HELP on AX4C Max II M/B

I'm having major problem on this new mainboard. I couldn't install Windows
XP at all, it fail to copy some files from the CD during the bluescreen
installation. Files that aren't able to copy are random, each installation
will complaint different file. I'm 100% sure is not the CD-Rom disc or
drive. From pass experience, this situation only occur if ram or mainboard
are faulty or incompatibility between them. But I had tried 5 different type
of ram and different ram speed setting that I found from some newsgroup. It
still failed. Ram that I tried included, Kingston CL2 ram, Corsair CL2 ram,
Kingmax CL2.5 ram, Geil CL 2.5 ram and another different chipset CL3 ram
that I can't remember the chipset name. The bios I used is 1.03, I already
replaced the motherboard and power supply which I thought it might be
faulty, but still the same.

What I had found if I install the ram in non-dual memory channel (ie. slot 1
and 2), it seems working fine. But when I installed as dual memory enabled
(slot 1 and 3 or slot 2 and 4), it then failed.

I'm going to try the latest bios (1.08) that just got released few days ago.
But I'm not putting much hope on this new bios.

Any suggestion will be very helpful!

Your prompt reply very much appreciated and CC another copy of your reply to
my email address will be great:

Lily

 

For starters, run Memtest86. It's a free memory diagnostics utility that
boots from a floppy disk. If it fails in any of the tests, you know it's
something to do with the memory and/or motherboard.

Also, you might want to download the boot floppy diagnostics to check for a
faulty harddrive. Just go to the respective manufactures website to get them
(Maxtor, WD, IBM...etc).

Last but not least. I've seen situations such as yours cause by IDE cables.
The official specifications call that IDE cables cannot be more then 18
inches (457mm) long. On the other hand, they also cannot be shorter than 10
inches (254mm) either. This applies to both 40 and 80 pin cables. SCSI
devices on the other hand are another mater all together. As for SATA
cables, they cannot be longer then 1m. And yes, you can find all the above
mentioned cables in various cables that exceed these specifications.
Obviously, avoid them like the plague. You will be ripping yourself off and
providing more headaches then it's worth.

 

Hi John,


Thanks, I will give it a try on the memory test program.

By the way, I use all the original IDE and SATA cables that came from the
motherboard. Unless is faulty I guess.


Cheers,
Lily

 

95% of chance that you have a bad DIMM. When XP don't want to install this
is the most probable cause.

wizza

 

I've seen flaky power supplies do the same thing. During the Windows
Installation, both the CPU and hard drive are being stressed out which puts
a major load on the power supply. If it has bad or failing capacitors, the
DC current will be very unstable. And it's under these conditions that
something nasty will happen during software installation.

 

I had tried 5 different type of brand Dimm already and replaced the power
supply as well. Still the same.

I do believe somehow there is compatibility problem between the ram and the
board. But unforunately I can't find which one will be compatible with this
board. I had used the Corsair PC3200 CL2 as certified by Aopen test that
this will work. Still having same problem, I also tried few other brand of
ram which some of them are certified to be compatible with this board.
Unforunately no luck.

Anyone can tell me what brand of ram and setting do you use?

Is there anyway to use CL2 ram too?

Any help will be much appreciated.


Lily

 

I personally always use Crucial and Mushkin memory myself. Neither of these
two has ever given me a problem with compatibility, but many people use
Corsair and others as well without any problems. Personally, I would check
the DRAM timing and settings in the BIOS and maybe step them back a bit. I
have seen this cause a problem while installing XP. When you get Windows
installed, then you can start upping the settings to get back where you
should be.

Chris

 

Your not alone. I'm using the AX4C Max II with Corsair XMS TwinX1024-3200LL
memory only to get major memory errors when running diagnostics with
Memtest86. The default latency setting for this memory is 2-3-2-6. But, if I
over-ride the default settings to 2-3-3-7, it's rock solid and passes
Memtest86 even after 12 hours of continuous testing. So until AOpen
addresses this issue with running low latency DDR on the AX4C Max II, I will
be forced to stick with the 2-3-3-7 setting.

As a side note, I've read on many other forums that other people with
different brand motherboards (such as Gigabyte, Asus, Soyo...etc) are also
having problems with type of memory I'm using. Some are starting to
speculate that it's an issue with the Intel 875 chipset. If this is so, then
there isn't much AOpen can do to solve the issue. But, a new BIOS revision
should be out soon to address the issue....I hope.

 

Even after you install Windows, you do NOT want to up the settings in
memory. If those settings caused Windows installation errors in the
beginning, they will cause other problems long after you have Windows
installed. For example, Windows is constantly writing information do the
hard drive pertaining to the registry. If the registry data gets corrupted
in RAM before it's committed to hard drive, then your OS is more or less
hosed. It may not be immediate. But over time, a corrupted registry hive in
Windows will cause you major headaches in the future...to the point of
having to format and reinstall Windows again.

So I strongly urge not to push memory beyond tolerances. Having corrupted
data written to the hard drive is no fun.

Note: I've had corrupted MP3 files due to an overclocked CPU/Memory. At
first, I thought it was a scratched CD or bad CDROM drive not ripping
correctly. But, after discovering that the problem was memory issues, I
addressed the problem. As such, I never had a problem ripping CDs to MP3s.
The audio was clean and pure the way it's supposed to be. And of course, my
downloaded files off of the Internet were also not corrupted.

 

Thanks for your recommendation, I will try 2-3-3-7 setting. By the way,
which BIOS version are you using? I just manage to upgrade to 1.08, of
course still same problem. But I found 1.03 have more then memory problem.

Yes, I don't think Aopen can do much about it too.

By the way, do you have a link for the Memtest86 program? I'm currently
using a different type of memory program that I want try yours as well.


Thanks,
Lily

 

I can only get the BIOS update 1.03 program to work in XP. But if I try and
use 1.08, it fails to flash. What version of Windows are you using?

Here is the link to Memtest86. http://www.memtest86.com/

 

After seeing the description of your problem, I agree with not upping the
memory timings. Good point John.

Chris

 

I'm using Windows XP SP1.

I succesfully upgraded the BIOS because I use a DOS utility that I obatin
from AOpen. Did you want it?

 

Yes!!! I want it. Just e-mail it to me.

By the way, did the 1.08 BIOS update fail under XP for you also?

 

Here's the DOS utility file for you.

No, the Windows update on 1.08 bios fail for me too.

By the way, I tried the ram setting that you suggest. It didn't work for me
as well.

 

Where is the file? If you could, e-mail me the DOS version of 1.08 at

 

I also had the same problems. I tried different memory types (TwinMos
Twister, Corsair LL), but had always memory compatibility problems. I also
read in different forum, specifically for Asus & Gigabyte. It appears that
Asus, albeit not problemfree, has the least difficulties with memory.

Anyway, I also got upset with AOpen support, so I returned their mobo and am
aiming to get a Gigabyte (8KNXP) now.
See how many memory problems that one has.

But I agree, there seems to be a generell type of problem with the
Canterwood and CL2 type memory.