Still Stuck with KG7...help !

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blewyn

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Before I start, I would like to thank all the posters who have helped by responding to my previous posts on my KG7 problems over the last few days. Your help is very much appreciated.

I have now managed to get my PC operating in Windows with a completely fresh install and no VIA or AMD mobo drivers installed as yet, all BIOS settings at 'failsafe', and standard WinXP drivers for GF4 Ti4400 video card and SB Audigy sound card. As you would expect, video performance is extremely slow, stuttering quite badly when made full screen. My spec is :

AMD XP2000+
Abit KG7-RAID (raid disabled in BIOS)
768MB (3x256 PC2100)
Creative GF4 Ti4400
Creative Audigy Player
2 x Maxtor HDs (system drv scanned&defragged OK yesterday)

All my problems have occurred when trying to install the latest AGP drivers/Nvidia drivers/new monitor etc. Yesterday I installed DirectX9, and the install routine locked up. When I ran dxdiag on reboot, the screen went black and the PC rebooted. Additionally, every boot after install of DX9 results in a blue screen which says "Unknown hard fail, dumping memory to disk" while the PC counts to 100 as it does what it says. I then reboot by f8 and selecting "last known good configuration".

Is this a memory problem ? If so, is there a utility within windows which can scan the memory for faults ? I've downloaded memtest but it can only be used from a bootable floppy - and I don't have a floppy drive or easy access to one (remote location).

If a problem with vcard or mobo AGP slot - how do i find out which is at fault on my PC - I don't have spare PC to put the card in or spare card to try in my PC..

I would be very grateful for any suggestions...

Cheers,

Blewyn
 
once again, I would strongly recommend that you take the time to test with Memtest. the KG7 board is well known to unstable in the default configuration of the bios with many processors. I carry Memtest on my server at the address below under /utilities. it makes a boot floppy and the testing is simple (although time consuming) and if you end up getting errors, then you can try applying the information below.

if I were you, I would start over with the installation of XP after testing memory and getting the system stable if it isn't already. there is no reason you cannot get DX9 and a proper video driver installed although I would do the video driver *first* and get all of the board components happy and then update to DX9.
 
Well i would install the amd agp driver and then the 4 in 1 drivers, dont install the agp driver from via. do this before any video drivers are installed.

"blewyn" wrote:

Before I start, I would like to thank all the posters who have helped by responding to my previous posts on my KG7 problems over the last few days. Your help is very much appreciated.

I have now managed to get my PC operating in Windows with a completely fresh install and no VIA or AMD mobo drivers installed as yet, all BIOS settings at 'failsafe', and standard WinXP drivers for GF4 Ti4400 video card and SB Audigy sound card. As you would expect, video performance is extremely slow, stuttering quite badly when made full screen. My spec is :

AMD XP2000+
...
Click to expand...
 
Thanks again for your advice Tom. I downloaded memtest from your Aladdin's Cave of file ...:-)... and managed to buy a floppy drive, and I will run the program tonight. In the meantime I did take out all three 256MB PC2100 memory cards and booted with just one card in the first slot (nearest CD by), testing each card in turn. Each one gave the same results - a blue screen "unknown hard error....dumping memory contents to drive" on normal boot (caused by WinXP picking up the DirectX9 install process - the first time it happened was just after I installed it ie on the install reboot, and my PC hasn't managed a normal reboot since, only "last good config") but boot OK on "last good config". I'm thinking maybe there IS a fault on one of the sticks, which caused an error during my WinXP install, now leading to this blue screen whether I have a damaged stick in the slot or no.

What do you think ? My plan is to run memtest, hopefully finding a fault on one stick, then install the good ones and re-install WinXP from scratch.

Any comments or advice ?

Cheers,

Blewyn
 
I don't think you damaged a stick but I will point out something about the KG7 boards. they have some of the tightest ram slots of any board I ever worked with so I recommend that you either put the board onto a flat surface and firmly but carefully seat the ram or if the board is in the case and you'd rather not pull it out, then stuff something under the board in the ram slot area that will support the board while you are pushing down to seat the ram.

then run memtest and see what you get and be prepared to do the tweaks to the bios settings.
 
TomG wrote:
I don't think you damaged a stick but I will point out something about the KG7 boards. they have some of the tightest ram slots of any board I ever worked with so I recommend that you either put the board onto a flat surface and firmly but carefully seat the ram or if the board is in the case and you'd rather not pull it out, then stuff something under the board in the ram slot area that will support the board while you are pushing down to seat the ram. then run memtest and see what you get and be prepared to do the tweaks to the bios settings.
Click to expand...

<?>
Would/could you have 'added' ...
use a good connector lube ... CAIG ???

I used it on the git_go(kg7-r) and dont recall all that much trouble, finally discovering I could ship/unship mem modules with mobo in the case.

Qed.
 
also populate ram slots from slot 4....Er I think . Will go get manual from outhouse.

NoJOB@aol.
 
Tom,

Thanks again for the advice - I ran memtest on each 256MB card individually, then on the whole 768MB, and the tests passed each and every time. I believe my BIOS is version DM. Is it possible that the BIOS is corrupt and could be cured by re-flashing ? Any other ideas ? Tried the slew rate changes etc but no difference. May try delete (but not format because I have archived files on the same drive) and re-install of WinXP to see if it picked up corrupt settings last time. What do you think ?

Cheers,

Blewyn
 
if it passes the Memtest routine then I would step back and try a fresh install to see if the problem is still present. by fresh install I mean a format and reload without trying to save any of the previous OS installation.
 
Tom,

Many thanks for your continued replies on this. I did as you suggest, installing a fresh Windows XP having first deleted all the documents and settings folders and program files. Unfortunately I can't format the drive as it contains files I have no room to store elsewhere. I selected 'fresh install' not 'repair' and installed into a different directory to be sure. Same problem on normal startup. Gets past the loader screen, then a click and "unknown hard error...dumping memory". I can boot into safe mode OK. I tried installing the agp drivers and VIA drivers but no change to normal startup. Sound like hardware malfunction ? The question is, how do I tell if it's the video card or the motherboard ?

Cheers,

Blewyn
 
I don't think it is a hardware malfunction. I think it is driver related.
 
Tom,

This system has already been running perfectly well for over a year. The malfunction appeared when I needed to move to another country. In order to transport the PC without incurring excessive costs, I took out the motherboard, memory, drives and PCI/AGP cards and put them in my luggage, bubblewrapped. Everything appears to have made it over intact. I then bought a new case (with local PSU for the right wall connection) and put everything back in. I have tried the system with only one drive and the video card, to see if it was the PSU giving up as the video card drew more power on going from SVGA mode to it's own mode, but there was no change.

Do you still think it's a driver problem ? If not, how do I identify whether it's the video card or the motherboard ?

Cheers,

Blewyn

"TomG" wrote:
I don't think it is a hardware malfunction. I think it is driver related.

--

Thomas Geery
Network+ certified
Click to expand...
 
in that case, with the move and reassembly, I would revisit the ram. remove it and make sure the motherboard is fully supported either by having the mobo on a flat surface or by stuffing something under the ram slot area of the board while it is mounted. then firmly but carefully seat the ram. the KG7 has the tightest ram slots I ever worked with and if the board flexes or otherwise doesn't get the ram firmly inserted, there will be problems.

there are products out there such as ones by CAIG to lubricate and enhance contact surfaces. the ram will go in much easier with one of these contact enhancement products in use but you can usually only find the product at a true electronics store.
 
Thanks again for your reply Tom. I did make quite sure the RAM was seated, having faced the tight slot problem before, pushed them in so hard you start thinking if the board is going to snap, and made sure all the white clips were properly engaged. Will try with the board on a flat surface but I don't think I can get specialist electrical compounds where I live (camelburgers yes, AMD products no)

:-)

If the RAM wasn't seating properly wouldn't that have caused an error in Memtest ?

Cheers,

Blewyn
 
yeah, an error in memtest would have been expected if the ram was not seated...
 
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