need help once again

InspectahACE · Post by **InspectahACE** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:45 am

ok...i was just cleanin out the hard drive due to too much crap i didnt need, then all of sudden after rebootin...i get the good ol bsod...and hasnt stopped since.. i was reinstallin windows anyway..BUT..everytime it gets to the setup...it doesnt see any partitions or anything hard drive related i press enter..nothin happens..i press the up or down arrow..the "blue meanie" shows his ugly face again...bios sees a hard drive..but windows setup doesnt..i did notice my geforce 8800 gtx is resting on if not less than a nanometer above the ide cable for my dvd burner..could that cause it or somethin else..im tryin not to get all pissed at this cuz it worked not even 2 hours ago from postin this...help!!

InspectahACE · Post by **InspectahACE** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:11 pm

well i looked up the error code on the bsod...said it had to do with my ram..but i switched out the ram..still no resolution...still crashes when i get to the windws setup..its weird..the bios see the sata HD..but when windows setup asks what partition i want to install in..it doesnt see anything..then the bsod goes up when i press a button.would seem like the hard drive is dyin (even though its not even a year old)but im on here typin..just wanted to reinstall windows but it wont let me..any ideas would be greatly appreciated

liqnit · Post by **liqnit** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:22 pm

Can you post a screen shot of the BSOD?

Maxtron · Post by **Maxtron** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:46 pm

actually, I work as a tech right now, and I'm getting this problem on an old micron as well. I tried replacing the hard drive, and that didnt solve a thing, so its not related to the HD.

The Black Pumpkin · Post by **The Black Pumpkin** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:09 pm

I've got something similar to this on an old K6 as well. When I try to install windows on any hard drive i stick in, it detects the configuration and asks me to press the key for installing raid if I need to, then it goes blank.

InspectahACE · Post by **InspectahACE** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:14 pm

this is before the bsod...

and heres the b@st@rd itself lol..

i did read around that it supposedly had to do with my ram..i switched them around and out..still the same thing happened tho..im out of ideas lol

liqnit · Post by **liqnit** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:01 pm

i dont know if it helps but it looks as windows does not recognize any drives in your system...

InspectahACE · Post by **InspectahACE** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:03 pm

the weird thing is..it does..seems to anyway...why the setup doesnt ill never know...im in windows on my machine right now typin here...just the bsod arrives when i want to reinstall it

tnynyn · Post by **tnynyn** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 3:15 pm

have u tried differnt ram? also try just one stick and see if that might work. could be defective ram.

Maxtron · Post by **Maxtron** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 3:34 pm

Thats exactly how the windows setup screen looks like on mine. I'll try the ram switching, but the thing is, when i boot it with no windows setup disc in, it can boot, aka there IS a hard drive in it.

InspectahACE · Post by **InspectahACE** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 4:05 pm

ive already tried one stick...still the same thing...i only have this ram so another type is out of the question (since im unemployed at this moment)like maxtron said..it boots to windows..but as far as reinstallin...it doesnt want to see the drive

DaddyRabbit · Post by **DaddyRabbit** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 5:58 pm

This may be a stupid question but is your Raptor connected to the Jmicron SATA plug or the ICH8 SATA?

If it's on the Jmicron controller the "F6" driver install thing might be in play here? (nat familiar with the ICH8 and JMicron controller config so I may be way off base.

Also, I am assuming that the ICH8 has the ability to do IDE, RAID, and AHCI modes? On the 975, with the disk configuration set to AHCI or RAID on the ICH7 the drivers need to be loaded from floppy at setup time using "F6"

InspectahACE · Post by **InspectahACE** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:05 pm

should be the j-micron plug..since the manual said it has 4 ich8 slots and 1 j-micron plug..(they're different colors too..i installed the j-micron driver thru windows and it worked beautifully after...but now i dunno..i just know the setup saw the drive before lol

camaroguy1998 · Post by **camaroguy1998** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:33 pm

Looking at your pics It shows 2 drives. Is one external or are there 2 internals?
Are you actually running a RAID setup?
If you have 2 drives,(internal or external) disconnect the secondary and try to install XP again.

Another question...In your BIOS does it recognise the drive fully? ie: show the correct size.... etc?

InspectahACE · Post by **InspectahACE** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:46 pm

im only running one raptor...with 2 partitions..i used the j-micron driver since my dvd-rw drive was taking 45 minutes to install doom3 and over an hour to install windows..(almost like it had a conflict with the ide)..after i did that it ran great....the bios sees the drive fully thought..the 74 g size..the model number..everythign shows up in the bios

InspectahACE · Post by **InspectahACE** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 9:13 pm

well now i got a new error after i moved the jumper in the bios to clear it to see if that would work...had this error when i had only one stick of ram in but
im still not gettin a sign of a HD in the windows setup..dammit:(

InspectahACE · Post by **InspectahACE** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:16 am

did a chkdsk from the windows automated system recovery and got this lil messgae i didnt like

....NOOOOOoooooooo

Maxtron · Post by **Maxtron** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 1:29 am

you could always try the popular myth run > delete *.* . never actually seen if it works or not, but apparently its like a custom uninstall of windows :O. Its ironic that the way I usually reformat hard drives is by using a windows setup disc to remake a partition...

InspectahACE · Post by **InspectahACE** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 3:26 am

yea thats how i did the partitions too...i got it to work tho...i did what DaddyRabbit mentioned..i unplugged it out of hte J-micron plug and into another sata plug..now it works lol...wtf..i do wonder why it see its as an ide drive tho...doesnt seem to work any slower..cheap mobo...never did like MSI..oh well..once i get more money (if im hired at the place im doin the 2nd interview for) ill splurge on a new motherboard...

DaddyRabbit · Post by **DaddyRabbit** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:14 am

InspectahACE wrote:yea thats how i did the partitions too...i got it to work tho...i did what DaddyRabbit mentioned..i unplugged it out of hte J-micron plug and into another sata plug..now it works lol...wtf..i do wonder why it see its as an ide drive tho...doesnt seem to work any slower..cheap mobo...never did like MSI..oh well..once i get more money (if im hired at the place im doin the 2nd interview for) ill splurge on a new motherboard...

Glad you got it working.

The problem lies not so much with MSI or this particular board but with the chipset (ICH8). Since, with the 865 chipset, Intel decided to NOT include native PATA IDE support manufacturers had to "paste" on a third party PATA controller in order to provide legacy IDE support (primarily to support PATA optical drives). Many board makers used the JMicron controller and the discussion boards are full of install issues with it. You should've gotten a couple of floppies with your board, one with drivers for the JMicron and one with AHCI drivers for the Intel ICH8.

When 1st booting to do the XP install you have to have a floppy drive (this is XPs fault) and hit "F6" when XP says "hit F6 to install third party SCSI driver" (I'm paraphrasing that line

) then insert the floppy and select the appropriate driver.

The reason that the drive is being seen as IDE (and the reason it works on the ICH8 SATA without drivers from the floppy) is probably because you have the drive configuration in BIOS set to "IDE" vs. "AHCI". The main thing AHCI buys you is Native Command Queuing (NCQ) and hot plug capability. If you aren't concerned with this then you should be fine. DON'T switch it in BIOS with your current install as it will just BSOD until you switch it back.

If you do want AHCI mode the Intel preferred method is to install the drivers at OS install time using "F6". I managed to install the AHCI drivers on my ICH7 SATA controller after installing in "IDE" mode without re-installing but can't guarantee it will work for everyone so I won't post those instructions unless you want to try it