New Asus A7V8X and the BSOD during Windows XP installation.

[mflacy]

I replaced a Shuttle motherboard with the A7V8X today. I can boot up perfectly fine and the system doesn't crash or hang up. It's the Windows Xp installation that is giving me trouble.

I've formated my Maxtor drive with Maxtor utilities and later FDisk after I got the BSOD with my old install of XP. I keep trying to boot to the XP CD, but it won't let me get past loading the setup files.

It loads all of the files and gets to the part where it is supposed to load Windows for the setup. It then goes to the BSOD and gives me an error message of "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" about 50% of the time.

Is it possible my hard drive format wasn't conclusive in destroying all former window's xp files? It may have just erased the files instead of a full format. Is there a setting in the bios that I need to change? Do I need to update my bios? Any help will be much appreciated. I'm running out of ideas.

I'm using 2 256 meg strips of Crucial PC 2100 which ran fine on my other board. Antec 350 watt power supply. ATI 8500 LE AGP. No PCI slots filled.

 

[mechBgon]

Interesting... try unplugging your cold cathodes (if they're plugged into the PSU) and also use just one stick of RAM, and see what that does. If you still get problems, try the other stick of RAM.

Also, are you using the same CPU as before? Any chance the heatsink's on 180° backwards or something?

 

[mflacy]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Interesting... try unplugging your cold cathodes (if they're plugged into the PSU) and also use just one stick of RAM, and see what that does. If you still get problems, try the other stick of RAM.

Also, are you using the same CPU as before? Any chance the heatsink's on 180° backwards or something?

Well, I actually don't have the cathodes plugged in right now.

Anyway, I kicked my CPU fsb down to 100 and I still had the same problems. So I tired to install Windows 98 and it worked! So I tried to install XP from 98 and it worked! So I am posting this message from my computer.

You are probably right about the CPU. I think it was overheating. According to the Asus bios, my temp at 100 fsb idled at 58-60 C. At 133 fsb it was raised 10 degrees to 68-70 C.

A couple questions about the CPU install on the board. Was I supposed to remove the rubber stoppers on the chip so the heatsink would sit flat on it? Also, how can I tell if the heatsink is on backwards? I've got some thermal paste I need to apply too.

 

[mechBgon]

Cool, glad to hear it's up and running

The stoppers on the chip should stay. As for heatsink being backwards, look at this picture of a typical AMD-compatible heatsink. See how it has a step cut into one end of the base. That step is there for a reason: it allows the heatsink to clear the solid plastic section of the CPU socket.

If the heatsink's reversed, the non-stepped end of the heatsink is jacked up by the solid plastic section of the CPU socket, resulting in really bad contact with the CPU core (only the far edge of the heatsink will actually touch the core. Additionally, since the clip is asymetrical, its pressure point is no longer over the CPU core. AMD should have designed SocketA so the heatsink couldn't be reversed, but it's too late now.

 

[mflacy]

After 3 hours or tinkering, I finally got it up to 133 fsb. I think the Asus board was reading the temp way too high and automatically shutting the board down.

After applying the Arctic Alumina, my CPU temp is 36-38 degrees C idle and 40-42 degrees C full load.

 

[mechBgon]

Cool