Is my PC GAY? P5AD2 PREMIUM RAID - WHAT A WASTE OF TIME!!

[psykik]

I am sooooo fed up with this!

Ive got what should be a crackerjack setup

p5ad2 premium
3.4Ghz p4
1Gb ballistix ddr2
x800 xt pcie
2 x 72gb raptors on ich6r raid 1 for xp bootdisk
2 x 250gb maxtors 16mb on ich6r matrix raid (1,0)

PROBLEM -
Every time I move the pc, put in a sound card or take one out, or do any "maintenance" inside the pc, the bios reports either a hard drive has failed, degraded or similar. I've checked the sata connections to the intel raid inputs on the mobo very carefully. All my hard drives are brand new. I have to play around with the connectors touching a bit here and there 1mm at a time ever so gently, keep rebooting and checking the intel bios until it reports all drives connected. Then go into xp and rebuild the basterds all over again at a slow crawl. Ive done this for two days now. Im sooo pissed off im thinking of selling it all for parts and just going to a small form factor. I cant have a pc thats so gay a little vibration here and there makes it report a hard drive has failed. I dare not even try raid 0, I'm so scared of having to install xp for the 20th time.

So guys, am I missing something?

Ive tried changing sata connectors I have about 10 lying around.

I've tried connecting just one hd at a time and booting bios to see if its reported as connected- the problem persists.

I'm thinking of buying an adaptec sata raid card

Anandtechers please! Is there anything I can do? Is there some stupid mistake Ive made?
Someone please help!

Thanks

 

[Skoop]

Symptoms of an electrical short. Take the board and tray out and look around.

 

[TheStu]

also sounds a little lik PSU problems....Based on everything else in you system I would assume you didn't skimp on the PSU but it has been known to happen.... what kind do you have and what is it's rated wattage... Definitely check for a short first though as that is a free solution. Aditionally... I don't know every manfactureers number scheme by heart and especially not Intel mobos... what brand is your motherboard?

 

[psykik]

Checked for shorts under the mobo and tried the sata connectors without the standoffs with nothing but air underneath while the mobo was held - the same problems persist.

The ps is an OCZ PowerStream 520w

any ideas appreciated

 

[o1die]

I had an old p4s533 with a similar problem, and I disabled the speech reporter by removing a jumper on the board. Check the owner's manual for any settings you can disable.

 

[CubanlB]

If you can put biker shorts on it and maybe an ascott and it works, your computer might be gay. but, that would be amazing.

 

[psykik]

still struggling here - pls help!

 

[Gamingphreek]

Shouldn't be the PSU unless a defect as that is one of the best PSU's on the market.

Look for electrical shorts and consider RMAing PSU and getting the same one again.

-Kevin

 

[alternator]

I don't have much to add but your headline cracked me up. I'd definitely try a different PSU just for kicks. Also see if there's a bios update available for your mobo and check the ASUS board to see if anyone else is having a similar problem.

I am a bit curious as to why you'd run your Raptors in RAID1 and not RAID0 on that rig.

 

[psykik]

"I am a bit curious as to why you'd run your Raptors in RAID1 and not RAID0 on that rig."

the reason is that its my most important partition, without it, I have to sit for an hour and install xp. Since Ive had so many "failed" drive arrays in raid 0 and had to repeat the install over and over again, I decided to f*** speed and go for safety first.

All hd's have been tested on another rig and work fine. The basterd connectors on the mobo result in "failed" drive alerts both in ich6r and silicon image.

I will rma the psu but Im hopeful someone out there will be able to give a new suggestion to try.

Any ideas appreciated - im getting desparate here...

thanks

 

[Ryan]

Does your P4 CPU like other p4 CPUs? If so, it might be :shocked:

 

[psykik]

just to update..

Ive moved to SFF now. See

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=51&threadid=1498719

Things got so desparate, I gave up.

Now at least i have something that works, makes less noise, and is RELIABLE.

I had to eat humble pie in the end and admit my PC really was gay.

;-)

 

[imported_slippy]

Nothing like a little gay bashing in the morning, eh?

I honestly hope your next computer is as experimental with its sexuality as this one.

 

[1stoff]

maybe if you had gone the A64 route you would not have these troubles !!!

oh and by the way, i use intel, a 2.8c M0 30cap that runs @3.8 with 100% load temp of 42c, anything after the "C" is just a POS (IMHO)