A8N-SLI Deluxe Hard Disk Issues

[PJ]

I have 2 70 GB WD Raptor drives. XP does not boot up upon when I have both
disks connected to the SATA connections. I'm using the grey non-raid ATA
connections not the red raid ATA connections. The BIOS recognizes both
drives, but usually the screen just goes blank. When I remove the ATA
connection on the mobo for the secondary drive, I have better success, but
at least half the time the same issue occurrs. I have tried moving the
secondary drive to the 3rd connection as opposed to the second, but still
the screen just goes blank after enumerating the IRQs.

I first started noticing problems when the OS clock was off. It's set to
update through the Internet, but it's like the whole timing was off on the
machine. For example, looking at perfmon, nothing would display until I
manually clicked refresh but then it would just remain frozen after updating
the values. Leaving the computer on and returning after work, the clock
would be off again....still set to the time I automatically updated it to.
Additionally, trying to run the ASUS update from the secondary drive would
also fail as well as trying to install the downloaded chipset drivers.

Additionally, I seem to have better success with the computer laying down
sideways than when it is standing up. I have no idea what is going on at
this point, but I would really love to get my machine running as it was. Is
it the motherboard? Is it the hard drives...power to the hard drives?
Problems began around installation of 1004 bios, but I'm not sure it's
related to that because I was noticing errors with the Sound application
that comes with the audio drivers just before that as well.

Any insights would greatly be appreciated. Thanks so much.

~Paul

Case: Antec P160
Power Supply: Antec True550 ( using a 20 -> 24 pin connector )
Mobo: Asus A8N-Sli Deluxe
CPU: Athlon 64 3500+ 90nm
CPU Fan: Zalman CPS7000B
Memory: Corsair 2x 3200 CMX512-3200XPLT
Hard drives: 2x Western Digital WD740 Raptor
DVD-R: Samsung 16x dual layer
VGA Card: Leadtek PX6800 GT TDH

 

[Paul]

I have 2 70 GB WD Raptor drives. XP does not boot up upon when I have both
disks connected to the SATA connections. I'm using the grey non-raid ATA
connections not the red raid ATA connections. The BIOS recognizes both
drives, but usually the screen just goes blank. When I remove the ATA
connection on the mobo for the secondary drive, I have better success, but
at least half the time the same issue occurrs. I have tried moving the
secondary drive to the 3rd connection as opposed to the second, but still
the screen just goes blank after enumerating the IRQs.

I first started noticing problems when the OS clock was off. It's set to
update through the Internet, but it's like the whole timing was off on the
machine. For example, looking at perfmon, nothing would display until I
manually clicked refresh but then it would just remain frozen after updating
the values. Leaving the computer on and returning after work, the clock
would be off again....still set to the time I automatically updated it to.
Additionally, trying to run the ASUS update from the secondary drive would
also fail as well as trying to install the downloaded chipset drivers.

Additionally, I seem to have better success with the computer laying down
sideways than when it is standing up. I have no idea what is going on at
this point, but I would really love to get my machine running as it was. Is
it the motherboard? Is it the hard drives...power to the hard drives?
Problems began around installation of 1004 bios, but I'm not sure it's
related to that because I was noticing errors with the Sound application
that comes with the audio drivers just before that as well.

Any insights would greatly be appreciated. Thanks so much.

~Paul

Case: Antec P160
Power Supply: Antec True550 ( using a 20 -> 24 pin connector )
Mobo: Asus A8N-Sli Deluxe
CPU: Athlon 64 3500+ 90nm
CPU Fan: Zalman CPS7000B
Memory: Corsair 2x 3200 CMX512-3200XPLT
Hard drives: 2x Western Digital WD740 Raptor
DVD-R: Samsung 16x dual layer
VGA Card: Leadtek PX6800 GT TDH

Try a lighter heatsink/fan ? The copper one is kinda heavy.

High tech circuit boards don't like to be flexed. Maybe
a connection in the board is broken, due to the board
getting bent in transit ? When pushing components into
the board, the board should always be supported underneath,
to prevent excessive flexure.

An RMA under warranty should take care of this problem.

You could also check underneath the motherboard, for any
brass standoffs that don't line up with plated holes in
the motherboard. You don't want a standoff touching any
copper tracks, such as happens if a standoff is not
installed underneath a mounting hole. Your problem sounds
a lot like the symptoms of an extra standoff (symptoms
change when computer is sitting on its side, than when
upright).

Paul

 

[PJ]

Well, that analysis seems pretty spot on. I intentionally did not screw in
several holes on the mobo as doing so would have caused it to bend. The
metal plate that attaches to the mobo has 1 cm high ridge along the side
where the peripherals attach that gets in the way and prevents the screw
holes from lining up properly. Time to get a new case.

Thank you again for your always excellent advice.