Asrock Dual SATA2 freezes/hangs when loading Windows

[Athlon64SSE3]

qsrk did u received a firmware upgrade for your drive? Do you have an hitachi t7k250 250gb too? I don't remember. Unfortunately my system is not stable on sata1 connector...i've tried in sataI mode and sataII mode (changed with hitachi utility) .
In my last try i checked with a finger the temperature of jmicron chip....it's cold...for me it's not a temp problem. I let ran my system on my bed...with my lcd on the bed LOL and the case open...

 

[qsrk]

Yes, I have the same HDD, with the same old firmware that you have. Tech support has provided me with new firmware that I will apply today. If not done properly, it can make the HDD unusable, so I need to complete some work and back up my data before I try.

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

So tech support sent you firmware V44OA96A ? Or a more recent firmware? I know that upgrading could be dangerous. Tomorrow I will call hitachi tech support too to try the "firmware way" Good luck!

 

[boake]

Another t7k250 user.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=29&threadid=1826790&enterthread=y

He installed xp in sata1 mode.
(He didn't know t7k250 comes out in sata1 mode by default)
Now he switched to sata2 mode.
Let's see if his system is stable or not.

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

I contacted Hitachi through telephone....they sayd that they will recall me....(mah..). I chatted with them and said to send an email to support_uk@hitachigst.com. I did so..but they want my Part Number and Serial Number. I just opened my case to see them....I hope soon they will send me a new firmware for my hard dirve. qsrk...did u flashed it?

 

[konsboy]

well tried austro's setup, but after installing 399MB of gta3 Vice City, the computer turned off and wouldn't turn back on until I had unplugged the power cord

so back to Square 1

that was an attempt with a jumper forcing sata1 mode on a Seagate 160 GB 7200.9 using the sata1 channel 1 on the motherboard

 

[designit]

To all those having Sata HDD problem:
post what is your "gated clock function" settings.
is it enabled or disabled?

 

[qsrk]

I did not flash the HDD yet since I'm not sure that I received the right file. I hope to find out tomorrow, and then I will update. HDD backed up and waiting.

Gated Clock Function is "disabled" for me.

Did anyone try enabling Legacy USB to see if it helps yet?

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

I tried the USB legacy ON and OFF...no results...I will try the gated clock. Waiting for firmware here..

 

[qsrk]

So far the HDD firmware update software has not worked for me, so no progress yet. Legacy USB did nothing for me either.

 

[designit]

gated clock should be disabled.
NB HT should be close to 1000 (3x maybe too low, keep it at 4x)
SB HT should be on auto. bothe NB/SB should have 16bit width.
inspect winbond w/ magnifier for all pins attached.
all mobo screws tighten
use power surge plug just for system-dont use wall outlet alone.
use SATA power plug that only has 5v, 12v and ground(black) dont use the one's that have all 3 rails(3.3,5v, 12v). Check HDD spec. and make sure not overvoltin or under volting HDD. Some HDD need all 3 rails, but most only need 12v, and 5v.
Edit:
A poster @ rebel's haven says if you set NB HT to 200 it will post w/ no lock above 275mhz fsb
Try this trick and see if it helps you w/ sataII hdd.

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

qsrk...I'm sorry to hear that :-(....so what firmware do you have now?
I'm trying with gated clock enabled now...(in the past was disabled but I was having the problem). For yesterday no bsod...I hope today I will get no bsod. What does this "gated clock"?

I have NB and SB at 1000 (system not overclocked)...why SB HT on auto? It's on 800 if I u set auto...anyway I tried to set all to auto in the past without solve anything

what is wall outlet? There are two sata types of connectors?? I have an Enermax Noisetaker....I used one of the sata power plugs...I don't remember If have all 3 rails or not (I don't think so)
I will try to see how is today...and then I will try to "play" with NB and SB settings. But...I'm begging to think that I can forget running my sata2 drive on sataII connector

 

[boake]

How do I set these things?

CPU - NB Link Speed 1000?
CPU - NB Link Width 16?
NB - SB Link Speed 1000?
NB - SB Link Width 16?

I have venice 3200(not overclocked).

 

[qsrk]

I received confirmation today that the HDD firmware update software is incompatible with the motherboard. I will have to plug into a board with an Intel chipset to run the update. So for now, I am still using the old firmware.

I will try designit's suggestions later, but for now, where do I find the Winbond chip?

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

qsrk so you haven't updated yet!
There are news....i received the A96A firmware (same of Boake's hdd) today in my email, it's an ISO image named v496a-sata.iso
there are these files inside:
CODEUD.PID
DFT.EXE
DFT.HF
DPMI16BI.OVL
RTM.EXE

and you, what firmware do you have? Hitachi sent only firmware to me...without warning me of anything! Why hitachi told you that upgrade is not possible on this motherboard? Did you try to flash but you got an error? Explain me well....pls!

 

[qsrk]

I originally received the firmware as a mysterious .BIN file. I could not use that, so they sent me the update to apply via floppies. I tried flashing, but the software does not see the HDD because of the wrong chipset. I was warned of this prior to the update, and confirmed again after the failed update.

 

[crabbyman]

Not to jinx myself...but I have been running without any hiccups since the 14th. We will see if this time it lasts or not.

All I did was reseat everything and reloaded the Windows folders. It gave me the option of only formatting the windows folders instead of the whole drives, so I did that to save my settings. I also ran the HDD in IDE mode on the SATAII controller and did my Windows updating up to SP2. Since I cannot update further, hacked copy of windows wont upgrade to SP2, I don't know if that adds or takes away anything. After all updating I just let it restart, defraged, and rebooted. I changed the drive controller to SATAII.

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

only a BIN file? Maybe it was an image (BIN+CUE) ? Did you try to open with WinISO or UltraISO ? Maybe software cannot see hd because you set in sata mode? Try on the SATA1 controller in IDE mode to let it see the hd. Tomorrow maybe I will try to update firmware to my hitachi drive

 

[qsrk]

I did not try to open with other programs since I wanted to use only the exact files as Hitachi intended. Too risky to convert, burn, and flash with the wrong file...

There is no such thing as IDE mode on the SATA1 controller. I tried all three SATA ports without success.

Just in case, I also tried another new SATA cable - still not high-end, but no obvious defects. Ran for 30 minutes in Windows, and then FREEZE!

 

[Athlon64SSE3]

no, I want to use it as hitachi intented, but I would see what there is inside .There is a non-raid mode....i'm talking of that as IDE mode...because hd doesn't need drivers, so it's working as an ide drive. It's strange...for today still no bsod for me....after 9 hours and half running! Today it's all working perfectly....

 

[Paulrh]

Hi all

googling my system problems has finally led me to this thread, im going to go back and read it fron the start tonight but i thought id put a quick post in as this all sounds very familiar. Unfortunatly i have no solution as yet.
As you can see my system looks similar to most on this thread, the one common element being the motherboard.
I have XP on the 80 GB SATA150 drive, over a period of time, sometimes days sometimes weeks i start to get BSOD ("machine_check_exception" errors; a common stop fault listing was stop: 0x0000009c(0x00000004,0x80545ff0,0xb2000000,0x00070f0f))crashes and eventually XP gets dammaged beyond repair.
Ive been trying to sort this since Last october, ive tested everything as much as i can, had 2 80 GB SATA150 drives physically destroyed (and replaced by supplier), MB teste d by supplier and returned as OK!
Tested memory, stress tested CPU etc etc. Messed with and without drivers. Messed with the bios and am still no nearer fixing it.

I think the culprit is the motherboard, something in the southbridge, possibly the SATA drivers or lack of them.

The system is 100% stable when it has just an IDE drive connected

Thats my sad tale

Asrock 939-Dual SATA, Athlon64 3000+ venice, 80Gb Segate Barracuda SATA 150 , 250 Gb Western Digital SATAII, Enermax EG385AX-VHB 380W, Corsair value select 1Gb Dr400 kit, Optical LG GSA4167, Virgo2 ATX case, Graphics card: GeForce 6200TC, Canoscan FS4000US (slide/film scanner), WACOM Tablet (mouse type device), Win XP

 

[qsrk]

I have only seen that BSOD with my HDD connected to a SATAI port, when I connect to the USB ports on the front of my case. They are in turn connected to the USB header on the motherboard (USB67 in the manual). You may be able to solve your problem by enabling Legacy USB in the BIOS, but I don't know whether it will slow down the USB ports. Another option is to connect the SATAII port in IDE mode. Avoid using SATA mode if possible.

 

[imported_Imp]

@Paulrh: Sounds like you have EXACTLY my problem. Only solution after messing it with from late December to Late February was to just buy an IDE HDD to replace my 80Gb SATA which is now running perfect in a different machine. So it's not what you want to hear, and this isn't really a solution, but more of "bypassing" the problem. Also, I have tried the SATA drive on SATAII channel. The exact same problem occurs on that channel too. On either channel, it got to the point where it wouldn't even boot with out about 30 resets, and even then it would only run for maybe a few minutes.

So best I can recommend is try what qrsk said, run it on the SATAII to see if you get lucky. Otherwise, go back to IDE or get an SATA controller card for PCI slots. Also, I guess you could try changing cables (data or power) (which I doubt is the problem). Either way, good luck to you. Also, if you're wondering how relialbe IDE is, been running one month now on IDE, no problems at all except unavoidable windows XP program/common errors (none have crashed system).

 

[Paulrh]

Just got this info about SATA drivers from a thread on hardwareCentral quote


"I had problems with the SATA drivers on Asrock's site with my latest install. So I grabbed the latest ones from ULI and it cleared them all up. You might try doing the same.

Latest WinXP South Bridge driver package:
ftp://www.uli.com.tw/driver/Integrated213.zip

You can get other versions by going here and selecting M1563 as your chipset. "

Think this could be relevant

 

[designit]

Gated Clock
Signal ClockGen enables internal dynamic clock gating in the chipset (SB) when a AGPset "IDLE" state occurs. This happens when the chipset detects an idle state on all its buses. Setting to "enabled" will enable this function.