MA790GPT-UD3H- BSOD

[toostrike]

I just built a new system,and wanted to format my drives for better management.Thats where my problem started 4 days ago.

My main parts are...

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGMBOX - Retail

GIGABYTE GA-MA790GPT-UD3H AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail


G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail


I formatted the drive, and  had my usb floppy ready to load sata drivers.Unfortunately,my usb drive is not supported in windows.It is not recognized when I am prompted to load drivers at the beginning of the set up.It works great if windows will actually load,but that not why I bought it in the first place.Most of the time I get a bsod(memory dump)  right before windows finishes installing.It always happens at the end when saving settings,and has put errors on my hard drive.I used Western Digital software and got the drive error free.I then used my copy of xp pro and n-light to slipstream in drivers.There are some settings in the bios that I need to understand.I'm pretty sure my bios is F3.

Settings in bios:

On chip IDE channel

On chip sata  controller

On chip sata type

If I don't have all these settings enabled the bios wont even recognize the drive when loading windows.If I enable The IDE controller,and disable the sata controller the bios will not see the drive,and I cant load windows. have enabled and disabled all of them in the last few days.Half of the time I get into windows,but windows update will not upgrade to service pack 3.I always get errors.That's weird because it works fine on a older pc. I'll try to figure out.It sucks.

I downloaded the sata drivers from gigabyte,and extract that into a folder.I have one folder with x86 and x64 drivers.I deleted all the stuff for x64 since my os is 32 bit.Anyway I have one x86 folder and some various files outside the folder.When I use n-light it asks to load one driver or multiple.I always choose multiple.If I choose a single driver it will give my one inf file.Is that the problem.I dont think that is the problem because if I get get into windows without a bsod,I see the drive in My computer.

I could sure use some help with xp,this board,and drivers?Before I decided to format the drive my system was running good.Temps are stable,but these bsod has my concerned if my ram is the culprit.I never ran any burn in tests,but I played some games with no problem.If it is my memory,how long to you have to run memory test?

 

[absic]

Hi toostrike,

The first thing to do is take a step back........ Take a deep breath............. OK?

Right, remove all the Hard-drives except for the one you are using to install the OS onto and also remove one of the sticks of memory. Boot up and go into BIOS. Load optimised defaults, hit F10, then "Y" then when PC reboots go back into bios.

Go to Integrated Peripherals. If you are only using SATA drives you can safely disable the first option "On Chip IDE" as this controller is for the IDE channel (PATA HDD's & DVD/CD's etc., the kind that use the old ribbon cables). If you are using a PATA device leave this enabled
The next setting is: "OnChip SATA Controller" . This needs to be enabled
The next setting is: "OnChip SATA Type". Set this to Native IDE
Next make sure that all of the USB options are enabled especially the Legacy USB Storage detect.
Once you have done this Save the settings to BIOS and reboot.
Shut-down the PC and return the 2nd stick of memory.

You now have the basic settings and should be able to install XP as you did before with your slipstreamed disk. (NOTE: This set-up does not enable the raid function or AHCI) but it is the safest and surest way I know of getting things going.

Once you have installed Windows you can shut down the PC and add your other HDD's. I normally add just one HDD at a time, reboot after install, make sure it is OK then add the next one when I next shut down the computer.

If the XP install fails and you get a BSOD remove one of the sticks of memory and try installing XP again. If it fails, swap the memory over and repeat the install. If you are still getting BSOD's at this stage then it could be due to other hardware and we will have to cross that bridge if it comes to it but I hope this gets you up and running again.

[toostrike]

Hi toostrike,

The first thing to do is take a step back........ Take a deep breath............. OK?

Right, remove all the Hard-drives except for the one you are using to install the OS onto and also remove one of the sticks of memory. Boot up and go into BIOS. Load optimised defaults, hit F10, then "Y" then when PC reboots go back into bios.

Go to Integrated Peripherals. If you are only using SATA drives you can safely disable the first option "On Chip IDE" as this controller is for the IDE channel (PATA HDD's & DVD/CD's etc., the kind that use the old ribbon cables). If you are using a PATA device leave this enabled
The next setting is: "OnChip SATA Controller" . This needs to be enabled
The next setting is: "OnChip SATA Type". Set this to Native IDE
Next make sure that all of the USB options are enabled especially the Legacy USB Storage detect.
Once you have done this Save the settings to BIOS and reboot.
Shut-down the PC and return the 2nd stick of memory.

You now have the basic settings and should be able to install XP as you did before with your slipstreamed disk. (NOTE: This set-up does not enable the raid function or AHCI) but it is the safest and surest way I know of getting things going.

Once you have installed Windows you can shut down the PC and add your other HDD's. I normally add just one HDD at a time, reboot after install, make sure it is OK then add the next one when I next shut down the computer.

If the XP install fails and you get a BSOD remove one of the sticks of memory and try installing XP again. If it fails, swap the memory over and repeat the install. If you are still getting BSOD's at this stage then it could be due to other hardware and we will have to cross that bridge if it comes to it but I hope this gets you up and running again.

I'm back...

I have (3) hdd's,but I have only (1) connected because of my problems.I learned  that concept real quick when connecting them all to start.I followed all your advice concerning bios settings,drives,memory ect,but it did not make a difference-BSOD after  5 or 6 tries.On one of those tries it said,IRQL not less or equal,whatever that means.I realized that I still had a nic card and a video card connected.After that,I went bare bones.Board,Memory,and (1) hhd.I used my slipstream disc,and it made it about 3/4's into the xp install,and the screen went black.No BSOD,but the same result.Then I got pissed,and through my disc out the window.....Then I checked the bios,and double checked my settings.As far as memory,it's only reading 1333 instead of 1600,but thats ok,we discussed that earlier.The bios is reading the correct timings at the lower speed ,so that's a plus.I have a  Coolermaster Hyper 212+,and I use 2 fans for push and pull.I disabled Cool and quite because I want both fans running at 1900rpm's.I noticed a couple days ago that it was running at that rated speed,but the fan connected to the cpu header now it runs at around 700rpm.The other fan is just hooked up to a power fan header on the mobo.That fans runs at 190Orpm all the time.If cool and quiet is disabled,shouldn't it run at its max speed.I did notice a increase in speed for a short time installing xp many times.Too many times......

I have my original xp pro disc,so I used that instead.I had install issues with the original,but I thought I would give it try.The disc is in good shape,so that not the problem.I started to look at my connections,and realized that I had the sata drive hooked up to sata 1 on the motherboard.I changed the wire connection to sata 0 on the mobo.It has another bank of settings 2-6,but I only have my burner on one of those connections.I tried again,and it this time it loaded windows.It mentioned it had to recover some file from the registry,but it said it was successful.I loaded all the drivers from the gigabyte disc,and everything worked out.No conflicts in the device manager.


Eariier ,I did manage to get into windows a few times,but had issues.I never had so may issues at one time.I know I'm far from being out of the woods,but I'm not giving up either.

So it all comes down to a few issues....Hopefully

The sata drive problem.I tried this earlier,but it did not work.It could be based on the other problems I had earlier.Below is advice on how to solve this problem.After putting this in the system32 folder it said it edited the registry.I rebooted back in the bios,and enabled AHCI .Hit F-10 and saved.I booted the pc back up,but it cycles on a loop.It doesn't work.There must be something else.Any ideas?


Directions I used.I must be missing something?

After you install XP, add the driver in this file to your windows\system32\drivers folder, double-click the enable-ahci-xp.reg file and reboot. Enter your bios and enable AHCI and reboot again. Windows should load in AHCI mode.

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/20/2106747/AHCI_XP.zip



Memory-I had more bsod ,than i ever want to see again in the last few days.Can you move your memory to slots 3 and 4 instead if 1 and 2.Beside the memory dumps,my HS is about 1/16 of an ich above one of the sticks.I only have 10 days left to return any bad parts back to the Egg.I have had trouble updating xp pro service pack 2 to 3.I go to windows web site and it just hangs.I did alot of searching,and find a patch for amd cpu's concerning the service pack 3 update.I applied the patch,and it  finally downloaded the service pack and,then  BAM!! I get the message MicroCrap must close.needless to say it corrupted my main drive.I had to go through another install after formatting.I had 2 bsod,before windows installed without problems.I got everything back up again,but I have some stability problems.It really sticks I have to search the web up and down for a fix.Thanks MS for all your AMD support.

I am still running bare bones at this point.I have not hooked up video card or my nic card or other hard drives.I keep wondering is my memory bad,or is it slot on the motherboard ect...The PSU seems like its running fine.I have only 1 hard drive,and a burner hooked up.I have it working right now ,but I wonder for how long


Sorry for the novel......Time to pass out.

[absic]

Hi,

Think I might need a drink now, 

So, if I understand properly, you have installed XP in IDE mode and are now trying to change to AHCI mode after install, That's not a very good idea and, to be honest, I am wondering what you think you can gain with AHCI. The benefits aren't that great and, as you are finding out, trying to change to this mode after install doesn't always work. In my opinion, with XP, I would just stay in IDE mode. However if you really need AHCI mode then my advice would be to start again and re-install windows in AHCI mode rather than trying to alter the registry after install.

You can run your memory in either of the channel slots and if you haven't tried it in slots 3&4 then you should do so. (You can also run in opposite slots ie 1&3 or 2&4 but this won't give you dual channel mode). Your memory is downgraded to 1333 Mhz by default and this is normal and was one of the reasons I suggested going back into BIOS to re-set everything.

I think, before we try and deal with your other issues we should just get your system stable. There could possibly be problems with your memory or even with the mobo but, proving it or discovering if there is a real fault needs a more stable platform.

I know this is frustrating but hey......building computers is fun! And........... what will you do with ALL of your time, once it is running OK?

[toostrike]

absic115 -Thanks for helping Moe.Hey,I think Larry and Curly need some help too


Ok! Today is a new day,and I have a much clearer head.I spent 4 days and countless hours trying to find the problem.I did some research on memtest.It is best to test 1 stick at a time,for 7 passes.The first stick I tested came up error city In slot one. 490,000 errors is 5 minutes.Slot 2 same result.I then put in the second 2 gig stick in slot 1 and tested it for 7 passes(took 3 hours).No errors :)I used the same good stick in slot 2 for 5 passes,and no errors.Well,I guess that explains alot of my bsod issues installing windows.At least it seems that the ram slots on the mobo are problem free.That is why I used the good stick in different slots.

As far as AHCI mode,I could care less.I thought I needed that to run it as a sata drive.With the settings below it boots and runs fine.

The next setting is: "OnChip SATA Controller" . This needs to be enabled
The next setting is: "OnChip SATA Type". Set this to Native IDE
Next make sure that all of the USB options are enabled especially the Legacy USB Storage detect.

Should I RMA both sticks or just the one?

I have one gig of memory on my video card.Can I test that too?

I have to wonder though if the mobo can get voltage spikes,and short parts out.I have tested all my usb slots,and various connections,and they all seem to work ok.Time for this Egghead to call NewEgg!

[absic]

Hi,

If you bought a matched set of RAM then it's best to RMA both of them. If there is a problem they will send you back another matched pair.

Never tested memory on a GPU (never had too) so not sure of the answer there I'm afraid.

It's very unusual for a Mobo to spike excessively or to short out parts (I've personally not had experience of this with over 100 builds).

The benefits of AHCI over IDE mode for the SATA drives is, in my opinion, open for debate, unless of cause you want to Hot Swap your HDD's. As you have stated this is not what you are intending then stick with Native IDE, it's a lot less hassle. And no, you don't have to have AHCI or RAID to run SATA drives.

Hope this helps

ATB

Now where's that drink???