Fixed - Windows install problem, hardware related

[DrMoe]

Hi all,

Trying to help a friend who recently fried a mobo, cpu, and PS with his semi-new setup:

Asrock K7VT6 (KT600) BIOS 1.3 (most recent)
Sempron 2300 Retail
Antec SLK 3700 with 350w PS
Old 2x256 ddr 266 RAM
Old GeForce 3 Original AGP
Old WD 80 gig with 8MB cache
Old 24x yamaha CDRW

He had no problem with hardware install and the mobo recognizes everything correctly. Booting from an XP Pro SP2 installation cd without problems. He decided to format his old OS partition for a clean install rather than try to use the existing install. Disk formats fine, setup copies install files fine, and computer reboots. The splashscreen shows for a few seconds before the dreaded BSOD with a Stop: unknown hard error c0000221 related to ntdll.dll. I have no experience with this problem so I started with the good ol' support@microsoft -

Link to error explanation

To rule out a software problem we tried setup again with a format and my XP pro CD with the same result. The website suggests that hardware problems may be the culprit but gives no other details. Does anyone have any ideas on how to proceed? Any help greatly appreciated.

 

[Skyhack]

I think I'd probably look at the video card and the BIOS setting for it first...That can hose things up pretty badly...Then I'd check the Ram...

 

[Trashman]

Take the Yamaha out of the loop by unpluggin, see if that helps.

 

[DrMoe]

Originally posted by: Skyhack
I think I'd probably look at the video card and the BIOS setting for it first...That can hose things up pretty badly...Then I'd check the Ram...

Don't see anything funny in the video bios settings...any settings in particular I should try changing?
RAM checks out fine in another machine.

 

[DrMoe]

Originally posted by: Trashman
Take the Yamaha out of the loop by unpluggin, see if that helps.

Well, if this does fix the problem with the unknown hard error, I still won't be able to install WinXP because I need the CD for that.

 

[DrMoe]

Bump for any other ideas - so many smart and experienced users on this forum, surely someone has had this problem before ans solved it.

 

[Trashman]

Well, if this does fix the problem with the unknown hard error, I still won't be able to install WinXP because I need the CD for that

you say "if"...did you try removing cd burner??

 

[BFG10K]

Try a minimal boot and don't forget to install the latest chipset drivers for your system.

 

[DrMoe]

Originally posted by: Trashman

Well, if this does fix the problem with the unknown hard error, I still won't be able to install WinXP because I need the CD for that

you say "if"...did you try removing cd burner??

Removing the CD burner completely from the setup did not stop the error from recurring.
Any other ideas?

 

[DrMoe]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
Try a minimal boot and don't forget to install the latest chipset drivers for your system.

The only information on the hard drive now is the setup files. When the computer boots, it is trying to continue setup of WinXP Pro, so I have no option of a minimal boot or changing any drivers for XP.
Any other ideas?

 

[Trashman]

it has something to do with hardware, like you even said and thats what i would think too.
since he fried his previous machine, ya gotta be a bit suspect on his old hardware?
to eliminate that, you probably would need to try different memory, hard drive, cd-drive and even video.
if that all pans out, try going through BIOS settings and disable any other hardware, such as SATA, USB...and so-on, stuff you don't need, just the basic's for a install.
problems like this are a pain, but ya gotta eliminate one device at a time

 

[Uncle Bob]

well, it seems likely that you are getting one or more corrupted files during stage 1 of the install. The question is - where is the corruption occuring?

you've tried two different XP cd's, so that rules out defective installation media

the next most likely cause would be the cd-burner (which was what trashman was getting at, I think). You mention that the original motherboard/PSU was 'fried' - isn't it possible it's also damaged other components?

Ideally, obtain a different CD reader at least to rule this out as a source of the problem. If that's difficult, you could try the following;

1. If you have access to, or can create one, boot the system from a Windows 98 startup disc. Partition/Format your hard drive making it bootable. Copy the i386 directory from CD to the hard disc. Power off, disconnect the CD-Burner and restart. run winnt32.exe from the i386 directory on the hard disc, this will install XP without the need to have the CD available.

2. If a W9x startup disc is not available, you can do the same thing via the XP recovery console but you will need to make a set (3 I think) of startup floppies so that you can boot without having the CD connected.

I'd also be tempted to try running the system with only 1 of the two RAM modules as it's possible you have some bad RAM

hth

 

[mechBgon]

The Sempron is made for DDR333, not DDR266. Try a PC2700 memory module in place of the PC2100 (DDR266) stuff.

Also remember that Western Digital's drives now have four jumper settings, and if the drive has a data cable all to itself, then it should be jumpered for Single Drive, not Master or Slave. Pull the cap off the jumper pins and leave it off, that's Single Drive.

 

[Uncle Bob]

That's a valid point, the memory may not be compatible with your motherboard (although AMD state that PC1600, PC2100, PC2700 or PC3200 ram may be used with the Sempron).

Having downloaded the ASROCK manual, I'd suggest the following;

1. Check that ddr266 ram is selected in the bios (don't rely on the auto setting)
2. Check you have the FSB jumpers (page 13) set for 333Mhz FSB and if you're still having problems you might also want to try them at 266Mhz FSB to see what happens.

hth

 

[DrMoe]

OK. After trying all of the above suggestions except a stick of PC2700 RAM (none was available ), I began systematically replacing each piece of hardware until eventually I got the system to work. The only change was in trying an old 4gig hard drive. The 80 gig that was originally in the machine is less than 6months old. After installing windows on the 4 gig, WD diagnostics was unable to find any problems with the 80 gig drive. I tried writing zeros and then re installing windows on the 80 gig but ran into the same problem as before. Is this drive bad? Anything else that could be the problem? Thanks for all the help.

 

[DrMoe]

LOL. Replaced the IDE cable and problem solved. Go figure. Thanks for the help.

Moe