P4C800-E - 2nd MB - Still SetUp Problems

[Bill]

Hi All,
I sent my first P4C800-E back because it would only boot about 1 in 10
times.

When my replacement mb arrived, I connected the drives from my previous
machine. RAID 0 on Intel. It all booted fine. Machine ran for about 10
hours without problems, during which time I rebooted 4 or 5 times. Then
lockup. The RAID setup became corrupted. After spending several hours
trying to 'fix' it, I decided OK, lets go none RAID.

So I deleted the RAID, and planned on a fresh install. The only time
the BIOS could 'ever' see the SATA drives is when the promise controller
is enabled (even though the drives aren't attached to it !!). (the
promise BIOS than says that no drives are installed, so it doesn't
instal itself)

The boot up messages before the ASUS Welcome screen shows the SATA
drives as being present, but the BIOS can only seen the SATA drives
attached to the Intel SATA about 1 in 5 re-boots. I've never managed to
get the window install to see them...

At this point I'm ready to ditch it and get an ABIT.

Any Idea's.


Bill

P4C800-E - 1011 BIOS
512meg Crucial 3200 memory
ATI 9600XT video
2 SATA on Intel controller
1 IDE hard drive
1 IDE ZIP drive
2 IDE CD/DVD roms
480 watt power supply

 

[dazed-and-confused]

Might try flashing the BIOS to 1014...

Check cable connections. They're *not* connected to the SATA_RAID1 or
SATA_RAID2 connectors are they?

Bad drive maybe?

Mine works fine with two drives. Not sure Abit is better. My one
experience with them sent me running.

 

[Bill]

Hi dazed..

no they were connected to the Intel controller. I could see them as ide
3 & 4 sometimes.

They are now connected to the promise controller & that can 'see them'
- so I think the drives are ok.

At this point I can't decide between ditching the SATA's and buying a
big IDE or getting another MB.

Bill

 

[Steve Sr.]

Bill,

Have you tried different memory? At the least you should do a burn-in
with memtest 86. This will give you a stability check. Let it run
overnight. Any errors and you have a problem.

The other possibility is that your power supply is not up to the task
of powering the board and all of your drives. What brand is it? Remove
all but your boot drive. If this helps it points to an insufficient
power supply.

Two DOA motherboards would be extremely rare. You can also try just a
minimal system and see if that helps anything.

Regards,

Steve

 

[Bob]

Steve is right. power supplies are nothing to skimp on.

 

[dazed-and-confused]

480 watts should be more than sufficient.

Bill

P4C800-E - 1011 BIOS
512meg Crucial 3200 memory
ATI 9600XT video
2 SATA on Intel controller
1 IDE hard drive
1 IDE ZIP drive
2 IDE CD/DVD roms
480 watt power supply

 

[Bill]

Hi Bob (& Steve)

I think the problem with the new MB was a faulty SATA power cable. My
two drives were powered off the same cable. I replaced the cable, and so
far the MB has always seen the drives...

Bill

 

[Bill]

Hi Steve,

I think it was a faulty SATA power cable.....

Thanks

Bill