Trouble Formatting Hard Drives - Help!

[someguy]

I sure hope someone can help me!

I just got the IC7-G - with a P4 2.6C, 2-256 Kingston XMS RAM, ATI AIW 9700 Pro and 3 WD800JD Hard Drives.

I put it all together and it boots just fine.

I put in the Windows XP Pro CD and set the bios to boot from the CD.

It boots from the CD and starts the installation process just fine - I set up a partition on the HD to install XP and it formats the HD --

And then it tells me that there is a problem with the HD and it cannot complete the installation.

I think "crap - bad HD"

I try it with a different HD -- same thing -- I think "wait a minute - what are the odds of 2 bad HD's?"

I try it with the third HD -- and the same thing happens.

HELP!!

What is going on here?

Can it really be three bad hard drives?
Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!

SomeGuy

 

[Wallysaurus]

Do you have the hard drive's jumpers set correctly? On most Western Digital drives, The jumper needs to be removed if the drive is installed as the only device on the IDE channel.

 

[someguy]

When I have two connected to the same IDE channel the jumpers are set to cable select.

Then I just put one drive in and set the jumper to Master.

Still the same.

It runs all the way through formatting (no matter how large I make the partition - I've tried 10 gig, 15 gig, 20 gig, and the whole 80 gig) then once it completes the format it says there is a problem with the drive - and then it says it cannot complete the installation.

I'm going nuts!!
I can't do anything until I install an OS - and I can't install an OS until I get at least one drive formatted!

Thanks!

 

[jmagg]

Try what wally said and use one drive on primary without any jumper.

 

[dunkster]

That is strange.

Practically, I'd pull two of the drives, configure and install on a single drive as master on it's own IDE port. Then you'll have at least an OS to work with.

Then see what happens when you add the other drives.

Have you tried checking the drives with WD Data Lifeguard utilities? If retail purchase, you should have a Data Lifeguard floppy. If not, download from the WD site.

You could also configure the HD(s) with the latest version of FDISK. Be sure you use a later FDISK version that recognizes HDs larger than 64GB.

Hope this helps!

 

[someguy]

OK;

I took out the jumper.
I only have the one drive in the bay - and the CD drive

I was able to get it to format at 5 gig -- success!!

Then it started loading XP -- and I started getting the message that it was not copying files correctly from the XP CD

several files did not copy then before the installation could complete I got this message:

"A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. The problem seems to be caused by the following file: cdfs.sys

Page_Fault_in_nonpaged_area

If this is the first time you've seen this error screen, restart you computer..."

Tech info:
***Stop:*** 0x00000050 (0xF8969020, 0x00000001, 0xF86B8A87, 0x00000000)

cdfs.sys - address F86B8A87 base at F86B5000 date stamp 3b7de20e"

Sounds like I've got memory problems... What do you think?

Thanks.

 

[Wallysaurus]

CDFS.SYS ids the CD-ROM driver for XP I believe. Make sure you have the CD-ROM jumpered correctly. Try setting it to master and not cable select.

 

[jmagg]

If still no luck, test your ram one stick at a time .. Also possibly a bad install disk or cdrom.

 

[Insidious]

Originally posted by: jmagg
If still no luck, test your ram one stick at a time .. Also possibly a bad install disk or cdrom.

I goin' for the RAM suggestion. BUT, are you overclocking? Have you double checked those BIOS settings. If you haven't already, go through your BIOS and make sure you are selecting 'auto' everywhere it is offered. Last resort, use the failsafe settings..... (oopsies in the BIOS will behave much like bad RAM in some cases)

-Sid

PS: it could even be something as goofy as a bad ribbon cable. (you have tried your CDROM and your HD on seperate controllers... each as master...right?)

edit: I wonder if when your messages switched from bad HD to bad CDROM, that is when you inadvertantly switched which device was using each ribbon.

 

[someguy]

Hey Guys - Thanks for all your suggestions!

I put the HD on a seperate channel from the CD-Rom
I took out one RAM stick
I ran WD Diagnostics program and the HD's all check out fine.
I ran MemTest86 and have major problems on one RAM stick and some (but not as many) on the other.
Kingston HyperX KHX3200/256

I went to the store and bought a Samsung 512 Ram stick and tested it - It tested fine.

I am now running Windows XP setup -- I'll let you know what happens.

Again - Thanks!

 

[someguy]

Well, here's the latest...

I have the new ram chip in -- no errors
I run WD diagnostics on the single hard drive and it is good.
I even have the diagnostic program erase the first and last million bits of the drive just to make sure.

I try to install XP Pro -- and get the same errors!!!
The installation runs and formats the drive -- and then it gives me the same error message that the disk is bad.

Sooooooooo.....

I take the disk out and put it in my son's computer (who just happens to be here for a few days) and we run a clean install of Windows XP -- No Problem.

This makes me think that there is something wrong with the motherboard -- I mean what else could it be?????

Are there any settings that I could change on the MB to make any difference? It is set to defaults all the way. The only thing I changed is that I upgraded the Bios to 1.3 and changed ti to boot from the CD.

Then I put that hard drive in my box and tried to boot into Windows and got this message:

"A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to revent damage to your computer. If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error message, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:
Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controller. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer.

Technical information:
***Stop: 0x0000007B (0xF894C640, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)"

Sounds like an issue with memory information transfering across the motherboard????????

I think I am going to RMA this board ---

Any comments?

 

[Insidious]

yep, you've been more than diligent.... RMA time

-Sid

 

[bocamojo]

Before you RMA, try buying a new ATA-100 cable and installing. I had a cable go buggy on me once, and was getting some similar issues. Also, I'd try reseating all hardware and cables, resetting the BIOS (go over each setting individually to make sure it is properly configured). Check ALL jumpers (on both the HD's and the motherboard). Then, I'd boot up with a Windows Me boot disk, or something similar, and format the drive as Fat32. After all that, I'd boot into the XP CD and try to install XP again. If all that doesn't work, then I'd be considering RMA'ing. Good luck.