Official GIGABYTE Forum
Questions about GIGABYTE products => Motherboards with Intel processors => Topic started by: Wayne on February 29, 2012, 03:21:51 am
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Hi guys,
My first post. Hope you can give me some clues as to the difficulties I'm having. Please go easy here as I'm no spring chicken anymore and it might take a while for your help to sink in :)
I bought a new GA- Z68X-UD7-B3 board a couple of months ago and put together my latest build. Since finishing this build I have intermittent/repetitive "delayed write failures", which I have never had with my five previous builds. It first occured when downloading off a usb stick, but didn't come back for a further three or four more downloads, then bang, back again. It also occurs when downloading games from a disk to my hard drive, again intermittently as well as off the internet. So far I have two games on Steam that I cannot access. I'm guessing caused by this delayed write failure. If I do manage to install the game on my pc I then can't get the updates required and Steam tells me the game is unavailable and to try again later and or a problem has occurred with Steam and it shuts down. I've tried HD Tune which says the hdd is ok, also the fixes on the Microsoft Help and Support site, save for the registry mod but all is as it should be acccording to the instructions. The only other thing I haven't tried is that the cables are 80 wire 40 pin, which as they came new with the mobo I thought would be spec'd ok. If its of any use my specs are:
Intel i5 (default)
8gb G.Skill 1866 ram
Radeon 6970 2gb card
1TB Samsung spinpoint hdd
Windows XP Pro (32-bit)
Silverstone 1000w psu
If I've left anything out please ask.
Thanks,
Wayne.
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Hi and welcome.
In am at a loss here as you are talking about the drive as an IDE PATA type but there is no connection for this type of drive on this motherboard! ???
The controller ports on the board are all SATA and so don't use a 40 pin cable.
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Thanks for the welcome. Sorry for the confusion over the cables. It was something that was mentioned that should be checked out just in case, but as i've used similar cables in previous builds I mentioned it just to rule them out.
Thanks,
Wayne.
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Hi there,
which model Samsung Spinpoint do you actually have?
If it is a "Green" Model this could be the problem as they are better used as a storage drive rather than as a BOOT drive.
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It's an HD103UJ.
Cheers.
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Well the HDD shouldn't be a problem.
Having done a quick search on the internet the only things I can suggest are:
Have you checked that the SATA cable is connected firmly onto the harddrive and the motherboard?
Have you tried a different SATA cable?
Are all your drivers up-to-date especially the ones for the motherboard chipset and SATA drivers?
Which SATA port on the motherboard do you have the HDD attached to?
Are you running in AHCI or IDE mode?
What Operating System are you using?
Sorry for all the questions but the more information we can get the easier it may be to offer practical help.
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Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.
Yes, the cable is firmly connected both ends.
Yes, have tried a different cable.
According to Gigabyte all drivers are up to date.
SATA2 _4.
IDE.
XP Pro 32-bit.
I think I'll try a fresh install on another hdd I have that has never had a problem and report back.
Cheers.
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Green hard drives are not good to use for OS booting, I suggest you use that as storage and get something better for your OS. Those drives power down and slow down far to much to be used for a main OS drive.
You want the OS cable connected to SATA2_0
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Thanks for the cable advice. As to the green drive I don't believe mine is.
Cheers.
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Ahh ya, sorry, I saw green mentioned above and assumed that was correct.
I see it's a spinpoint now, so that shouldn't have the issues I mentioned. How's this doing now?
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Awful.
I can't install my strategy games on Steam. I can't update my games on Steam. I get DWF's when installing some games, not all, to the hdd from the dvd drive. Sometimes if I try installing them again they install perfectly. I get interrmitent DWF's when I use the internet. It's doing my head in to tell the truth. I think I'm about ask my retailer for a refund and go back to my old setup which hasen't missed a beat in four years. My other half has the same setup and hers hasen't played up ever, either. In fact I've built my own pc's since '95 and I've never had a problem with any of them until now.
Cheers.
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Can you test with another drive to rule that drive out as the cause of the issue? If not, have you at least ran the manufacturer's testing tools to be sure the drive is fully functional and passing all tests? Since this is an old drive I'd test it for sure, in case the drive itself is the problem
Hutil
http://majorgeeks.com/Samsung_Drive_Diagnostic_Utility_Hutil_d5769.html
And run this one as well (Samsgun ES-Tool), backup the drive before using either of these though, as there is a write test that writes to the last 8MB of the drive (Not usually an issue, but backup is always advised). Since Seagate now owns Samsung, all the Samsung links I could find are down, so you'll have to download this bootable CD with many other tools in order to use the ES-Tool for testing
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
I also see this drive can be aligned to 4k sectors like SSD's, s not doing that might cause issues. Did you do this or do you know if it was already done? If you are not sure, please download the following benchmark and open it and select the main partition. Do not run the benchmark, just select the drive. Download is at the very bottom
http://alex-is.de/PHP/fusion/downloads.php?download_id=9
Why do you keep mentioning IDE? You mentioned an 80 pin IDE ribbon cable in your first post, and again mentioned IDE in the #6 post. Just asking to be sure, in case maybe you are using some other older IDE HDD with an adapter or something.
Did you use Express Install from the motherboard CD when you installed windows? If so that may be the issue. If you did that, please remove the Marvell drivers with device manager and add/remove programs.
And then update the Intel drivers
INF Chipset (First link EXE)
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=816
AHCI/RAID Drivers (you want third link EXE)
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProductFamily=Chipsets&ProductLine=Chipset+Software&ProductProduct=Intel%C2%AE+Rapid+Storage+Technology
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Thanks for pointing me to the utilities. I'll download and give them a whirl first. Funny you should mention testing with another drive, I ordered another one today. Should have it in sometime next week and I'll and see if that makes a difference if necessary. If I remember correctly with all this going on the bios is in IDE mode not AHCI, I'll recheck. I'll remove the Marvell drivers as per your advice and update the Intel drivers. Thanks for all your help, it is really appreciated. I'll be in touch.
Cheers.
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Great to hear you have another drive on the way! That would have been the first thing I tested, of course you need a second drive to do that, so nice to hear you already thought of that and ordered one. I bet that is the issue!
Good luck, hopefully the new drive will sort this out for you! You want AHCI mode when you install, IDE mode is slow.
Keep us posted once the new drive arrive, thanks!
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Back again.
Been trying out a new drive in the computer which has been working fine until tonight. Installing a game I'm getting the dreaded "Delayed Write Failures" again. Tried installing the same game on my old pc, not a problem, installs absolutely fine. Back on the new mobo DWF's all over the place. I think I'm about to give up on Gigabyte. I think it may be time to try and get a refund on this mobo. What do you think.
Cheers.
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Sorry to hear! So how long was it working properly? And this is using good cables with metal locking latches correct?
You may need to RMA the board, sorry but it does sound like something may be wrong with the hard drive controller in the PCH/ICH
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G'day,
Its been working ok since a day or so after my last post on Feb 3. Funny thing this board (if that's what it is). The game I tried to install arrived loose in the jacket with scratches on it, so consequently DWF's all over the place and not an entirely unexpected result. So I thought that I would try a copy (purely as a back up you understand) of the disk with my cloner software. The copy disk is the one that worked fine on my old Intel mobo pc, but not on the giga. Not only did I get DWF's, but also access denied messages, and just about every other sort of message under the sun lol. I'm going to try an install on my other half's pc with the original scratched disk and the copy disk out of curiosity. I'll let you know what it gets up to. I've tried various cables on the mobo, all seem to work ok. The cables in the pc at the moment are the supplied giga with locking latches. Oh, and after the trouble with the backup disk last night I installed AoEIII just fine. Go figure. I'll speak to you soon.
Cheers.
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How about other disks, do they work OK? If you are only seeing this now on game or software install disks, then it might just be the disks themselves or an issue with the CD/DVD burner.
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I'm hoping you might be on the money, but I installed the game on the scratched disk on my wife's pc and it installed ok whereas no way on the giga. I also installed an old total war game I have today as well and it installed ok. I'm getting a replacement for the scratched disk and I'll try it out when I receive it. I also bought a new DVD drive just in case but the DWF's still occurred so have ruled that out. I think I must have the most finicky mobo I've ever seen lol. Anyway, will let you know of my progress when the new disk arrives.
Cheers.
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Well if you are only getting this from disk installs then it could be the disks or the CD/DVD drive, even if one drive reads a disk OK that doesn't mean that all other drives will
Try out your new CD/DVD drive on the old disk too, then on the new one (Or just download ISO and install, then you'll know it's either the disk or the CD/DVD drive)
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Hi, again,
I've tried out the CD/DVD drives on the scratched disks. I get DWF's on both. So I tried out the copy of the scratched disk on both CD/DVD drives, same result. I'm waiting for the new disk to arrive but I don't hold out much hope for not getting any DWF's. The reason I'm not optomistic is that I've been downloading updates from Steam for the past couple of days ok, until today. During today's updates I started getting DWF's again, this on the new HDD. Also while trying to install some other update material to one of my flight sims more DFW's while downloading from the internet. Also DWF's after downloading to my wife's pc and transferring it across our network to my pc. The same DWF's while trying to install from a usb stick. I'm thinking of trying to RMA this board now as the problems with it are just too erratic. Good idea do you think.
Cheers.
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What port do you have your hard drive connected to?
Be sure you have your OS disk connected to the Intel 6Gb/s port (SATA3_0 White), not the Marvell ports
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It is connected to the Intel 6Gb/s SATA 3_0 port, not the Marvell. It's not the end of the world, but this would have to be the most frustrating build I've ever done lol.
Cheers.
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Great to hear!! I was just checking to be sure :)
Sorry a bout all these hassles! So you're sure it's not the hard drive itself? Have you tested with another hard drive, or tested that drive with testing tools? And you're sure it has nothing to do with memory, tested with Memtest86+ for extended period? Sorry if you've answered this, I'm short on time and in a hurry so I can't go back and look right now.
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I can't test the drive with the testing tools I have as the pc will not let me install hdtune either over our local network or from a usb stick (DWF's). I also received a new perfect copy of the original scratched game disk, but no go, just DWF's all over again. I do think I should see if I can RMA this mobo, it's just not worth the time it has taken to get nowhere. Your thoughts?
Cheers.
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Just a little more info. I tried to install hd tune again from the net as i couldn't it install any other way, but all I got were DWF's again while using my browser. I have RestoreIT, so was able to go back to a restore point and download hdtune. I ran an error scan, the results were all green, no damaged sectors. Benchmark test showed transfer rate minimum 49.4Mb/sec, maximum 139.5Mb/sec, average 105.9Mb/sec, access time 16.4ms, burst rate 130.5Mb/sec.
Cheers.
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More to digest,
I tried reloading MW Call of Duty 4, which was on the pc earlier and working fine. Besides the fact that it took over an hour to install!, right at the end I get DWF's, Stream errors and goodness knows what. This is the most confusing cpu/mobo combo i've ever run across.
Cheers.
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I think that I would have to advise RMAing the motherboard and if it isn't that at least you will be sure one way or the other then. It all seems to be pointing that way anyway.
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But, did you test with another hard drive yet? It may be that drive still, even though it's not showing any errors.
I would test with another hard drive, either as a spare / secondary drive, or install windows on another drive for testing and see what happens. I'd actually do that anyway, just in case your current windows install is messed up or some driver is messed up causing this. If you do not have another drive you can test with, I would find one for sure before you send anything off. Testing a clean install on your current disk might be good as well, but I'd definitely test a clean install on a completely different drive as well.
Then if no luck I'd RMA, but I wouldn't do it without doing the above mentioned testing first just to be sure you are not wasting your time RMA'n a working board.
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Good point Lsdmeasap but I was under the impression that he had tested the drive previously. Maybe I was wrong there. Certainly should be done before anything else.
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Well I wanted him to test another drive more than anything else, to rule out this current drive and or OS. If another drive is not available I would test a clean install on this drive before RMA'n anything, but I would for sure try my best to test a clean install on a different hard drive just to be sure before sending the board off
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Hi Gents,
The drive I was originally having these DWF's on was an older Samsung 1Tb drive with a clean install. The drive I'm now using is a spanking new WD Blue Caviar drive. I also did a clean Windows install onto this drive and ran HDTune as well, however, I'm still getting DWF's on this one as well. Hope that clears things up a bit.
Cheers.
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Hi again gents,
Just a bit more info for you.
Today I tried to install an older game of mine, F.E.A.R., onto my pc with the new WD drive. The install took 35m 45secs to get HALF WAY before getting the dreaded DWF's. So, I thought I would again try an install of the same game on my wife's pc. It's a Core 2 duo 2.4Ghz on an Intel board. The install went ok and took just 5m 47s from START to FINISH.
I've noticed that lately when trying to install some apps or games and checking for DWF's on my pc with a new Core i5 it seems to be taking FOREVER to get them on, if I can install them at all. Do you think the cpu might have anything to do with any of this?
I'm a WWI flight simmer (don't laugh), and when starting up a quick mission in my Rise of Flight programme it takes around 25 to 30 minutes to start the mission. I put the startup time to the boys on the ROF forum and the collective wisdom seems to be that should take no more than 2 to 3 minutes to start up the mission not 25 to 30 minutes.
I suppose I'm clutching at straws looking for a fix for this but I've just about run out of things to try.
Anyway thanks for your help and interest so far, its been very much appreciated.
Cheers.
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Ya, that is terribly slow, I'm sorry about all this prolonged advice, I didn't realize things were that bad!!
I'd say go ahead and setup a RMA, something is obviously wrong with the board or hard drive controller on it anyway.
I'd say you can test the Marvell ports and they should be fine, or J.Micron (But those would be slow), but neither of those would be ideal for your daily OS anyway, so I'd go ahead and get it exchanged!
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Sorry for dragging up an oldie, but just thought I'd post the latest on this saga given the great help I've received on this forum.
I RMA'd the board back to the retailer as advised. They said that if their tech support confirmed the "DWF" problem they would send it on to Gigabyte for warranty repair. They did send it on, that was 7 weeks ago. I received the board back today, put it all together and after about half an hour of use the dreaded "Delayed Write Failures" returned. I'm a bit peeved off with Gigabyte. No information as to what the cause of the problem might have been, though obviously they have no idea, only a bios update which achieved absolutely nothing after seven weeks! I just don't think this is acceptable for a AU$376.00 mobo.
Cheers.