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From: Marakith on 6 Mar 2007 05:37
Hello,

I'm desperate for advice and hope that someone here can help me.

I have had an NF7-S motherboard rig for over 3 years. I recently
upgraded to another machine and decided to give the old rig to my
mother.

I'm running:
NF7-S (v2)
2x SATA HDDs (not in raid)
GeForce 6800GT
1Gb RAM
All at stock


I reformatted the drive and installed Windows again. This time, I even
upgraded to Service Pack 2.

To install Windows, I had to press F6 in order to install some Silicon
Image drivers to get the drives recognised. I am NOT running a RAID
array, but have found that the only way to get Windows to see the
drives is via the Silicon Image driver.

I took the PC over to my mum's house and set it up. One thing that
scared me a little was that the PC refused to power up first time. The
Mobo LED went faint and died slowly after power was turned on. I
checked the cables, saw that nothing noticeable was amiss and tried
again. This time it started up.

About at week later, the PC got a Blue Screen of Death. It went into
an infite loop of bootup and reboot. Over and over. The BSOD flashed
up so fast you could barely see it, so I got windows (using F8) to
allow me to see it and saw: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. I fixed it using
CHKDSK /R.

Someone advised me that perhaps the drive was on its way out. So I
replaced it and reinstalled windows. It failed again with a week. My
mum completely lost confidence in the Rig and I setup her old PC
again.

I'd like my partner (who lives with me) to use the PC. That way I'm
around when the thing goes wrong. So I setup windows again. This time
it died after two weeks. My partner uses the PC a lot less than my mum
does.

This time, the NTFS.SYS is corrupted. I can't get into recovery
console and I can't overwrite the windows install.

I have:

1] Replaced the hard-drive
2] Switched off Quick startup in the BIOS, so that a memory test is
performed on startup. I've noticed that the memory counts up to the
full Gig. then starts again. That's not right, is it?
3] Run Memtest for 8 hours with no reported problems.
4] Installed an SP1 version of windows then upgraded to SP2.
5] Installed a version of windows with SP2 already on it.
6] Considered swapping the PSU. But have been told this probably isn't
the problem.
7] Replaced the cables between the Motherboard and the SATA drives in
case they were faulty.


I'd love to know if there's some sort of monitoring software that can
pinpoint the problem, or if this is a known problem with Abit, Silicon
Image and Service Pack 2?

Would be really grateful for your advice.

..\\

From: lkboop on 6 Mar 2007 09:20
Marakith wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm desperate for advice and hope that someone here can help me.
>
> I have had an NF7-S motherboard rig for over 3 years. I recently
> upgraded to another machine and decided to give the old rig to my
> mother.
>
> I'm running:
> NF7-S (v2)
> 2x SATA HDDs (not in raid)
> GeForce 6800GT
> 1Gb RAM
> All at stock
>
>
> I reformatted the drive and installed Windows again. This time, I even
> upgraded to Service Pack 2.
>
> To install Windows, I had to press F6 in order to install some Silicon
> Image drivers to get the drives recognised. I am NOT running a RAID
> array, but have found that the only way to get Windows to see the
> drives is via the Silicon Image driver.
>
> I took the PC over to my mum's house and set it up. One thing that
> scared me a little was that the PC refused to power up first time. The
> Mobo LED went faint and died slowly after power was turned on. I
> checked the cables, saw that nothing noticeable was amiss and tried
> again. This time it started up.
>
> About at week later, the PC got a Blue Screen of Death. It went into
> an infite loop of bootup and reboot. Over and over. The BSOD flashed
> up so fast you could barely see it, so I got windows (using F8) to
> allow me to see it and saw: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. I fixed it using
> CHKDSK /R.
>
> Someone advised me that perhaps the drive was on its way out. So I
> replaced it and reinstalled windows. It failed again with a week. My
> mum completely lost confidence in the Rig and I setup her old PC
> again.
>
> I'd like my partner (who lives with me) to use the PC. That way I'm
> around when the thing goes wrong. So I setup windows again. This time
> it died after two weeks. My partner uses the PC a lot less than my mum
> does.
>
> This time, the NTFS.SYS is corrupted. I can't get into recovery
> console and I can't overwrite the windows install.
>
> I have:
>
> 1] Replaced the hard-drive
> 2] Switched off Quick startup in the BIOS, so that a memory test is
> performed on startup. I've noticed that the memory counts up to the
> full Gig. then starts again. That's not right, is it?
> 3] Run Memtest for 8 hours with no reported problems.
> 4] Installed an SP1 version of windows then upgraded to SP2.
> 5] Installed a version of windows with SP2 already on it.
> 6] Considered swapping the PSU. But have been told this probably isn't
> the problem.
> 7] Replaced the cables between the Motherboard and the SATA drives in
> case they were faulty.
>
>
> I'd love to know if there's some sort of monitoring software that can
> pinpoint the problem, or if this is a known problem with Abit, Silicon
> Image and Service Pack 2?
>
> Would be really grateful for your advice.
>
> .\\
>
Well it probably IS the power supply i.e. if you have done everything
you say you have. First though, do a good visual inspection of the
mother board its self, your looking for swollen capacitors, possible
broken components. Caps can be replaced; however, if you need a repair
shop to do the repair it going to cost you more than the board is worth.

As far as the power supply is concerned, some people will tell you to
get a DVM and measure the voltages. This rarely finds the problem
because unless that rail is dead the DVM isn't going to tell you
anything useful. The real problem in the switching power supply's is
excessive noise and you need an oscilloscope to trouble shoot.

Only practical way for the average person to troubleshoot is to replace
the power supply and see what happens. Sorry

Good Luck

Logan


PS The reason you get UNmountable volume and similar messages is because
trash is being written to your HD when windows closed from the previous
session, usually do to memory or power supply. Also if you turn off
quick start, memory counts to the max installed and then starts over. I
don't know how many times it will count, but that's why you use quick
start.
From: fondue on 7 Mar 2007 07:04

"Marakith" <marakith(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1173177439.995834.23910(a)t69g2000cwt.googlegroups.com...
> Hello,
>
> I'm desperate for advice and hope that someone here can help me.
>
> I have had an NF7-S motherboard rig for over 3 years. I recently
> upgraded to another machine and decided to give the old rig to my
> mother.
>
> I'm running:
> NF7-S (v2)
> 2x SATA HDDs (not in raid)
> GeForce 6800GT
> 1Gb RAM
> All at stock
>
>
> I reformatted the drive and installed Windows again. This time, I even
> upgraded to Service Pack 2.
>
> To install Windows, I had to press F6 in order to install some Silicon
> Image drivers to get the drives recognised. I am NOT running a RAID
> array, but have found that the only way to get Windows to see the
> drives is via the Silicon Image driver.

You still need drivers for the silicon image controller.

>
> I took the PC over to my mum's house and set it up. One thing that
> scared me a little was that the PC refused to power up first time. The
> Mobo LED went faint and died slowly after power was turned on. I
> checked the cables, saw that nothing noticeable was amiss and tried
> again. This time it started up.
>
> About at week later, the PC got a Blue Screen of Death. It went into
> an infite loop of bootup and reboot. Over and over. The BSOD flashed
> up so fast you could barely see it, so I got windows (using F8) to
> allow me to see it and saw: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. I fixed it using
> CHKDSK /R.

You can usually check BSOD messages in Event Viewer. In System Properties,
Advanced, Startup and Recovery, Settings button. Uncheck automatically
restart to stop PC from rebooting.

>
> Someone advised me that perhaps the drive was on its way out. So I
> replaced it and reinstalled windows. It failed again with a week. My
> mum completely lost confidence in the Rig and I setup her old PC
> again.
>
> I'd like my partner (who lives with me) to use the PC. That way I'm
> around when the thing goes wrong. So I setup windows again. This time
> it died after two weeks. My partner uses the PC a lot less than my mum
> does.
>
> This time, the NTFS.SYS is corrupted. I can't get into recovery
> console and I can't overwrite the windows install.
>
> I have:
>
> 1] Replaced the hard-drive
> 2] Switched off Quick startup in the BIOS, so that a memory test is
> performed on startup. I've noticed that the memory counts up to the
> full Gig. then starts again. That's not right, is it?
> 3] Run Memtest for 8 hours with no reported problems.
> 4] Installed an SP1 version of windows then upgraded to SP2.
> 5] Installed a version of windows with SP2 already on it.
> 6] Considered swapping the PSU. But have been told this probably isn't
> the problem.
> 7] Replaced the cables between the Motherboard and the SATA drives in
> case they were faulty.
>
>
> I'd love to know if there's some sort of monitoring software that can
> pinpoint the problem, or if this is a known problem with Abit, Silicon
> Image and Service Pack 2?
>
> Would be really grateful for your advice.
>

Were you running 2 non RAID SATA HDDs before?

I had similar problems with my Nf7-s v2.0.

The only thing I have come across is this from the Silicon Image website;
--
SiI3112A: nForce Data Corruption
Data corruption problems can occur with nForce-based motherboards such as
the Asus A7N8X when multiple hard drives are attached to the SATA
controller. This problem is related to an issue with the PCI controller in
the nVidia chipset and can be fixed with a system BIOS update.

For the latest BIOS updates for your nForce motherboard that fixes the data
corruption problem, please visit the website of your motherboard maker for
the appropriate BIOS and flash utilities. Silicon Image cannot provide the
solution to this issue since it involves a change to the system BIOS
settings on the motherboard. There were no revisions made to the drivers for
the SiI3112A so you may use the latest version posted on this website.
Please check the Related Articles link on the lower right.

--

Go here http://www.siliconimage.com/support/index.aspx?pid=0&cid=0& and
click on Knowledge base on the right. I can't link directly to the page,
(redirects). Browse for Sil 3112a (which is what NF-7 uses)



I have the latest BIOS but still had problems.

In short, I began with a striped set, using the IDE to SATA adapters, but
one of the HDDs developed bad sectors, which I confirmed separately, and was
swapped.

Second RAID array fell over. Kept developing bad sectors, twice from memory
with different disks, so I gave up on RAID :-)

Ended up using a single SATA HDD for a while, (no problem), and since it was
a while ago my memory is a bit fuzzy on actual order of next events.

Added second SATA HDD - non RAID and began getting flaky behaviour. I first
noticed that torrents would report as completed, but when I ran a hash check
they were always incomplete.

Can't recall exactly what now, but it would do something odd, and I would
check the cables, swap a few, and everything would seem OK. Problem would
return. Despite constantly running chkdsk, SMART monitoring programs etc.
none of the drives were reporting errors, till I was convinced it was one of
my IDE drives causing the problem.

At one stage it just stopped working altogether, but came to life some hours
later. I replaced the PSU as it was a generic one. Then some time after that
it stopped working completely, so after testing I returned it, but when they
tested it worked, (grrr - was hating this board by now! ;-)). In the
meantime I was using an Asus board so when the NF7-s was returned I never
bothered with it.

I decided to give it another try later, but, same stuff kept happening. I
don't know if I read the Silicon Image advisory first or not, but I
disconnected one of the SATA HDDs and the problems went away.

It's been running fine since then, except for when the PSU I paid money for
died, so it has been running of a generic 350 watt PSU for some time (Radeon
9800 Pro VGA card). I've since built an intel E6400 box, but the Nf7-s is my
second machine.

All of the parts used in the NF7-s worked with no problems in other boards,
and I am still using them.

Sorry to bore you ;-), but my suggestion would be to run the machine for a
few weeks, run chkdsk /f over the SATA drives every day and see how much
clean up is reported. You could do chkdsk /r but that takes a while.

Then disconnect one of the SATA drives and run the machine for a few weeks
doing the same thing.

The upshot is you may not be able to run with 2 SATA HDDs in non RAID mode.

Of course it could be something else. I would assume if this was a big
problem I would have read more about it, but maybe people who bought boards
with the NForce2 chipset just used RAID, or kept an older BIOS didn't have
the same problem.

Abit seems to have a problem with closing long standing issues with
products.

I have a BE6 and the Highpoint controller had poor performance with many
drives, the nearest Abit got to fixing the issue was releasing a beta BIOS,
the the whole thing seems to have been dropped.

HTH.






From: ciaran on 8 Mar 2007 06:34
Thanks for the reply guys!

Yes - I was using two drives non RAID before.

I'm considering just getting another SATA card and installing that, so
going around the problem with the NF7 drive controller totally.

A new PSU is also something I'm considering.


From: marakith on 8 Mar 2007 06:55
Thanks for the reply guys!

Yes - I was using two drives non RAID before.


I'm considering just getting another SATA card and installing that,
so
going around the problem with the NF7 drive controller totally.


A new PSU is also something I'm considering.



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