APIC and XP Pro SP1

[dino]

I have an Asus A7N8X-Deluxe rev 2.0 with Bios1007...I had a problem before
that when APIC was enabled in Bios XP install would stall at the blue
screen"starting Windows"..so I purchased the newer XP Pro Sp1 and still the
same...supposedly SP1 was supposed to "fix" a possible APIC issue..but..I
still have it. Has anyone else run in to this problem?...I want APIC enabled
so I can run the expanded IRQ table..I need some input here..and I have gone
so far as to drop down to 1 Ram..vid..hd..cd

 

[Paul]

I have an Asus A7N8X-Deluxe rev 2.0 with Bios1007...I had a problem before
that when APIC was enabled in Bios XP install would stall at the blue
screen"starting Windows"..so I purchased the newer XP Pro Sp1 and still the
same...supposedly SP1 was supposed to "fix" a possible APIC issue..but..I
still have it. Has anyone else run in to this problem?...I want APIC enabled
so I can run the expanded IRQ table..I need some input here..and I have gone
so far as to drop down to 1 Ram..vid..hd..cd

Looking in Google, I see nothing but bad karma resulting
from enabling APIC. There is one report under FreeBSD of
"interrupt storms" with APIC enabled, and in the Windows
world a report of "stuttering sound". Based on that, I would
leave APIC disabled, and enjoy a stable computer

I had a look in the BIOS, and what a weird BIOS. The only
related setting I can see is: Resources Controlled By [Auto(ESCD)]
I don't see the usual PNP_OS [Yes/No] or APIC 2.0 [Yes/No]
The Auto(ESCD) setting looks like it is the equivalent of
PNP_OS [No], where the BIOS prepares the resource table
for Windows. I think that is the recommended setting I've
read about for WinXP.

Best guess, APIC [disabled] and Resources [Auto(ESCD)],
and then check that sound doesn't stutter. Or, if you want
to experiment, try permutations of those two controls and
try to reinstall. It would be cool if Windows had a way of
detecting interrupt storms, but I don't know if the performance
stats you get on a Unix box are available somehow under Windows
or not.

What would be even better, is if Nvidia gave out tech info
about its hardware and any errata it has

Paul

 

[Egil Solberg]

Looking in Google, I see nothing but bad karma resulting
from enabling APIC. There is one report under FreeBSD of
"interrupt storms" with APIC enabled, and in the Windows
world a report of "stuttering sound". Based on that, I would
leave APIC disabled, and enjoy a stable computer

I'm one of those from nforcershq experiencing problems with APIC.
1 in 10 bootups machine is ****ed up (stuttering sound when using
ASIO-output, CPU speed measured with MBM, windows clock).
It can easily be determined whether the bootup was good or not. If not, I do
a reboot and everything fine.
It is of course very important that "spread spectrum" is disabled, as this
will fix things for some, but not all.

I've tried running with APIC off (installing WinXP as ACPI PC). I get a
little less performance measured by benchmarks, by doing this.
So then I stick with APIC on (ACPI Uniprocessor PC).
I've never seen the machine go unstable if initial bootup was fine.

What would be even better, is if Nvidia gave out tech info
about its hardware and any errata it has

That would be great. I've tried noting diffenences is PCI registers using
wpcredit when the system elicits different behaviour, but it is a real pita
to go through, and I've not found any common denominator here. Information
from nvidia would be nice. Asus support is not helpful, either.


System: A7N8X-Deluxe 2.0 BIOS 1.007 and 1.008 (same behaviour). APIC on and
stays on.

 

[dino]

but I can't even get an install to happen with it on...as for
Nforcehq...couldn't find a relative spot to post this at..but thanks...guess
I am going to have to suffer with the reduced IRQ table...after install is
done I can enable it...but it makes no diff then.

 

[Paul]

but I can't even get an install to happen with it on...as for
Nforcehq...couldn't find a relative spot to post this at..but thanks...guess
I am going to have to suffer with the reduced IRQ table...after install is
done I can enable it...but it makes no diff then.

http://nforcershq.com/forum/search.php

Enter the three terms - apic install winxp
in the box just under "Search Query", click "Search for all terms".

Then do the search.

I got 42 hits returned, so there are other people having your problem.

HTH,
Paul

 

[dino]

that's good to know..sort of... because then I'm not alone with this
frustrating issue...if I can't get it to go I blew $200 Cdn on XP Pro SP1
for nothing.