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building 1st pc; very frustrated by mobo/hd problems

I

individua

Junior Member
This is actually an email I sent to ECS' tech support dept, but it generally describes the problem I'm having.

I recently purchased an ECS K7S5A motherboard, in order to build a system.
Everything appears to be configured correctly, but there seems to be a potential problem between the motherboard and my hard drive, which is a generic ATA-100 60GB 7200 rpm drive.
When I attempted to install Windows XP, there appeared to be an error in formatting the hard drive. The screen would say something to the effect of "The hard disk may be damaged."
I brought the HD to my friend'd house, and installed WinXP there. It appears that the HD is functioning properly, but it has some issues in connecting with my motherboard.

Now, when I turn the computer on, with WinXP installed on the HD, I get an option to start Windows in a variety of modes, safe mode being one of the options.

Unfortunately, none of the options lead me to a boot-up of WinXP.
I keep getting a blue screen error which states that "Windows has shut down in order to prevent further damage".

The problem, evidently, does not lie in the hard drive, so my conclusion is that it's in the motherboard.

Have there been prior issues with this before?
How may I rectify the problem?
 
individua,

Our records indicate that your first attempt to register on our forums failed, probably because of an email problem, and you registered again as individua2. Because your first choice may be a name you also use on other forums, I have taken the liberty of deleting the first account and changing your user name back to your first choice. Your password remains the same. 🙂

AnandTech Moderator
 
If a drive is failing it can act in different ways. Even though you took it over to your friends house to try it out and it worked does not necessarily mean that the hard drive is good.

Most hd manufacturers have a utility that you can download and put on a 3 1/2 floppy. Boot to that floppy and have it examine the drive to exclude that from having any problems.

The other thing I would do is try a different IDE cable and also try the drive on another channel.

Otherwise you may be right, that the motherboard is bad.


One other thing. I suggest looking into your bios and see if it identifies the hd correctly.
You also might want to try formatting it with a Win98 boot disk.

If you just happen to be overclocking, make sure you are running at default speeds
 
every so often it turns out to be a ram problem. i've seen this happed before. if you have some known good ram, you might try installing with it.
not to be discouraging, but i found this mb to be too flakey for me to use. you might want to check out the forums at ocworkbench.com if you keep this mb. they have pretty extensive info in the k7s5a.
good luck
 
moderator, thanks for deleting the 1st account.

i have tried a few different IDE cables, to no avail.
and as for the hard drive, i really doubt thats the problem, since i bought a WD 80GB from Staples, and got the same error as the OEM when I tried installing WinXP and Win2k with my setup.

only when i brought the OEM HD to my friend's system, could I fully install WinXP (and even setup and customize it), so i'm really doubting its the HD in itself, esp when a retail boxed version gave the same initial errors.

btw, i forgot to post the stats of the sytem i'm building, so here they are:

ECS K7S5A 3.x motherboard
Athlon XP 2000+ processor
one Crucial 512MB pc133 RAM stick
ata-100 60GB 7200rpm hard drive
400W Skyhawk power supply
Optorite 40x12x40 CD-RW
Geforce4 MX 420 64MB video card

and as for ram, i really dont think the crucial RAM should be any problem; am i wrong in thinking that?

actually, something may have happened when i first built the system; i didnt actually use any mounting screws, so the mobo was grounded against the steel case.

the first few times i turned it on, nothing would switch on. the fan wouldnt spin, and nothing happened.

does anybody suppose that maybe something was slightly fried when i did that?

near the top of the mobo mounting, there are 2 separate slightly discolored stains, but i dont remember smelling anything...
 
I think the motherboard can be taken into consideration by now, everything seems to tell the mobo is problematic..

Try getting your warranty out of it.. and also try to avoid telling them you grounded the mobo 😀
 
right.

thanks for the reinforcement.

i would feel much better if the problem were only isolated to the confines of that damned motherboard, and you can bet i'll try to get my money out of it.

i dunno why i'm worrying so much about this; i suppose i was expecting the PC to run perfectly well the moment i completed construction.
 
hey, one more thing.
i'm thinking about getting a $50 mobo; one that'll still support the sd-ram i bought.

what would anybody recommend?

better than that, i would like something that i can RMA with ease (and perhaps even without a restocking fee, etc).

any ideas would be helpful.
 
Dood, you may be getting a Dell! Just kidding.

BTW, what brand of hard drive do you have?

Is skyhawk a good brand of PS?

Will it boot with the bus speed at 100 mhz?

Try RMAing the mobo if you run out of options...

Mac
 
"actually, something may have happened when i first built the system; i didnt actually use any mounting screws, so the mobo was grounded against the steel case."

That was a big no no if I read correctly. If you mounted the mobo straight the the case without any spacers every little connection on the back of the mobo was most likely hitting the mobo mounting plate. This could have fried the mobo(or something else on the mobo even though you got it working) then again it could have done nothing but keep the mobo from coming on(it could also fry the ram and a few other things).

As for WinXP not loading up right try switching your IDE cables around and reinstalling WinXP(if you havent tried this already). WinXP/2000 can be falky sometimes and not install right on the first try. Set your ram to CAS 3/3/3 if it ain't already and keep your CPU at 100mhz FSB and see if it helps
 
Try reseating your memory module half a dozen times. This board has extremely tight memory slots. Do the same for the AGP card for the same reason.

As for the PSU, this mobo is unbelieveably picky about its power supply. Make sure the PSU is top quality and AMD approved.

Once you get it running, this board is as stable as they come. The problem is, sometimes, getting it running.

Good Luck.
 
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