Windows install problem... never seen this before.

[skarydrunkguy]

Ok, here's the error message... bear with me on the extended problem.

"Windows has not found enough extended memory. 7mb of extended memory is required to run Windows NT. You may need to upgrade your computer or run a configuration program provided by the manufacturer."

Here's the situation. I picked up the nforce3a + sempron 2800+ bundle from the hot deals forum a few weeks ago. I had a new HDD and cd burner already and a slightly used case and power supply (400 watt). I added some slightly older memory 2x256 ddr which I have since tested in a hardware memory tester and run memtest86 on for hours. The vid card is a radeon 9000 AGP 128mb. Nothing is coming up with any kind of errors or testing bad at all.

I get the error message immdeiately upon booting from the Windows XP Pro w/SP2 disk that I have (legit copy - hologrammy and everything). I have never seen this message before and it seems like everyone else on the web that has had the error has been with a Sony laptop, and nobody out there seems to know the solution anyway.

The HDD is new, blank and formated with Western Digital drive tools. The memory is good. The mobo is good (I actually RMA'd the first one due to the same problem, and the second one is having the same issue... oops). CPU is under 30C the whole time according to BIOS monitoring. All fans are spinning. Everything is detected in the BIOS correctly, and no error codes or beep codes. I've tried using 1 stick of memory at a time. I have also tried a Geforce 4mx vid card.

I am going INSANE here. Has anyone out there ever seen this error before that knows how to fix it? Or does anyone have any idea on something that I may not have checked? I am not a novice working with computers, so get as technical as you want. Thank you in advance for any help you can possibly give me on this one.

 

[DaiShan]

Which memory banks do you have your RAM in on the motherboard? (the manual will tell you which numbers the slots are)

/edit also are you running default settings in bios? No overclocking over volting or anything like that?

 

[natto fire]

Have you tried just using 1 stick of RAM, also moving the sticks around as DaiShan suggested? Another thing to check is BIOS options, turn off the BIOS caching, and maybe check aperture. (Not sure how that could affect this situation, but maybe try a lower setting?)

 

[skarydrunkguy]

Originally posted by: DaiShan
Which memory banks do you have your RAM in on the motherboard? (the manual will tell you which numbers the slots are)

/edit also are you running default settings in bios? No overclocking over volting or anything like that?

The motherboard has 2 slots, I have 3 different 256mb sticks. I have tried them all in 1 and 2 stick combinations, same error with all of them. I've also played around with the BIOS a bit... bios caching is off, as is ACPI. Haven't overclocked or anything, most everything is at 'optimized defaults.' By aperture, I assume you mean AGP aperture, which I have tried at both 64mb and 128mb (options are 16, 32, 64, 128, 256)... not sure what exactly that is, but I heard it should be set to 1/2 you vid card memory.

 

[clarkmo]

Try clearing cmos..pull the battery....then go back in and set it up the way you want it, save setting, reboot and install.
http://groups.google.com/group/microsof...102f4954?sa=X&oi=groupsr&start=2&num=3

 

[djnsmith7]

Are all 3 RAM sticks identical? If not, that may be part of the problem...I would try 1 stick at a time in the slot specified by the MB Manual...Some MB's are extremely picky w/ where the RAM modules are installed & in which order they're installed...

Try 1 stick at a time in the slot specified by the MB Manual...

 

[skarydrunkguy]

Originally posted by: clarkmo
Try clearing cmos..pull the battery....then go back in and set it up the way you want it, save setting, reboot and install.
http://groups.google.com/group/microsof...102f4954?sa=X&oi=groupsr&start=2&num=3

Thanks for the suggestion! I didn't find that page during my fun fun google searches. Unfortunately it didn't work. The computer booted to CMOS checksum error, which I would assume means I did it right, and after a quick reconfig of the BIOS, it came up with the same error as soon as it tried to boot from the CD.

2 of the 3 mem sticks are the same, the 3rd is different. I've tried booting with each of the 3 seperately to no avail. I think I'm going to blow something up pretty soon.

 

[clarkmo]

try loading fail safe default in bios and go from there

 

[skarydrunkguy]

I did the pull the battery trick (for about 3 hours) then the only thing I changed in the BIOS was 'boot from cd first,' and it gave me the same error. ECS says its a memory problem, PNY says its a windows problem, and Microsoft says its a motherboard problem. I hate companies.

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: skarydrunkguy

Originally posted by: clarkmo
Try clearing cmos..pull the battery....then go back in and set it up the way you want it, save setting, reboot and install.
http://groups.google.com/group/microsof...102f4954?sa=X&oi=groupsr&start=2&num=3

Thanks for the suggestion! I didn't find that page during my fun fun google searches. Unfortunately it didn't work. The computer booted to CMOS checksum error, which I would assume means I did it right, and after a quick reconfig of the BIOS, it came up with the same error as soon as it tried to boot from the CD.

2 of the 3 mem sticks are the same, the 3rd is different. I've tried booting with each of the 3 seperately to no avail. I think I'm going to blow something up pretty soon.

It's a mobo issue. Clearing cmos via jumper *should* do the trick unless something else is going on.

See boldface above.

 

[DaiShan]

Originally posted by: skarydrunkguy

Originally posted by: DaiShan
Which memory banks do you have your RAM in on the motherboard? (the manual will tell you which numbers the slots are)

/edit also are you running default settings in bios? No overclocking over volting or anything like that?

The motherboard has 2 slots, I have 3 different 256mb sticks. I have tried them all in 1 and 2 stick combinations, same error with all of them. I've also played around with the BIOS a bit... bios caching is off, as is ACPI. Haven't overclocked or anything, most everything is at 'optimized defaults.' By aperture, I assume you mean AGP aperture, which I have tried at both 64mb and 128mb (options are 16, 32, 64, 128, 256)... not sure what exactly that is, but I heard it should be set to 1/2 you vid card memory.

Just to verify, you've tried each of the three sticks in both RAM slots? Generally speaking you need to populate the memory banks starting with bank 0 then moving up from there. Bank 0 is normally the one closest to the CPU. I would make sure that you've tested at least two of the sticks in bank 0 only, then clear the CMOS via the jumper on the motherboard (your manual will tell you how to do this) I would then reboot the computer and try again, if you are still having problems, please make sure that your bios is set to failsafe defaults. If all of that fails, my attention would be drawn to the motherboard.

 

[skarydrunkguy]

Originally posted by: Smilin

Originally posted by: skarydrunkguy

Originally posted by: clarkmo
Try clearing cmos..pull the battery....then go back in and set it up the way you want it, save setting, reboot and install.
http://groups.google.com/group/microsof...102f4954?sa=X&oi=groupsr&start=2&num=3

Thanks for the suggestion! I didn't find that page during my fun fun google searches. Unfortunately it didn't work. The computer booted to CMOS checksum error, which I would assume means I did it right, and after a quick reconfig of the BIOS, it came up with the same error as soon as it tried to boot from the CD.

2 of the 3 mem sticks are the same, the 3rd is different. I've tried booting with each of the 3 seperately to no avail. I think I'm going to blow something up pretty soon.

It's a mobo issue. Clearing cmos via jumper *should* do the trick unless something else is going on.

See boldface above.

When you clear the cmos by removing the battery (or the battery going bad) I was under the impression that it will always boot to a checksum error because it 'lost' data. Clearing it via the jumper will not yield a checksum error since it didn't 'lose' anything, it simply reset itself to defaults. Not positive about this, but in my experience, thats the case. Is it possible that I have gotten 2 bad mobos? I've RMAd the first one already, but it seemed to work exactly the same as the second, which would lead me to believe that something else would be wrong.

I've tried all 3 sticks in both slots, both individually and in pairs. I really don't think its a memory issue. I'm actually starting to lean toward thinking that it may be a power supply issue, since whenever wacky, unexplicable things happen in a computer its usually a power supply. I'm going to try a few more things then break down and buy a new PS. My $75 computer for the girlfriend is turning into $300+ for a damn sempron system.

 

[Mutilator]

Have you checked to see if there is a newer BIOS available for that board? Also why turn ACPI off?

 

[skarydrunkguy]

Originally posted by: Mutilator
Have you checked to see if there is a newer BIOS available for that board? Also why turn ACPI off?

Yep, flashing the bios to the newest version was the first thing that I thought of. It didn't help. ACPI is turned off because from everything that I've read, its not a good thing to have on. Basically, from what I understand, it controls power to the peripherals (auto controlled power interface or something like that) which can cause them to malfunction. It should really only be activated on laptops if the user wants to save power... on desktops it is completely erroneous since they are plugged in all the time, and it can cause problems if it decides to power down your memory or something for no other reason than it wants to.

I am still getting the same damn error message, anyone else ever seen this or have any other ideas on something for me to try?

 

[Smilin]

Absolutely positively leave ACPI on.

ACPI is the next generation after APIC and PIC. It is what allows your OS to assign and controll interrupts and resources. Without it you're going to be limited to 16 hard interrupts, possibly have conflicts and all sorts of ******.

It's not a laptop thing at all. Power management is a very small part of what APIC does.

 

[skarydrunkguy]

ACPI on or off, it doesn't really matter. I can't seem to get past the damn error message. I appreciate all the help though. If the new power supply doesn't fix the problem, I think I'll just take it to the Geek Squad or something and let them deal with it.

 

[stevty2889]

With Windows NT being a very old, and no longer supported operating system, it's quite possible your motherboard just isn't compatible with it..have you tried a newer OS, like windows 2000 or windows xp?

 

[Smilin]

He's using XP despite that error message being vague (XP is Windows NT 5.1). This is a mobo problem anyway.

Skary:
Yes, ACPI does matter. It might not make a difference with this problem but it should be on.

RMA the mobo.

 

[skarydrunkguy]

Skary:
Yes, ACPI does matter. It might not make a difference with this problem but it should be on.

RMA the mobo.

Ok, so I may have been wrong on ACPI... I'll do some more reading on this. I've RMA'd the mobo already, and the 2nd one gives me the same problem. ECS tech support says its the RAM (even though I have explained to them that memtest86 runs fine for hours (off a boot cd) and it passes the hardware test on the ram tester at work). PNY tech support won't even bother answering their phone or emails. Microsoft tech support says its an unspecified motherboard or memory problem. I've just got a new power supply, that was no help. I'm going to get new memory tomorrow and see if that cures the problem (though I doubt it). I have a sneaking feeling that I will be returning roughly $450 in computer parts in a few days when I can't figure this damn problem out. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[millsp]

I just got an ECS motherboard with a sempron 2800, put it in a new case, new ps, new HDD, new memory (2x1GB Patriot DDR 400 Dual Channel), new ATI graphics card. I'm getting the same error that you're getting. I have a brand new Windows XP OS disk that I'm trying to boot with. Did you ever find the problem or did you return your parts?

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Originally posted by: skarydrunkguy

Skary:
Yes, ACPI does matter. It might not make a difference with this problem but it should be on.

RMA the mobo.

Ok, so I may have been wrong on ACPI... I'll do some more reading on this. I've RMA'd the mobo already, and the 2nd one gives me the same problem. ECS tech support says its the their board

Fixed

 

[Dunnworkin]

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal

Originally posted by: skarydrunkguy

Skary:
Yes, ACPI does matter. It might not make a difference with this problem but it should be on.

RMA the mobo.

Ok, so I may have been wrong on ACPI... I'll do some more reading on this. I've RMA'd the mobo already, and the 2nd one gives me the same problem. ECS tech support says its the their board

Fixed

Not fixed for me. I am having similar issues on a notebook after an XP-Pro install, and nothing has helped solve the problem. Could you share some details on the fix you mentioned.

Thanks.

 

[gsethi]

Just a Thought....how much memory is being reported by the motherboard in BIOS (or at bootup or in memtest) ? Sometimes, high density memory sticks dont work properly and are reported incorrectly.

 

[imported_nocturne]

Umm... I doubt this is related, but back in the dos days extended memory was a portion of the way DOS partitioned memory (ems,xms,and highlevel, plus the 640k builtin). I used to have to use a boot disk with altered autoexec and config settings to enable enough XMS for "cool" DOS games like Falcon and Warcraft. I can't remember the parameters, but a quick google for dos boot setting would prove helpful if applicable.

 

[Dunnworkin]

Well I'm fresh out of ideas and about ready to through in the towel on this one. At the very least this problem is aggravating with a capital Aggggg !!!

Posting again as a last resort hoping if I supply more details it may help solve this mystery. I'm still getting a black screen memory error using 256mb ram with WinXP. It is an older Compaq Presario with the following specs.

AMD K6-2+/550
256mb (2x128) Maximum for the board using both banks is 256mb
20 gig HD with Win98SE
Basic floppy, DVD/CD combo drive
ATI Rage mobility with an Active Matrix

Used the XPHome upgrade posted in the Hot Deals forum a few weeks ago. Performed a clean install on a brand new 20 gig HD while running 128mb ram. XP installed without any problems.

Problem started after I added 128mb ram back to the notebook. With 256mb installed it would not boot. Received a black screen error message instead, similar to the one the OP mentioned.

This exact wording in the message reads : Windows NT has only found 0K of low memory. 512k of low memory is required to run Windows NT. You may need to upgrade your computer or run a configuration program provided by the manufacturer.

Taking the 128mb back out solved the immediate problem and it did boot and run. Using the process of elimination, this is what I DO know so far. Remove the ram from the expansion slot, and it will boot and run. Add 32mb or 64mb modules in the expansion slot and it still runs. So it will run with 128, 160, or 196mb of ram, but not with 256mb. That just doesn't make sense to me.

Also removed ALL the system memory and started testing different size sodimm's. Started with just 32mb onboard. XP will actually boot with 32mb. Turns out XP will boot using any memory combination from 32mb to 196mb in any combination. Did not matter which bank was populated, of if I used just one bank or both . It ran as long as the total ram did not exceed 196mb. If I put 256mb back in, the error comes back.

Finally, I put my old hard drive back in with a pair 128mb modules. 98SE booted right up and ran with 256mb like it always did. You would think the error message would indicate BIOS issues, a bad board, or a defective memory, but my bet is that its really a Microsoft XP issue.

Anyone else run across this lately ?