Prepare to be stumped!!

PLow

Member
Aug 8, 2000
38
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Ok, I am building a new PC:
Thinderbird 1.1
Abit KT7A
256Mb Micron
40Gb Maxtor Hard drive
Pioneer 16X DVD
Geforce 2
Heres the problem: Everything boots, detects fine and temp in A-OK (46*C). But I cant get Windows installed! I have 98 and ME, neither will install. Sometimes I get to scan disk and it crashes...Putting little smily faces, and other characters in random places. Sometimes, windows says it detects errors on the drive, even after a fresh fdisk and format. I ran the Maxtor PowerMax Diagnostic and the drive checked out ok! I tried swapping RAM..thats not the problem. I tried swapping out with a Western D. 13Gb...Mobo didnt even recognize it! AHHH, someone help before I jump out my window!!! Do I have a bad Mobo, Processor, bios, weasel pin, troposcan, or hard drive ( the HD is an RMA'ed pert because the first one was bad, not passing any of the diagnostic tools, however, this one passes them all!) Thanks for all the help in advance, it is REALLY appreciated!
 

Sukhoi

Elite Member
Dec 5, 1999
15,341
102
106
In the BIOS, is the drive actually being detected correctly? I mean correct size and all.

What are you using to format and partition the drive?
 

BadThad

Lifer
Feb 22, 2000
12,099
47
91
Did you have the bios set to autodetect the 13GB drive? It should pick that drive up no problem, if it's known to be good. Did you try a different IDE cable?
 

ericboo

Golden Member
Feb 2, 2001
1,137
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Did you try installing the drive on the other IDE channel and see what happens? On an Aopen board, I found the IDE channel was having problems and I thought my burner was bad. It is just a thought. My problem was evidenced by the bios mis-id'ing the burner or not finding it at all
 

Z80

Senior member
Jan 29, 2001
583
0
0
The Abit BIOS has an option to predetect the drives, try using it. Double check the cables. You might want check your boot diskette and HD for a virus (Smiley faces?).
 

PLow

Member
Aug 8, 2000
38
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0
Hey, thanks guys. Heres the deal. The Harddrive for the system is a Maxtor 40GB Draco. With that Harddrive installed the Mobo detects it just fine, but I get the problem I stated up above. I'm swapping that out with a known working Western D. in order to narrow the problem. The bios does not detect the Western D. Well..sometimes it does. In other words, I can install the Western D. go into the bios and see it. If I have the Mobo auto detect (just to make sure it stays detected) it goes away! I'm sure the drive works and the jumper settings are all good. Do any of you know if this DRACO brand is ATA 33/66 or 100?? I am using in IDE cable where one end is blue (going into the mobo). Will I harm the Mobo if I use a standard non-blue IDE connected to the harddrive? Again, thanks for the help, you had alot of great ideas..keep 'em coming!!!!
 

PLow

Member
Aug 8, 2000
38
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0
I just tried using a standard ATA 33 cable to see if that made a difference. I booted up, went into DOS and started a scan disk. Instantly I got the following error!

RUN-TIME error R6003
integer divided by 0

Whats this all mean?
 

Duvie

Elite Member
Feb 5, 2001
16,215
0
71
sounds like you had the ata100 cable and that is backwards compatible with ata66 and ata33 devices...so that shouldn't be it...

This is not the raid board right? Have you found out what the HDD is yet? ata100? ata66?

Did you make sure in ide control error of the bios it was set to auto?


Sidenote: I would be surprised if I didn't come in this forum everyday and not find the first page of 20 post not dominated with 3-5 post about problems with abit boards...They must be pure crap. Seem to dominate the for sale threads as well, as people try to offload them...sorry
 

PLow

Member
Aug 8, 2000
38
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0
Not sure yet what this drive is, Im assuming it is atleast 66.
I am sitting here looking at the bios and my CPU temp is 51*C. That seems a bit high just sitting here. I just put on a new FOP32 (correctly :)) and there is a case fan, but heck I have the side of the case open!!! Im also noticing my one fan (fan2) is going from 2800 RPM up to 5553 RPM, back and forth, is that normal?!?! I also have the CPU Power Supply set to defult; it reads: Core Voltage 1.850v
I/O Voltage 3.40v

Is THAT normal??? Man, Im stumped. Thanks for the input..keep it coming. Heck I think I would try if someone suggested taking a hammer about the motherboard, in which the resulting holes would promote better air movement. HEHEH...ohhh, I have a headache :(
 

Duvie

Elite Member
Feb 5, 2001
16,215
0
71
That temp seems to be a bit high for a non ASUS mobo...What did you use for paste, or did you leave thermal strip on?

I am concerned about the power supply...what type and size are you using?

I have heard my one fan fluctuate 600-800 rpms but this was mainly caused by turbulent airflow in my case and I have fixed that and now it holds steady at 7200rpms (with a light roar, HEHE) Super Cooler is the brand and it rocks...750 tbird at 840 with temp at 33 celsius as we speak and mobo 23 celsius...I also have 2 92mm fans and one large 120mm fan blowing across pci cards and onto mobo.

Anyways the fluctuation that big make me thinks you are getting uneven power flow...maybe PS can't handle this...Ps can cause some of the funniest systems when it is right on the edge, all sort of hdd errors, etc.
 

Duvie

Elite Member
Feb 5, 2001
16,215
0
71
That should be enough...never no... I just had to rma my brand new amd recommended 350 because it started random rebooting and eventually stop posting to windows...Threw back in original 250 PS has worked fine in exact same setup for two and half days...was a no name brand but I got the couple to send me out a sparkle 350 for the same price for my inconvenience.

That fan thing really perplexes me...that fan is plugged directly to the ps right? not the mobo?

To test to see if PS...Take off case unplug case fans, just plug in HDD and cd-rom (if cd-rom is bootable drive) see if you can get further along in the process...
 

Slikkster

Diamond Member
Apr 29, 2000
3,141
0
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Plow, what's the deal with the driver cd that comes with this board? The ATA-100 controllers do need drivers, and they're no doubt on the cd. Yeah, I know, that's usually a post-OS install thing, but nevertheless, have you followed the manual for everything? Bios defaults for everything? Tried installing without optional cards installed? Upgraded/reflashed the bios?

Duvie, not to go too far off topic here, but this Abit bashing bs is really annoying. I've used 3 of their boards myself without any real issues. They are constantly driving the market with new features, particularly for overclockers. No company's perfect. Try one sometime yourself.
 

KiNeL

Junior Member
Mar 13, 2001
7
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Try "under clocking" it. I mean RIGHT down to say 500 or less just to see it it works.
 

Duvie

Elite Member
Feb 5, 2001
16,215
0
71
Since the fan is installed to the mobo my pS theory flew alittle out the window...I think slikkster in on to something...Its something to do with the mobo...bad maybe...drivers or bios issue good chance as well.

Slikkster, I mean no offense...But man you got to admit that abit's dominate this section in the forum with problems...I can not think of one board that seems to be mentioned more here. I agree...Most issues come down to conflicts that the mobo can't possibly always be at fault. But if I was aregular here and saw the shear numbers of post regarding abits (regardless if problem is attributed to abit) I would void it like the plague when builing a new system. It seems many of the earlier boards with onboard ata100 controllers or raid controllers were often troublesome, whether that was fault of user on the chipset itself.
 

PLow

Member
Aug 8, 2000
38
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Yeah, I think it is a bum mobo. In a last ditch effort I unplugged my harddrive from my PIII450 system and threw it in there. Now I know what your thinking, but what we should have seen is windows boot and start detecting new hardware like a mofo (I made the mistake before :eek: ).
But, it locks on the boot screen right away. So I'm thinking bad IDE controller, bad connection on mobo, or a faulty processor. Bummer!!!! :disgust:
 

UrineSample

Junior Member
Mar 2, 2001
9
0
0
those abit boards are flaky indeed...I used to love them and now we won't carry them. very inconsistent. I notice they don't seem to like to work with dvd's alot of the time.