Mac213

The Nvidia raid drivers have to be installed when windows is installed by pressing F6 when prompted if any third party drivers need to be installed as per manual Installing the RAID Driver 1. Start Windows Setup by booting from the installation CD. 2. Press when prompted at the beginning of Windows setup. 3. Press to select "Specify Additional Device". 4. At this point you will be prompted to insert a floppy disk containing the RAID driver. Insert the "NVRAID Driver" diskette. 5. Locate for the drive where you inserted the diskette then select "NVIDIA nForce3 ATA Controller" to install the driver. 6. Now press again to specify another device. 7. This time, select "NVIDIA nForce3 ATA RAID Class Controller". 8. Follow the prompts on the screen to complete installation. Sorry for bringing bad tidings but they cannot be installed ounce windows is installed. Ounce windows is installed you can then install Nvidia IDE Drivers, but some people stay with windows drivers and find them fine. Hope this is helpful.

Thanks for all your posts. I didn't realise someone not giving detailed sig could be such a talking point but anyway that has been updated and is suprisingly has been backed dated which should confuse anyone reading this thread for the first time. In the end I did smart guardian mods myself as per joop settings and some of my own [ATTACH]5959[/ATTACH] If you want to do this. Find and Open smart.configurations settings file in /program files/Ite back it up by copy and pasting into my documents or somewhere else.Then copy and paste my new settings into the file as below.The Logo I used is below also: Rename the file Logo in ITE folder to Logo(old) and Copy and paste this one in [ATTACH]5958[/ATTACH] Copy and paste this into Smart.configuration settings file: [Option] P5VRa=72 '68 P5VRb=100 P12VRa=313 '300 P12VRb=100 N5VREF=4096 N5VRin=120 N5VRf=56 N12VREF=4096 N12VRin=232 N12VRf=56 Form_Width=5750 Form_Height=6700 '7100 Logo_Top=0 Logo_Left=900 DisplayScale=0 DisplayOnTop=0 ExecuteAtStartup=3 SoundWarnning=1 strAbout=ITE Smart Guardian¡ÛVersion 1.00 Copyrights© 2001¡ÛIntegrated Technology Express, Inc¡ÛAll right reserved UserScroll=1 BeepWaitTimes=3 BackColor=0 [Voltage Func] VoltageFunc0=0 VoltageFunc1=0 VoltageFunc2=0 VoltageFunc3=0 VoltageFunc4=0 VoltageFunc5=0 VoltageFunc6=0 VoltageFunc7=0 VoltageFunc8=0 [image Option 0] Left=278 Top=990 Visible=0 '-1 [image Option 1] Left=4095 Top=2130 Visible=0 '-1 [image Option 2] Left=707 Top=3152 Visible=0 '-1 [Label Option 0] Caption=CPU Color=16776960 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=1244 Left=1031 Visible=-1 [Label Option 1] Caption=PWM IC Color=16776960 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=1257 Left=2421 Visible=-1 [Label Option 2] Caption=SYSTEM Color=16776960 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=1278 Left=3897 Visible=-1 [Label Option 3] Caption=CPU Color=65280 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=3700 Left=200 Visible=-1 [Label Option 4] Caption=CHIP SET Color=65280 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=4100 Left=200 Visible=-1 [Label Option 5] Caption=ATX +3.3V Color=65280 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=4500 Left=2700 Visible=-1 [Label Option 6] Caption=ATX +5.0V Color=65280 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=4500 Left=200 Visible=-1 [Label Option 7] Caption=DRAM Color=65280 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=4900 Left=200 Visible=-1 [Label Option 8] Caption=ATX +12V Color=65280 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=3700 Left=2700 Visible=-1 [Label Option 9] Caption=AGP +1.5V Color=65280 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=4100 Left=2700 Visible=-1 [Label Option 10] Caption=VBAT +3.0V Color=65280 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=4900 Left=2700 Visible=-1 [Label Option 11] Caption=ATX +5.0 VSB Color=65280 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=3900 Left=6000 Visible=0 [Label Option 12] Caption=About Color=65280 FontSize=13 '15 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=5550 Left=1000 Visible=-1 [Label Option 13] Caption=Exit Color=65280 FontSize=13 '15 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=5550 '5800 Left=2000 Visible=-1 [Label Option 14] Caption=Hide Color=65280 FontSize=13 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=5550 '5800 Left=3000 Visible=-1 [Label Option 15] Caption=Option Color=65280 FontSize=13 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=5550 '5800 Left=4000 Visible=-1 [Label Option 16] Caption=SMARTGUARDIAN Color=255 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=444 Left=1344 Visible=0 [Label Option 17] Caption=Current Temperature Color=187 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=1000 Left=1850 Visible=-1 [Label Option 18] Caption=Current Fan Speed Color=187 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=2233 Left=1950 '1850 Visible=-1 [Label Option 19] Caption=Current Voltage Color=187 FontSize=12 Bold=-1 Italic=0 Underline=0 Strikethrough=0 Top=3188 Left=2050 '1850 Visible=-1 [Temperature Led Option 0] Top=1665 Left=1050 Visible=-1 [Fan Speed Led Option 0] Top=2700 Left=1028 Visible=-1 Tag=0 [Temperature Led Option 1] Top=1665 Left=2406 Visible=-1 [Fan Speed Led Option 1] Top=2700 Left=2379 Visible=-1 Tag=1 [Temperature Led Option 2] Top=1671 Left=3870 Visible=-1 [Fan Speed Led Option 2] Top=2700 Left=3854 Visible=-1 Tag=2 [VIN0] Top=3750 Left=1210 Visible=-1 DefaultTemp=150 Enable=1 Percent=10 [VIN1] Top=4131 Left=1201 Visible=-1 DefaultTemp=160 Enable=1 Percent=10 [VIN2] Top=4527 Left=4067 Visible=-1 DefaultTemp=330 Enable=1 Percent=10 [VIN3] Top=4383 Left=5501 Visible=-1 DefaultTemp=500 Enable=1 Percent=10 [VIN4] Top=3729 Left=3808 Visible=-1 DefaultTemp=1200 Enable=1 Percent=10 [VIN5] Top=4122 Left=3820 Visible=-1 DefaultTemp=150 Enable=1 Percent=10 [VIN6] Top=4872 Left=1209 Visible=-1 DefaultTemp=260 Enable=1 Percent=10 [VIN7] Top=4521 Left=1203 Visible=-1 DefaultTemp=500 Enable=1 Percent=10 [VIN8] Top=4899 Left=3832 Visible=-1 DefaultTemp=300 Enable=1 Percent=10 [Default Fan Ctrl 0] Caption=CPU Fan Mode=0 SwFan=0 TmpAlarm=0 S0=10 S1=30 S2=45 S3=60 S4=70 Speed0=25 Speed1=50 Speed2=70 UserCtl=1 Modulate= [Default Fan Ctrl 1] Caption=Chasis Fan Mode=0 SwFan=0 TmpAlarm=0 S0=10 S1=30 S2=45 S3=60 S4=70 Speed0=25 Speed1=50 Speed2=70 UserCtl=1 Modulate= [Default Fan Ctrl 2] Caption=2ND Fan Mode=0 SwFan=0 TmpAlarm=0 S0=10 S1=30 S2=45 S3=60 S4=70 Speed0=25 Speed1=50 Speed2=70 UserCtl=1 Modulate= [Fan Ctrl Option 0] Caption=CPU Fan Mode=0 SwFan=127 TmpAlarm=55 S0=10 S1=27 S2=51 S3=60 S4=70 Speed0=80 Speed1=50 Speed2=70 [Fan Ctrl Option 1] Caption=PWM IC Fan Mode=0 SwFan=127 TmpAlarm=50 S0=20 S1=25 S2=50 S3=60 S4=70 Speed0=127 Speed1=50 Speed2=70 [Fan Ctrl Option 2] Caption=SYSTEM Fan Mode=1 SwFan=127 TmpAlarm=50 S0=20 S1=25 S2=50 S3=60 S4=70 Speed0=25

Hi If you have tried what has been said and it still doesnt boot on your DFI board,it could be this is an engineering sample CPU which i have posted thread about on 14 April 07. This means it may need CPU mutiplier and voltage set manually as they are unlocked 12x for this processor I think if this is the case then it answers my question as to whetherer or not the DFI NF3 250GB board recognises this CPU You could try setting CPU mutliplier on your MSI board to 12 manually and CPU voltage to 1.5 and see if it works. Let me know how you get on please.

Guess what so do I have this problem and I’m not over clocked either. But I have managed to find a little out and improved things. Mine appeared to start playing up when I bought some new HDDs and connected them to SATA ports 3 or 4 I believe it is a power related problem. From stone cold all the hardware including MB is trying to start up all at ounce, none of which has reached optimum operating temperature, it is then causing power drain and hence causing instability when the motherboard is trying to post. I always know when it’s going to happen on mine as on post it pauses for slightly longer than normal when it posts ‘Nf3 250 Gb/Ultra’. In my experience these thing were noted. 1. Its is less likely to happen if you only use SATA ports 1 or 2 2. A similar thing happens if you have use ports 1 or 2 for OS and then raid on 3 and 4 except I get ‘raid stripe error’ it auto reboots then is OK 3.Setting delays on HDD will not make any difference as before the HDD are detected the posting process by then has already failed. More likely to be the other way round as modern HDD spin up very rapidly to reduce disk access time therefore they might have even more of a power drain from cold. Solutions I found to improve the situation, although point 1 and 2 did not solve it totally. 1.Setting AGP aperture size to 32 Mb (apparently the more inbuilt memory your graphics card has the less this needs to be, mine has 512 MB). 2.Lowered CPU voltage to 1.3V with above VID at 110%, which returns around 1.44 volts according to Bios. 3. I bought a new PSU an excellent quality Seasonic 550w 80 + sli ready to replace my original 350w but things seem to actually worse (please note not there is anything fundamentally wrong with the Seasonic as may be the same with your own PSUs, just maybe hasn’t enough surge power from cold for this MB) I then bought a OCZ game extreme 700W, which improved things. 3. I turn on my PC at the mains for about 10 – 15 mins before booting to warm as many things as possible. This has appeared to solve the problem for me but there is always tomorrow. At the risk of waffling on these things didn’t make any difference for me.(may be it will save yourself some time) 1. Setting memory CPU or anything else to manual settings rather than Auto in Bios. 2. Flashing Bios. 3. Clearing Cmos re-setting Bios 4. Trying two other makes of memory all in variations of slots. 5. Messing about with voltages other than CPU already mentioned. 6. Setting HDD delay. Hope this is helpful.

Does any one have experience of whether or not the Athlon 64 Engineering samples (which have there CPU Voltage and multiplier unlocked and have to be set manually) are compatible with my board?

Hi I would like to try out Joops smart Guardian special fo the Dfi lanparty Ut Nf3 250gb but when i click the link in his sig all i get is a bank white page. thanks Mac

Hi Joop I would like to try out your Smart Guardian Special for lanparty nf3 250gb as it looks good,but when I click on the link I just get a blank white page. thanks Mac