[thequintz]

Just installed XP Pro (CLEAN) took 4 hours!
Upon boot the system will try to load from CD and wait approx 30 min then load from the HD
Then it wil take another 2 to 3 hours to load XP
This is a brand new MB, DVD ROM, HD with 2 gig memory, I just built it.
Same problem every time I re-boot
This is the 5th system I built and never had this occur.
System just can't seem to get beyond wanting to load from CD (BIOS = CD first boot device followed by HD ) no Floppy Drive.
Any comments appreciated.
I think the MB BIOS is bonkers

Tks

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Enter Device Manager. Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI drive control. Dounle click "primary ide channel" and in under "Advanced" please report Transfer Mode. Do the same with "Secondary ide channel".

[The Skeptic]

Enter Device Manager. Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI drive control. Dounle click "primary ide channel" and in under "Advanced" please report Transfer Mode. Do the same with "Secondary ide channel".

[thequintz]

Device Type: "Auto Detection"
Transfer Mode: "DMA if available"
Current Transfer Mode: "PIO Mode"


Note: I spoke to the MB manafactrure who could not understand the problem of "not being able to boot for such a long time ( 45 min to 1 hour)" before it even gets to boot from the HDD. It just hangs for that long trying to boot from the CD. They suggest I replace the entire MB. I just ordered a replacement from the vendor. Should arrive within the next day or so. I will post a conclusion after I install the new MB.

[happyrock]

are you using a 80 wire 40 pin connector for the hard drive..try a different cable ...
Many problems are the result of improper settings in the BIOS.
the drive running in PIO mode is the problem...look in the bios ...enable DMA mode...
change the boot order in the bios to the hard drive first...but if you can't get to the dma mode it will still be slow

Edited by happyrck, 16 January 2008 - 08:40 AM.

[thequintz]

I DO have a 80 wire 40 pin connector for the hard drive, however I even tried to change the cable to a "Ribbon cable" - NO Change. I then changed the BIOS to look for the HDD as the first boot device, - Still NG. I also tried eleminating the CD altogether, (changing the BIOS, then disconnecting both cables to the drive) same result. 1 hour to start the XP load with another 2 hrs. to fully load.

By tthe way the DVD is a SATA drive and the HDD is an EIDE. Both connected correctly.
Good thing this is NOT my only or primary system!

Thanks for the help.
I am tired of waiting for the system to come to life. I'll just reinstall the new MB when it arrives.

[123Runner]

the drive running in PIO mode is the problem...look in the bios ...enable DMA mode...

Did you make this change as requested?
This does create slow boot ups and HD access.

[happyrock]

there are a few reasons why a computer may use PIO instead of DMA, particularly when it's the hard disk port that falls back, not a CD/DVD drive port. For example, David Duberman reported in 2005 that some Dell computers have DMA disabled in their BIOS by default for the second hard disk. So it is a good idea to check the BIOS settings first.

A not so rare hardware problem is a bad or too long IDE data cable. You need 80-wire cables, not the older ones with only 40 wires. With poor cables the device may work, but Windows will probably step down to lower DMA speeds or even to PIO...it does not matter if the cable is flat ribbon style or round

A further cause may be waking from standby mode, if one of the involved components does not perform this process correctly.

there is a script here that you could try also...copy and paste the script into notepad...click on file...save as...name it reset dma.vbs then the arrow click on all files...should look like the screenshots...if it comes out like reset dma.txt it will not work

Edited by happyrck, 16 January 2008 - 07:29 PM.

[thequintz]

I ran the resetdma.vbs script. After it was run a window opened :
Program finished normally with the fillowing message:
No resettable channels with Windows drivers found. Nothing changed.

Thanks again for the help.

[happyrock]

try this...uninstall both the Primary and Secondary IDE channels from Device Manager. They'll be listed under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. Both will reinstall during a restart and should have the correct transfer mode once they do...
no joy
then the problem is in the bios or the mobo IDE controller or the drive itself...
what make and model of drive is it...
if the jumper on the drive is set to master try setting it to cable select...it should only be on the end connector ...

another thing to try is puppy linux...it loads and runs totally in ram ..doesn't need to use the hard drive ...
if it loads and runs fast you will know the other hardware is good..get puppy linux...Get puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso download it and burn it to cd ...if you don't have a burning program that will burn .ISO files go here and get burncdcc ..a small FAST no frills iso burning program...make sure in the bios the cd drive is the first boot device....put the cd in the cd drive..boot your computer....puppy will boot and run totally in ram...if your hardware is is good working order you will know..

Edited by happyrck, 17 January 2008 - 08:40 AM.

[thequintz]

The drive is a Maxtor 160GB EIDE HD 7200/8MB/ATA-133
Tried to change the BIOS primary HDD from PIO mode to enable DMA mode, however the option to make the change does not work. Stuck in PIO mode.

By the way I also tried setting the drive to cable select (still the same result). 4 hrs fro XP to load.

For puppy linux...
From: http://www.puppylinu...ds.php?cat_id=1 cick the "Download" link result:
Getting a HTTP 404 message from the URL: http://www.puppylinu...;download_id=58

Now another glitch: IE keeps refreshing the active window every 30 to 46 seconds. VERY difficult to read window content.

Thanks again you are really helpful.

[The Skeptic]

1: Set the BIOS to optimal performance.

2: If possible, use another hard disk for temporarilly installing xp. If it works then the problem is with the hard disk. If it doesn't then the problem is with the motherboard itself.

3: Run a memory scan with Microsoft Memory Diagnostic tool (a link in my signature). Problems with the memory can have all kind of bizarre manifestations, including writing errors that can trigger the PIO mode (XP changes transfer mode to PIO when it encounters 6 data transfer errors to the hard disk).

[The Skeptic]

Double post.Sorry

Edited by The Skeptic, 18 January 2008 - 01:05 AM.

[happyrock]

about the puppy download...
the server is down (exceeded bandwidth) , please try it in 15 hours
it is available here...now ...01/18/08 at 600 am pacific time

Edited by happyrck, 18 January 2008 - 08:04 AM.

[thequintz]

NOTE : puppy download srever still not availabel ..same 404 messahe as of 3:07pm EST

I burned the memory scan with Microsoft Memory Diagnostic tool, however it was unable to run to competition, got many messages
the last of then that Displayed that were visible on my screen:
Usage: ntfdread.exe [-u]

Partition C:\ installed
Partition D:\ installed
Partition E:\ installed
Partition F:\ installed

USB support successfully initialized
NWCDEX.EXE Version 2,81 CD-ROM file handler.
Copyright (message)
Driver bot found: 'MSCD001'
Completed codepage prepare function
Completed codepage select function
NLSFUNC R4.00 National Language Support
Copyright 1988,1998 Caldera, Inc. .....

Caldera DR-DOS 7.03
Copyright (message)
[DR-DOS] A:\>

And there sits, ... looks like it is just hangs there ( it is now 35 min. just sitting there

NOTE: No Floppy on system therefore no A\ drive

[The Skeptic]

Is the CD drive your first priority boot device? The memory test should start very quickly after a short message "boot from cd".

Disable floppy drive altogether in the BIOS