Huge problem involving XP take a look!

[BlueElite06]

I had xp running on my SLI system for about 4 months without any flaws...then one day is literally screamed at me (A high pitch horrible sound through the speakers) and from that moment on would not load XP properly. It would freeze when booted, I simply could not do anything whilst in XP.

So I refromated. Problem is, it will not, under any circumstance allow me to install XP. I have switched ram, GPU's...tried to partition (20 times?), reinstalled the HD... everything.

It will not work.

Whats even more odd? It installs 2k just fine. While in 2k it recognized all of my hardware, it also plays games fine ... not in SLI of course, as 2k does not support it.

So what now? I have posted ALL over, and no one knows what to do, i have taken it to friends who are more technical than I - no luck...we are all stumped.

Some more info:
While trying to install XP it would give me ACPI errors, saying that my Bios would not work with XP more or less. It would also randomly give me RAM errors, so that made me try other sticks with the same result.

I also took my bottom GPU out (Where i stand now) And got the same ACPI error. So my current plan is to load 2k, flash my Bios with the most recent bios ... and see if it works. If it doesnt I have no idea what else to attempt...has ANYONE ever seen anything like this? Here are my specs:

Mobo: Asus A8N32-Sli Deluxe
CPU: 3800 Dual Core
Ram: Corsair XMS DC 2 gigs platinum
PSU: Enermax 650 watt
GPU(s): 7800 GT Evga OC edition.

Anyone, any ideas? I'm getting more and more desprate for any kind of help anyone can give.

Thanks in advanced

-Blue

 

[BlueElite06]

I thought I might make a post here, because it is the OS forum. Not to mention I am really desprate at this time. here is a link to my other forum (Part of these forums, I know - it's bad)

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=32&threadid=1873886&enterthread=y

Well, anyways back to work I go !

-Blue

 

[nova2]

try another mobo of the same model (or not, but with sli support of course) -- see what happens.

 

[jameswhite1979]

Flash the MoBo often a good start

 

[nweaver]

run memtest for 8+ hours

 

[Solema]

Also, make sure you have nothing overclocked that wasn't factory overclocked.

Also, what version and service pack of XP are you trying to install? If you haven't already, try installing XP from an XP w/SP2 CD.

 

[Seeruk]

Have you also been through all your BIOS Settings and checked they are as they should be?

The sudden high-pitch screem of death sounds like a serious hardware failure, The only thing I can think of similar in my experience is the CPU fan stopping leading to a fried CPU... maybe your CPU isnt fried if you switched it off straight away, but it could have caused all kinds of wierdness.

I would be looking at everything from the ground up, try another mobo if you can (I know a real pain!), on your current mobo I would flash, then make sure to clear CMOS and reapply all your BIOS settings.

 

[Smilin]

Although it involves XP, it is very clearly a hardware problem. A Bios flash (or just reset) would be a good starting point. Memtest would be good too.



Beyond that I don't think this amounts to a big mystery. I would suggest RMAing your motherboard.

 

[Markbnj]

Just wanted to point out that when a sound card goes down it sometimes produces some pretty horrible sounds. The sound might have been a symptom of the system crashing, and not directly related to the cause.

 

[BlueElite06]

It is onboard sound - And in 2k sound ... well sounds great, I don't have another mobo on hand, or CPU.

Sigh, this is becoming a pain.

I did get XP installed, and then it crashed, xp IS on the system. Now im getting Page_fault_in_nonpaged_Area

Any other ideas?

-Blue, and thanks for all the help

 

[BlueElite06]

FLashing the bios to 1093 (I think that's it, its the second to most recent) Let me install - so there is that much. I'll try memtest here in a bit, And im calling Fry's to see about a newe mobo.

Thank god my grad party was a few days ago, i can afford this at least, and i got payed today. Alas, this is probably the only problem I have ever had I could not fix involving my systems . Hardware is not fun hehe

-Blue

 

[BlueElite06]

Turned off USB/1394/APM And im in windows...

Whoa ?

 

[Brazen]

sounds like _maybe_ your power supply is not putting out enough juice.

 

[Elvandil]

When installing XP and the message to press F6 to install drivers pops up, press F5 or F7 (at first it may not appear to do anything) and install as a "Standard PC" HAL instead of using the ACPI HAL.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Elvandil
When installing XP and the message to press F6 to install drivers pops up, press F5 or F7 (at first it may not appear to do anything) and install as a "Standard PC" HAL instead of using the ACPI HAL.

That's perfectly understandable for a way to get your files off the disk in the interim, but it is definitely not a long term solution (not sure which you were implying). Some hardware went south if ACPI won't operate.

 

[RebateMonger]

Since Windows 2000 installs, it could be a device problem.

To diagnose it you might try REMOVING or DISABLING every possible device:
1) Install an old PCI video card and use standard VGA drivers
2) Disable the onboard NIC or remove the PCI NIC
3) Disable the onboard Sound or remove the PCI Sound card
4) Remove any other cards from the PC

Then, re-install XP.

If XP loads and is stable, you can start adding cards/functions one at a time until you get another failure.

 

[crispy2010]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
Since Windows 2000 installs, it could be a device problem.

To diagnose it you might try REMOVING or DISABLING every possible device:
1) Install an old PCI video card and use standard VGA drivers
2) Disable the onboard NIC or remove the PCI NIC
3) Disable the onboard Sound or remove the PCI Sound card
4) Remove any other cards from the PC

Then, re-install XP.

If XP loads and is stable, you can start adding cards/functions one at a time until you get another failure.

Agreed, sounds like xp has the driver for the bad onboard device and crashes when the driver activates the device ( mabye onboard sound ). Where as win 2000 does not have the driver so it doesnt crash until the driver is installed!