I think it could be stuffed !!

[madian225]

:confused: :confused: Hi everyone

 

Usefull info

 

I am currently using a water colled system, Swiftech G4 CPU block and DD Maze 4 block for chipset since I built the rig, cooling via a PA 120.3 and PA 120.1 and 8 * 12 cm fans.

 

Problem

 

I would be grateful for your thoughts and comments and what you think that I should do next.

 

OK my problem is this:-

 

I have been running 3 WD Raptors (35G) in a RAID 0 array (Nvidia outputs 1,2 & 3)for the past 3 weeks or so, I initially had a few problems getting the RAID to work (Nvidia drivers...need I say more on this). However, after a lot of efforts and reading up etc I eventually managed to get the F6 method to work and all was wonderful. I had a HD Tach result of 230 which I was pleased about. In addition to the 3 drives in RAID 0 I also had another WD Raptor drive (74 G) on the 4th Nvidia 'output' for games and another Raptor (74G) for music, downloads, files etc so if the RAID crashed all I would lose was the OS and not my work and this was on the 1st Sil 'output' all these were working great, could see, read, write, copy and paste and I was a happy person

 

I managed to get things stable at stock speed and then proceeded to test my CPU (4800+ X2) that i had from my prevuois DFI rig (SLI-DR) and got to 265*10 at 1.475 (no % increase) and this passed P95 for 18 hours

 

When I tried to get get my RAM up to speed no matter what I did or try with regards to timings etc as soon as I lowered the CPU multi to 7 it would not boot. I tried ALL the different combinations of DRAM Data Drive Strength and DRAM Drive Strength that the board had to offer but to no avail, it still would not boot at a FSB of 200, CPU Multi of 7, DRAM 200 1:1. I tried 1 stick, 2 stick and 4 sticks all passing 20 passes plus of Memtest 5 & 8.

 

Then ......................

 

it failed to boot at all. :confused:

 

I did a 24 hour clear of CMOS, this was then immediately followed by a new re-flash using the latest 7/12 BIOS ( I had already flashed to this as i set the board up initially). This was then followed by a 45 min CMOS clear. I entered CMOS updated date and time and loaded optimised defualts, used the latest WD Lifeguard tool to wipe the data from the 3 Raptor drives (11 mins per drive) , re-booted, enabled RAID in BIOS for the 3 drives and then re-booted , I pressed F10 and created the array for the 3 drives (bootable) all without a single problem.

 

However, my floppy that I used last time caused my system to crash during the final installation part i.e created the partion, it was formatted, windows loaded the files without a problem, re-booted no problem and with 25 mins left of the time scale......crashed.

 

Ok I thought perhaps a bad set of drivers (even though had worked fine before), I started from scratch again, did a 100% re-format of all 3 drives and re-tried thinking I had done something wrong...same result.

 

By this time I was thinking.... Hmmm..... sooooooooo I unplugged my 2nd CD-ROM drive leaving only 1 CD-ROM drive, a floppy drive, 1 RAM stick and my G card pluuged into the M/B.

 

I then downloaded the Nvidia 6.53 drivers on to a floppy, again did a 100% re-format of all 3 drives (45 mins worth), did a 1 hour CMOS clear, updated date and time, loaded optimised defaults, re-booted, enabled array again in BIOS, created the array using F10 and used the 6.53 drivers this time and ........still crashed.

 

SOOOOOOOO, I unplugged 2 drives and left myself 1 drive, again a 100% re-format, loaded the 6.53 RAID driver as I installed windows on 1 drive only and...it crashed again

 

message i get is " Page -Fault in nonpaged area ... ntfs.sys - Address F812388B base at F812300 date stamp 41107ea"

 

 

I have not tried to load windows with the Sil driver yet, will try that later on to see BUT I think my Nvidia NF4 RAID controller my be up the chute...

 

What do you think??

 

Is there anything else that I should do or try or have i covered it already??

 

 

thanks for being patient and getting to the end of this rather long thread.

[red930]

Sorry you might have answered this already but anyways...

 

Have you tried installing windows on a single known working drive? I wasn't sure if those 36GB raptors were new or not. Maybe the one you tested by itself was bad and that caused the array to fail when trying to write to a bad sector on it.

 

Have you run chkdsk on any of the drives?

[madian225]

Hi

 

Yes all the 3 drives were working before I had this problem and to be honest have not run chkdsk yet.

 

I will do that tomorrow after work and may also get Spinrite as well to double check the drives just to make sure they are all OK.

[red930]

Hmmm...how's your windows CD? For some reson both of mine get all scratched up even though I only use them every few months and they're always in cases. If its always crashing at the same point that could be it. Also, did say you installed the newer drivers when installing only to 1 disk? I can't imagine it would have a problem with that, but you never know.

[madian225]

Hi

 

I tried a different H/D that I know is 100% OK ( a single 74G Raptor) I used the DFI floppy disk did an F6 install, it loaded the driver and windows and re-booted no-problem then after I had inserted, serial number etc etc it then crashed.

 

I am thinking the NF4 chip has had it.

 

However, I am NOT going to give up just yet, I have a different verison of XP Pro (OEM) that I have not yet used, so I will try this tomoorow, if it still fails to load I will the try the Sil driver and see what happens then.

 

I will keep you all informed.

[ICON57]

question...when you are loading the os, how many sticks of ram do you have installed?

[madian225]

Hi

 

I have tried just using 1 in the furthest orange slot, as this worked the very first time I did my install, I have also tried using 2 sticks in both orange slots...both with same results so far.

[lowboy]

Have you run memtest with 1 stick before try to install OS?

[madian225]

Hi again

 

An update for you all and not sure what to do next really.

 

I started from scratch again, I did a full Hard Drive wipe using the WD lifeguard tool, then did a 14 hour CMOS clear. I booted up updated the date and time and loaded optimised defaults, re-booted, entered BIOS and enabled Memtest. I still have just the M/B, 1 floppy, 1 CD-ROM, 1 Graphics card and 1 stick of memory.

 

I ran mem Test 5 - 36 passes with no errors and then Mem test 8 - 55 passes no errors.

 

I loaded windows with an unused OEM version of windows XP Pro (SP2) that I have as a 'backup' and pressed F6 to install the Nvidia driver (only using 1 WD 74G Raptor SATA drive) that was on the floppy that came with the M/B I got as far as the 'finilizing install' bit i.e entered key number, location etc. etc. and it failed with about 8 minutes to go which was further than last time. :confused:

 

By now I am gutted to say the least so...

 

I again start from scratch, I do a full HD clear with the WD Lifeguard tool (15 mins) and a 10 min CMOS clear. This time I decide to use the SiL driver instead of the Nvidia.

 

I enter BIOS select SATA only for the Sil so that it picks up the single drive (SATA cable in port 1 as would not recognised drive when SATA cable was in port 5) I loaded windows pressed F6 to use the SiL driver off of the floppy that came with the M/B and it installed...well kind of ...it completed the install and re-booted, as it should do, and I got the welcome to XP blue screen and then to the desktop, Yipee i shouted thinking that I was getting somewhere....then....it crashed and re-booted. :confused:

 

I will not repeat exactly what I said but I think you get the rough idea.

 

I shut down the PC, and re-booted and I get the XP logo and then when the logo disappears so that the desktop can load ....nothing, just re-boots again.

 

 

So.... I have tried 2 different hard drives, 3 different versions of Nvidia RAID Drivers, (DFI Floppy, Nvidia 6.53 WHQL certified and 6.70), two different versions of XP Pro (SP 2) boxed and OEM, I have also tried the Sil Drivers off of the DFI floppy and still no joy.

 

Have i tried everything that I can possibly do or try? what should be my next step?

 

Given the fact that I am not using the NF4 cooler that came with the board I know that I am on somewhat shaky ground but given the fact that the SiL drivers also will not load windows could there be another/different fault ? as i did think that I had somehow stuffed the NF4 chip despit it working fine for the past 3 weeks or so.

 

ANy help would be most welcome at this point in time.

[madian225]

Hi

 

Well this is a further update to the problems that I have been having recently trying to install windows on my PC bothin RAID 0 and also just on a single drive.

 

In some recent threads on the similar subject I have now tried disabling the On Chip USB, AC97 Audio, Onboard Serial 1, Onboard IRDA, and Marvel Giga Lan.

 

I did a 100% re-format with WD Lifeguard, inserted windows XP Pro (SP 2) loaded the Nvidia driver from the DFI Floppy supplied with the M/B and tried to load windows only to have it fail.

 

I again did a 100% format with WD lifeguard, tried a OEM version of windows XP Pro (SP 2) again used the Nvidia driver off of the DFI Floppy and it failed again.

 

I am now at my wits end, the only thing that I can think of is the M/B has had it especially after trying 2 different verisons of XP Pro (SP 2), 2 different H/D's, 3 different versions of the Nvidia drivers and also trying to load windows via the SiL driver all to no avail.

 

Does any have any idea's as to what else I can do or is it a case of trying to RMA or buying another DFI Expert board to rule out that possibility??

 

in a word HELP !!

[Tweek1]

Did the system work at all? Even for a short time?

After 8 months of smooth sailing, I upgraded to an X2 4200 on this DFI NF4 D. The upgrade went well.... Then problems started.

Bottom line, there was no way to load windows. After 2 weeks of trying to diag the problem, CPU, memory, board, I bought 2 new HDs. 1 IDE, 1 SATA. I could not load windows on either drive. Tried everything you have. Without going into alot of detail, switching CPUs, memory, PSUs and the like, I ended up buying another board, which is kind of what you are thinking. The new board ( not a DFI ) worked perfectly with all of the original components. The DFI was RMAed, returned and worked perfectly out of the box. It appeared that the BIOS chip was changed out but I can't be sure ( I put some marker marks on some of the components on the board to identify it ).

Instead of driving down the next 40 miles of bad road, I would RMA the board. DFI is very good with their support & the turn around time for your board will be faster than you think.

If in the meantime you get another board, just to rule out any bad component you have for the build, think of it as a mother in law board, something for the kids.........

[SpeedFREAK]

have you tried a different power supply?