First setup problems

[brandvegn1]

Believe me when I say I have read ALL 443 posts before posting. First I will begin with my specs (and their alternatives):

AMD (OEM) 1900+
Epox 8K5a3+ (not using RAID now) (2 of them, RMA)
Maxtor 80GB 5400 speed (OEM)
420W Pentium and AMD approved Power supply (upgrade from a 300 ATX)
Optorite 40X12X40 CDRW
Gainward ti4200 128MB (Gainward ti4200 64MB)
2 sticks Samsung 256MB PC2700 DDR SD-RAM

Now the running problem is the RAM. We (meaning my friend who is a tech by night and BBQ cook by day, and I) had a hard time keeping my machine up with both sticks of the RAM in. Even after tweaking the BIOS, playing any graphic intensive game (or sometimes just clicking on an icon) would flash the computer totally off, basically, restarting WINXP all over again (Fans shut off, everything).
FIRST, we tested the card. I had a 64MB of the same card that I had bought thinking it was the 128. We tested it and it crashed. Both times, the cards were tested under various speeds.
SECOND, we went to RAM. This was our first good sign. The RAM worked fine when running either stick by itself. By changing various settings in the BIOS we had no luck, whatsoever, when trying to keep it running on two. Tom tried to update the BIOS manually and down went the Mainboard (BIOS gone on our account. Don't tell EPOX). No sweat. RMA, 1.5 weeks later, I am assembled again with just the single stick. HOWEVER...
NEXT PHASE OF TESTING
When trying to start up the computer, there is an Error screen telling me to either start from Normal windows (WINXP) or from a previously saved config, or from various safe modes. I pick both the first and the second, but nothing happens. I have heard that changing a motherboard will really wreck your window's day. I do a fresh install over the original. EVERYTHING is SWELL!! Playing Hitman 2 with no problems, Highest settings. Walking on air. Food tastes somehow better. Chocolate is sweeter, wine is drier. Then I decide to conquer the RAM problem (only one glass of wine). Tom comes over. I do the deed. I take the power cord and rip it from the wall with the confidence of a god(still only one glass of wine). I slip the second RAM in, we turn it on and Walla! A blue screen this time. What it said was generic and unimportant (according to Tom). Tom decides it might be the HD. We do a little Power Max on the HD and it fails to test. It gives me 'SY2' in the Write Test(?I think?) and 'RO3' in the Advanced Test to report to Maxtor for an RMA request (even though its OEM and can only go back to the Reseller). I saw reference to this RO3 in another thread, but it didn't seem like any of my scenarios. I can't remember which one, but it wasn't pertaining to my issues. So my Hard drive is screwed up because of my installs, I am pretty sure.

So, after reading this, What is it that is causing me so much grief? My one idea is to reset the jumpers to 133 as suggested to others who were not having a conflict with their DIMM slots, just wanted to get PC2700 instead of a default PC2100, which could be one thing holding me back...I don't know. The Maxtor is going back RMA on Monday, so I will have some time to think about it, but some input would really be appreciated. Thanks ahead of time for your response.
Sincerely,
Brandvegn

PS. I am impressed with a forum dedicated to a single motherboard, being so well maintained. Really have to say you guys even got thru that rurron1 stuff without resorting to making him feel ridiculous or just giving up on answering him. I actually enjoyed the majority fo the posts. Thanks again!

 

[Viper96720]

Probably nothing is wrong with your hard drive.
Can you run both memory sticks at pc2100 speeds? How are you getting the ram to run at pc2700 speed? Some boards aren't as stable when running the memory faster and populating more than one memory bank. Should be a setting so the fsb can run at 133mhz while the memory runs at 166mhz. Set the memory to use spd for it's setting. If it runs fine then try tweaking the memory. Put the memory in dimm 1 and 2 memory bank 0/1 and 2/3. Check your post code from the onboard port 80 when you get the blue screen.

 

[Buz2b]

I am both amazed and astounded by your post and your "friend" Tom. Can we go back and get a clue here? By your own admission, life was sweet. Then you added a stick of RAM and it turned into hell. And from that you (by direction of your friend) decide that it was the Hard Drive?????!!?!!?? What part of this am I missing?? It's the RAM!!!!

Listen to what Viper96720 has said. Also, how many and what type/brand of RAM are you trying to run that is hosing your system? Remember that you were "walking on air" for a bit. So, what is the difference (RAM-speaking) between that and the "blue screens of death" version. That is your first and only clue to your troubles unless there is more that you have not shared.

 

[brandvegn1]

 

[brandvegn1]

Maybe my post wasn't clear. We did not just decide the HD was the reason. All reason pointed to the RAM. When we took the second stick of RAM out we continued to get the blue screen. We finally checked the HD because I had installed XP 3 times on it and this can make it unstable when you don't reformat. When we did the test from disk on my machine, the tests failed, as mentioned above. This afternoon, I took it to Tom's house and we just used partition magic and everything was fine. Now I am moving on to Viper's suggestion since my HD is working again. I will post the results tomorrow, bad or good. Thanks for the input, Viper.

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: brandvegn1
Maybe my post wasn't clear. We did not just decide the HD was the reason. All reason pointed to the RAM. When we took the second stick of RAM out we continued to get the blue screen. We finally checked the HD because I had installed XP 3 times on it and this can make it unstable when you don't reformat. When we did the test from disk on my machine, the tests failed, as mentioned above. This afternoon, I took it to Tom's house and we just used partition magic and everything was fine. Now I am moving on to Viper's suggestion since my HD is working again. I will post the results tomorrow, bad or good. Thanks for the input, Viper.

Makes a bit more sense but I am curious about two things; what "tests" did you do that failed and what did using PM have to do with your HDD's health.
Yes, reinstalling XP three times can possibly cause trouble but more likely is that the attempts to use the "other RAM" hosed or corrupted the OS.

 

[brandvegn1]

Well we did a test with PowerMax from the Maxtor site. The problem was, we did it on the same computer using a bootable disk. I am not sure why it failed tests and reformatting unless it was the program, but I have used it before. We used PM 5.0 with his machine and we got it formatted. Last night I tried Viper's suggestion. I switched the RAM to the 2/3 slots and this time not a hitch. I am now using my machine without any problems. I have tested some games with the settings all the way up. ANd they ran without a pause. Thank you very much Viper and BUz2b. I definitely appreciate the responses, especially since the fixes were so easy.

 

[piasabird]

If RAM is bad, it can influence the drive test and any other test requiring the use of memory!!!!!!!

 

[brandvegn1]

YEs, that would make sense. The RAM wasn't bad, but the 1 and 2 slots didn't jive. This was the case with both boards. Is there an expanation for this or is this just a wierd thing the Epox boards do?