Vista RTM setup does not complete on nForce4 boards

[Guest]

My System:

- 24" Sony 234 monitor
- Nforce 4 SLI motherboard running RAID 0 with 2 300gb HDs on Nvidia raid
controller
- Nvidia 7900GT video card
- 2 gigs of memory
- AMD X2 4400+ processor

Starting at the bios screen I see artifacting all over the screen and
letters on menus replaced with odd characters of different colors. Setup
appears to complete but on the boot up into Windows, the screen stays black
and the system reboots after a minute or two.

If I try to enter safe mode to update a driver or run a diagnostic, it tells
me "setup has not completed, complete setup and try again". It's just a loop
and I can't get into Windows.

Beta 2 was more stable than this but for some reason I can't get Beta 2 or
RC1 to install now. I've read of putting one of the hard drives into another
computer to unlock the Vista setup files and upgrade the Nvidia driver files
but I don't see how that's an option on a raid setup. I can't dual boot XP
without installing a floppy drive to try to squeeze the Nvidia raid drivers
on so XP can even see the Hard drives / work with them.

I don't understand how something that doesn't install can be called RTM? At
this point, even if Nvidia released an updated driver, Vista uses it's own
built in Nforce drivers during install. How would I substitute them?

 

[David Griffin]

My System:

- 24" Sony 234 monitor
- Nforce 4 SLI motherboard running RAID 0 with 2 300gb HDs on Nvidia raid
controller
- Nvidia 7900GT video card
- 2 gigs of memory
- AMD X2 4400+ processor

Starting at the bios screen I see artifacting all over the screen and
letters on menus replaced with odd characters of different colors. Setup
appears to complete but on the boot up into Windows, the screen stays black
and the system reboots after a minute or two.

If I try to enter safe mode to update a driver or run a diagnostic, it tells
me "setup has not completed, complete setup and try again". It's just a loop
and I can't get into Windows.

Beta 2 was more stable than this but for some reason I can't get Beta 2 or
RC1 to install now. I've read of putting one of the hard drives into another
computer to unlock the Vista setup files and upgrade the Nvidia driver files
but I don't see how that's an option on a raid setup. I can't dual boot XP
without installing a floppy drive to try to squeeze the Nvidia raid drivers
on so XP can even see the Hard drives / work with them.

I don't understand how something that doesn't install can be called RTM? At
this point, even if Nvidia released an updated driver, Vista uses it's own
built in Nforce drivers during install. How would I substitute them?


Starting at the bios screen I see artifacting all over the screen and
letters on menus replaced with odd characters of different colors.

That sounds more like your mobo is screwed, Not Vista.

 

[Mike Brannigan]

- 24" Sony 234 monitor
- Nforce 4 SLI motherboard running RAID 0 with 2 300gb HDs on Nvidia
raid
controller
- Nvidia 7900GT video card
- 2 gigs of memory
- AMD X2 4400+ processor

Starting at the bios screen I see artifacting all over the screen
and
letters on menus replaced with odd characters of different colors.

Stop here - if you are seeing problems on your BIOS menu screens etc
then this has nothing to do with Windows Vista.
Fix you hardware/motherboard/BIOS problems first, then try and install
the OS on a working healthy system.

 

[Travis King]

Are you sure it's not a problem with your video card since you mentioned
artifacting?

 

[Guest]

Thank you all for the input! I'll try updating the bios drivers if I can from
a DOS prompt or bootable CD.

The video card is new but it has worked fine for months even through Beta2
and RC1.

Could this be related to the Nvidia nForce / Video drivers? I'm wondering if
nForce drivers for the chipset in some way are causing the BIOS bootup
artifacts...

 

[Mike Brannigan]

Thank you all for the input! I'll try updating the bios drivers if I
can from
a DOS prompt or bootable CD.

The video card is new but it has worked fine for months even
through Beta2
and RC1.

Could this be related to the Nvidia nForce / Video drivers? I'm
wondering if
nForce drivers for the chipset in some way are causing the BIOS
bootup
artifacts...

No - there are no drivers loaded as the OS is not running when you
first boot your machine and the BIOS is checking in and the POST
running etc.
So any issues you see before Windows loads are related to firmware
e.g. motherboard BIOS or other, or a hardware issue.

 

[Guest]

Ok I updated my Asus 8N32SLI Deluxe Ami bios to 1303, the latest I could find
on Asus's website. I don't see any difference.

The hardware has been great for months, I know hardware can break down but I
think this is an Nvidia issue.

What else would cause different colored pixels and rearranged colored
letters in words on the bios and bootup screens?

I wonder if I'm stuck until Nvidia releases some decent drivers next week,
hopefully for nForce and then update the nForce drivers during the Windows
setup.

I'm curious why the setup screens all display but then the graphics driver
changes for the initial windows boot up, causing nothing to be displayed and
artifacts.

 

[Guest]

New update, I still have multi-colored pixels all over the screen but I
walked away for abit, came back and Windows was at a user login. First time
I've seen that. The icon was blank and no username / password worked to get
me in until on a third try it decided to say "Welcome".

It then crashed BUT I was able to get into safe mode. However, I can't run
Control Panel, Computer or anything other than restart / shutdown...

 

[Bill]

New update, I still have multi-colored pixels all over the screen
but I
walked away for abit, came back and Windows was at a user login.
First time
I've seen that. The icon was blank and no username / password worked
to get
me in until on a third try it decided to say "Welcome".

You're not listening to what the others have said. It's not a problem
with Vista.

THIS SOUNDS LIKE A HARDWARE OR COOLING ISSUE.

I have Vista installed on an Asus nForce4 board and it works perfectly
and it has for each version I have tested. I have also seen numerous
reports of others having great success with the nForce4 chipsets.

FIX YOUR HARDWARE OR COOLING ISSUES, and you will be able to run
Vista.

 

[Guest]

I didn't say Vista in my last post, I said nForce. I have a replacement video
card coming next week. Hopefully that fixes it. First time I've had one die
on me, very odd coincidence with the RC2 install at the same time.

I'll check the cooling. What are typical temperatures you have in your case?
I have the PSU fan and a large 180mm fan blowing out the back along with a
90mm blowing out the top. Blowing in I have a 180mm fan each on the front and
left side.

I typically see temps anywhere from 31-40 degrees C.

 

[Nero]

Works ok on my AN8 (N4 chipset), no other drivers other than the built in
ones in Vista(there are none yet from nVidia)
My card is an nVidia based 7300GT.

 

[Nero]

nVidia drivers are NOT loaded until the PC has booted(OS running)
Heat will cause what you are seeing.