[SOLVED...kind of] VERY CONFUSED! Which of the offical drivers should I (not) use on my A8N-SLI based system?

[TheNiceGuy]

I am a normal newb home user, nothing out of the ordinary. No OC.

I have been wrestling for 2 months to get things stable. I am going to try again with a total fresh format/install. I list the install IN ORDER. I have BIOS offical 1004 already in. If I understand correctly, what I need is (apprehension in parenthesis ) :

1) Install Windows, plus updates (must be ALL done from disk, as PC can't recognise internet without mobo drivers).
2) Then install Nvidia 6.39 (minus IDE drivers and firewall/Active Armour - just say 'no' during install?).
3) Then install W2K_ALL_6703 Leadtek (better than nvidia 66.93?).
4) Then Realtek V5.10.00.5750 sound driver.
5) Then Marvell Yukon driver (enables 2nd internet plug?)
6) ZA firewall.
7) Kaspersky AV.

PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG RE ORDER OR ITEM!
And I believe that is all? Anything else and my PC will start belching flames? How about the applications like Cool n Quiet or Asus Probe or AI?

If necessary I can change my ZA and KAV, although I would prefer to use these. The hardware firewall's existence (even when turned off at install) seemed to be causeing install errors for KAV and system crashes for ZA. I also couldn't get my Azures bittorent working properly with the NVFW (XP worked well, although I prefer to use ZA - and yes, i know about port clearing/allowing programs).

I have had a variety of issues/lockups, even after installing the 'correct' way. These have ranged from blue screans to more recently disk read and NTLDR errors (and its not a generalized mistake from improper install).

Please help! :brokenheart:

 

[TheNiceGuy]

bump

 

[Visual]

hello

1) about the windows updates, i think its no problem to install xp sp2 from a CD and the rest of the updates later from the inet.
2) i can understand skipping on the firewall crap but why not the ide drivers?
3) the nvidia drivers should work just as well, what you install is up to you
4) i dont know about version, i just install whatever sound driver comes with my nforce driver. the one from nvidia has a cool volume control app, the one from asus mobo CD has a cool jack-sensing app, personally i'd prefer a clean driver with no extra apps though...
5) i'm with a non-deluxe board so this doesnt apply for me, but yes i guess its for the second lan port
6, 7) whatever works for you

since you said yo're not overclocking, cool'n'quiet might work well for you, i prefer to work without it though. AI was something for auto-overclock right? well its max 10% on the cpu&mem, not worth bothering in my oppinion. i dont know about the other asus apps too, i dont use them.

like you, i had some nasty reboots and bluescreens with my system, especially when i tried to use one bittorent app with the nvidia firewall enabled. it'd reboot every time, in like 3 seconds after the app tried to connect.
i haven't had a single issue since i disabled the firewall though. (it is still installed, just turned off) i thought its something specific to my board, maybe a faulty chip or whatever, but if its the same for you and other users, maybe its just a chipset driver issue or something? anyway, keep away of the nv firewall and you should be ok.

if you're still having problems, here are a couple of general debugging tips (so general that you probably know most of them already)
1) use the nvidia sata ports and the nvidia lan port and disable the extra ports in the bios if you dont need them
2) since you're using disk drives supporting NCQ make sure you dont have both NCQ and "Write caching" for the drives in device manager enabled at once. I've heared it can reduce performance and even lead to data errors on the disk. This might explain the NTLDR errors maybe. I guess you'd best disable the write caching. Or maybe disable NCQ?
I dont have such a drive though, so can't be sure this info is correct.
Also do you have your two drives in RAID?
3) You have a qualiy PSU but still it's not insured against failures, so install a tool like speedfan or something, and monitor your voltages for any fluctuations or too low values.
4) Run a loop or two of Memtest86, just to be sure you dont have a faulty ram module or something. Run Prime95 stress-test for a couple hours to check your CPU and Ram, while monitoring your CPU/chipset temperatures with a tool like speedfan. Run the various 3dMarks so see your GPU performs well, while monitoring your core/mem temperatures with a tool like rivatuner.
Eventually if the problems persist, you should at least be able to relate them with either CPU/ram or video card issues, maybe overheating.
5) You might raise CPU and/or RAM voltages a bit if instabilities persist. Most Winchester CPUs should be working perfectly on stock volts even at significant overclocks though, so the chance that you'd need higher vcore is almost nonexistant. I don't have time to check your RAM's specs but unless its like the cheapest of Samsung DDR400 it shouldn't need more volts too...
Anyway, trying a 0.10v increase in both vcore and vdimm will not hurt even if it doesnt help too.
6) If nothing at all helps, you don't have much choice but to start changing parts one at a time hoping to find what's causing troubles. I hope you resolve the issue easier though.

 

[FastEddie]

Install WinXP with SP2 slipstreamed, using---> Autostreamer
Then install the nVidia 6.39 (minus IDE drivers and firewall/Active Armour - just say 'no' during install?).
Then the nv forceware--> 67.66 beta
Then Realtek V5.10.00.5750 sound driver.
Then Marvell Yukon driver

The rest is optional.

 

[Thorsson]

I'm using the newish 75.90 gfx driver which seems to give a noticeable boost to my EQ2 performance.

 

[TheNiceGuy]

Cheers guys - just the sort of info I need!
Visual - I'll let you know how things go.
FastEddie - if that Beta driver gives me grief, does it uninstall cleanly?

 

[walkure]

Why say no to IDE drivers?

 

[FastEddie]

Originally posted by: TheNiceGuy
Cheers guys - just the sort of info I need!
Visual - I'll let you know how things go.
FastEddie - if that Beta driver gives me grief, does it uninstall cleanly?

Yes, it'll uninstall.

 

[imported_2x]

If you are new to this and are having stability issues with stuff, my advice is not to use beta drivers. Use only the official Nvidia 6.39's and the 66.93 graphics driver.

 

[Tanclearas]

I would definitely install the IDE driver from 6.39, especially if you want to use NCQ. If anything, I would not install the ethernet driver from 6.39 as that has been causing BSOD's. I know some people have been having troubles with the nVidia FW/AA, but they work just fine for me. I'd rather use that than a software based firewall.

 

[TheNiceGuy]

SOLVED (kind of!):

First of, thank you everyone for your bountious help. I have run my system for a few days to make sure the results are accurate.

I did this:
1a) Unpluged second HD. Imediately no more NTFS errors at boot.
1b) Complete format of main HD.
1c) Installed Windows (MCE 2005, basicaly XP with service pack 2).
2) Then installed Nvidia 6.39 (minus IDE drivers and firewall/Active Armour - just said 'no' during install).
3) Then installed nvidia 66.93 official (sorry FastEddie, still a newb).
4) Then Marvell Yukon driver (enables 2nd internet plug).
5) ZA 5 firewall.
6) Kaspersky AV (I was still getting KLIF errors, so I upgraded my KAV, and install was clean - original problem could have been KAV version).
7) Windows updates from web.
8) Connected second HD. Recognized.

All went well and smooth. I heard ZA 5 has a lot of issues, especialy with bittorrent, but I have't noticed any. I was unsure about sound drivers though - do we install both Nvidia and Realtek? Sound was working after step 3, but it sounded a bit flat though (could have been my imagination), so I installed Realtek a few days later. Now there is a conflict and the Nvidia mixer won't open due to "driver conflict". Also (may be my imagination again) but the disk read/write seems a bit slower than before.

What cha think?

Any more word on the stability of the IDE drivers, NCQ, or nvidia FW/controlers? Can I try to upgrade, or must I reformat again to do that?

 

[Interitus]

One small thing to note.

I forced windows to use the Nvidia drivers for the Realtek onboard audio. Wow. Big difference in sound quality.

Just something to try

 

[Visual]

i'm confused now.
you were with the nvidia drivers when the sound seemed "flat" in the first place, then you messed it up with installing realtek, now you're back with nvidia and there is a "big difference" to the initial "flat" sound?

EDIT: bah, im just too sleepy. gotta start to pay attention to the post authors and not just contents I'd be better to just delete this post but I'll leave it for you all to laugh at.

 

[TheNiceGuy]

No worries Visual :camera:

So no comments on the sound driver issues I mentioned above?

 

[Interitus]

Apparently I misread your post too lol.

AFAIK, the NvMixer won't work with anything but nVidia drivers. So if you're using Realtek drivers and trying to use NvMixer, it ain't gonna happen.

 

[TheNiceGuy]

so which is better?

 

[TheNiceGuy]

ahhh, herro?

 

[Visual]

i've always used integrated sound with cheapo speakers and so am not really qualified to comment anything about sound quality
but i dont think that the sound drivers can make a difference. probably wrong settings in the control panel (where you select number and position of speakers, 3d sound effects and such) are the reason your sound wasn't right.

i just install whatever's easiest - in this case the drivers that are integrated in the nforce driver downloaded from nvidia.

and i still don't understand why you're skipping the ide drivers too.

 

[Interitus]

I personally find using the nvidia drivers and nvmixer better from a sound quality standpoint

 

[SPtheALIEN]

Hopefully someone can help. I tried installing the nVidia nForce4 drivers and it installed smoothly. The only problem is that I do not get any audio (I have tried the digital out ports--not the analog). Has anyone been able to use the A8n-sli deluxe with the drivers from nVidia's website AND get audio from the digital output. I don't want to use the Realtek drivers. I have been used to the nVmixer since the nForce 2.

Thanks.

 

[TheNiceGuy]

Thanks for the replys folks.
Things are working now. Although I have had a mysterious missing NTRDL issue twice in a row now which I hope is not driver related.

Thanks again.