Need some help w/ K7S5A

[Audiofight]

Alright,

System config:

K7S5A
256 MB PC133
Athon XP 1800+
ATi Rage 128 AGP
Western Digital 7200/ATA100 2 MB cache 20.0 GB hdd
32x cd-rom
floppy

Codegen atx mid-tower w/ (model: 200x1) 300w psu

Each install of Win2k formats fine, copies files w/o error and then when detecting devices (such as keyboard and mouse) it will get 3/4 of the way through it and then the screen goes black with multiple lines of white characters and a cursor is at the upper left corner of the screen.

At this point the system won't respond to anything but a hard reboot.

Questions:

1. How accurate is the hardware monitoring in the bios? My power rails are all lower than they should be, but only slightly (i.e. 12v - 11.917v etc. etc.).

2. What else could be causing my problems?

I will be returning on Wednesday night to finish getting this thing working. I plan on taking back an extra hdd, ram, and a different psu. Is there anything else that I should consider trying?

There aren't any pci cards installed in the system, I planned on using the integrated audio/NIC for it w/ the AGP vid card.

 

[OS]

try 100/100 fsb

 

[Peter]

This is not the first time I see that problem with Codegen PSUs. I just come from exchanging one (still under warranty, so I got a Codegen again). This was a 350W, yet still, the first one was too weak for an Athlon 1000C and a GeForce-1. The important 3.3V rail was 3.12. The new one just barely manages to get into the stability range, feeding slightly above 3.2V. Yet still, the intermittent freezes are gone - now running 1000/133 MHz with SDRAM at 133 perfectly fine.

I wouldn't even think of trying a 300W Codegen with an XP1800 ... and after you rectified that, test your RAM. www.memtest86.com

OS, see, here we go again. Setting to 100/100 is just as much a solution as the 133/133 setting is a problem. (For those unfamiliar with sarcasm, it isn't. Not at all.)

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: Peter
This is not the first time I see that problem with Codegen PSUs. I just come from exchanging one (still under warranty, so I got a Codegen again). This was a 350W, yet still, the first one was too weak for an Athlon 1000C and a GeForce-1. The important 3.3V rail was 3.12. The new one just barely manages to get into the stability range, feeding slightly above 3.2V. Yet still, the intermittent freezes are gone - now running 1000/133 MHz with SDRAM at 133 perfectly fine.

I wouldn't even think of trying a 300W Codegen with an XP1800 ... and after you rectified that, test your RAM. www.memtest86.com

OS, see, here we go again. Setting to 100/100 is just as much a solution as the 133/133 setting is a problem. (For those unfamiliar with sarcasm, it isn't. Not at all.)

ugh, as much as I hate that mobo, I can't argue with that, since he did already say his voltages are sagging already.

the hardware monitor is accurate but keep in mind thats at idle, when you're doing stuff it might go down even more.

 

[Audiofight]

I am glad that my psu could be the problem. I have a couple Athlon approved 300w power supplies laying around here. One is running a Celly 667 that I run Linux on. I will just swap the power supplies and hopefully all will be better then.

I will post an update later.

 

[Audiofight]

Alright. Got the system running properly.

1. Tried new 300W psu - didn't solve the problem

2. Tried different memory - didn't fix it.

3. Got a "Checksum Error" during a couple reboots, began thinking a bad motherboard.

4. For the hell of it, I popped in an old PCI vid card and the system took off fine.

Conclusions:

Either the AGP port is shot or else the vid card is defective.

I will test the vid card later today, at a fundraiser right now and watching a puter lab full of high school students that are visiting our college.

 

[Peter]

Or you didn't seat the AGP card correctly. Or the AGP card pulled either power supply unit over the edge, while the weaker and less hungry PCI one doesn't. Either problems are much more common than broken AGP slots or even bad mainboards altogether.

 

[rutchtkim]

K7S5A has many many problems with AGP slots. most likely u have to break the slot in. put ur card in and than take it out for a couple of times.

 

[Audiofight]

I tried to re-seat it multiple times over the course of 2 nights. I just know that the PCI one works and I am going to find a PCI replacement for this AGP card cause it is nice and crispy in 2d, which I need for programming and all

 

[Peter]

You won't like your system with a PCI card ... just too much of a bandwidth hog. Having a PCI VGA nowadays causes all kinds of annoying side effects like audio replay problems and such. Don't.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: audiofight
I tried to re-seat it multiple times over the course of 2 nights. I just know that the PCI one works and I am going to find a PCI replacement for this AGP card cause it is nice and crispy in 2d, which I need for programming and all

And the K7S5A claims another casualty!!! Send another component to the scrapheap. Before you consider buying ANOTHER video card, you might want to see if your AGP card is truely at fault. If not, fix the cause of the problem and get a motherboard that works.

Chiz

 

[Audiofight]

Well,

There isn't another motherboard on the market that supports SDR ram, integrated NIC and audio and is priced at $57 shipped.

So, the motherboard stays.

The AGP card is fine, I think, further testing later tonight will tell. I am using it right now at 1024x768 @ 85Hz 32-bit color. Works fine.

 

[DieHardware]

Have you tried flashing the motherboard and/or videocard? BTW what is the revision of your K7S5A?

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: audiofight
Well,

There isn't another motherboard on the market that supports SDR ram, integrated NIC and audio and is priced at $57 shipped.

So, the motherboard stays.

The AGP card is fine, I think, further testing later tonight will tell. I am using it right now at 1024x768 @ 85Hz 32-bit color. Works fine.

Have you looked into the Shuttle AK32A for $56 shipped? It has everything you listed except the integrated NIC, which goes for all of FREE after rebate. If you are really pressed for cash, I'll send you one free, you pay shipping.

Chiz

 

[cleverhandle]

Can you install the AGP card after you finish installing Windows using the PCI? Could just be some unfortunate combination of factors that shows up in installation.