[DaveSouth]

Ok this is a long story, and I've done everything I can think of so far, so here it is.

OBJECTIVE: Originally I was planning to reformat my 120GB Seagate HD, and re-install XP; as I do once in a while as due to windows inherent programing, gets bogged down after a while, with use and all.
After backing up MyDocs, and other important irreplaceable files, ( i know from experience ) I proceded to reformat my HD.

PROBLEM #1 This probably should have been a warning sign, but who knows. Due to Windows' security, reformating the drive windows is installed on has become not as easy as it once was. In order to reformat my drive, I booted the computer into the Windows XP Pro CD, and began setup. Windows detected that a version, new than the cd (SP1) was already installed. I ignored that warning, and proceded to delete the partition XP was on, and format the new partition. The Format of the new partition Failed twice, and the computer would completely shut down power out in the middle of reformating. This being the case, I brought the HD over to a neighbors that has SATA connectors on his mobo. We went through windows and reformated, no problems.

PROBLEM #2 I am now sitting at home with a fresh NTFS 120 GB Sata drive. should be cake to install correct? ha. So I thought. I pop in my XP Pro CD and proceed to install XP. Initally I would need to define drivers for the SATA drive (pressing F6 nornally) but for some reason XP will not let me do this. Pounding F6 has no consequence. I thought this was a keyboard error, yet pressing F2 immediately aftward would launch me into ASR. Hmm. So i let XP continue, and of course it finds no drives installed. It asks me if i would like to install additional drivers, and I say yes, by pressing S. After I pop in my Silicon Image SATA/SSCID floppy, we are running good. Windows starts copying files. When it gets the initial files copied, it starts installing windows core components. Here it also runs into errors, saying that it cannot copy any Silicon Image files (si*.sys ..etc) Hmm, thats interesting, didn't windows just copy those files to detect the drive??? hmmm. Well, I thought, maybe there's a chance it has the files it needs.. so I hit Esc, to skip the files, and it continues installing, and finally reaches the end, and starts to reboot.

PROBLEM #3 Windows reboots, and brings up the Windows XP loading screen. At this point Im' thinking "ok... so it got the drivers it needed." Before getting anywhere the system immediately goes into a blue screen, and halts.

I can write down the stop error numbers, as this same error happens every time.

What Im left to (and I've come here for help & suggestions)

1. - taking my HD to neighbors again and manually dumping all the drivers into /Windows and pretty much every other directory on the HD. Maybe there's a chance manually installing the drivers that were not installed (Silicon Image Drivers) will Help. Maybe not. The computer gets to the Windows XP loading screen, so it must be able to read SATA drives, right?

2. - creating a custom Windows XP ISO. a suggestion from the guy at the techbench who was pretty much useless. Sounds complicated, but i have the resources to do it. Possibly putting the drivers on the XP CD and such would help. I do not know much about this, so help would be appriciated.

3. - I am open for help & suggestions.

EDIT:

New Developments

I recently pulled the HD from a older working machine (Windows 2000 SP4) and inserted it in. Its a 133 drive, so i thought there would be no problems. Ha. woe was I. The win2000 HD got to the white "loading windows" screen and also came up with a stop error.

I also wrote down the stop errors from the SATA drive

error from SATA drive

STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF7C46640, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

error from ide win 2000 drive

STOP: 0x0000007B (0xEB41B84C, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)
INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE

yea. It gets more interesting. At this point I have no clue what to do. My last resort to all computer problems (reformating) is not working out so hot. Any help would be greadly appriciated.

EDIT: I recently reset the MOBO settings, back to factory default (left batt out for like 2 hrs) and rebooted. Still same errors. No luck.

If someone would give me their opinion about installing XP on the drive completely from a different machine. I somehow dont think that would get rid of the bluescreen errors. (but I could be wrong... installing fully and running update and having all the SiliconImage drivers could fix it...) Any opinions/advice/counsel would be greatly appriciated.. I am at a loss what to do with my system, If getting a new HD would replicate the same errors.

Edited by DaveSouth, 25 June 2005 - 11:30 PM.

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Installing XP on a different PC then transferring the drive back to your own PC will not work -- XP will not run if it's host media (the disk) is moved to another PC unless both PCs are absolutely identical in all the key hardware areas --- this has nothing to do with Windows Product Activation, it's simply how XP behaves when it's moved.

[pip22]

Installing XP on a different PC then transferring the drive back to your own PC will not work -- XP will not run if it's host media (the disk) is moved to another PC unless both PCs are absolutely identical in all the key hardware areas --- this has nothing to do with Windows Product Activation, it's simply how XP behaves when it's moved.

[DaveSouth]

At this point I'm not sure where to go. Do I purchase a new HD? or will that not fix anything? and if not.... what do I do with my system? I am really at a loss where to go

[gerryf]

take the drive back to your friend's -- do not simply reformat--delete the existing partition.

then install the drive, allow windows setup to create the partition and format the drive.

[DaveSouth]

I did that- came back to my PC case and plugged in. Right back at step #2 (see above)

[gerryf]

you said you reformatted the drive as ntfs, and then brought it back....

I am saying NO PARTITION and NO FILES SYSTEM...or maybe I misread?

[DaveSouth]

I've done a couple things
a: delete partition in setup and create new partition and format *into NTFS
b: quick format *NTFS
c: format through bios (RAID setup has format feature) *which leaves filesysem as RAW and windows then formats
d: format from friends PC *into NTFS

- I wouldnt think this would be the problem - because windows will get through the initial setup (even thought it does not install Si drivers ) and reboot with Windows XP load screen. It hangs after abt 5 seconds in Win XP load screen.

Edited by DaveSouth, 26 June 2005 - 12:39 PM.

[gerryf]

I have seen harddrive partitions cause problems that can only be resolved by debugging the drive....which I know how to do on the ide drive, but I actually have never had to do with an SATA drive.

My hope was that allowing windows setup to create the partition, that may work.

[gerryf]

Here's what MS has to say on this error:

Stop 0x0000007B or INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE
The Stop 0x7B message indicates that Windows XP Professional has lost access to the system partition or boot volume during the startup process. Installing incorrect device drivers when installing or upgrading storage adapter hardware typically causes stop 0x7B errors. Stop 0x7B errors could also indicate possible virus infection.

Interpreting the Message
This Stop message has four parameters:

The address of a Unicode string data structure representing the Advanced Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) Computing (ARC) specification name of the device at which you attempted startup.

Pointer to ARC name string in memory.

This value is 0x00000000 (zero).

This value is 0x00000000 (zero).

The first parameter typically contains two separate pieces of data. For example, if the parameter is 0x00800020, 0x0020 is the actual length of the Unicode string and 0x0080 is the maximum ARC name string length. The next parameter contains the address of the buffer. This address is in system space, so the high-order bit is set.

If the file system is unable to mount the boot device or simply does not recognize the data on the boot device as a file system structure, the following parameter definition applies:

The address of the device object that could not be mounted.

Error code value or 0x00000000 (zero).

This value is 0x00000000 (zero).

This value is 0x00000000 (zero).

The value of the first parameter determines whether the parameter is a pointer to an ARC name string (ARC names are a generic method of identifying devices within the ARC environment) or a device object, because a Unicode string never has an odd number of bytes, and a device object always has a Type code of 0003.

The second parameter is very important because it can indicate whether the 0x7B Stop message was caused by file system issues or problems with storage hardware and drivers. Values of 0xC000034 or 0xC000000E typically indicate:

Disks or storage controllers that are failing, defective, or improperly configured.

Storage-related drivers or programs (tape management software, for example) that are not fully compatible with Windows XP Professional.

Resolving the Problem
The following suggestions are specific to Stop 0x7B errors. For additional troubleshooting suggestions that apply to all Stop errors, see “Stop Message Checklist” later in this appendix.

During I/O system initialization, the controller or driver for the startup device (typically the hard disk) might have failed to initialize the necessary hardware. File system initialization might have failed because of disk or controller failure, or because the file system did not recognize the data on the boot device.

Repartitioning disks, adding new disks, or upgrading to a new disk controller might cause the information in the Boot.ini file, or Boot Manager, to become outdated. If this Stop message occurs after installing new disks to your system, edit the Boot.ini file or adjust the Boot Manager parameters to allow the system to start. If the error occurs after upgrading the disk controller, verify that the new hardware is functioning and correctly configured. For more information about the Boot.ini file, see “Troubleshooting Startup” in this book.

Verify that the system firmware and disk controller BIOS settings are correct and that the storage device was properly installed. If you are unsure, consult your computer’s documentation about restoring default firmware settings or configuring your system to auto-detect settings. If the error occurs during Windows XP Professional setup, the problem might be due to unsupported disk controller hardware. In some cases, drivers for new hardware are not in the Windows XP Professional Driver.cab library, and you need to provide additional drivers to complete the Windows XP Professional setup successfully. If this is the case, follow the hardware manufacturer’s instructions when installing drivers. Periodically check for driver and firmware updates.

Hard disk corruption can also cause this Stop message. For more information about checking hard disk integrity, see the instructions provided in “Stop 0x00000024 or NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM” earlier in this appendix.

Problems that cause 0x7B errors might also cause Stop 0xED errors. For more information about 0xED Stop messages, see “Stop 0x0000007B or INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE” later in this appendix.

[DaveSouth]

Sounds like what I held suspect in the beginning. The disk access drivers that windows did not copy/was unable to copy are causing these errors. I will try installing the drivers via a separate machine.

[gerryf]

in my opinion, none of these apply to your situation--

what kind of motherboard is this?

[gerryf]

Sounds like what I held suspect in the beginning. The disk access drivers that windows did not copy/was unable to copy are causing these errors. I will try installing the drivers via a separate machine.

As noted above, this will not work--windows xp will not work after moving the drive from one machine to another.

[DaveSouth]

Asus A7N8X Deluxe



** on a side note - this seems weird - i dont remember going through this much trouble last time i reformated.

[gerryf]

and of course, asus driver server seems to be down.

Check for new sata drivers on the asus site.

Do you have an old drive laying around...you could at least start an install and see if it gets going--then you can rule out the chipset.

I'm still leaning toward slightly skewed partition,

[DaveSouth]

sure i can try that- i think i have an old 8gb here somewhere