Motherborad and hard drive

D

DJ PiLLz

n00b
Joined
Feb 17, 2004
Messages
59
ok i have a pentium 4 1.6ghz and a pc chips mobo. i dont know the model but its a red one. i put in a WD harddrive 20gb and it detects it but it doesnt boot from it. i went to the bios put it the first device. still no luck. it see the harddrive from the post. the hard drive is brand new. and it works on another computer. i tried to install windows xp and it said that the drive wasnt there or it needed to be partioned. i put it on my server computer and did a partion with F-Disk. but still no luck. can you please tell me what the fuck is wrong? i am really pissed. and can you stay off the get a new mobo, cuz im kinda broke now.
ps. the jumpers are in place for everything
 
Ok, Ok....I WON'T go there about the 'value' of your mobo ;-)......

When you FDISK the drive and select option 4 (display partition info), what does it show about the drive? Have you actually defined a single partion and set it active. If I remember correctly you'll have to create a logical drive within the Primary DOS partition. (yea I could reboot and verify the steps...but I'm lazy)

If you BOOT TO THE XP CD, what happens? If it IS in fact, partitioned CORRECTLY then you should have the option to format the drive then, if you haven't already done so. If not, then your drive is probably NOT partitioned correctly

Larry
 
ok, let me explain cleary.
i made a partition on my older computer and it was a primary partion. the one that you boot from. i took the xp cd and put it in the old computer as if i were reinstall xp. and it worked. notthing came up saying that the hard drive was not detected or you need to partitton the hard drive and that shit. im soooo fucking pissed, im about to break this fucking mobo. can you guys please help me.
 
oops! Forget what I said about the Logical drive....that pertains to a drive divided into more than one partition (mine is).

A good step by step walkthru of FDISK can be found here: http://www.computerhope.com/sfdisk1.htm

BUT from the sounds of your reply this IS an issue with the new mobo. Have you tried CLEARING the BIOS on the mobo? Setting the BIOS to setup defaults? Making sure the IDE channels are ENABLED? Swapping IDE cables on the new mobo? Plugging the HD into the Secondary IDE? Swapping the power connector to the HD?

Larry
 
Originally posted by DJ PiLLz
ok, let me explain cleary.
i made a partition on my older computer and it was a primary partion. the one that you boot from. i took the xp cd and put it in the old computer as if i were reinstall xp. and it worked. notthing came up saying that the hard drive was not detected or you need to partitton the hard drive and that shit. im soooo fucking pissed, im about to break this fucking mobo. can you guys please help me.
Click to expand...

be sure to take some pictures! .. video would be optimal! :D
 
So far ive built 2 computers with "value boards" One Pc chips m811lu, and another that was so generic to this day i dont know the maker, just the chipset. They seem fine. Sure it doesnt have anything fancy, but they arent meant to.
 
The question is when you can get such good boards from reputable makers like Shuttle, MSI and ASUS for ~$10 more ..... why wouldn't you? My first build was a Computer Show special using a no name motherboard. It ran OK but always had little "issues". Could have been the Mobo......or just as likely the cheap RAM......But I learned that there are places to skimp and places NOT TO. Down the road, it's nice to have BIOS updates, etc. AND when you buy a name brand and are in a bind with a problem.....it's nice to come to the forums and read through other's solutions. With a rare board, good luck finding another knowledgeable user of THAT PARTICULAR board to help you. My second build was the vernerable ABIT BH6......anytime I had a question, there were thousands of minds out there to pick!


Not that the above helps DJ PiLLz much at this point.......it's more for the other readers out there. But IF he had a similar issue with say an ASUS P4S8X-X or Shuttle AV49VN, he'd have far more replies to his questions and quite probably, a solution by now.



Motherbaord and RAM are THE places NOT to skimp. FYI


Soooo, how goes the battle, DJ PiLLz. Please give us an update on where you are at?
 
the ram is working perfecty. it worked on my old 500mhz server. i did a memtest on it and perfect. i think it is with the mobo. ill get a new mobo? any recamemdations?
 
Don't be TOO hasty on the New Mobo. I appreciate your initial comment ,,,,,,, and can you stay off the get a new mobo, cuz im kinda broke now. I know people get a lot of that type of 'advice' in the forums. I didn't mean to come across as a "me-too" and push you that way. My point was for other upgraders out there to heed.

Let's see IF we can make your current board work for now. Can you run down what you HAVE tried and if ANY of it caused ANY changes in results.....ie: Did the Windows installation get one step further before crapping out? Please describe your post up results up until the system stalls.....ie: which screens do you get.....are the HD and CD rom drives detected properly or does it report NONE......etc. At this stage the drives are just being RECOGNIZED and reported as model, etc. THEN they are spun up and UTILIZED. Where your problem starts will be VERY helpful.

It sounds like the HD is NOT being recognized AT ALL with the new mobo....but works fine in a different PC....am I right? If so the either there is a BIOS setting holding you back or a hard ware issue with the new setup .....which should be one of 3 things.....bad IDE cable (try a KNOWN good one), no power to the drive from the PS (try a different connector or PS) or the motherboard (bad jumper or a hardware defect). I KNOW you stated the the jumpers are all good.......but I have been in your shoes and sometimes we can overlook the obvious. DOUBLE and TRIPLE check ALL you connections to the motherboard and the JUMPER settings. Take a good look at the manual....there might be some insight in there as well.

Good Luck

Larry
 
I agree with jl3comp that there must be something else going on. Has this mobo worked with any other hd? Check the IDE pins, cables, etc. before thrashing everything. By trying each component separately (like you did with your RAM and hd) you can work through it by process of elimination. Once you verify NOTHING but the mobo, then you start looking at BIOS, settings, jumpers, etc.

The fact the hard drive is even recognized is another clue that it might be a setting issue. You might want to verify the maximum partition size allowed by the mobo (although a long shot), considering you partitioned on another computer.

One more thing, when you were doing the mock install on your second computer, was the new drive the only one connected while installing XP?

Good luck, man
 
How does ram that worked in a 500 mhz work on a platform that normal requires ddr . Most 500mhz rigs wre 100fsb and sdram. I did not read the entire thread but has anybody else wondered how this can be?
 
Originally posted by DJ PiLLz
the ram is working perfecty. it worked on my old 500mhz server. i did a memtest on it and perfect. i think it is with the mobo. ill get a new mobo? any recamemdations?
Click to expand...


?
 
Originally posted by jl3comp
The question is when you can get such good boards from reputable makers like Shuttle, MSI and ASUS for ~$10 more ..... why wouldn't you? My first build was a Computer Show special using a no name motherboard. It ran OK but always had little "issues". Could have been the Mobo......or just as likely the cheap RAM......But I learned that there are places to skimp and places NOT TO. Down the road, it's nice to have BIOS updates, etc. AND when you buy a name brand and are in a bind with a problem.....it's nice to come to the forums and read through other's solutions. With a rare board, good luck finding another knowledgeable user of THAT PARTICULAR board to help you. My second build was the vernerable ABIT BH6......anytime I had a question, there were thousands of minds out there to pick!


Not that the above helps DJ PiLLz much at this point.......it's more for the other readers out there. But IF he had a similar issue with say an ASUS P4S8X-X or Shuttle AV49VN, he'd have far more replies to his questions and quite probably, a solution by now.



Motherbaord and RAM are THE places NOT to skimp. FYI


Soooo, how goes the battle, DJ PiLLz. Please give us an update on where you are at?
Click to expand...

On a 20 dollar cheap as anything motherboard its disposable. Driver updates are usually generic and based on the chipset. 99% of all mobo makers dont stray from the referance design other than color, options and misc. items like fans and heatsinks.
So a kt266 mobo, is a kt266 mobo no matter the name. Especially in cheap boards, they dont have the cash to change the design (or the intrest) so more or less its going to be the same board, with a generic color, generic name etc.

In short, other than bios updates, and web support, its the same thing with a differant name (and options)

Ive only run into 2 cases where a bios update was nessecary, one on an old kt133 chipset to recognize a duron CPU, and the other was to fix a ram issue. Most companies support these kinds of bios fixes. (as they can be generic)

Im not saying cheap boards are better, but they do serve their purpose in many applications. And generally speaking, work well.

Sure that 10 dollars you save on the mobo doesnt sound like much, till you save 20 bucks getting an OEM cpu, another 20+ on ram, 10-20 on a case etc.

A PC i just built puts out the same score on benchmarks, as any other similarly equiped pc. (I burn-in and benchmark (i only benchmark if they wanted a nice vid card) all pcs i sell before giving them to the customer. i usually run them 24hours unless the person wants it now.)

Yea you can argue the effectiveness of burn ins since nearly everything is pre burnt, but if something is unstable, id rather find out myself than have a customer tell me.
 
While currently a business man, I spent 12 years in manufacturing . The leading board manufacturers are leaders for a reason. Its all about design, engineering , process and quality control. The differences in cheap boards may be just color but the differences between cheap and the leaders is significant.

Even if your building for a customer lower your margin and buy quality. Any additional margin can easlily be eaten up by poor customer satisifaction and the resulting lack of future sales.

Remember newbie customers eventualy become experienced and will remember what choices you made in on their behalf when they were uneducated and thus vulnerable.
 
Originally posted by jacuzz1
How does ram that worked in a 500 mhz work on a platform that normal requires ddr . Most 500mhz rigs wre 100fsb and sdram. I did not read the entire thread but has anybody else wondered how this can be?
Click to expand...

I think clarification on DJ's part as to the motherboard model would clear up some of the problem...
 
Originally posted by Wixard
On a 20 dollar cheap as anything motherboard its disposable. Driver updates are usually generic and based on the chipset. 99% of all mobo makers dont stray from the referance design other than color, options and misc. items like fans and heatsinks.
So a kt266 mobo, is a kt266 mobo no matter the name. Especially in cheap boards, they dont have the cash to change the design (or the intrest) so more or less its going to be the same board, with a generic color, generic name etc.
Click to expand...

Wow Wixard....I don't know WHERE to begin.

Reference design on a motherboard?? Video card maybe....but mobo?? PC Chips, Alton, etc might use gerneric designed boards, but ASUS, ABIT, Shuttle, EPOX, etc all use their own designs and are quite different.

Then, even in something like video cards, where most companies version of say a nVidia design are VERY similar......the quality of the components used are open to debate. A couple of years ago Gainward Ti4200 video cards had significant issues because of inferior parts (capacitors, if I recall). This problem did not affect the dozens of other brands based on the nvidia refernece design.....nor even the doubled memory version of the Gainward card. I had one of these cards and it was BEYOND FRUSTRATING.

As far as BIOS updates go, they can have a significant affect on system performance, solve issues that crop up with certain hardware released after the mobo was made, and add the ability to run future Processors. These are going to be far more readily avaiable for an ABIT, etc than thay are for a low end board.

I also build, however I gave up trying to compete on the low end. The $90 we have to spend on a version of Windows vs. the $10 or so that a Dell pays makes it impossible to offer a BETTER product at a competitive price AND turn any kind of profit. Using the kind of low end parts you are talking about virtually gaurantees at least ONE return visit and there goes whatever little profit you have made. And as jacuzz1 stated, once they realize the quality of parts you sold them.....forget about repeat business. I've done some upgrade work for several purchasers of these kind of systems and they would never buy again from their original vendor.

I stand by my statement......a Motherboard....The HEART of your computer.....is the last place to skimp. You don't have to spend $100+......but I wouldn't go much below $50 either.
 
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