Computer is messed up bad

Hanzou

Senior member
Apr 29, 2003
373
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0
I RMA'd A7N8X deluxe because it was not detecting IDE devices. I got it back and everything is screwed up. I will power it on and it will just restart before even gettin to the post screen, other times it will freeze loading at the windows screen, just move to a black screen and freeze. Sometimes it will not even get to the load windows screen and say there is a disk error. I also have 3 IDE cables, and for the two of them if I use it it tells me that the "There is no 80 conducter cable installed" Even though there obviously is. This is pissing me off, I have no idea what to do. I even tried another hard drive and a lot of the same symptons happen. What the hell can I do?
 

boomerang

Lifer
Jun 19, 2000
18,883
641
126
First off, reset your BIOS. Follow the directions in the motherboard manual.

What colors on the IDE cable are you plugging in where?

What are you using for a Power Supply?

Have you tested the RAM?

Post your full system specs.
 

Hanzou

Senior member
Apr 29, 2003
373
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Ok, I reset the bios and it did not help. I am running an Antec Truepower 380W, and I am plugging the IDE cables in the only way that fits as every cable has a tab on it that forces it to fit in the right way. I even took a IDE cable out of my other comp and it gives me the same 80 conducter error. this does not seem to be the source of the problem as If I only use the working one to hook up my HD, things still do not work. Here are my specs:

Athlon XP 2500+
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
WD 80GB w/8MB cache
2 x 512MB Corsair XMS PC3200
380 Antec PSU
9800 Pro

I ahve not run a memory check but have swapped out the sticks so that only one is in at a time and things do not work. To run a mem test do I download memtest86 to a cdrom and boot from that? I have never done this before and even after lookign at the site was a little confused. I shoudl also add that this system had been working for over a year before all of this occured.

Edit: Should also add that I have swapped out the video card and that disnt help either, also, when I can get to the windows screen and chose to start in safe mode. It shows all the things being loaded and always freezes at the mup.sys driver loading.
 

boomerang

Lifer
Jun 19, 2000
18,883
641
126
http://www.memtest.org/ Under "Download (Pre-built & ISOs)" you will want the Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip) to run from CD, or Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS - Win) for floppy.

If you have a floppy drive use that one. You won't have to burn a disk.

I asked what color you are connecting where. Blue, gray and black. Where are you connecting these? Which color to what device?

It appears you have one HD. Is this IDE 1 Primary Master or where is it?

I recently had a build job return after running fine for a year and a half. It would not boot. Memtest found bad memory. It's rare for memory to fail over time, but it most certainly does happen.

Also, this is a replacement board. Other versions of this board have a jumper for FSB speed. Assuming this one does also, is it set correctly for the speed of your processor? Is the processor reported correctly at boot?

Sorry to hammer you with so many questions, I'm just trying to save time.
 

Hanzou

Senior member
Apr 29, 2003
373
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I ran memtesrt and it rent through 1.5 times with no errors before I stopped it. I have the single hard drive connect to primary master and my dvd as secondary master. The one IDE cable that works has a blue connector which I connect to the mobo then the master black end into the HD. The other two cable has straight black connectors and no matter which way I connect them, I still get the "No 80 conducter cable installed"

And yes all the jumpers seem to be set correctly, I ahve it set so it will run at 166MHz FSB, which it properly dects as my 2500+. I am straight out of ideas. I am going to try and reinstall windows and see what happens.
 

LanFear

Senior member
Aug 17, 2004
451
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0
It's not windows, if you're getting errors at the POST level and your mem is fine, then it's either BIOS related or board related. Have you tried setting your dvd as primary slave and running them both of the same cable. I know you'll want it as secondary master eventually, but be a good thing to test.
 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
5
0
There's 80 and there's 40pin connectors.

Perhaps the BIOS is trying to warn you that you do not have an ATA/66/100/133 cable... the ATA/33 and below cables have noticeably larger conductors running through them, whereas the ATA/66 and up cables have noticeably thinner conductors.

sounds like you might just be using a 40pin cable just from what the error is saying... if you are using an ATA/66 and up cable, then I have no damn idea!!!!!
 

Hanzou

Senior member
Apr 29, 2003
373
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I will try putting the HD and DCd on the same cable. I am using the right kind of cable as I am using the same one I had benn using for the last year, just after I RMA'd and got this new board did it give me this message. I also used a cable form my other computer and it gives me the same message.
 

farscape

Senior member
Jan 15, 2002
327
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0
Your running a WD HD. Make sure tat you are NOT using a jumper on the drive. WDs do not like using the jumper when used as a primary on a channel by themselves.
 

Hanzou

Senior member
Apr 29, 2003
373
0
0
I have been running the drive without a jumper and with a jumper on different positions, the drive on different IDE channels and positions on each cable all with no luck. I will Paypal $10 to whoever can solve my problem.
 

Big Lar

Diamond Member
Oct 16, 1999
6,330
0
76
Just a thought, but make sure nothing is shorting to the board, particularly by the I/O shield.
 

Hanzou

Senior member
Apr 29, 2003
373
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0
Yes I was going to take the mobo out of the case to make sure that it was not being shorted. If I rmemeber correctly though, I did first put it together outside the case and it did seem to show some of the same symptons. I will try that though, Thanks.
 

stultus

Golden Member
Dec 2, 2000
1,774
0
76
Does this boot fine without the HD plugged in?

Also, your 40 vs 80 pin cable mystery isn't a mystery. Just use the 80 pin (blue end) one for your HD to prevent bottlenecking (and that error message). The old ones, while they may not have given you an error previously, will work fine but may bottleneck you.
 

Hanzou

Senior member
Apr 29, 2003
373
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0
You see, sometimes they system hangs when detecting the IDE devices, when No HD is plugged in, everything goes fine. But, the system does still occasionally restart about 10 times before the post screen even with the HD unplugged. I have also tried the system with a couple HD's.
 

stultus

Golden Member
Dec 2, 2000
1,774
0
76
But, the system does still occasionally restart about 10 times before the post screen even with the HD unplugged.

If you can reproduce this, don't use any hard drives or floppy drives while you're trying to figure this out. It just adds more complication.

If you've got a stick of ram and a video card in the board and it still doesn't work, then it can only be a few things.

PSU: You have a beefy PSU, so that's probably not it.
RAM: I don't know if you've tested this, but it's highly unlikely both would be bad.
CPU: Double check everything is installed correctly.
Motherboard: They just sent you a replacement. Was it *brand new* or *refurb*? What BIOS version is it running? What version is the motherboard? If the motherboard wasn't brand new, I'd say you got someone else's problem. If the motherboard is brand new, I'd return it and get a different brand. Obviously, this should just work, and if it's some weird problem with the motherboard it's just not worth the hassle.
 

ScrapSilicon

Lifer
Apr 14, 2001
13,625
0
0
Motherboard: They just sent you a replacement. Was it *brand new* or *refurb*? What BIOS version is it running? What version is the motherboard? If the motherboard wasn't brand new, I'd say you got someone else's problem. If the motherboard is brand new, I'd return it and get a different brand. Obviously, this should just work, and if it's some weird problem with the motherboard it's just not worth the hassle.
:thumbsup:
 

Hanzou

Senior member
Apr 29, 2003
373
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0
How can I tell if it is brand new or a refurb? They sent it back ina plain white box but the board looks pretty new. It came ina new anti-static bag and it still had the little plastic thing and sticker on the AGP slot. It is running the version 1008 BIOS.

I am so fed up with thsi that I do want to just get rid of this board altogether and get an Abit NF7-S but I want to get my money back for the ASUS. Is there any way I can do this, from what I understand since it is over a year old, I can only RMA it for another board, or am I wrong?
 

Algere

Platinum Member
Feb 29, 2004
2,157
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Are any pins missing from the motherboard's IDE connector (less than 39)?

Or to a further very unlikely extent, the hard drives themselves?