Prepare to be stumped!!

PLow

Member
Aug 8, 2000
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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!
 

hifimaster

Senior member
Jan 6, 2001
399
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Make sure your interface material (Grease,Arctic silver,putty) is properly install on the heatsink.I think the temp gauge on my KT7a-raid is off by about 5-10 degrees(show lower temp).

Also I would try resetting the bios and carfully go through the bios and turn on what you need just to get windows running (ie.HD,CPU speed,boot order)Dont turn on 4X AGP until you install the 4 in 1 driver (install the via agp driver in turbo mode) then after your computer restarts go in to the bios and turn on agp 4x and fastwrites.

Did your Maxtor come with a diagnostics diskette?Have you used it?
 

PLow

Member
Aug 8, 2000
38
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I downloaded PowerMax from Maxtors web site and used that utility. I even did what you suggested about the bios earlier, still no go with the windows install!!
 

billyjak

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
2,869
1
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Is the CPU on fan header one.
Clear CMOS with the jumper pins
Make sure board is not grounding out, any metal touching
 

PLow

Member
Aug 8, 2000
38
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Thanks, but I did all that, The PC boots fine, I only encounter problems when I try to install Windoze. Bummer huh?:frown:
 

Stark

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2000
7,735
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I vote for cable problems.

If it's an ata66/100 cable, make sure the blue end is on the motherboard, and the far end is on the master hd. Unless you have a slave device, the middle connector should be unattached.

If you don't have a blue end on your cable, the end with the longer ribbon length is the one that should be attached to the mobo.

You may also simply try a new cable all together. Sometimes via boards will work with an ata 33 ribbon (which forces them to run at ata33) and will have strange problems at 66 or 100. I had to return some fic socket-a boards for that reason - they simply would not run stable with ata 100 hard drives unless an ata33 cable was used.
 

Dravic

Senior member
May 18, 2000
892
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76
try underclocking you chip to say 800mhz, to reduce temps. If this works you may have a bum thunderbird, or a remarked one. Or you may need better cooling.
 

Yoshi

Golden Member
Nov 6, 1999
1,215
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What size is your power supply, is it on the AMD approved list??

A buddy of mine is considering a 1.2Ghz Athlon system and we spent some time debating the importance of the power supply. The Thunderbird core over 1000Mhz requires quite a bit of current to properly operate.

Not sure if this is the answer, we were not very conclusive in our PS analysis either.

Try underclocking as mentioned before and see what happens.
 

PLow

Member
Aug 8, 2000
38
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0
Thanks for the help guys. I am using an ATA cable with the blue end. The hard drive Im using is a 40Gb MAXTOR DRACO. What the heck is DRACO anyway? is this an ata 33/66 or 100?
 

PLow

Member
Aug 8, 2000
38
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Yup. 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?
 

Quaggoth

Senior member
Jun 23, 2000
800
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When you Fdisk the drive, Fdisk the Master Boot Record too.

Fdisk /mbr

If you have planned on OCing the chip and have closed the bridges, try undoing that, or make SURE it is done properly. Try the underclocking suggested earlier, try loading windows with only the video card in the mobo. Hope that helps.
 

AncientPC

Golden Member
Jan 15, 2001
1,369
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PLow: I have the same problems. Windows might or might not install, but later crashes during boot up or runs really slow. The more programs I install the more chance of this happening it seems.

I've swapped hdd's, swapped IDE cables, swapped memory, swapped chips, swapped mobo's, the only thing I can think of left is the power supply . . .
 

PLow

Member
Aug 8, 2000
38
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Weird. So you cant install windows either??? I am here looking at the bios, and my CPU temp is
51*C. Also I notice my case fan ( i think, it says PWR fan (FAN 2)) is jumping from 2765 RPM all the way up to 5553 RPM..is that normal? Also I think looking at 51*C while just sitting in the bios is a bit high. I have my CPU Power Supply set to CPU defult. It reads
Core Voltage 1.850v
I/O Voltage 3.40v

is THAT normal??? Man this is so fustrating!
I appreciate everyones help! Keep 'em coming:)
 

DaLeroy

Golden Member
Dec 4, 2000
1,406
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Had this one before, with the funny characters and stuff... took me a while to figure out. Check the brass mounts that come on your mainboard plate. Make sure you don't have any extra ones installed, because it could be shorting out the mainboard! Fixed my problem, went like a charm afterwoods! :) Hope this helps.
 

PLow

Member
Aug 8, 2000
38
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Really? Weird, I thought that would result in a catostrophic puff of smoke, and you kiss the Mobo goodbye. Hey, thanks! Ill check that out! So if that was the case, I would be able to boot and everything? Would a short cause my CPU to heat up? If this works I'll come to your house and mow your yard!:D
 

AncientPC

Golden Member
Jan 15, 2001
1,369
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DaLeroy: LOL That is a weird problem. I hate mess-ups like these. You never know where they're from (especially IRQ conflicts, then you gotta play guess & check moving your PCI cards around or manually changing them if possible through System Properties).

PLow: It's not good to have a fan fluctutating that much rpm's. What fan do you have?
 

LeeBear

Member
Jan 23, 2001
51
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0
This may sound stupid but do you have USB disabled in the BIOS? I've had VIA motherboards that wouldn't install Windows 98/ME if it wasn't enbled, Windows 95 installs fine thought. Turn it on even you you don't intendend on using it. IF that isn't it I would suggest forcing your HD to use a PIO mode in the BIOS to see if it's a UDMA problem.

-LeeBear
 

BlueScreen

Member
Aug 3, 2000
35
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There as so many possibilites but I had an near identical problem a couple of years ago building a K6 2 system. It turned out that the CPU itself was bad and when replaced all was ok. Do you have access to another CPU to try ?(may have to call in a favour !)

Good Luck.
 

aerialcombat

Senior member
Feb 2, 2001
385
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0
Could it be a bad memory stick? You said you tried swapping RAM, but I don't know if you tried using only one of the RAMs. I had a similar problem when my windows setup wouldn't continue after scandisk. I was about to throw my computer out the window, but removing one of the 128mb sticks did wonders for me. maybe you should try that. let me know if it works.