New Build Can't Get Passed Stop Error Screen

[dcloud]

I'm helping my friend put together his first computer and we've encountered a snag. Here is what he has:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H (rev 1.1)
CPU: AMD Ahtlon II X3 2.9GHz Socket AM3
RAM: Mushkin DDR3 1333 PC3 10666 Enhanced Silverline 2GB 991585
Hard Drive: Samsung HD502HJ 500GB SATA
PSU: Rosewill RV2-600
DVD/CD Burner: Lite-On 24x iHAS424-98 Y
Case: XION AXP 100 Series

We got everything together and I was not able to get any power at first. So I removed the mobo from the case and installed just the PSU, graphics card, and started the board by touching a screw driver to the power pins in the F-panel. The board started and everything ran fine so we installed it back in the case. We realized we had inserted the power pins backward on the F-panel the first time we installed the mobo in the case.

However, once we inserted his Windows XP Pro CD we got as far as the blue screen where Windows is installing all the components and then instead of getting the screen where you choose the drive to install Windows on we get another blue screen with the following error message:

Stop: 0x0000007B (0xF78D2524, 0x0000034) - A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer.

We spent all day trying to diagnose this problem and have not been able to get passed this stop error screen. We managed to update his BIOS to the most recent one (F8) using the Q-Flash utility and a USB drive. That didn't change anything. Next I tried using two different HDs (both of which work in other computers) and we still get the stop error screen. We have checked and tripled-checked to make sure everything is hooked up correctly to the board and all the peripherals (referring to the manuals for all the devices). We even tried setting the hard drives to IDE mode in the BIOS and that didn't get us anywhere, either.

A couple times we have seen this screen instead, which said: Setup was unable to load support for the mass storage device you specified. Currently, Setup will load support for the following mass storage devices - <none>

I haven't a clue what this means, because it's done it on all three of the hard drives I've tested and I know all three work (two are from my own computer). The BIOS settings are at their defaults, with SATA enabled, so we have no idea what is going on.

We are at our wits end so if anyone can help that would be great.

 

[Lyfer]

Try 1 stick of memory if your using two sticks and try lowering down the timings of the RAM as well.

 

[jackschmittusa]

A quick check on Google suggests it is a drive controller driver error or a bad driver controller.

Any such drivers on the mb cd?

 

[dcloud]

Lyfer: He is using one stick, but I've found out that the stick he's using is incompatible with his motherboard. That has to be why we're getting that blue stop error screen.

Jack: There probably is, but we can't get anything off his motherboard CD. We tried sticking it in after starting the computer and it always tells us to take it out and stick in the Windows CD. I know it's not a bad drive controller because the other two HDs I tried we got the same blue stop error screen and I know both of those drives are fine.

Can anyone recommend some compatible memory for his board? I'm doing a search now based on the Gigabyte list, but most of them are out of stock.

Here are some I have found (based on customers who already have this board):

A-DATA Gaming Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Kingston HyperX 1GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Since you are unable to get into windows you'll have to test the memory with Memtest86 - you'll need to create a cd and set your boot order to CD ROM first. Memtest86 isn't the greatest tester but it will help you uncover any faulty RAM stick(s) Make sure the voltage and timings are at stock. If you don't find any errors, try the stick or sticks in a machine that is up and running and run Memtest HCI & LinX...

 

[dcloud]

We also get some DMI warnings upon post: AMD Data Change...Update New Data to DMI!

I'm not sure what this means so if anyone knows I'd appreciate the info.

Thanks.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

First in order is to run Memtest86. Memtest HCI > Memtest86 but Memtest HCI is an OS app while Memtest86 is ran after your post.

 

[dcloud]

Btry, thanks for your replies. Since we already know that he purchased an incompatible RAM module for his motherboard then there's no need to run Memtest. We just need to get the right RAM for his mobo then we'll probably be all set.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

You are welcome.

On a personal note, I have never bought memory in the past 8-9yrs that was on a compatibility chart for the particular motherboard I was buying and I have never had a problem with what RAM I bought being compatible. If you don't want to test the ram to find out if it's bad, that's fine because regardless, the ram is '99.9&#37; likely bad' than incompatible, and needs to be returned.

 

[dcloud]

I agree. When we get the new RAM and if it loads Windows fine we can still run Memtest if need be. Hopefully that's our only issue.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Good Luck with the new kit.

 

[notposting]

Well I guess it could be memory. But it seems most are overlooking WINDOWS XP and SATA. Do you get to the bit about hitting F6 (if I remember correctly) to load drivers...from a floppy? And yeah, maybe a USB stick would work, but I always had much better luck with floppies (RIP).

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Ah yes, it's been a while since I had that problem. I ended making an install with SP2 slipstreamed. I used this guide to help.

 

[Chapbass]

Well I guess it could be memory. But it seems most are overlooking WINDOWS XP and SATA. Do you get to the bit about hitting F6 (if I remember correctly) to load drivers...from a floppy? And yeah, maybe a USB stick would work, but I always had much better luck with floppies (RIP).

This.

7b errors are 99&#37; of the time due to icky drivers. Try that, also if you're running in AHCI mode, change it to legacy IDE mode and see if that fixes it.

oh, and USB sticks won't work, xp has to be floppy. USB works with the new WindowsPE on Vista/7 though.

edit: oh lame, just realized you tried IDE mode. Yep, hunt around for drivers. Use f6 to install them on floppy, or use nlite to slipstream them in.


Alternatively...use win7

 

[dcloud]

Well I guess it could be memory. But it seems most are overlooking WINDOWS XP and SATA. Do you get to the bit about hitting F6 (if I remember correctly) to load drivers...from a floppy? And yeah, maybe a USB stick would work, but I always had much better luck with floppies (RIP).

NP, thanks for your reply. Yes, we get the F6 option while Windows is loading up its files. We tried doing this by hitting F6 when it comes up, but for some reason it takes a while for it to recognize that we're hitting the F6 key. When it does stop it says to insert the HD disc, which we don't have because he bought the drive OEM. We tried the floppy with the BIOS update, but the floppy wasn't big enough to extract the downloaded file into. So we used a USB stick instead.

 

[dcloud]

Ah yes, it's been a while since I had that problem. I ended making an install with SP2 slipstreamed. I used this guide to help.

He has a Windows XP Pro disc that is already SP2.

 

[dcloud]

This.

7b errors are 99&#37; of the time due to icky drivers. Try that, also if you're running in AHCI mode, change it to legacy IDE mode and see if that fixes it.

oh, and USB sticks won't work, xp has to be floppy. USB works with the new WindowsPE on Vista/7 though.

edit: oh lame, just realized you tried IDE mode. Yep, hunt around for drivers. Use f6 to install them on floppy, or use nlite to slipstream them in.


Alternatively...use win7

Since we already tried two other hard drives that I know work (they came from my own computer - one is SATA the other IDE) and we got the same blue stop error screen I don't think it's a driver issue (unless it's some glitch with the board or the BIOS). We know it isn't the WinXP Pro disc, because he's already formatted one of his computers with this disc and had no issues at all installing it.

 

[dcloud]

By the way, thanks everyone for your great replies. Appreciate your help.

 

[mfenn]

NP, thanks for your reply. Yes, we get the F6 option while Windows is loading up its files. We tried doing this by hitting F6 when it comes up, but for some reason it takes a while for it to recognize that we're hitting the F6 key. When it does stop it says to insert the HD disc, which we don't have because he bought the drive OEM. We tried the floppy with the BIOS update, but the floppy wasn't big enough to extract the downloaded file into. So we used a USB stick instead.

I bolded the source of your confusion. Notposting is not saying that the problem is with the hard drive, but with the drive controller (i.e. one of the components on the motherboard).

You need to go to Gigabyte's website and download the drivers specifically labeled "AMD SATA RAID Driver (Preinstall driver, press F6 during Windows* setup to read from floppy)" and put those on a floppy for boot. I know it says RAID, but if you look at the actual files, the AHCI driver is there too. Make sure the mobo is in AHCI mode.

As as aside, many mobo makers are not extensively testing with WinXP anymore because most of the world has moved on to Windows 7 for new builds. Expect these problems to get worse as time goes on. Eventually (next 2-3 years) manufacturers are going to drop any pretense of XP support. Just something to think about.

 

[notposting]

mfenn's got it. Do that. Report back. I just popped back in, saw your response and luckily I don't have to explain what I meant now.

edit: it's past. Not passed.

 

[dcloud]

Just on a whim we enabled IDE in the BIOS and hooked up an ancient 10GB IDE HD from his old computer. Hooked the IDE cable to the board and power from the PSU and it went right into Windows install and installed the OS without a hitch. Go figure.

I then brought his Samsung SATA drive home, hooked it into my rig, and it recognized the drive and I was even able to format it through Computer Management. What this tells us is that something is amiss on his Gigabyte board, so he is RMAing it now and hopefully the new board won't come with any of these issues.

 

[Athadeus]

Wow. What a waste of support money. 100&#37; guaranteed that the problem is because you are not using the driver disk with the AHCI/RAID driver. I just built a computer with a Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H (rev 1.1) and first installed an extra copy of XP Pro x64 I had a license for before using a Win 7 upgrade, and the exact circumstances applied to my build.

However, googling the error made it pretty obvious it was just a driver problem. I couldn't get the system to recognize my USB floppy drive, so I just configured the controller as IDE for the XP install, then switched it to AHCI right before going to Win7. That drive doesn't even support NCQ, so there isn't even a really good reason not to use IDE, and I don't mean the IDE cable, I mean SATA connection with the controller configured as IDE in the bios.

edit: To be the most specific so there are no questions, it should be set like:

Integrated Peripherals

OnChip SATA Controller [Enabled]
OnChip SATA Type [Native IDE]

 

[dcloud]

Athadeus, we already tried all that and we still got the blue stop error screen during the WinXP install.

 

[mfenn]

Just on a whim we enabled IDE in the BIOS and hooked up an ancient 10GB IDE HD from his old computer. Hooked the IDE cable to the board and power from the PSU and it went right into Windows install and installed the OS without a hitch. Go figure.

I then brought his Samsung SATA drive home, hooked it into my rig, and it recognized the drive and I was even able to format it through Computer Management. What this tells us is that something is amiss on his Gigabyte board, so he is RMAing it now and hopefully the new board won't come with any of these issues.

Both things you described have absolutely no bearing on the problem you are experiencing.

Did you try what notposting and I suggested? If you follow my instructions closely, I'll bet that you will get XP installed no problem.

 

[dcloud]

mfenn, yes we did, but when we get to the part where we hit F6 we can't get it to read the AHCI drivers off our floppy. Basically, it asks for a manufacturer's CD (we're assuming it means the HD CD), but no matter how many times we tried this it would not access the floppy and just kept asking for the manufacturer's CD.