ASUS P4C800 Deluxe

[Harald]

Hi,

I have a puzzeling problem. Had 2 Segate SATA 160GB disks connected to the
onboard (Promise) controller. Rverything was stable and the macine never
crashed.
Nedded more storage so I bought 2 extra identical disks plus a Pacific
Digital (PD) Talon 4 port SATA controller. Added the controller to the
system and installed the latest drivers. Used Drive Image (and also tried
Ghost) to transfer the contents to the new RAID0 array on the new
controller. When I tried to boot from the new array the error message "disk
read error" or disk I/O errror pops up.
Tried the two other disks, as I know they are OK on the Promise controller,
with the same result. Install XP, but installation hangs a few times.
Eventually manage to install XP, and most of my apps. Have backups of my
data files on DVD's so have not lost any data.
My system is now 2*Raid0 arrays on the PD controller. If I try HD-Tach it
reports "Disk read or write error on any of the arrays. Have also tried
various undelete programs, but they report that the MBR is damaged. CHKDSK
does not report any error, neither does Drive Image if I try to create an
image on the other array. If I try to restore the image I get the same error
messages as before, or Drive Image reports a read error in the image file
(so I have to reinstall XP, getting used to it after about 10 times).
The worst thing ist that I can not burn any DVD, Nero does not report any
problems, and I can see they have been burned, but they do not contain any
data but appear as blank disks on the 3 PC's I have access to. (Same with
+R, -R, +RW, -RW)
If I try to boot an original CD (ex. XP), it takes about 10 minutes before I
get to the first welcome screen. Reading DVD's or CD's in XP is also
painfully slow.
I have tried the controller in every slot,but I get the same problem.
I have tried to move the controller to my wife's PC, ASUS A7N8X-E, and it
works perfectly there and the performance ix excellent with no errors of any
kind.

My PC contains P4, 3.06, 2*512MB Apacer PC3200 runnning Dual Channel (Tried
2*512MB PC2700 from wife's PC), Sapphire Radeon 9500 (Have also tried an old
Matrox MII PCI graphics card and Wife's Radeon 9200).
BIOS 1016 seems to work better than 1017.
No overclocking or tweaking, XP, both SP1 and 2.
So I have changed everything in my pc (also the PSU) except MB and CPU (they
work without a problem without the Talon card)

I have contacted Pacific Digital, and they are aware of CD boot problems
with certain ASUS boards, but have not encountered any of the other problems
I experince. Their service reps are are extremely efficient and helpful.
Have tried 3 different Talon BIOSes.

So I am at a loss, the controller works perfectly in another PC, my PC works
perfectly without the controller, my PC uses AMI BIOS, The other AWARD.

If any of you out there have any suggestion as to what else I can do, please
let me know, any tip will be highly appreciated.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post.

Ben

 

[jpsga]

Hi,

I have a puzzeling problem. Had 2 Segate SATA 160GB disks connected to the
onboard (Promise) controller. Rverything was stable and the macine never
crashed.
Nedded more storage so I bought 2 extra identical disks plus a Pacific
Digital (PD) Talon 4 port SATA controller. Added the controller to the
system and installed the latest drivers. Used Drive Image (and also tried
Ghost) to transfer the contents to the new RAID0 array on the new
controller. When I tried to boot from the new array the error message "disk
read error" or disk I/O errror pops up.
Tried the two other disks, as I know they are OK on the Promise controller,
with the same result. Install XP, but installation hangs a few times.
Eventually manage to install XP, and most of my apps. Have backups of my
data files on DVD's so have not lost any data.
My system is now 2*Raid0 arrays on the PD controller. If I try HD-Tach it
reports "Disk read or write error on any of the arrays. Have also tried
various undelete programs, but they report that the MBR is damaged. CHKDSK
does not report any error, neither does Drive Image if I try to create an
image on the other array. If I try to restore the image I get the same error
messages as before, or Drive Image reports a read error in the image file
(so I have to reinstall XP, getting used to it after about 10 times).
The worst thing ist that I can not burn any DVD, Nero does not report any
problems, and I can see they have been burned, but they do not contain any
data but appear as blank disks on the 3 PC's I have access to. (Same with
+R, -R, +RW, -RW)
If I try to boot an original CD (ex. XP), it takes about 10 minutes before I
get to the first welcome screen. Reading DVD's or CD's in XP is also
painfully slow.
I have tried the controller in every slot,but I get the same problem.
I have tried to move the controller to my wife's PC, ASUS A7N8X-E, and it
works perfectly there and the performance ix excellent with no errors of any
kind.

My PC contains P4, 3.06, 2*512MB Apacer PC3200 runnning Dual Channel (Tried
2*512MB PC2700 from wife's PC), Sapphire Radeon 9500 (Have also tried an old
Matrox MII PCI graphics card and Wife's Radeon 9200).
BIOS 1016 seems to work better than 1017.
No overclocking or tweaking, XP, both SP1 and 2.
So I have changed everything in my pc (also the PSU) except MB and CPU (they
work without a problem without the Talon card)

I have contacted Pacific Digital, and they are aware of CD boot problems
with certain ASUS boards, but have not encountered any of the other problems
I experince. Their service reps are are extremely efficient and helpful.
Have tried 3 different Talon BIOSes.

So I am at a loss, the controller works perfectly in another PC, my PC works
perfectly without the controller, my PC uses AMI BIOS, The other AWARD.

If any of you out there have any suggestion as to what else I can do, please
let me know, any tip will be highly appreciated.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post.

Ben

Ben,

It appears that you expected some drive image software to prepare the new
RAID 0 array. You do not mention using XP or DOS or the manufactures
supplied software to fdisk and format the new array.
and
Did XP allow you to start an install without asking for drivers with F6?

JPS

 

[Harald]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. Have worked with this problem for about two weeks
now, and think I have tried evry possible solution. As I am a bit of a
"tinkerer" I have used disk cloning and recovery programs extensively.
Always have an image of the last working and stable system on an old
harddisk, which is as far as I can tell absolutely virus free.
Tried Drve Image 7.03 (XP), 2002 (Dos), Ghost 2003 (Dos), and the results
are similar, they create a disk which is unreadable. Borrowed a Sysinternals
2003 disk from a friend, and it can "see" all the files on the new disk, but
if I try to type a text file (BOOT.INI or WIN.INI for example) I get Read
errors. The same thing happens in NTFSDOS.

As XP does not have native support for the controller I have to press F6 in
order to install XP and boot Sysinternals or Drive Image 7.

At the moment I am using the array, no errors are reported from any apps
(Except lowlevel apps like HD-Tach or an undelete program I have). However,
Diskeeper works OK, and that is a pretty lowlevel program.

I am beginning to think that I have a virus, but all the programs have been
installed from original CD's to new, sealed harddisks, and I have run
several Anti-virus scans from Norton and Trend. Currently using NAV 2004.
Maybe it is a SP2 issue, there seems to be some problems with it according
to the searches I have done.
I have ordered a new board, ABIT IC7-MAX3 as a replacement, because the
dealer will swap it for the ASUS (I have had problems with all 3 ASUS boards
I have had if I use an Adaptec controller, have a new 2930U and a newish
2940UW). It will probably solve my problems as it has 4 extra SATA ports and
I can dispose of the Talon controller. I will try to RMA it, but it might be
difficullt as I live i Europe and bought it new on Ebay.

I will let you know how I get on with the ABIT board and Talon controller.

Thanks again

Ben