Asrock Dual SATA2 freezes/hangs when loading Windows

[designit]

Check the boot order if takes long time to load windows.
I am begging to doubt any problem w/ Sata Hdd. Because I see problems w/ other devices and bsod?ng. I think the problem lays on the Memory, memory settings, or lack of vdimm voltage. Have you tested your rams (one stick at the time) w/ memtest86?
if it passes memtest86, then do a Spi 32M iteration and see if that passes. and if pass, then do a Prime torture test (blend test) for 12 hrs.
If you pass prime95 and did all the suggestions here, then you should RMA the board. If the new Board same problem. Then RMA your Hdd. If w/ new Hdd and new mobo, still having problems, then change to another brand of mobo. If still having problems, then change ship and go w/ Intel. If still having problem (w/ Intel), then change to IBM or Mac.
If still have problem then change to Linux OS, Or just give up using PC's.

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

I could try to get more voltage on DDR. But I don't think it will fix anything, because my config was *perfectly* stable even if overclocked (2.6 GHz) with previous HDD (a Western Digital 80GB IDE) and SAME components! I already wrote that! Designit did u read that? I've already tried memtest86 for hours, it's all ok. This is not the first system I build. All let me think that I have a defective board. Already checked HDD with hitachi's utilities...it's perfect, ok, fast and working good. If it was an IDE hd it would run perfect, I know my system. Pls don't post useless things

 

[designit]

Useless?
Memtest86 will not be enough. I pass memtest all day but Spi errors in 1st etiration. even if Pi passes, prime will not if system is unstable. Sometimes prime95's failing is caused by Hdd. Do those tests if you dont think useless.
2.6v vdimm? what memory brand do you have?
I didnt read your posts , am sorry dont have time to read all the sob stories.

 

[boake]

This issue has nothing with ram or voltage.
This is just compatability issue between this board and sata2 hdd
in installing and running xp.
That's why we need workaround.

 

[qsrk]

Originally posted by: Athlon64SSE3
LOL, qsrk, Opteron...it's me!! I tried to solve this problem on ocworkbench forum too but none has a working solution
Now, problem i am getting is very strange...every time this boards invent a new thing: Now when i start my XP I get a VPU recover error and driver disables the hardware acceleration..so when i start my system I must reboot again :-(. I think it's all related to the first problem
Yesterday I got two BSOD "Machine check bla bla bla".....always random. qsrk do you still have the cold boot problem? On sata1 port? I haven't tried to connect my hdd to sata2 (always sata1 controller), but I think it's the same for me. I want to try to connect my hdd to SATAII (red) controller and *then* install drivers.

I thought it might be you, but Athlon or Opteron - not sure? I can confirm that the cold boot problem has gone away after "boake's method" failed. I'd be interested if installing the SATAII drivers (2.07) in XP will solve other people's SATAI cold boot problems.

designit, can you point me to Spi? boake, it's "workaround"...

 

[boake]

Thank u for the correction.

 

[designit]

Originally posted by: boake
This issue has nothing with ram or voltage.
This is just compatability issue between this board and sata2 hdd
in installing and running xp.
That's why we need workaround.

Oh yah?
lower the vdimm below your ram spec and comeback here tell us you lost your HDD.
bios wont show my hdd, bla, bla, bla.
Your work around is just another nonsense I read a lot in every forum I visit and see kinds of you misinforming poor souls, who just found out the meaning of overclocking or Sata- what you just learned a month ago..

 

[boake]

Originally posted by: designit

Originally posted by: boake
This issue has nothing with ram or voltage.
This is just compatability issue between this board and sata2 hdd
in installing and running xp.
That's why we need workaround.

Oh yah?
lower the vdimm below your ram spec and comeback here tell us you lost your HDD.
bios wont show my hdd, bla, bla, bla.
Your work around is just another nonsense I read a lot in every forum I visit and see kinds of you misinforming poor souls, who just found out the meaning of overclocking or Sata- what you just learned a month ago..

Just stop useless posting. I'm sorry but you are no help.
If it is related with ram or volt, why pata hdd runs without any problem?
Stop the useless guess, and see the point. The truth is simple.
This mainboard definitely has sata2-related issue. Is it hard to accept it?

It is you who are misinforming and perplexing us with useless guessing.
Stop that and try to give us right solution!

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

@designit
I don't have the time and money to change all my hardware, designit. I talked of useless post when u was saying to sell all and buy a Mac or an Intel :-(. I am only telling you that my setup is working at 100% stable in all tests I already ran and I use from much time to test stability. My system can run those tests forever without problems if I use an IDE hd, if I begin using a SATA, I have 1000 problems that seems to be different but they are all related to the sata drive.

@qsrk
Athlon was already taken when i choosed opteron hehehehe. I use Athlon AMDAthlon Opteron eheheh various nicknames ;-)
For the SuperPI...here to you:
http://www.xtremesystems.com/pi/

 

[imported_Imp]

All hail designit's fixes, generic troubleshooting fixes we all tried about 50 times before to see you tell us to do again...

@qrsk & Athlon: I think you guys frequent OCWorkbench, but in my 30 page reading marathon, I noticed SOME people managed to "fix" the cold boot problem by enabling RAID even if they DO NOT have a RAID HDD array. It's suppose to give more time for the BIOS to detect the SATA drives on SATAI channel on POST. This board screams through POST too fast apparently. So I don't recall if you guys are RAIDed or not, but that's what I've read seems to be the general "fix" for cold-boot. You might save a reboot, but have to wait 30 seconds? for the RAID setup to time out. Wouldn't hurt too much (maybe a hand, a few fingers) to try. Good luck,

 

[designit]

This a very good mobo if you know how to set up. Most of problems are bad winxp installation, bad ram timings, lack of vcore and vdimm voltage, bad mem kit, bad cpu, bad Sata cable, bad sata hdd, bad PSU or lack of wattages on each rails.
Just dont be stuburn and do a fresh winxp install. however you choose to install sataII drivers, but do a freash install. Another hint I give you: disable 32 bit data transfer under sata hdd. use 4 beats burst length under mem settings. and set it to sata mode and install winxp w/ drivers in the floppy.
Look at the screenshot below. I have overclocked Venice 3000 to 312x9=2808mhz, stable and in sataII hdd. If I can do that, why cant you? I say it againg: it is not a bad mobo. overclocks verywell and stable, once you get to know it.

Screenshot

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

designit why disabling 32 bit data transfer?? Never tried that. Do you have your hdd connected on sataII controller in SATA mode and STRONG mode? Don't you have a performance hit disabling 32 bit? My Venice go well until 2.6 GHz...maybe upper....i didn't tried. I know that it's possible to overclock but I'd like to resolve this problem first. Why do you continue to say reinstall XP, you have bad components? I reinstalled XP 3-4 times in different ways and on different controller (sata1 and 2) to solve this problem. I didn't try to disable the 32 bit option...maybe this is helping. Can you benchmark your hd with that option enabled and disabled?

 

[qsrk]

I think I tried the RAID option way back, maybe near the start of this thread. Maybe I didn't like waiting for the timeout.

Bigger news - there is another thread about Shuttle PC users experiencing similar problems (with a ULi chipset?) here. Many solved their problem by using better quality SATA cables, some by changing from USB 2.0 to 1.1. Haven't read the whole thread yet, so somebody please digest and summarize. The BIOS on this mobo has an option for Legacy USB - maybe that will help. They also reference a test from serialata.org to check data transfer across your SATA cables found here.

 

[boake]

I found another brother like us.
http://www.ocworkbench.com/ocwbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?/topic/30/5809.html


And I found a guy who used the same workaround I used.
http://www.ocworkbench.com/ocwb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/30/4952.html#000007

His method
1. install xp with hdd connected to sata1 connector
2. update to sp2
3. install sata2 driver
4. conncet hdd to sata2 connector

 

[cpl366]

I've been reading thru this thread for about 3 days after running into problems getting my 939 up and running. LOTS of BSOD's, usually saying something about memory problems while trying to load windows. Tried it with a WD IDE hard drive, no luck there. So I bought a WD SATA drive, and tried about every possible setting and configuration I could try. Swapped out memory, went from Kingston 512meg x2, to some known OCZ 256meg x2. Went through just about every possible idea I could think of with constant problems. At best I could keep it running for 30 minutes or so (once!). While moving cables about (SATA drive is currently plugged into SATA II port), I just about burned my finger on the Southbridge. So in a fit of inspiration (and desperation) I took off the side panel and ventilated the box with a 10inch table fan. VIOLA!!! Running like a charm now. It cold boots, reboots, wakes up from standby, surfs the net, decodes rar files, and last night ran a unpatched version of Battlefield 1942 for 2-3 hours. Ran 10 hours of mp3 files nonstop from a portable hard drive off of a USB 2 port. I even put the Kingston memory back in, and still its working fine. All in all it been up and running without a BSOD for over 2 days. May not seem like much of an accomplishment, but considering that just getting windows installed was a multi-attempt/hour ordeal I feel like its enough progress to make mention of it here.

I've got 40mm fans coming in to place on the North and South bridges, hoping that will be enough (while effective a 10inch table fan is a little obtrusive on the desk).

 

[boake]

Another solution: Ventilation & Cooling North and South bridges (by cpl366)

It seems we are becoming professional more and more about this issue.

 

[imported_Imp]

@cpl366: Awesome that you discovered a fix. However, sounds like you got a super dud where some ASsRock minion skimmed on the thermal paste for the bridges. Just wondering though, what kind of memory errors were you getting loading windows? And not to be discouraging, but make sure it works for 1 week no problems before giving the all clear...

If you're looking for more brothers, I think I counted at least 5(10?) more "brothers" at OCWorkbench. One of them just gave up and got a new board.

Yep, we've all become professional ASsRock Removers.


*Just checked qrsk's link, note to self Shuttle ships with crappy SATA cables. Most(a lot) of the people with problems seemed to have solved it by getting new cables. ____________<- Please summarize last 4 pages here. Problem with us is that some of us have already swapped cables. Not me though due to seeing so many other people with this problem having no luck after swapping, and that the cold-boot thing is by design according to lots of people and publications. Guess it wouldn't hurt (too much, $5?) to at least try new cables...again.

**Dang, update from qrsk's link. Did more reading, went to page 6 and apparently they ALSO got screwed over. A couple people started crashing again a week/days after replacing their cables and having no problems (sound familiar?). Seems their SATA power cables and data are both screwy, but we all have different PSUs and cases and video and...same MBs...square one.

 

[qsrk]

Thanks for the summary. Apparently SATA connectors are just a bad design to start without a secure connection. Western Digital has solved the problem with their SecureConnect cables that somehow use the SATA power connector for reinforcement, but is only supposed to work on WD drives. I also read about shielded SATA cables that reduce crosstalk, which is also reduced by enabling SSC on HD, BIOS, and PCIe (for some, not us). So any suggestions for a high quality SATA cable to use with non-WD drives? Does anyone know if WD cables will work on other brand drives?

 

[boake]

No, it won't. It's exclusively made for only WD hdd.

 

[cpl366]

It ran along the lines of "Windows has halted the process to prevent possible hardware damage"......gave a real long error code, something like "0x000000005373". Then began "dumping memory to disk". Would give a count to 64, then reboot (usually without sucess).

Right now I've got 4 80mm case fans installed. I'll leave it running, and see if that is enough until the chipset fans get here.

I'm not unrealistic about this being a sucess. I plan to run it hard for a couple of weeks, and see what happens. If everything is good at that point, I'll start breathing easier. If my problem is indeed heat, that doesn't say much for ASROCK and their quality control.

Since it was finally up and running I did update the BIOS to 1.6. About the only difference that I could find was the addition of "AGP Deep FIFO".

The hardware is:
Generic ATX case (with window/fan kit).
CoolMax Silent Fan 600w power supply
BFG 5700LE AGP vid card
WD 160g SATA HD (connected to SATA II connector)
Benq DVD burner
Lite-On DVD
generic floppy drive
generic USB flash card reader/USB port on front USB header
512meg x 2 PC3200 Kindgston Value memory (voltage set to HIGH in BIOS)
AMD 3200+ CPU
CoolerMax 80mm Silent Fans x4 (with more fans on the way!)

I'm not thru setting it up yet. I've got another set up front USB ports I need to plug into the board. I understand that this may be a source of some trouble, but I have one of the front USB headers already plugged in, and it seems to be working ok.

I haven't plugged the original IDE hard drive back in yet, but I intend to. I'll get it plugged in and see what happens.

The WD SATA hard drive had that "special connector" with it, so I used that. The connection to the hard drive seems real good, but the connection to any of the SATA/SATA II motherboard connectors is pretty weak. Just messing around in the case I accidentally unplugged it several times. Is that normal for SATA connections?

This is my wifes computer and I am under direct orders to not overclock anything on it.........period........no discussion. So I can't offer any info on that end. Frankly, if it will just run right at stock speeds I will be more than satisfied. Otherwise I will have to buy another BIOSTAR board, and listen to her tell me "told ya so".

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

I found an option in Hitachi Feature Tool, the software to change to SATAII mode. Now I'm trying sataII mode enabled hdd on the sata1 controller...and then I think to move it again on sataII controller..maybe trying to check temperature on chipset. I found an option that could help?!? SSC=spread spectrum clocking that is disabled. If I try to enable it, software tells me that my drive could be inaccessible on unsupported hardware. Maybe it's for reducing interferences, qsrk do you think Can I enable it without destroying all?!

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

designit, for me installing drivers pressing F6 during setup is impossible :-(. If I enable sataII and my hd is connected to sataII port, when I try to do setup, it freezes! I cannot start GUI setup.

 

[boake]

@desingit

That just happened only one time in the day I bought hdd.
It just happened before applying workaround.
(install xp in sata1 mode ==sudden reboot==> switch to sata2 controller)

Sudden reboot maybe happened because I connected sata2 mode hdd to sata1 controller)
I haven't met any problem ever since I switched to sata2 controller.

Workaround absolutely works without any problem.

ps. In fact, I don't wanna call it workaround, it is just one way of official method not mentioned in the manual.

You should know that installing sata2 driver "using fdd" while installing xp is also a workaround.
We just call it official method only because it is mentioned in the manual.
We can employ whatever methods that can install xp.

Possible combinations (on the assumption that you have sata2 hdd)
install xp in sata1 mode => change to sata2 mode
install xp in sata1 mode => change to ide mode
install xp in ide mode => change to sata2 mode
install xp in ide mode => change to sata1 mode
install xp in sata2 mode => change to sata1 mode
install xp in sata2 mode => change to ide mode

All of those methods are fine.
What do you think the reason why ide operation mode exist in cmos?

Why? Because Xp is compatible with all those transter modes.
Did ASSrock mention that switching transfer mode can cause problem???
Absolutely NO.

My thought: It seems that installing sata2 driver using fdd has some technical issue with specific hard drive. So we need other way to install it.


ps. I confirmed everything I mentioned above from assrock technician in our country.