[Annamoe_joe]

Hello... I am new to this forum.

I have had a lot of issues witha HP a6030la In the 18 months or so of ownership.Both Vista and XO constantly hung on it white screening or right click lock ups etc. I finally decided the problem had to lie with the MB or the processor speed )It was running on 1.8 Ghz) It has not been that easy to find a faster Processor since HP seemingly modify the Asus P5´s thay use so to cut a long story short I bought an Intel DP43TF with a Q8200 processor at 2.33Ghz with the intention of maybe running a 64 bit OS if neccessary.


WIRING ISSUE:


Today I went out and bought a nice case for it: a HEC 6Xm1 - The initial wiring went pretty well but I am left with 2 issues..

1) The case has an included AC´97 plug which I am not sure has a matching socket on the MB

and 2) more importantly I cannot find the socket for the Speaker wire....

I include a diagram with the problem

1 - seems to be the likely candidate, described in TFM as Audio, 2 - is labelledHD Audio Link

and 3.... is the actual plug.... Guess what? - The cable does not reach either socket leaving me totally dumbfounded...



POWER SUPPLY ISSUE

This is another thing I am not totally certain about... I am trying to salvage the existing power supply from the HP: A BESTEC ATX 300 12Z

I am not sure if this is compatible with the MB and am really hoping it is

I have picked up this much that the DC Output is as follows

DC Outputs (Amps Max/Min): +3.3V (28/0.5A), +5V (30/1.0A), +12V (19/1.0A), -12V (0.8/0.0A), +5VSB (2.0/0.0A)

Regarding the minimum spec for the MB I believe that the above is more than double in every department bar the +5VSB category. The MB from what I can see requires a minimum +5VSB of 3.0/0.0A

Needless to say I am confused..... The minimum Spec is 300W with a Recommended DC Output as follows

Table 28. Recommended Power Supply Current Values
Output Voltage 3.3 V 5 V 12 V1 12 V2 -12 V 5 VSB
Current 15 A 15 A 10 A 10 A 0.3 A 3.0 A

Hope somebody can throw some light on all this. I have worked withh older rebuilds before now and am reasonably savvy as rto finding my way around the innards of a PC but this new card is a bit confusing... In the past I have found the Speaker wire receptor in or around the power receptors - not on the other side of the board....

I have veen using this installation Guide as the so called ´manual´ that came with the board is vague to put it bluntly

Hoping therefore that the geek is mightier than the wordprocessor...... and that someone will be able to set me straight on this soon

regards and thanks in advance

Joe

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[Advertisements]

Does this help? http://download.inte...configlabel.pdf

1. Audio. I believe you only need to use the HD Audio plug which is #2? Right? I believe you have that plugged into the correct spot. The AC 97 plug is for the analog signal which I don't even know if it needs to be plugged in if you have the HD plugged in. I don't plug in the AC 97 on my system. Anyhow, if you do need it or want it, it is the yellow socket in the diagram I linked you to. Since it does not reach, you would need to buy an male to female audio extension cable which I've had a little trouble locating right off, so I will post a link if I find one.

2. Speaker. See that black circle above the PCI Slot #1 in that diagram? That is the speaker, you have an on-board speaker, you don't need to hook an external one up.

3. Power Supply. I'm not the most familiar with the +5VSB issue. From what you tell me, it reads that the power supply doesn't provide enough amps for that rating, I don't know if that category is a big deal or not. Regardless, if I may be honest, if it is the original PSU that came with the OEM system, I would not trust it's reliability anyways. Generally speaking, those systems have PSU's just strong enough to barely get by, and you are upgrading to a quad core processor/motherboard combo - seems a little iffy.

Let me know how things go, hopefully we have made some ground

Edited by Ferrari, 21 July 2009 - 09:06 PM.

[Ferrari]

Does this help? http://download.inte...configlabel.pdf

1. Audio. I believe you only need to use the HD Audio plug which is #2? Right? I believe you have that plugged into the correct spot. The AC 97 plug is for the analog signal which I don't even know if it needs to be plugged in if you have the HD plugged in. I don't plug in the AC 97 on my system. Anyhow, if you do need it or want it, it is the yellow socket in the diagram I linked you to. Since it does not reach, you would need to buy an male to female audio extension cable which I've had a little trouble locating right off, so I will post a link if I find one.

2. Speaker. See that black circle above the PCI Slot #1 in that diagram? That is the speaker, you have an on-board speaker, you don't need to hook an external one up.

3. Power Supply. I'm not the most familiar with the +5VSB issue. From what you tell me, it reads that the power supply doesn't provide enough amps for that rating, I don't know if that category is a big deal or not. Regardless, if I may be honest, if it is the original PSU that came with the OEM system, I would not trust it's reliability anyways. Generally speaking, those systems have PSU's just strong enough to barely get by, and you are upgrading to a quad core processor/motherboard combo - seems a little iffy.

Let me know how things go, hopefully we have made some ground

Edited by Ferrari, 21 July 2009 - 09:06 PM.

[Annamoe_joe]

Thanks for the quick reply... the yellow alas is No.1 in my diagran, not 2... 2 is Black and is the HD Audio Link....
In either case though the cable does not reach so looks like I´ll need to but some extra and extend with crimps... Just wish they´d make them long enough in the factory.

In the case of it being the yellow socket the cable is crossing diagonally across the board - lots of locvely obstacles to impede it´s path from what I can see... The CPU Fan, Memory chips and primary PCI...... really don´t fancy that one at all. But if you say it´s the yellow it´s the only one it can be from what I can see...

I see what you are saying too about the on board speaker... but is that the one that handles the system ´beep´... I somehow doubt it.

What you are referring to here is the on board Audio Card... which is a 5:1 but since I have the P4500 7:1 speaker system I had to fork outt for an Audigy card to handle the extra speakers in any case...

Am wondering though if this is the case.... is there any harm done in leaving it disconnected???? I really don´t know too much about system beeps bother than their nuisance value.. particularly running vista on my existing setup.... believe me I get more than my fair share....

As for the Power Supply... I priced a 450w model to day and the price scared me off $110 bucks, and down here in Lima that´s a lot of bucks....

Can pick up a 300w model cheap enough but best case scenario is that I can run with the present one for a month or two... we have a baby on the way and I really am strapped right now....

Thanks again for the quick comeback on this... really hope someone hear can give a definitive answer to the problems...

Not sure if there´s a way to ask Intel directly and get a same day reply.....

[Ferrari]

In either case though the cable does not reach so looks like I´ll need to but some extra and extend with crimps... Just wish they´d make them long enough in the factory.

I had editing my post about the extension cable you would need, they should make one that is male to female. It would just plug in and extend to the correct spot. I'm currently looking for one.

But if you say it´s the yellow it´s the only one it can be from what I can see...

Did you click on the link I gave you? Are we referring to the same diagram? The link I gave you is to a diagram of your board that clearly shows where the HD Audio Link headers are and where the plain Audio(AC 97) headers are.

As for the Power Supply... I priced a 450w model to day and the price scared me off $110 bucks, and down here in Lima that´s a lot of bucks....

Can pick up a 300w model cheap enough but best case scenario is that I can run with the present one for a month or two... we have a baby on the way and I really am strapped right now....

I have a great one in mind for you. Corsair 400Watt PSU, don't let the low watts fool ya, it has awesome amp ratings, which amps x volts = Watts. Also, it is 80 plus certified, which is what you always want to go with. Are you able to buy from Newegg? Can you find that PSU at a site you can buy from?

Ok, let me know...

[Annamoe_joe]

Sorry - I forgot to add,,,, That is not the AC97 that is plugges in... what you are seeing here is the firewire in the socket immediately above said HG Audio Link socket (picture is a little obscured)

So the AC97 goes in the yellow Audio,as I suspected. Thanks for confirming that - one down at least! that leaves the speaker cable which appears to be too short to go anyplace left on the MB and of course the do with Power Supply

Just caught your reply while posting mine - crossover effect!

Newegg is not really an option: I would get hit with international shipping and import duty. PComponents in Peru generally run a lot cheaper than on the net, a bonus for sure.

I can call around tomorrow and enquire about this one,if it meets the requirement particularly The VSB rating and is reasonably cheap I´m in business. I´ll let ya know.

Gonna turn in here for the night. Hitting 11pm and am a bit trashed today to say the least.

Thanks so much again - wonder if we´ll ever solve the secret of the Mystery wire between us!

Later

PS - had a Quick squint at the corsairs specs... even its VSB falls short of the 3.0 recommended in the pdf rating I listed above.

Edited by Annamoe_joe, 21 July 2009 - 10:00 PM.

[Ferrari]

that leaves the speaker cable which appears to be too short to go anyplace left on the MB and of course the do with Power Supply

I forgot to add that as well Many motherboards come with on-board speakers now that provide "beep" and associated codes for when their are errors detected. I'm quite sure you don't need another speaker hooked up. I would just leave that alone. When you first boot, you will hear the beep. If for some reason I'm wrong, then figure it out later.

[Annamoe_joe]

I think things are looking good... Checked out a few setups on Google relating to the motherboard... on Tiger.com came across a few kits with 500w power supplies (cheap at the price too of $49.00 but in particular The VSB count on those too was only 2.0.

So given that they mention (intel) that 300w is the minimum recommended I reckon I should get away with it for the time being but will definitely get something better next month when hopefully I can afford the asking price.

Eitherway I´ll let you know how things turn out and will go ahead without attaching the speaker caple - I reckon that there are 2 cables the AC97 and it and which one you use is wholly dependant on the type of MB you install....

Wonder if I´ll have any space left at the end to plug a chicken or two in there! If there´s even a slight threat of Barbe-Q might as well have something tasty to console me....

Thanks for all your help.... Hope that´s the beast´s back brooken now. The rest no doubt should be straightforward enough!

Edited by Annamoe_joe, 22 July 2009 - 01:46 AM.

[Annamoe_joe]

Hi again Ferrari.

Just to say thanks again. All fired up, Bios, chip etc patched with latest. Security and anti spam tools installed. Only problem I had was that the OS was not recognized on the intitial boot... without thinking I went in and fgormatted the partition and still no joy... so I swapped round the sata cables on the 2 drives and disabled the secondary and installed no problem. Power Supply seems to be holding up fine, system beeps etc all there (guess my earlier hunch re one or thóther was right).

As mentioned I do think I will need to upgrade the Power Supply when there is cash to hand.

Had wondered if I had not managed to format the partition would I have been allowed to install the 64 OS over the 32 bit as an upgrade.... guess I missed my chance on that!

Thank you again - looks significantly better than my previous build thus far - but I guess I will not know til I have my grapgics, 3d and fractal apps reinstalled and am trying to maintain a usual workflow. It´ll never be anything like as good as the Mac experience... I never get interrupted in the middle of a project by prompts to redstart the machine, nor for that matter does the system decide to do it automattically without affording me a chance to save.. Windows is very nasty in that regard and I have lost so much work over the years on accoubt of this.

However, fingers crossed - and the wife should be getting a much improved machine when I eventually fix the graphics chip problem on the iMac and she gets this back.... =)

JOYFUL FOR NOW - but dread the downtime for getting it up to date on the updates front. MY Vistas both came with SP1 but even there there is along way to go to get them up to date. Must look for an SP2 slipstream pack when eventually SP 2 comes out - real time saver!

[Annamoe_joe]

UPDATE

Less than 24 hours latr - The upgrade was not worth the money. Another $400 spent on hardware and still the problems persist - yet again on a different OS... So far on 3 totally distinct machines I have had major issues with XP SP3, Vista Ultimate 32bit and Vista Ultimate 64 bit.

Majorly slow... non responsiveness to mouse actions, screen locks and white screening - a total nightmare. Once again I can positively point the finger in only one direction here.... Microsoft.

If they were not protected by US Business interests and did not have a Monopoly in the Market this would be called Fracud and the company would be held accountable. Perhaps Vista does work flawlessly on some machine somewhere but I will bet that machine is a ptototuype and has neither Windows updates or Microsoft software installed on it! Roll on Windows 7., from what I have been reading it´s an improvement on Vista (that´s not saying anything). What is downright insulting though is that people like myself who has been doubly burnt with Vista I will be expected to pay for the upgrade. That really is taking the Mickey!

ALl thats left to do really here I think is try find a buyer.... and I will gladly buy myself another iMacv with the proceeds. At least one company is doing things right and providing valeu for money.

If it´s any help to anyone here following this thread my advice to you would be use the money wisely. I have been in [bleep] with windows since XP was launched some 6 years ago.... reinstalls monthly, From this thread you will see the history of a brand new Pavillion a6030la bought in January 2008 which saw no less than 6 reformats and reinstalls of XP and Vista 32 culminating in this rebuild.... which within 24 hours is already as bad as, if not worse than its predecessors.

And I know I am by no means alone in voicing my utter disgust towards Microsoft - Merchants of Greed!