Why my Epox 4G4A+ hangs when it tries to detect the RAID drives?

[Bad Dude]

I think the problem is with the Highpoint chipset. This happens once in while with my Abit KT7A_RAID too. However, with the Epox, it hangs every other reboots and sometimes cold boot too. Anyone got the same problem? Or is it just me?
I have to turn off the power source completely before it can scan the drives and boot up completely.
Any help would be greatful. I have the same the problem with original BIOS and the new BIOS.

Thanks.

 

[kgraeme]

I don't know the answer, I just know it's why I returned the board.

 

[LastRide]

kgraeme,did you bust some knee caps from the people that recommended this board..LOL.This board is a hit and miss and the 12V connector is playing havoc with it.I wanted one myself but this board has way to many issues.Bad_Dude,all I can rcommend is get rid of the board.

 

[Bad Dude]

I guess eventually it will go away some how like the Abit KT7A_RAID did. It's too late to return and I don't want to sell it at a lost. "(

 

[LastRide]

Bad_Dude,I recommend you read this thread on the 4G4A 4G4A just below your post.I know its 520 posts long,but your answer might be in there.I have read some big threads 2-3 times over to get my answers.Hopefully someone might have an answer for you.Others are having the same kinds of problems as you.If your not running raid,see if you can shut it off in the bios.

 

[VBboy]

Do you have the jumper on the drive set to the proper mode, e.g. Master? Or are you relying on the Autodetect jumper setting? Also, try putting the drive on a different RAID channel, and also with a different IDE cable. Let me know how it works out?..

 

[kgraeme]

Originally posted by: LastRide
kgraeme,did you bust some knee caps from the people that recommended this board..LOL.This board is a hit and miss and the 12V connector is playing havoc with it.I wanted one myself but this board has way to many issues.Bad_Dude,all I can rcommend is get rid of the board.

Oh yeah. There's some virtual gimps in the AT community now. Crutches all around. I really wish people wouldn't recommend equipment if they don't have first-hand knowledge of it.

Bad_Dude, about the best you can do at this point is either put up with it or disable the Highpoint controller in the BIOS. I did disable it when I still had the board and the problem went away.

 

[Bad Dude]

Thanks guys. I think I am going to put up with it since I needed the RAID.

 

[legendma]

Originally posted by: Bad_Dude
I think the problem is with the Highpoint chipset. This happens once in while with my Abit KT7A_RAID too. However, with the Epox, it hangs every other reboots and sometimes cold boot too. Anyone got the same problem? Or is it just me?
I have to turn off the power source completely before it can scan the drives and boot up completely.
Any help would be greatful. I have the same the problem with original BIOS and the new BIOS.

Thanks.

I also see this problem myself.. After detecting the Onboard IDE controller, the HPT Bios should appear. But at times it doesn't appear.. All I see is a blank screen with a cursor flashing at the top. I also have to shut the power down beofre it will see the HPT bios again..

Also got another strange problem that may be related to this one. I've had the system not bootup twice with a Error Post Code of 25.. I emailed Epox about this and their tech guy replied that the board was not recognizing the Bios chip?? I tried clearing the CMOS and that didn't even help.. Only way I got the system to post again was to remove the heatsink and CPU, which was a pain in the ass!! Wondering if you ever saw this problem yourself??

 

[VBboy]

You had to remove the fan and the CPU? Couldn't you just clear the BIOS?

 

[Bad Dude]

Legendma, I have not see the error code 25 like you did and I hope I won't see it. How long ago did you buy your board? Maybe the newer boards, there is no problem. I just hope that I won't have that problem as taking the CPU and HS/F off is a pain dude.
Good luck. I don't think this is a fixable problem.

 

[wasnlos]

Hi Bad_Dude

I'm wondering what the problem could be, therefore three little questions:

What brand of HDDs for the RAID-setup ?
What kind of IDE-cables ?
Did you flash the latest HIGHPOINT-bios for the onboard-controller ?

 

[Bad Dude]

I am using Maxtor drives and the ones with fluid bearing joints.
I have flash to the latest Highpoint BIOS 2.32.
I am using ATA/133 cables to connect the drives and they are both master and each on it's own port.

 

[wasnlos]

Hm, sounds good.

If the IDE-cables are regular UDMA100/133 with MASTER- and SLAVE-connector, I'm clueless.
It should work.
Did you try other IDE-cables ?

 

[Bad Dude]

I don't think it's the cables as the Highpoint chipset occurred with the Abit KT7A_RAID too, but less often than the Epox. So I think it's the Highpoint chipsets.

 

[crapito]

this problem happened to me the first day I setup my 4G4A+. I fixed it by going into the BIOS and selected the RAID controller as ENABLED, rather than AUTO (or DISABLED). now, and ever since, my 4G4A+ easily detects my 2 HDDs on the RAID controller and life is good.

thus... check your BIOS and play around with it (that's my educated and personal experience answer to your problem).

 

[Bad Dude]

My RAID controller always been enabled. I don't think that's the right solution but great for you that the problem is solve. I guess I can put up with it.

 

[Folk]

Originally posted by: Bad_Dude
I don't think it's the cables as the Highpoint chipset occurred with the Abit KT7A_RAID too, but less often than the Epox. So I think it's the Highpoint chipsets.

That could be a clue. Are you using the same drives and cables? If so, I would suspect one or the other. I have the 4G4A+ and the Highpoint controller hasn't given me any problems. I had the Abit KT7-R (non A) board before this one, and didn't have any problems with it's Highpoint controller either. I'm running two 30Gig IBM 75 GXP's (yes, two have died so far) jumpered as cable select. I originally had regular 80 wire cables and then swapped them for 80 conductor rounded cables. Anyways, the Highpoint controller has yet to give a problem. Since you've had it on two different boards, I would certainly be suspicious of either the drives, the cables or the jumper settings. Having problems with two different boards is too much of a coincidence. It would be hard to fault the Highpoint chips, given that they are running successfully in thousands of boards.

 

[Bad Dude]

No I am not using the same drives or cables. I set both of the Maxtor 40Gb drives to master and not cable select. I wonder if I should set them to cable select? I could be having bad luck. Oh well, I won't be home for another 6 weeks.
Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[Dysphunkional]

I have the same problem as Bad_Dude and after trying everything suggested in this thread and more, I have found that not one, but two EPoX boards that will only reboot half the time if the RAID controller is used. Seeing as how I'm running five drives (two hard drives in a RAID 0 array on the highpoint, a small hard drive in a removable bay for school, a DVD-ROM and a CD-RW) I kind of need the RAID controller to at least function as an extra IDE controller. I'm sending back the second board and I'm going to exchange it for the Gigabyte 8IEXP instead of getting a third 4G4A+. Aside from the not rebooting half the time thing, this board is great, but with having to crawl behind my desk to turn the power supply off every second boot, I'm really getting annoyed with the damn thing.

 

[borky]

After setting the "USB Keyboard Support" (can't remember the exact wording and I'm not at that PC at the moment) to DISABLED I no longer have the problem.

I know it's odd, but give it a shot anyway.

I'm using the June (17th?) BIOS.

 

[Bartman39]

Hey I too had a problem like this and it started when I enabled the USB keyboard support...?

I went back and did fail safe setting then tried setting up everything but no go till I disabled USB keyboard support and did a complete power off (cold boot)...

my .02

 

[turtlepower]

i dont know the answer to your problem, but i am running raid on this board with no problems.. i havent flashed to the latest hp bios either...

i have 2 wd hd's set as master at the end of its own cable on its own channel, and didn't really mess with any bios settings...