New AMD, Windows won't start

[ubermu]

Here's the specs of my system:

AMD JIXHB 1800+ with a SK-7 and smart fan 2
NF7-S
2x512 Buffalo 3700
Foltron 400w PSU
80gb ATA100 HD
9500 Radeon
Whatever CD-Rom
Wireless Ethernet card

First time I had the SATA setup (I didn't really understand how it worked) and windows wouldn't boot up. So I took out hte SATA setup and used the standard IDE cable and windows booted up ok. I then reinstalled all the drivers, restarted, I was ok. I then did the 9500 softmod with Omega drivers to 9700 and restarted, all of a sudden as the system restarted I got funny noises and the screen was all chopped up. I restarted it and it booted to windows loading just fine and then suddenly popped up with an error saying something along the lines of "Windows was unable to authenticate serial code", and then restarted me. I let it boot up again, it took me to windows loading and said "Unable to retrieve enough system memory" or whatever kind of memory that windows uses based on extra hard drive space. So then I tried again, no response this time and immediate restart. I just cant get past windows loading.

I tried upping the CPU voltage and that was a no go. I tried doing the SATA setup again because I installed the drivers in XP before I put in the softmod, no luck there either. So now I have a problem on my hands and I'd pinpoint it on the Radeon immediately if it wasn't for my inital failure to get into windows without messing with the hard drive cables. Can anybody lend a helping hand?

Oh, I haven't even started overclocking yet.

Another thing worth adding. I'm using the same hard drive I used on my other comp, a 1.6a (INTEL) overclocked to 2.5ghz. I didn't reformat it before switching to this new setup because I wanted to keep all my programs intact, I don't know if this causes any problems or not.

As I boot up it boots normally, and then sais 'windows is starting' now, and my mouse light turns on and my cd-rom goes crazy and starts running fast, and then the mouse light dies out and then the cd-rom and next thing I know system shutdown :< . Have no clue on where to go from here.

 

[mechBgon]

You tried to transplant your Windows installation onto a different type of motherboard. That's your primary problem.

 

[ubermu]

I thought that might be it ;/ Should I fully reformat and reinstall windows or just do a windows restart?

 

[mechBgon]

If it were me, I'd do the full reinstallation. If you need to save some files first, pair the hard drive up with the old mobo/CPU and get them saved first.

 

[mechBgon]

By the way, just in case you didn't catch on already: don't power the Smart Fan II from your mobo unless you want your fan headers going up in smoke. It can pull over 8W. Also make sure that when your SK-7 is mounted on the CPU socket, it's slid away from the solid end of the socket so it clears the solid part without touching it.

 

[ubermu]

Ok I'll do that. I noticed your AMD guide as well. If you know about AMDs, do you know anything about IDE to SATA connections? I tried to setup my harddrive using the SATA add-on that came with my NF7-S and I was wondering if there was anything I'd need to change in bios to get that working.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: ubermu
Ok I'll do that. I noticed your AMD guide as well. If you know about AMDs, do you know anything about IDE to SATA connections? I tried to setup my harddrive using the SATA add-on that came with my NF7-S and I was wondering if there was anything I'd need to change in bios to get that working.

I haven't tried using the SATA controller on my similar mobo, but I think you need to at least change the boot setting to SATA and possibly have the SATA drivers on a floppy diskette. Windows Setup prompts to press the F6 key if you've got third-party mass-storage drivers, and this is what it has in mind, so do that. You may need to go into the SATA controller's BIOS and tell it to define your drive as a one-drive RAID1, I'm not positive on whether it will automagically do that for you or not.

Another option is to set up Windows on the drive while it's on the standard IDE controller, then install the SATA controller's driver in Windows, shut down, put the drive on the SATA thingie, and change the board to boot from SATA at that time.

Incidentally, I'd recommend using the nVidia 2.45 driver pack. It avoids the problematic "SW Performance IDE Driver" that makes optical burners freak out.

 

[ubermu]

where's the choice for the SATA boot? I was guessing that under Primary Boot Device -> Serial ATA is what you were talking about. Also after the initial startup it sais press ctrl+s or F4 to go into Serial RAID setup, I wasn't sure if that's what you were talking about or the Primary boot device.

Also SATA drivers are apparently on the CD and on a floppy disk, didn't know if they were one and the same drivers. I guess I'll use the floppy just to be safe.

 

[mechBgon]

The motherboard's own BIOS is where you pick SATA as your boot device. Go into the BIOS and then into the Advanced BIOS Features section, and you'll see where. If you want to define your hard drive as a one-disk array so the SATA controller has something to offer to Windows Setup, then you'd hit the Ctrl-S or F4 when prompted. I'm pretty sure the drivers on the floppy will get you going... you'll know within a few minutes