[indyagent]

i have a used k6 550mhg processor

i only have one hard drive that is set as master and no jumper per the instructions on the drive
i only have on cdrom drive that is set to master with a jumper per the drive
i have 128mb of ram

i zeroed out the hard drive and loaded windows xp and it worked fine

however everytime i start or restart my computer i get the following

Ambios 1996© American Megatronics
GA-5AA-F3

The first thing that happens is "checking nvram" this takes over a minute and there no button i can push that will bypass it (how do you bypass this)

Then it says...

WDC WD2055A
Ultra DMA Node2 S.M.A.R.T. capable but disabled (this stays on this for about 45 seconds)
how do i get rid of this?

finally the next page says...

PRI slave HDD Error
SEC slave drive - ATAPI incompatible
Press F1 to Resume

This happens every time..

Can anyone offer me some help to fix these issues

once im past this XP runs great i just want to have it start up faster and without errors and having to hit F1

Thank you very much

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The first thing i would do is to replace the coin sized battery on the motherboard to see if it will cure the nvram error. Most camera shops have these size batterys.

The ultra DMA error suggests that you are using a 40 wire cable to connect the HD to the motherboard. Try using a 80 wire cable to correct this. You may have to enable ultra DMA in the BIOS of the motherboard. The motherboard may be old enough that it is not ultra DMA compatable while the hard drive is. You may be able to turn this off in the BIOS.

Heres a webpage on DMA.

http://www.pctechgui...s_Ultra_ATA.htm

If you are using one cable to connect the HD and cdrom to the motherboard the HD needs to be on the end connector of the cable and it needs to be jumpered as master. The cdrom need to be connected to the middle connector and jumpered as slave. If each drive is on their own cable connect them to the end connectors and set both as master.

I hope this helps.
SRX660

[SRX660]

The first thing i would do is to replace the coin sized battery on the motherboard to see if it will cure the nvram error. Most camera shops have these size batterys.

The ultra DMA error suggests that you are using a 40 wire cable to connect the HD to the motherboard. Try using a 80 wire cable to correct this. You may have to enable ultra DMA in the BIOS of the motherboard. The motherboard may be old enough that it is not ultra DMA compatable while the hard drive is. You may be able to turn this off in the BIOS.

Heres a webpage on DMA.

http://www.pctechgui...s_Ultra_ATA.htm

If you are using one cable to connect the HD and cdrom to the motherboard the HD needs to be on the end connector of the cable and it needs to be jumpered as master. The cdrom need to be connected to the middle connector and jumpered as slave. If each drive is on their own cable connect them to the end connectors and set both as master.

I hope this helps.
SRX660

[dsenette]

Ultra DMA Node2 S.M.A.R.T. capable but disabled (this stays on this for about 45 seconds)

for that...just enable S.M.A.R.T. in the bios....it's basically an advanced trouble shooting/drive health monitor stuff..

i'll do some research on the others...and i agree about trying to replace the CMOS battery to fix the NVRAM deal

[dsenette]

ok for the sec slave deal...what i'm seeing is a combination of updating the bios and updating the firmware of the drive...and putting the cd drive on cable select and having it on the end connector of the drive

[dsenette]

also..now that i'm thinking of it...make sure that both drives arent ont he same ide cable

[indyagent]

I have the hard drive set as single and no jumper and its at the end of the ide cable

i have the cd rom set as master with a jumper and its at the end of a separate cable.

i need to get a video card for this computer before i used it because i borrowed one from a friend to check it.

if you get no picture and the computer beeps at you does that mean the old video card is faulty?

how do you pull that coin sized battery off?

where do i get a bios update for my computer i gave the bios info above. do you guys have a link? and access that from another computer and put it on a floppy for the one im working on?

[dsenette]

for the bios update...got to the MOBO manufatrure's website and download one...

same for the firmware for the drive

if you get a single post beep..your system is booting fine...

what kind of video card is in the machine now? is it onboard? was the one you had in it before an agp/pci card? if that is the case....then you may need to re-enable the video card in the bios...which since you're n ot getting a display...can be done by removing the CMOS battery from the mother board...this will reset your bios to defaults..

[indyagent]

well i used an old video card from a friend and i fried it. he doesnt get any video on his computer and it beeps 4 or 5 times.,

we tried it in the one i have a again and the same thing, no video and 4 or 5 beeps

could i make the leap and suggest that i fried the video card? can they wear out when you exchange them.

i was careful with it

[indyagent]

to follow up i got another battery and put it in but i still get the message...

checking nvram

it goes for about a minute and then says "Update OK" but it does this everytime

but one good thing is that when i replaced the battery it reset the bios and i dont get any of those error messages anymore.

but do you fine folks no of another way to get rid of the checking nvram?

also how do you see how much video memory have on your computer

i have a 3d rage pro AGP 2X do you guys know how much video memory that card has?

Thanks so much for your help

Edited by indyagent, 02 December 2005 - 03:04 PM.

[dsenette]

try updating your bios....go to the motherboard manufacturer's website and download the newest available bios version and follow their instructions for updating...