ECS nforce4a-939 locking up like crazy

[bboy]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can help me figure this out. I just got an ECS nforce4a-939 and Athlon 64 3800+ X2 and am having major issues with the system hanging. I did a clean install of XP Pro and am using the latest BIOS and drivers for everything. I've tried different memory and PSU but no luck. I've also used Speedfan and all temperatures seem to be within spec.

The system specs are:

ECS nforce4a-939
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ X2
ATI Radeon X800
2x512MB Kingston HyperX memory
Seagate 160GB 7200RPM IDE hard drive
Liteon DVDRW drive
Liteon DVDROM drive
Antec TruePower 2.0 480w

Thanks,
b

 

[Peter]

Lockups typically ARE power supply issues. Do the PSUs have 24-pin main plugs, and strong 12V rails? They absolutely need to for this to run well.

Having used this particular board myself (with lesser CPUs), I know that in itself it doesn't have any such issue. Run memtest (www.memtest.org) to rule out RAM issues.

 

[Pabster]

Yep, start with the PS. Then the RAM (1 stick at a time). The ECS nForce4 board is real nice for the price.

 

[bboy]

The PSU is an Antec TruePower 2.0 480w. It has the 24-pin plug and 18A on both of the 12V rails (36A total). Originally I was using a 380w PSU w/ 18A on the 12V, but replaced it hoping to fix the lockups.

The memory is Kingston HyperX. I was using Mushkin Enhanced before, but also replaced it.

For those that have used the board, what BIOS were you using? We're you using the nvidia IDE drivers or Microsoft?

Thanks,
b

 

[Peter]

I used the latest BIOS then (there's a newer release now); I left the MS IDE drivers, since NVidia's are prone to give strange performance results.

Don't believe in your RAM. Test it.

 

[bboy]

Originally posted by: Peter
I used the latest BIOS then (there's a newer release now); I left the MS IDE drivers, since NVidia's are prone to give strange performance results.

Don't believe in your RAM. Test it.

I let memtest+ run for 1 complete pass and no error were reported. I only have a couple days left on my return window, so at this point I'm going to have to exchange it, unless I find the culprit very soon.

b

 

[bboy]

My theory now is that it's related to my external USB hard drive enclosure. I'm going to leave it unplugged for a couple days and see if I still get lockups.

b

 

[bboy]

This issue appears to be resolved in BIOS 1.1a

b

 

[Peter]

mkay ... thanks for the update.

Which BIOS release did you have in there before?

 

[bboy]

Originally posted by: Peter
mkay ... thanks for the update.

Which BIOS release did you have in there before?

I tried just about all of them - 1.0e, 1.0g and 1.0h I believe. 1.1a was the first that didn't lock up with the USB flash reader plugged in.

b

 

[bboy]

Originally posted by: bboy
This issue appears to be resolved in BIOS 1.1a

b

Scratch that. Still freezing.

 

[vck6v3]

bboy, I am experiencing the same problems as you. I would use Windows for a while and then the computer would freeze up and I would have to press the reset button.

In the 2 days I have this running I have noticed that every time it crashed the IDE bus was being access. Once when I was copying some files from a CD, once when I was uncompressing large files and the last time when I was shutting down windows.

I ran memtest86 7 hours and 30 minutes and I received no errors.

Right now I am running
X2 3800
Corsair Value Select 2x512 PC2700 @ PC3200 2.71V (Ran fine in my shuttle SN85G like this for over a year and a half)
ECS Nforce4 A939 bios 1.1a
3D Fuzion 7800GT
Segate 120GB IDE
Audigy 2
Liteon DVDRW
Antec Truepower 2.0 380W

From the looks of things our system are very comparable. I did not install the Nvidia IDE drivers.

 

[Zap]

Uh oh... I've got the same combo from Fry's and the same PSU from Circuit City. Well, even if I end up tossing the motherboard the combo would have cost less than the CPU by itself.

Are either of you overclocking? I do plan to OC with this board using a 3200+ (3800+ will go into another board). I haven't played with mine yet but looks like I should get crackin' on it ASAP.

 

[darley]

So, from reading this the power supply was not the culprit?
I have the same Fry's combo from Black Friday.

I have tried everything...

Clean XP install with all MS drivers.
Updated Bios to 1.1a
Installed all nVidia drivers, even Firewall stuff.
Pulled out everything except SATA HD and video card.

Here is where I currently stand on specs...
Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)

Motherboard:
CPU Type DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2000 MHz (10 x 200) 3800+
Motherboard Name ECS nForce4-A939 (3 PCI, 2 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR DIMM, Audio, Gigabit LAN)
Motherboard Chipset nVIDIA nForce4, AMD Hammer
System Memory 1024 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award (10/20/05)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter RADEON X700 Series Secondary (256 MB)
Video Adapter RADEON X700 Series (256 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Radeon X700 Pro (RV410)
Monitor Plug and Play Monitor [NoDB] (604134285625)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter nVIDIA MCP04 - Audio Codec Interface

Storage:
IDE Controller NVIDIA nForce4 Parallel ATA Controller
IDE Controller NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA Controller
IDE Controller NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA Controller
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive Maxtor 7L300S0
Optical Drive DVDRW IDE 16X
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 286181 MB (267306 MB free)

Input:
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse Microsoft PS/2 Port Mouse (IntelliPoint)

Network:
Network Adapter IEEE 802.11g USB Wireless LAN (192.168.1.101)
Network Adapter NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller - Packet Scheduler Miniport

Peripherals:
USB1 Controller nVIDIA MCP04 - OHCI USB Controller
USB2 Controller nVIDIA MCP04 - EHCI USB 2.0 Controller
USB Device IEEE 802.11g USB Wireless LAN

 

[darley]

I am just hoping that someone can solve this problem. I have so much work to do and it is impossible with this freezing system.

 

[Zap]

So, bboy, vck6v3 and darley all have locking problems with this combo? How long between locks? Are you doing anything or can it just be sitting idle? I've tried testing my combo (at the full 2.5GHz overclock) and I let it run for about 8 hours idling and it didn't lock. It did exhibit one problem... couldn't get the nForce drivers (v5.10) to install. Install would start... then disappear. This was on a fresh install of Windows XP. The CPU passed Prime and RAM passed Memtest (both off UBCD). Haven't done more testing because I currently am waiting for the PCIe video cards to arrive - I have an old 2MB S3 Trio video card in it that can't even run XP at 800x600. Perhaps this is why drivers aren't installing - before it disappears the installation windows goes way off the screen. Even if it did want to continue I wouldn't have been able to press the "Next" button, LOL.

Someone else also mentioned that the newest BIOS allows higher system bus speeds than 250MHz. True?

 

[darley]

I just went and bought a fresh PSU to see if it helps.

OLD ONE:
Enlight Corp, HPC-340-101, 315W MAX

NEW ONE:
Antec, SmartPower 2.0 Model SP-500, 500W

Yes, the freezing happens randomly. I have had it happen in Photoshop, in Premiere, while idle. It doesn't seem to matter.
I will let you know how the new PSU works.

 

[darley]

Not sure about the BIOS, I upgraded my BIOS to ver 1.1a and the problem remained.
I will reply soon to let you know what is up with my new PSU.

 

[darley]

So...

I replaced the PSU and it seemed to be running fine. I then thought okay I will start putting cards back in.
So I started with my ATI TV Wonder Pro. That also required installing some of the drivers. Shortly thereafter it froze again.

 

[darley]

All I have found in other forums is the possible conflict between the Realtek drivers (provided with the MB) and ATI drivers.
I upgraded to the nVidia drivers (ver 6.70) that seem to be supported by the updated BIOS (1.1a) but since I am still getting the freezes I guess it is not really okay.

Wow, I have got to solve this problem.

 

[AkumaX]

It did exhibit one problem... couldn't get the nForce drivers (v5.10) to install. Install would start... then disappear. This was on a fresh install of Windows XP.

i had that problem too! i just ended up d/ling nForce4_amd_6.70_winxp2k_english.exe and that worked

no lockups yet, wish me luck...

edit:

hmmm... i wonder what's goin on with you guys?

let's see.. i only have a 6600 pci-e, so that's not drawing much power

i DIDN'T install firewall. however, this rig has only been on for about 3 hours.

other than that, i just did a fresh install of xp sp2, then did nforce 6.70. havent even installed the x2 patch or the dual core patch.

 

[dovac]

hi, i bought the same combo at frys and i'm having the same issues

os: win2k3 standard edition x86
ram: 1gb of value ram (forgot)
psu: Rosewill RV450S-2 ATX 2.01 450W Power Supply
bios: 1.1a
chipset drivers: win2k3 nivida forceware 6.69
hds: 4 300gb seagates ide

The lockups and bsods seem pretty random from what i can tell...i disabled usb and uninstalled the nivida ide drivers as well to see if those were a problem still no luck :/ at first i thought it was my video card an ati xpert 128 pci (dont have money for a pci-e card just yet) but the lock ups still continued when i used another xpert 128..

edit, now i'm running win2k/xp nivida forceware 6.70 as a test..

edit again, some notes.. i unrared 8gb of stuff and installed it without having a problem but when i walked away to go to the store, i came back to the computer and it was frozen solid..

edit, well i got a bsod with nvapu.sys now..after about 20min of mp3s..

 

[darley]

this is so ridiculous, i got the new power supply and still the same.
maybe i will try a fresh install again, just to see.

 

[dovac]

ok its been almost 2hours since that last bsod with nvapu.sys, so i changed the sound card drivers to be the win2k3 6.69 one instead of the ones from 6.70, will update if anything happens..

edit, 4hours now..still going strong...odd last two hours was on photoshop and mp3s...going to leave it on overnight, see what happens..

 

[AkumaX]

hah, you know what else i realize that i did? whatever in bios i don't use, i disable it. like, i disabled floppy, parallel, serial, and sata (no sata hdds here). i don't know if those would have anything to do w/ your lockups though...