nforce2 GART install problems

[agnitrate]

Posting over here since nobody in Technical Supoort seems to have this problem....

I'm going to post this before going to bed and I'm going to check back in the morning because I'm horribly tired.

I've clean installed XP 3x today.

Install XP-> Install SP1 -> Attempt to install nvidia 2.03 drivers but it locks up when installing GART

Then I try and boot into windows and I get a black screen and you can't do anything. It freezes right on the Windows XP loading part. Luckily I ghosted the 3rd install so I don't have to wait forever to fix this every time.

I haven't found a fix for this yet, but I've seen many people have had this issue. How do you get around this?

Has this happened to anybody else?

-silver

 

[agnitrate]

one bump before I rma the board....

-silver

 

[Insane3D]

A little more info? What board, CPU, and other components?

 

[agnitrate]

Board : 8RDA+ w/ newest BIOS
CPU : XP 1700 (not OCed)
Video : g4mx

XP install fine. SP1 installs ok.

If I try to install any nforce drivers, it locks up at the GART install. Then I will reset and it will lock at the screen that first shows the XP logo.

I have tried installing the detonator drivers first but it still locks up.

If I delete the GART directory from the nforce drivers, it installs fine. But I still can't install detonators.

I have ghosted my XP SP1 install to go at this for a while before I rma, but I've become very frustrated by all of this. I thought nvidia had nailed down these drivers I just wanted a nice stable system.

I've found a few threads on other forums about this, but none have a fix.

-silver

 

[Insane3D]

Does the computer actually lock up, like no mouse reponding or anything, or does it just seem like the install is taking too long?

 

[Insane3D]

Just off the top of my head..here are a couple of things to try.

Disable AGP8X support in the bios.

Disable AGP Fast Writes

Disable any video bios shadowing/caching.

I wonder if the Nforce drivers are getting confused by the GF4MX and thinking it's the onboard graphics. Weird. Do you have any other video cards you can try just for the sake of installing the NF2 drivers?

One more thing...are you unzipping the UDP manually and then running the setup program? If so, that can cause problems...

 

[agnitrate]

Originally posted by: Insane3D
Does the computer actually lock up, like no mouse reponding or anything, or does it just seem like the install is taking too long?

Physical lock.

Going to disable ACPI, AGP 8x and fast writes now, going to reinstall windows on a diff card.

 

[agnitrate]

Ok, now the board isn't even showing any video at all. Swapped another card in and nothing. Original card that was working gets nothing. I think this board is faulty

Time for my very first RMA....

Thanks for all your help Insane3D. You're always there to help out

Any recommendations on nforce2 boards? I was really looking forward to soundstorm audio via spdif over my audigy, but the only other ones capable of that are the official boards which are about $40 more.

-silver

 

[Insane3D]

Well...what is your budget? The Abit NF7-S 2.0 can be had for $115 shipped 2 day. Is that too much? You could always RMA the board for another 8RDA+. It's highly unlikely you will get another bad one, if indeed the one you have is bad.

One more thing...have you tried running the board outside the case at all just to rule out any weird grounding issues? Another thing to check...are you connecting the front USB ports from your case (assuming it has them) to the board? I know hooking up the front USB ports from the Antec cases without changing the pin arrangement will cause the board not to post.

Sorry your board is not working..

Abit NF7-S V2.0 - $114.50 Shipped Fedex 2-Day@ Googlegear

 

[agnitrate]

Unfortunately, I forgot you get charged a restocking fee of 15% if you just want to 'return' a board, so I will be getting another 8RDA+. BUT, I decided to give the install 1 last try so I crossed my fingers and turned on my PC, low and behold there was video. I changed nothing from the night before.

I went back into BIOS and disabled AGP 8x, fast write, all serial ports I wasn't using, ACPI, and anything else unnecessary. I'm going to give this puppy one more shot before I admit defeat.

Originally posted by: Insane3D

One more thing...have you tried running the board outside the case at all just to rule out any weird grounding issues?

Yup! That's the very first thing I do to check my hsf connection.

Another thing to check...are you connecting the front USB ports from your case (assuming it has them) to the board? I know hooking up the front USB ports from the Antec cases without changing the pin arrangement will cause the board not to post.

No USB yet.

The NF7-S is what I wanted since it has coax audio out, but it's ok if I get another 8RDA+ because I have already bought the parts to mod the 8RDA+ for SPDIF out.

Let's hope this works!

-silver

 

[Insane3D]

You shouldn't have to get charged a restock fee if the board is faulty. They should refund you fully if you wanted to get something else. What retailer?

 

[agnitrate]

Originally posted by: Insane3D
You shouldn't have to get charged a restock fee if the board is faulty. They should refund you fully if you wanted to get something else. What retailer?

newegg

It says they don't do 'exchanges'.

 

[Insane3D]

Well, first of all..if you give them a call, I would bet they would let you. Simply tell them the board you got is faulty, and you really don't want to get another Epox board because of the trouble. I am fairly certain if you are polite, they will do that for you no problem. You could even tell them something like, through your extensive research while troubleshooting your problems, you discovered an incompatibility between a piece of your exisitng hardware, and that model board.

Take the refund and get an NF7-S from Googlegear, and do the digital audiomod to add a coax and second optical port for $8.

 

[agnitrate]

Final update :
Tried to install with a different video card ( hercules geforce256 ddr ) and windows installs fine but I get a black desktop when it tries to display the video when it first boots in. Sent it out for an RMA today.

Let's hope the next mobo doesn't exhibit this behavior

-silver

 

[J1600B]

Looks like you're just one of the lucky ones that gets a faulty 8rda+. I had to RMA mine because it had a random "voltage bye bye" problem as I like to call it. I freaked out for weeks trying to figure it out, bought a new (expensive) power supply before RMA'ing the mobo. Now I am an extremely happy camper. I'm sure you will be more than happy with your 8rda+ once you get a good one. Just remember, don't install the IDE drivers from the 2.03 driver set as it is faulty more often than not. There are at least a few posts here about problems and I for one can confirm them. Since you're using WinXP just install your Epox drivers, then install 2.03, then roll back the IDE driver.