Epox 8RDA+ Problems... Any ideas?

[chizow]

Originally posted by: aphex
Yep, that was the problem.

When it booted in safe mode it came up with the error that my ATI Radeon is responsible for the system instability. Should i try and install some drivers off the Epox cd? Or maybe even the ATI cd? It seems to be using the XP drivers, but dosent like them.

If you are safely into the OS shell, definitely get the latest drivers from ATI, or at worse get the latest from your install CD. Really odd though, with no drivers installed it should be defaulting to standard VGA mode. Double-check your BIOS and make sure nothing funky is going on in there. Disable fastwrites, go to a safe AGP mode (2x maybe), make sure that your primary VGA adapter is set to AGP (assuming you have an AGP card) and see if that helps at all.

Chiz

Edit: Oh yah, I like to disable any integrated stuff I'm not using. Onboard RAID, USB headers I'm not currently using, serial and parallel ports, midi, gameport, anything to narrow down any issues to ensure a clean and stable installation.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
I just checked UPS; my 8RDA+ will be delivered tommorow. I'm going to install a fresh copy of W2K SP3 on a BLANK (brand-damn-new) WD 8mb buff 80GB drive. It had better work right, right off the bat. Granted, i am crucifying prematurely here,but with all the bad HD-related experiences w/this board posted here, this hasn't boded well with me in the least.

Just out of curiosity MichaelD, what power supply do you have lined up for that rig?

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: MichaelD
I just checked UPS; my 8RDA+ will be delivered tommorow. I'm going to install a fresh copy of W2K SP3 on a BLANK (brand-damn-new) WD 8mb buff 80GB drive. It had better work right, right off the bat. Granted, i am crucifying prematurely here,but with all the bad HD-related experiences w/this board posted here, this hasn't boded well with me in the least.

Just out of curiosity MichaelD, what power supply do you have lined up for that rig?

Antec Trupower 430. PS is less than one month old, purchase new.

 

[mechBgon]

So if it conks out, it's not going to be for lack of a good PSU All I can say is that the A7N8X-Deluxe setup for our HR guy went smoothly (using a TP430 there as well) and I hope yours does likewise. And that was with Win2k as well.

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, mechBgon. I'm hoping it works well right out of the box. This NForce chipset is my "Holy Grail", so to speak.

I read a review somewhere of the 8RDA+, and the reviewer stated "Setup of this board was simple...so simple...dare I compare to an Intel board? *gasp* You load a single driver CD and away you go."

^^^That's what I want.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: Yield
you wanna know what i just found out tonight?

this is absolutely retarded....
when i am transferring pics from my Kodak digital camera, my keyboard is completely gone.. lights go out... stops working... when the camera is stopped, numlock comes back on and i can use the keyboard again... it's in USB mode. so i am sure it would be different if it was PS/2.. but still.. is that not odd?

and yes, it's an EPoX mainboard.. model EP-4PEA+

!

why confused..the Kodak is obviously taking all the juice/bandwidth of the USB ..have you tried a different controller set on your mobo..? or a powered USB hub..might help..?

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Oh crap, I hope this isn't yet ANOTHER Epox-only problem. I'm still pissed that my 8K5A2+ (NOV02bios) can't boot w/USB mouse/KB enabled. :|

Have all my USB enabled ( yes an Epox 8k5a2+ ..not the Nov BIOS tho..) currently have on the 4 on the back : kb, mouse(sometimes 2 ..

),Alcatel USB ADSL stingray modem(never got a decent ethernet one from my provider..),one 1.1 powered USB 4 pt hub,Lexar JumpShot,HP PSC750 and some USB cable that goes to an Epson 480SXU(

) need to get that gone..

 

[MichaelD]

The USB problem w/the 8K5A2+ is well-known. I started a thread about it here in mobos. I don't know how yours is working so well...lucky you.

I'm just saying that if there is one single thing wrong w/my 8RDA+, it's going back. There may be an Intel board in my future if that happens.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
The USB problem w/the 8K5A2+ is well-known. I started a thread about it here in mobos. I don't know how yours is working so well...lucky you.

I'm just saying that if there is one single thing wrong w/my 8RDA+, it's going back. There may be an Intel board in my future if that happens.

running XP(non sp1) installed back in May 2k2 (wonder what crap I'd experience upon the upcoming reformat

) ..good luck on your 8rda+ MikeD

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon

Originally posted by: MichaelD
The USB problem w/the 8K5A2+ is well-known. I started a thread about it here in mobos. I don't know how yours is working so well...lucky you.

I'm just saying that if there is one single thing wrong w/my 8RDA+, it's going back. There may be an Intel board in my future if that happens.

running XP(non sp1) installed back in May 2k2 (wonder what crap I'd experience upon the upcoming reformat

) ..good luck on your 8rda+ MikeD

In all fairness, the OS I'm running on this board was not from a fresh install, but, with the USB mouse/KB enabled in the bios, the bios hangs...never gets far enough along to start loading the OS. Definitely a board prob.

 

[Christof]

I have an upgrade planned and plan to start buying all the parts within the next two weeks.

What I had planned was an Epox 8RDA+ with an XP 2000 CPU

After reading this thread, I am starting to wonder if the 8RDA+ is such a good idea. The last thing I want after spending all the money is to have problems getting the bloody thing to work.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: Yield
you wanna know what i just found out tonight?

this is absolutely retarded....
when i am transferring pics from my Kodak digital camera, my keyboard is completely gone.. lights go out... stops working... when the camera is stopped, numlock comes back on and i can use the keyboard again... it's in USB mode. so i am sure it would be different if it was PS/2.. but still.. is that not odd?

and yes, it's an EPoX mainboard.. model EP-4PEA+

!

why confused..the Kodak is obviously taking all the juice/bandwidth of the USB ..have you tried a different controller set on your mobo..? or a powered USB hub..might help..?

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Oh crap, I hope this isn't yet ANOTHER Epox-only problem. I'm still pissed that my 8K5A2+ (NOV02bios) can't boot w/USB mouse/KB enabled. :|

Have all my USB enabled ( yes an Epox 8k5a2+ ..not the Nov BIOS tho..) currently have on the 4 on the back : kb, mouse(sometimes 2 ..

),Alcatel USB ADSL stingray modem(never got a decent ethernet one from my provider..),one 1.1 powered USB 4 pt hub,Lexar JumpShot,HP PSC750 and some USB cable that goes to an Epson 480SXU(

) need to get that gone..

my mous is plugged into the same port and it continues to work just fine...
now are you less confident? I am telling you.. uber strange.

 

[SpideyCU]

After reading this thread, I am starting to wonder if the 8RDA+ is such a good idea. The last thing I want after spending all the money is to have problems getting the bloody thing to work.

I think it's important to note that practically every 8RDA+ 'problem' thread I've seen on these boards has been resolved without the need for an RMA or what-not. A mis-connected floppy drive, incorrectly set jumpers on disks, bad power supply, etc. Keep in mind the sheer number of people that jumped on this motherboard in the past month or so - when you realize that, it's only a small percentage that are having issues with it - and those, like I mentioned, are usually resolved without any real hassle.

For what it's worth, all four of my drives are manually set to master/slave, NOT cable select, and the system is fast and fine on boot-up. So, I can't say why some people are having to resort to cable select and others aren't.

 

[MichaelD]

Hi SpideyCU. Thanks for the vote of confidence. I do agree about the "sheer numbers" thing though. The most popular product will have the most users and therefore the most praises and rants.

You have four drives? I'm guessing two hard drives and a DVD and a CDRW, right? Mind posting your cable order, please? I.E. IDE0->boot drive master, DVD rom slave, etc. Thanks bud.

 

[BobTheWizard]

Originally posted by: SpideyCU
[/quote] I think it's important to note that practically every 8RDA+ 'problem' thread I've seen on these boards has been resolved without the need for an RMA or what-not. A mis-connected floppy drive, incorrectly set jumpers on disks, bad power supply, etc. Keep in mind the sheer number of people that jumped on this motherboard in the past month or so - when you realize that, it's only a small percentage that are having issues with it - and those, like I mentioned, are usually resolved without any real hassle. For what it's worth, all four of my drives are manually set to master/slave, NOT cable select, and the system is fast and fine on boot-up. So, I can't say why some people are having to resort to cable select and others aren't.[/quote]

I agree totally!!!

 

[KiltedFool]

To second (or is that third) the above, a lot of people have jumped on this board lately, many of them like me, who only really cracks their case for something more complex than memory or an IDE device swap about every 1-2 years. I'm senile enough (and technology and chipsets advance fast enough) that outside of some basic consistency, there's a lot of learning from scratch each time I do a major rebuild.

Just because I'm a bonehead that barely builds one computer every 2 years (with help from a more knowledgable friend) and uses an OS that every power AT user snickers at (Me), don't blame the board

I could fill a chat session with dumb near-noob questions on basic installation and building.

KF

 

[SpideyCU]

Mike, those are exactly the drives I have. I guess it's pretty common.

Primary Master: 40 GB Maxtor
Primary Slave: Pioneer 16x DVD
Secondary Master: 40 GB Maxtor
Secondary Slave: Cendyne (Verbatim) 32x12x40x Burner

As I mentioned, all are set to their respective master/slave settings through the jumpers, not by their position on the cable. Here's hoping your board experience turns out to be relatively painless. It is indeed a downer when you've got a new piece of hardware, you're all excited to install it and wanting to see how she'll handle...and then something won't let you use it. Then you spend half an hour only to realize that both drives on a single channel are accidentally set to Slave. Whoops!

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks Spidey!! I'll be setting it up tonight. I planning on:

Primary Master: 80GB WD HD
Primary Slave: Lite-On LTD163 DVD Rom

Secondary Master: Lite-On 48x CDRW
Secondary Slave: Probably nothing for now.

I will have two Maxtor 40GB 7200 rpm drives...don't really need the extra drive to be phsically in the main rig b/c I have space left on the server...I may just throw those two drives in the server on an extra ATA PCI controller card I have lying around.

Thanks again.

 

[Insane3D]

Just curious about something... You are using a WD drive correct? You do know that WD drives on their own IDE chain as a master with no slave usually need to have the jumper completely removed from the drive for the bios to sense it correctly right? It's funny how one person has one problem and all of a sudden everyone's talking like the board sucks and there are rampant problems. It's like a hysteria of sorts....it's actually mildly amusing.


MichaelD-

When you get your board and are setting up, drop me a PM and I'll make sure it all goes smoothly for you. No need to get all worried...trust me. Also, I would suggest a slightly different IDE setup for your system. IMO, you should set it up with the WD on the primary IDE by itself, with the jumper removed from the back of the drive, and have the Lite-On DVD as the slave to the CDRW on the secondary IDE channel.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon

Originally posted by: MichaelD
The USB problem w/the 8K5A2+ is well-known. I started a thread about it here in mobos. I don't know how yours is working so well...lucky you.

I'm just saying that if there is one single thing wrong w/my 8RDA+, it's going back. There may be an Intel board in my future if that happens.

running XP(non sp1) installed back in May 2k2 (wonder what crap I'd experience upon the upcoming reformat

) ..good luck on your 8rda+ MikeD

In all fairness, the OS I'm running on this board was not from a fresh install, but, with the USB mouse/KB enabled in the bios, the bios hangs...never gets far enough along to start loading the OS. Definitely a board prob.

You should not need to enable that unless you have a USB keyboard and mouse and are working in DOS. It's simply an emulator to make your USB input devices act like PS/2 ones for OS'es that don't support USB. The main use of this is for when you are booting into DOS from a floppy to flash a bios, or booting into IBM PC DOS to use a program like Norton's Ghost. That's why it's disabled by default.

 

[Cybordolphin]

Ok.... I am pissed big time now too.

My new board is doing the same thing. Only catch this.... as soon as I plug in any hard drive, I lose my keyboard (PS2!), I even tried plugging it in with a serial adaptor.

The only way I could get it to find the hard drive was to go into bios with the hard drives unplugged, and then do as you all said. My bigger problem is that I can't even get into bios with my hard drives plugged in OR get out either because as soon as I plug in my hard drive(s) I lose all keyboard functions.

I am really Pissed off as this is the second 8RDA+ that has been nothing but trouble.

I think that it should be BOLDLY posted that this boards build quality sucks. Period.

I am also pissed that no one has taken the initiative to save others the headache of buying this piece of junk board. Get the word out to stop pumping this board. It is a POS.

This is my first Epox...... On to an Abit, or perhaps Asus.

I am so pissed off right now...... MAN!!!!!

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: Cybordolphin
Ok.... I am pissed big time now too.

My new board is doing the same thing. Only catch this.... as soon as I plug in any hard drive, I lose my keyboard (PS2!), I even tried plugging it in with a serial adaptor.

The only way I could get it to find the hard drive was to go into bios with the hard drives unplugged, and then do as you all said. My bigger problem is that I can't even get into bios with my hard drives plugged in OR get out either because as soon as I plug in my hard drive(s) I lose all keyboard functions.

I am really Pissed off as this is the second 8RDA+ that has been nothing but trouble.

I think that it should be BOLDLY posted that this boards build quality sucks. Period.

I am also pissed that no one has taken the initiative to save others the headache of buying this piece of junk board. Get the word out to stop pumping this board. It is a POS.

This is my first Epox...... On to an Abit, or perhaps Asus.

I am so pissed off right now...... MAN!!!!!

Edit:

If you would like some help with what is obviously a setup issue, I and others here would be glad to help. If you just want to trash the Epox board because you can't get one particular board to work right, than I repeat...

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Cybordolphin
Ok.... I am pissed big time now too.

My new board is doing the same thing. Only catch this.... as soon as I plug in any hard drive, I lose my keyboard (PS2!), I even tried plugging it in with a serial adaptor.

The only way I could get it to find the hard drive was to go into bios with the hard drives unplugged, and then do as you all said. My bigger problem is that I can't even get into bios with my hard drives plugged in OR get out either because as soon as I plug in my hard drive(s) I lose all keyboard functions.

I am really Pissed off as this is the second 8RDA+ that has been nothing but trouble.

I think that it should be BOLDLY posted that this boards build quality sucks. Period.

I am also pissed that no one has taken the initiative to save others the headache of buying this piece of junk board. Get the word out to stop pumping this board. It is a POS.

This is my first Epox...... On to an Abit, or perhaps Asus.

I am so pissed off right now...... MAN!!!!!

I did a little search to try to figure out what power supply you are running. Didn't find anything particular, although I saw a thread where you advised someone to buy a good-quality one. What are you using? And what brand/model of RAM?

Frankly, although the 8RDA+ is getting a fair number of requests for help, an impromptu full-text search over the last 50 days in the Motherboards forum seems to show more requests for help on the Asus A7N8X's. And of course, people are doing everything from putting their heatsinks on backwards to using generic RAM and power supplies, so a lot of it is brought on by preventable stuff like that. And Microsoft has had a hand in some of the problems too (no, really! ) Hope you find a solution there...

 

[Cybordolphin]

Guys....

Do you want the links to the others having the same problems....?

Please.

 

[Cybordolphin]

Believe me...

I have swapped PS., checked heatsinks, video cards, ram, all the right stuff. This is not the first 8RDA+ board I have had trouble with, granted one out of three worked fine (although not flawless), and I have friends that have found the board to be at the very least very "picky". Don't need it.

Too many other boards that are a quick build without any trouble. Another dog was the SOYO Dragon lots of guys raved about. Had 3 of those lose their onboard LAN within 6 mos.. Sure it was a bitchin (looked cool and all) board, and other than that a good one... but again.... don't need it.

A motherboard should go together pretty much like clock work. If they have trouble from the get go, they don't belong on my table. Period.

I will be getting a replacement for this dog... and likely I will get a good one. But I will also be going for likely an Abit (hold my breathe).

To be honest.... the best board I have ever worked on was INTEL. There boards are consistently well built and last without problem. My luck with MSI has actually been very good also.

 

[Insane3D]

Dammit mechBgon...he is on to us!! I thought we had hidden all those rampant Epox 8RDA+ problems well enough....:Q:Q:Q






OMG!!! OH NO! AIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! NOOOOOO!O!OO!O!!!!