A7V hangs at ESCD
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From: James Sassman on 15 Apr 2008 12:14 My motherboard is an old A7V with 512 megs memory, Nvidia 5500, 40 gig WD drive which I've outgrown. After installing an Adaptec ATA 133 controller in a free PCI slot, attaching a new Western Digital 250 GB hard drive, the computer hangs at the ESCD configuration screen after saying it has been updated. Also, the Hardware manager does not show the controller is Adaptec now--it did at first. Now it says Silicon Image Sil 0680 ATA/133 Controller. I'm not sure if the card is not compatible with the new drive or I need to wait longer for the configuration to actually be loaded and changed. Any help would be appreciated.
From: Rene on 16 Apr 2008 12:44 "James Sassman" <jsassman(a)radiks.net> schreef in bericht news:iZ-dneo7a7zQSZnVnZ2dnUVZ_iydnZ2d(a)earthlink.com... > My motherboard is an old A7V with 512 megs memory, Nvidia 5500, 40 gig WD > drive which I've outgrown. > After installing an Adaptec ATA 133 controller in a free PCI slot, > attaching a new Western Digital 250 GB hard drive, the computer hangs at > the ESCD configuration screen after saying it has been updated. > Also, the Hardware manager does not show the controller is Adaptec now--it > did at first. Now it says Silicon Image Sil 0680 ATA/133 Controller. > I'm not sure if the card is not compatible with the new drive or I need to > wait longer for the configuration to actually be loaded and changed. > Any help would be appreciated. The first thing You might try is remove every pci card and see if that solves the problem. Is the card firmly in the slot? Try to reseat it. Did You really turn of the pc when inserting the card or just "turn it off" through Windows or Linux? You should remove the ac cord (maybe You have a psu with a real power switch on the back, that is OK as well) and then press the power button to discharge the caps in the psu, if You do this soon after turning it off, You'll probably see the leds light up for a very short time, if You do it later, the charge will probably already be gone. But only then is it 100% safe to insert or remove cards. Theoretically You should be wearing an anti static wrist thing but I have never stumbled on a problem because of not using it. You should however touch the case of the computer very often to remove all static charge from Your body. I own the same mobo in an old computer and remember that, when putting a SCSI controller in it, it would only work in the first pci slot, that way it would largely block the airflow from the fan of the vga card, luckily it has never broken down (was a GF1, I still have it, I loved that card), but that was the only way to get it going. I am not sure anymore but I think that when it was in the wrong slot, the computer would also not boot. So try Your card in different slots without any other card in any slot except the video card in the agp slot off course. A friend of mine has the same mobo as well and had the same problem as You are having (too small a hd), she then bought a big Seagate and I recommended her to buy a new controller as well (again iirc that mobo will otherwise only support drives up to 137GB and she had bought 200GB), that is working OK. I think it's brand is Promise, unlike Yours. Wait a minute, after reading Your post again I notice that You mention the hardware manager... Is that in Windows? That would mean that Your computer does boot. When reading that a computer "hangs" I expect it not to do anything anymore without resetting. Please be more clear about it, what hardware manager are You talking about? Cards like that have their own BIOS which delays the boot process, it should be shown on Your screen after that escd-update message (can take up to several seconds). Then again, that message should only appear once after something has changed. Normally You can press some key combination when the cards bios message is on screen to enter that BIOS (that is not the "normal" setup), there You can tell it to detect the drive You have just added. But if Your computer really stops after displaying the escd message, I mean if it really hangs, You can off course not do that. How to tell the controller what drive You have (if You have to, maybe it goes automatically, I think that if it is a raid controller, You'll have to tell it) and how to behave is in the manual of the controller. Have You disabled the onboard ATA100 controller of that mobo (can only be done from a certain bios version, have You already tried upgrading Your mobo to the latest version, if not, do so, download the bios from the Asus website)? It is not reliable, can cause problems and now You have a new card, You don't need it anymore, there is always a chance that it has a conflict with the new one. Ah, I remeber, that was the reason I recommend that friend to buy that card. Untill then her drives were connected to the ata66 controller but that new drive was so fast that I thought it would be better to get a better controller as well. She has never used the ATA100 controller since the same controller had been keeping me puzzled for some time, then finally I found it was a hardware problem in the controller, even on the M$ site there was an article recommending people not to use it for it could cause corruption in the data passing through it. Are You trying to boot from the card? In that case, You will need to tell Your mobo's bios so. IIRC You should tell it to boot from SCSI and then say "no" to the setting "onboard ATA BIOS". My memories of that board are coming back again, I remember it was a nasty board when it came to interrupt sharing, that was also what caused the scsi card to work only in one slot. I think that if You are having compatibility problems, it is not with the card and the drive but with the card and the mobo. Well, I think You have some things to think about and try. You might be a bit more specific next time, is it really hanging or just slow? If You reset it, does exactly the same happen every time? What sometimes can have a magic effect is resetting the cmos memory (rtfm of mobo), then load factory defaults and then make the right setting again (off course You had written down before resetting the cmos). What Adaptec card is it? What chip is on it (brand + type number)? Perhaps it has the same chipset as the silicon image controller? Again, where did You read this, what is that hardware manager? Did You do anything special when that name changed? Have You manually been assigning resources in the bios? Oh, another thing I remember, on that board it was not wise to choose in the bios that a pnp os was being used, you should let the bios give out the resources. Once that mobo functioned well, it was very good, but it could cause some headaches before You reached that point, especially when You wanted a lot of extra hardware on it. I am not sure I can check back into this ng soon, that is always very irregular. I hope to have been of help and if I have a change to check back, I certainly will. Good luck! Yours sincerely, Rene P.S. If the hardware manager is really in Windows, You will need to partition the drive and format it to become visible. I assume You know that and have not been able to get the computer to go any further after the bios screens, but if You don't and have been able, the solution will be simple, any search engine can bring You the answer.
From: James Sassman on 16 Apr 2008 13:07 "Rene" <invalid(a)invalid.com> wrote in message news:z1qNj.12249$_h7.11569(a)newsfe05.ams2... > "James Sassman" <jsassman(a)radiks.net> schreef in bericht > news:iZ-dneo7a7zQSZnVnZ2dnUVZ_iydnZ2d(a)earthlink.com... >> My motherboard is an old A7V with 512 megs memory, Nvidia 5500, 40 gig WD >> drive which I've outgrown. >> After installing an Adaptec ATA 133 controller in a free PCI slot, >> attaching a new Western Digital 250 GB hard drive, the computer hangs at >> the ESCD configuration screen after saying it has been updated. >> Also, the Hardware manager does not show the controller is Adaptec >> now--it did at first. Now it says Silicon Image Sil 0680 ATA/133 >> Controller. >> I'm not sure if the card is not compatible with the new drive or I need >> to wait longer for the configuration to actually be loaded and changed. >> Any help would be appreciated. > > The first thing You might try is remove every pci card and see if that > solves the problem. Is the card firmly in the slot? Try to reseat it. Did > You really turn of the pc when inserting the card or just "turn it off" > through Windows or Linux? You should remove the ac cord (maybe You have a > psu with a real power switch on the back, that is OK as well) and then > press the power button to discharge the caps in the psu, if You do this > soon after turning it off, You'll probably see the leds light up for a > very short time, if You do it later, the charge will probably already be > gone. But only then is it 100% safe to insert or remove cards. > Theoretically You should be wearing an anti static wrist thing but I have > never stumbled on a problem because of not using it. You should however > touch the case of the computer very often to remove all static charge from > Your body. > > I own the same mobo in an old computer and remember that, when putting a > SCSI controller in it, it would only work in the first pci slot, that way > it would largely block the airflow from the fan of the vga card, luckily > it has never broken down (was a GF1, I still have it, I loved that card), > but that was the only way to get it going. I am not sure anymore but I > think that when it was in the wrong slot, the computer would also not > boot. So try Your card in different slots without any other card in any > slot except the video card in the agp slot off course. > > A friend of mine has the same mobo as well and had the same problem as You > are having (too small a hd), she then bought a big Seagate and I > recommended her to buy a new controller as well (again iirc that mobo will > otherwise only support drives up to 137GB and she had bought 200GB), that > is working OK. I think it's brand is Promise, unlike Yours. > > Wait a minute, after reading Your post again I notice that You mention the > hardware manager... Is that in Windows? That would mean that Your computer > does boot. When reading that a computer "hangs" I expect it not to do > anything anymore without resetting. Please be more clear about it, what > hardware manager are You talking about? Cards like that have their own > BIOS which delays the boot process, it should be shown on Your screen > after that escd-update message (can take up to several seconds). Then > again, that message should only appear once after something has changed. > Normally You can press some key combination when the cards bios message is > on screen to enter that BIOS (that is not the "normal" setup), there You > can tell it to detect the drive You have just added. But if Your computer > really stops after displaying the escd message, I mean if it really hangs, > You can off course not do that. How to tell the controller what drive You > have (if You have to, maybe it goes automatically, I think that if it is a > raid controller, You'll have to tell it) and how to behave is in the > manual of the controller. > > Have You disabled the onboard ATA100 controller of that mobo (can only be > done from a certain bios version, have You already tried upgrading Your > mobo to the latest version, if not, do so, download the bios from the Asus > website)? It is not reliable, can cause problems and now You have a new > card, You don't need it anymore, there is always a chance that it has a > conflict with the new one. Ah, I remeber, that was the reason I recommend > that friend to buy that card. Untill then her drives were connected to the > ata66 controller but that new drive was so fast that I thought it would be > better to get a better controller as well. She has never used the ATA100 > controller since the same controller had been keeping me puzzled for some > time, then finally I found it was a hardware problem in the controller, > even on the M$ site there was an article recommending people not to use it > for it could cause corruption in the data passing through it. > > Are You trying to boot from the card? In that case, You will need to tell > Your mobo's bios so. IIRC You should tell it to boot from SCSI and then > say "no" to the setting "onboard ATA BIOS". > > My memories of that board are coming back again, I remember it was a nasty > board when it came to interrupt sharing, that was also what caused the > scsi card to work only in one slot. I think that if You are having > compatibility problems, it is not with the card and the drive but with the > card and the mobo. > > Well, I think You have some things to think about and try. You might be a > bit more specific next time, is it really hanging or just slow? If You > reset it, does exactly the same happen every time? What sometimes can have > a magic effect is resetting the cmos memory (rtfm of mobo), then load > factory defaults and then make the right setting again (off course You had > written down before resetting the cmos). What Adaptec card is it? What > chip is on it (brand + type number)? Perhaps it has the same chipset as > the silicon image controller? Again, where did You read this, what is that > hardware manager? Did You do anything special when that name changed? Have > You manually been assigning resources in the bios? Oh, another thing I > remember, on that board it was not wise to choose in the bios that a pnp > os was being used, you should let the bios give out the resources. > > Once that mobo functioned well, it was very good, but it could cause some > headaches before You reached that point, especially when You wanted a lot > of extra hardware on it. > > I am not sure I can check back into this ng soon, that is always very > irregular. I hope to have been of help and if I have a change to check > back, I certainly will. > > Good luck! > Yours sincerely, > Rene > > P.S. If the hardware manager is really in Windows, You will need to > partition the drive and format it to become visible. I assume You know > that and have not been able to get the computer to go any further after > the bios screens, but if You don't and have been able, the solution will > be simple, any search engine can bring You the answer. > Thanks so much for your extremely comprehensive reply! Sounds like a weekend project to get this working. Will let you know Jim
From: James Sassman on 17 Apr 2008 06:29 I've decided to use Norton Partition Magic 8.0 rather than trying to get that controller card to work by switching PCI slots. Norton formatted the 250 GB drive into two partitions. One has 108 and the second has 127 gigs of total space. That is only 15 gigs unallocated and that is acceptable to me. Thanks again for your assistance!
From: Rene on 17 Apr 2008 11:29
"James Sassman" <jsassman(a)radiks.net> schreef in bericht news:RamdnRBAvpgcu5rVnZ2dnUVZ_q6mnZ2d(a)earthlink.com... > I've decided to use Norton Partition Magic 8.0 rather than trying to get > that controller card to work by switching PCI slots. > Norton formatted the 250 GB drive into two partitions. One has 108 and the > second has 127 gigs of total space. That is only 15 gigs unallocated and > that is acceptable to me. > Thanks again for your assistance! You're welcome, I am a bit puzzled though about what You have done now. Am I correct that You are not using the controller anymore and have connected the drive to the onboard controller? If so, what was the reason that You bought the controller in the first place? Maybe in the store they told You You would need it because the mobo would not support disks >137GB? That is not the problem here, You would have not been able to format in 2 partitions if it were because that kind of maximum size is not about partitions but about the entire disk. BTW I do not know whether You have actually seen that there are 15 GB's unallocated or if You have simply subtracted (108+127) from 250. In the latter case I do not think any space is unused because the GB's You are talking about are "real" GB's (meaning 1024*1024*1024) where the 250 "GB's" of the manufacturer are "decimal" GB's, meaning 1000*1000*1000. In that case Your current situation can be considered perfect I think. If You would want to, You might even try to repartition it into other sizes (or maybe You would prefer it to be one big station) as You should not be bound by that 137 GB limit (I think You let Yourself be guided by that in choosing the sizes of Your partitions). I hope You'll be ably to enjoy Your system with this expansion of hd space for a long time! Yours sincerely, Rene P.S. May I ask what processor You are using on the board? Just curious... (On my own A7V I have an Athlon 1300, my friend has one at 700 MHz). |