several partitions. one just for OS, one for programs, one for your files, and a 5-10 gig reserve, that can put the page files there. put temp files on this small partition too. If you decided to move the page files into a small partition, make sure you assign zero(0) page files to the partition OS is installed.
You need about 60-80 gig of HDD to partition. 5-10 gig for OS, 25 gig for programs, 5-10 gig for page files and temp files, 20 gig personal files, and another extra partition incase you decide to install winxp64, or win2k/98 etc. This way your HDD will be optimized for OS, page files, temp files, and your personal files is always saved.
partition the way best suites you. but always have OS independent, and a small segment for page files. page files work like rams and is your extra memory incase you ran out. but if your hard drive is so scattered and oversized, the page files will be lost in the shuffle and OS will become slow as time passes. Oh here another good reason for a freash install- The registry will be clean. Everytime you install and remove a program, there is a trace left in regitry. and sometimes create conflicts. anti virus programs, or internet browsers (of different software) are very bad in creating conflict because of occupying same area of registry. win will either hang, or freez. So many possibilties here why freez, or why freez at the end of the day. a fresh install and partitioning the way I described will at least eleminate software causes.
Good luck and you have homework to do now.
if need help setting up your hard drive the way I described, let me know.

 

[designit]

Imp,
I am sorry that things are not working right for you.
Having said that, You will not persuade me or anyone, that this is a bad motherboard and continue your negativism. Of course every mobo has a few duds and every mobo has a few users just not happy.
But none of that will prove anything. If this mobo works great for some and not so great for few, I do not necessarily come to conclusion that the board is a piece of junk. It is not, and I have produced better results w/ this board than any top $ boards, as far as performance and overclocking is concerned.
But in any event, I feel bad for you and hope you find a way out. RMA or another mobo brand may be last resort.
Good luck to you.

 

[imported_Imp]

Am I that bad at communicating? Here I go again.

- I have FIXED my PROBLEM by using a NEW IDE HDD. It has been running PERFECT for the past TWO WEEKS (2 on Monday).

- In other words, it WORKS FINE FOR ME now.

- I NO LONGER CRASH. It has not crashed or even hiccupped in almost two weeks.

- I HAVE NO PROBLEM BOOTING.

- I am now somewhat satisfied, yet still annoyed.

- It is working now.

***I can't think of any more ways to say it, please please understand one of them. Why am I still here? Because I fixed my problem, and spent so long working on it that I may be able to help others with the issue.

@designit: I totally understand that people are getting it to work, and that you are a satisfied customer. You have no problem and I envy that(going to *ell for that). I know lots of people are getting it to work with mad 1337 overclocks, but you have to admit that this board isn't the great piece of bread you consider it to be. The "cold boot problem" alone isn't just a dud; it is so common that it has to be by design as seen in MANY hardware publication reviews, just go read OCworkbench and the TWO huge ASRock threads. Are we forgetting the 1T issue with Ram too? Yes, people can run at 1T, but MANY can't; do they just all have crappy Ram? And yes, I admitted a few pages back that I am obviously biased and negative. I am really not trying to pursuade anyone as you can believe whatever you want, I'm just telling them what I went through with many others, and that they should consider the risk. You would be too if you spent 2 months straight missing sleep and skipping study time just to get something you spent nearly a grand of your OWN money on to boot. I specifically chose this board after a month of research before purchase hearing the praise while seeing some people with problems. I still bought it, and thought that they were just unlucky like what you are doing.

Having said that, my bias is not without merit. In two months, I've been to over 5 message boards with many people having the exact problem. Bad batch? Who knows? I admit I haven't read threads about other popular boards, but you can't tell me that so many people having nearly the exact same symptoms, but with different configurations except the board, is just a coincidence. I know that DFI boards are great, but they are plagued with problems for SOME (Seasonic PSUs being incompatible?). Keep in mind that just because it works for you, it doesn't mean that it works for everyone. It's the same thing with software, it works on some systems, but crashes or doesn't even start for others. Just check out Battlefield 2; it works, but obviously has screwy programming by design which causes a lot of BSODing. Same goes for different Windows versions. I ran with ME for 5 years with no problem(never even reinstalled once), yet I hear others saying it sucks and is unstable with bad drivers and such. So I guess I should have started telling them that they have bad luck, it works for me, and they should reinstall or their cables are just defective? If it's screwy again, reinstall more? They have defective _____?

So, nothing personal, but there is way too much supporting evidence to maybe not conclude, but at least strongly suspect that there are problems with this board. Just want you to be open to the possibility that this board MAY have problems. Don't be pursuaded or swayed by my "negativism," just be open to the fact that all of us being screwed over aren't just not installing windows right.

Why am I writing essays?....

 

[imported_Imp]

@qrsk: Sorry to hear that, it's why I set the 1 week mark the holy grail. Never broke it until now with not even a problem booting or crashing. Seriously though, what is with the degradation of stability over time? I tack this question on too: Why does it not work after 30 resets, but works after leaving it off about 15 minutes? If you get tired, start looking into getting a PCI SATA controller.

 

[mhahnheuser]

:beer: You might need to check with your HDD manufacturer about specific jumper placement for your HDD. There are some slight incompatabilities between HDD's mobos and SATA 2 connectors.

 

[carstea]

i have 1.00 rev mb. this is the first one they made? no wonder it's so messy. I'm just waiting to freeze again on the sata1 controller. cause if it does im through with it.

 

[boake]

hdtach result

I installed XP in sata1 mode.
And after that, I switched to sata2 mode, and installed sata2 driver.
I have had no single problem ever since.

 

[qsrk]

There appear to be three methods to get reliable SATAII installations:

1. The straightforward method described in the link provided by designit. I followed this method before, except I installed SATAII drivers downloaded from ASRock's website, not the CD. Maybe the drivers on the CD are more reliable.

2. The method described by boake. I saw this described in another forum as well, except the user let Windows find and use a Microsoft driver, not JMicron.

3. Install on the SATAII port in IDE mode and install SATAII drivers in XP. Later change the BIOS to SATA mode. This worked for many people in other forums.

So which method do I try with my next installation of Windows? The computer has become unstable except possibly in safe mode. Can't run for more than an hour before freezing up otherwise!

 

[boake]

I recommend second method.

 

[crabbyman]

Qsrk,

Can't be number 1. That's exactly what I did and I am having problems.

also..technically if number 3 is right..wouldnt just changing the drive to IDE mode fix the problem? If so..it doesn't work on mine.

 

[carstea2]

3rd method didn't work for me as well. 1st one didn't work either. i am now running as you know my sataII HD in sata1 controller(moved it from sataII port where i had the sataII drivers installed, now on sata1 port i let win get the drivers for the drive, no problems since after two weeks)

 

[imported_Imp]

Really disconcerting that you guys with SATAII could just plug your HDD into the SATAI channel to work. I tried the opposite and the only thing that did was give me your SATAII problems on my SATAI HDD. Oh well, made it to two weeks on IDE so I'm as satisfied as can be for now. Now if only Lite-On would sent me a black bezel, I could finally put my case back together...

 

[boake]

Does Assrock know about SATA2 issue?
Has there ever been any comment about this issue from Assrock before?

 

[qsrk]

Originally posted by: crabbyman
Qsrk,

Can't be number 1. That's exactly what I did and I am having problems.

also..technically if number 3 is right..wouldnt just changing the drive to IDE mode fix the problem? If so..it doesn't work on mine.

Maybe IDE mode guarantees an error-free install (good foundation), after which you can use the less stable SATAII mode & drivers.

boake, just to clarify by sata1 mode, do you mean using one of the black SATA-I connectors, and later switching to the red SATAII connector?

 

[boake]

Yes. At first I connected my hdd to the black sata1 connector. (But my hdd was in sata2 mode <= Hitachi T7k250 has no jumper, I changed to sata2 using hitachi feature tool because it was in sata1 mode by default)
And installed XP without any driver cause XP automatically handled it.
But, in fact, after installation, it rebooted suddenly while doing internet.
So, I switched my hdd to red sata2 connector.
But I couldn't even load XP.
SO, I changed to SATA2 ide operation mode in CMOS. At this time, I could load XP.
As soon as loading up XP, I installed sata2 driver(jmicron 207).
Then changed to SATA2 sata operation mode in CMOS.
And I haven't met any problem ever since.

ps. But I don't know why it rebooted suddenly. I just suppose that it is becaue I conneceted sata2 hdd to sata1 connector. I think there will be a specific walkaround for every sata2 hdds.

 

[qsrk]

I tried installing using Method 1 (the official way) using SATAII drivers from the CD, but the computer froze while copying setup files! This is on the blue screen with grey letters that reads "Please wait while Setup copies files to the Windows installation folders. This might take several minutes to complete." In the box below that, where it reads "Setup is copying files...", progress froze at 0% !!!

One question: When providing the Jmicron SATAII drivers, there is a choice between 32bit and 64bit drivers. I assume that applies to the type of OS, not the type of CPU - is that correct? I am installing normal 32-bit Windows XP Pro, but with a 64-bit AMD processor.

EDIT: Method 3 failed on the same screen as well. Now on to Method 2 on the SATA-I port... BTW, fresh format on the C: partition every time.

 

[boake]

In fact I tried first method before trying second one.
When I selected x64, a message "jahcix64.sys was corrupted" appeared.
But When I selected x32, it seemed to work, but as soon as installation started, I got blue screen. (both 109 and 207 results were same)

That's why I tried second method. And It worked.

 

[designit]

Originally posted by: boake
In fact I tried first method before trying second one.
When I selected x64, a message "jahcix64.sys was corrupted" appeared.
But When I selected x32, it seemed to work, but as soon as installation started, I got blue screen. (both 109 and 207 results were same)

That's why I tried second method. And It worked.

did you try to install winxp 64 or winxp?
all you have done is trashing your registry files.
soon or later you will trash you HDD and bsod again.
why do you do things your way and expect everything go well, and if not blame the mobo?
You either install SATAII in IDE mode or SATA Mode. you can not mix match.
Follow the instruction and you will be fine.
Just make sure you do it right and not some 1/2 *ss made up method.
and be sure to format a "BRAND NEW" floppy and copy the files to it.
It works for those who do it right and follow "official" method. If you invent your own, dont try to feed it to others and claim its best. its not.
Comeback in a week and tell me you have no problem.

 

[boake]

Is there any official confirmation that mixing up cause problem? or is it just your guess?

Whatever method that can install XP is ok.

 

[designit]

Originally posted by: boake
Is there any official confirmation that mixing up cause problem? or is it just your guess?

Whatever method that can install XP is ok.

Yes there is an official method, and there is yours.
I suggest reading Microsoft guide for installing winxp on sata HDD, and don?t ask me if Microsoft's guide is official or not.
As said before, all you are doing is occupying memory blocks used for HDD driver(s). and if you mix match you create conflict in registry and end up w/ unstable OS.
you may not notice it but at some point you will.
tell me, when you shut down window, does it take unusually long?


http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314859/

 

[carstea]

@designit we have a saying here, "when two say wou're drunk you go to sleep", dont know what's the equivalent in english but you get my point. do you think this is just a faultry windows intallation? you think this is the first time i install windows on a sata had disk? what's so hard admitting this damn board has a few drowbacks. it has a big failure rate and it was a dissapointment for me and im sure of one thing, this will be the last asrock produck i'll buy.