Can't install Windows XP on now home-built system...

[Melandre]

Completed building my new system last weekend (E6400, OCZ 2G Gold,
Seagate 320G, Gigabyte GA-965P-S3). As far as I can tell, hardware
stuff seems to be working fine. But when I try to install XP, it goes
through "loading required files", full format in NTFS goes to 100% but
then at the "Please wait while setup is examining your disk", I get a
BSOD with error BAD_POOL_HEADER. Something wrong with my Seagate HDD?
When I use Seatools (diagnostic utility from Seagate) the physical
inspection of the HDD gets a PASSED but the System File structure gets
a FAILED.

The SATA2 drive seems to be connected properly. I am not trying to do a
RAID thing just one HDD int he system. Any idea what is going on and
how I can fixs it? It has been a week now trying to troubleshoot this
and I am running out of ideas. Frustrating to have a brand new system
and not being able to use it! Cheeers! Andre

 

[Guest]

Youre C: drive to be is SATA...Either way,youre BIOS needs to be set to
SATA,by default they are set for IDE.Make sure youre 1st boot priority is cd
with xp in it,2nd will be SATA drive however the other adjustments in the
BIOS once configured might list it as "add-in device" or similiar.Once BIOS
is configured,boot to xp cd,press F6 to install SATA controller drivers from
the floppy that came with the board.You can read about it
at:http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/CS-010695.htm
Also,read youre owners manual....

 

[John John]

That might be hard to resolve. I would pull out all hardware except for
the absolute necessary. Then if the pc boots add them one piece at a
time. I would try another hard drive or try the hard drive on another
controller (move it on the board) or try another type of drive (EIDE).

Check the support sites for your hardware components to see if they have
any information. Other than that you might have to debug to find what
is going on.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/default.mspx

Good luck

John

 

[Melandre]

Thanks Andrew, I have read the owner's manual from A to Z many times
already. The Bios options for onboard SATA/IDE Ctrl Mode are: 1) IDE
2) AHCI and 3) RAID/IDE. Currently at IDE which, I think, is the
proper setting (spoke to the Gigabyte tech support and pretty sure he
told me that was correct).

I tried with and without the F6 procedure during setup and doesn't seem
to make a difference. Other ideas? Cheers! Andre

 

[Melandre]

As a follow-up to my own post, here what I tried last night:

Typically I do a zero-fill procedure (is it the same as a low-level
format?) each time I get these crashes. I tried to format 3 or 4 more
times last night and as usual, after NTFS formatting reach 100%, I get
BSOD. The error messages, however, seem to differ: one was
"BAD_POOL_HEADER" another was "MEMORY_MANAGEMENT" and another was
"DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL". In two other instances I did not get
the typical BSOD but a message saying "Seup was unable to format the
partition. The disk may be damaged".

In another instance, it didn't quite make it to the formatting stage
and crashed at "File jraid.sys could not be loaded".

I still can't figure out if it is a problem with the seagate HDD or
some sort of corruption in the system's hardware... Man, it has been a
week today since I built the system and still can't enjoy my new
computer... Andre

 

[Chuck]

When I see this on a new build--
The RAM and processor are suspect. If the RAM passes a good RAM test,
usually run from floppy--
Suspect the processor as either overheating, defective, or running at
incorrect settings (Overclocked?)
Finally, the MBD Bios settings may have bearing on the problem. They might
not be correct for the RAM or the particuliar version of the processor.


"I tried to format 3 or 4 more
times last night and as usual, after NTFS formatting reach 100%, I get
BSOD. The error messages, however, seem to differ: one was
"BAD_POOL_HEADER" another was "MEMORY_MANAGEMENT" and another was
"DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL". In two other instances I did not get
the typical BSOD but a message saying "Seup was unable to format the
partition. The disk may be damaged"."

 

[Alan]

As a follow-up to my own post, here what I tried last night:

Typically I do a zero-fill procedure (is it the same as a low-level
format?) each time I get these crashes. I tried to format 3 or 4 more
times last night and as usual, after NTFS formatting reach 100%, I get
BSOD. The error messages, however, seem to differ: one was
"BAD_POOL_HEADER" another was "MEMORY_MANAGEMENT" and another was
"DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL". In two other instances I did not get
the typical BSOD but a message saying "Seup was unable to format the
partition. The disk may be damaged".

In another instance, it didn't quite make it to the formatting stage
and crashed at "File jraid.sys could not be loaded".

I still can't figure out if it is a problem with the seagate HDD or
some sort of corruption in the system's hardware... Man, it has been a
week today since I built the system and still can't enjoy my new
computer... Andre

When you said you used the Seatools, why didn't you use the DOS Disc Wizard
starter edition from Seagate? I have had problems in the past with Seatools
but the DOS Disc Wizard always works. I have formatted two drives, zero
filled (quick and normal) and copied data over a number of times OK. Try
using that for zero fill and formatting and see what happens.
Alan