New ASUS A7N8X-XE won't get to windows :(

[concreteDonkey]

I've just upgraded my mobo from an MSIKT333 Ultra to this (don't laugh):

ASUS A7N8X-XE
Athlon XP 1900+ (1.6GHz)
Crucial 512MB PC2700
Connect3D Radeon 9800pro
USR wireless card
SB Live 5.1

I tried letting it boot without reinstalling XP but it reset itself and then gave me the safe mode menu so I just disregarded this and got on with a fresh install.

Install went fine, reset to boot windows for the first time and same problem as before so i pick safe mode. Driver list stops at Mup.sys before reseting to safe mode menu again.

I disabled mup in the windows recovery console but the problem persists so mup.sys is scored off the list and i re-enabled it.

Interestingly, when I disable ACPI APIC support in BIOS, rather than reset it just hangs.

I tried going to bios defaults, no improvement.
I've taken both PCI card out, that's the SB and the USR wireless, no improvement.

Does anyone know what loads AFTER mup.sys?
Does anyone know anything that can help?

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any help

 

[mechBgon]

What power supply are you using? Is the memory set correctly to a 1:1 ratio so it's sync'ed to the CPU's bus speed? The Radeon 9800 has its power pigtail hooked up?

If the OS was installed with ACPI enabled, then disabling it will make Windows freak out. Don't do that.

 

[concreteDonkey]

The power supply is an ENCER 400W (i have a feeling that is NoBrand).
I can't remember what my CPU's FSB is but I know it's one notch down from my RAM which is 333 right? So I've got it set at 266. The mobo comes with jumper for the FSB which are defaulted at 200MHz so i changed the jumpers to 266.
The Radeon is powered correctly with it's extra molex connected.

 

[Bug]

Wait, if the memory is set to 333MHz, shouldn't the cpu be set to 166 fsb? So 166x2=~333?

 

[concreteDonkey]

No, I was doing the maths for you. When I said it's set at 266, I actually meant 133x2. The memory isn't set at 333, that's how fast it can go, I have to bring it down to the CPU speed.

 

[concreteDonkey]

I looked on another XP system, and the driver which loads after mup.sys is btkrnl.sys.

Does this give anyone any clues?

Ok, I looked it up and it's a bluetooth file. The other system I looked on has a bluetooth dongle so that's off the list too. I'm going to write down all the drivers that come up in safe mode boot and see what's left in the drivers folder, that should keep me busy.

Please, any advice will be welcomed!

 

[concreteDonkey]

Whenever I touch any APIC or APIC settings in the bios, it will hang instead of resetting.

Does this indicate that it's some sort of power management issue?

Nothing is overheating anyway.
What is happening after all the drivers are loaded in safe mode? I think they're all loading ok, it's something after that.

 

[Slikkster]

I'm a little confused. Tell me where I'm wrong here:

1. You had an older system with XP already on it.
2. You replaced the motherboard, etc. and just booted back up in your old XP install?
3. It went to Safe Mode (I can certainly see that happening!)
4. You did a "fresh" install of XP? What exactly did you do and where did you install it to?

If you weren't going to wipe everything off your old drive and start over, what you should have done is replace the motherboard, etc., then use the XP CD to boot up with, NOT the hard drive. Once the CD boots up, get up to the actual installation screen, and choose "Repair Installation". This preserves all your programs/documents, etc., but just replaces all the old drivers with what Windows finds by querying your new hardware.

As far as what comes after mup.sys at boot up, it all depends on the system. Everyone's different. I wouldn't count on that bluetooth file being the holdup. Do the repair install if I have the sequence of events right.

Note: "Repair Installation" is NOT the first "R" you see when you boot up with the CD. The first option to click "R" on the keyboard is for Recovery Console. You don't want that. You want "Repair Installation". See here:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

 

[concreteDonkey]

Ok, the old system didn't have any files or programs i wanted. I always planned on reinstalling windows by formatting, I just tried booting to the old install for the hell of it(there is a story behind that but it's long and irrelovent).

Where you are going wrong is 3. It never got to safe mode, it just restarts before the windows splash screen. Then, because it didn't load before, it goes to the safe mode menu.

I can't do a repair install now because I have formatted and intalled XP about 5 times now

 

[Slikkster]

Just to make sure, check your bios settings in the Advanced section. You should see something called "Jumperless" at the top of the list. Look at the CPU Host Frequency. Your 1900+ should be set to "133" in that section. Is that how yours is set?

 

[concreteDonkey]

Yeah the CPU is set correctly and is running in sync with the ram.

I've got it working now by turning all the onboard peripherals on, so at least I'm into windows.

I'm gonna turn them off one by one and I should see what the problem is right?
Thanks for trying to help slikster