- Nov 30, 2005
- 50,231
- 117
- 116
Ok, so here is the background. This is a brand new, first-time build, with the following components:
A64 X2 3800+ AM2 2.0GHZ
Seagate 7200.10 320GB SATA2 16MB
Sapphire X1900XT 625MHZ
ASUS M2N-E AM2 NFORCE570 DDR2 SATA2
Corsair 2X1GB DDR2-667
LIAN-LI V Cool PC-V1200 Silver
Seasonic 500W
Now, before I went on vacation I put everything together and was poking around in the BIOS and everything...seemed fine. I did not get a chance to install the OS (XP Pro) until I got back on Sunday night, and low and behold after XP does the drive format and starts copying all of the files, it goes BSOD and tells me to restart.
After I restart I get the wonderful "NTLDR is missing"...blah blah blah.
So here is everything I have done so far:
1. checked all connections and switched cords on the HDD
2. cleared the CMOS
3. did chkdsk /p (multiple errors) then chkdsk /r (fixed) chkdsk /p again (no errors)
4. fixboot and fixmbr
5. fixNTLDR from this site: Site
6. ran Memtest (3 passes - no errors)
7. ran Seagate HDD utility (no errors)
8. tried installing an old copy of XP Home (fromm Dell) I had laying around, same deal
9. used Seagate utility to format drive first (split it into 2 partitions) then reinstalled - no dice
10. repeatedly banged my head against the wall
Now at this point I have re-installed the OS about 6 or 7 times and I keep getting this problem. I am at my wit's end and am not sure what to do at this point.
Is it possible the drive is faulty? FYI I have no other parts around that I can swap in to test things, unless I go out and buy something.
Please everyone, I am begging for your help. I have spent so many hours working on this already. I am bleary eyed and exhausted and have no idea what to do now.
Thank you to everyone who spent their time reading this.
Cheers, KT
UPDATE (for anyone who runs into this issue): So it looks like all I needed was an updated BIOS. We took out one stick of memory and everything started working fine (tested both sticks this way), so for some reason the old BIOS was not working with both sticks. Flashed the 0203 BIOS and, low-and-behold, everything started working fine.
I have been reading a lot of issues with this board and memory compatibility, but I thought I had picked RAM that worked fine. Oh Well, live and learn.
Thanks to everyone who tried to help!
Cheers, KT
A64 X2 3800+ AM2 2.0GHZ
Seagate 7200.10 320GB SATA2 16MB
Sapphire X1900XT 625MHZ
ASUS M2N-E AM2 NFORCE570 DDR2 SATA2
Corsair 2X1GB DDR2-667
LIAN-LI V Cool PC-V1200 Silver
Seasonic 500W
Now, before I went on vacation I put everything together and was poking around in the BIOS and everything...seemed fine. I did not get a chance to install the OS (XP Pro) until I got back on Sunday night, and low and behold after XP does the drive format and starts copying all of the files, it goes BSOD and tells me to restart.
After I restart I get the wonderful "NTLDR is missing"...blah blah blah.
So here is everything I have done so far:
1. checked all connections and switched cords on the HDD
2. cleared the CMOS
3. did chkdsk /p (multiple errors) then chkdsk /r (fixed) chkdsk /p again (no errors)
4. fixboot and fixmbr
5. fixNTLDR from this site: Site
6. ran Memtest (3 passes - no errors)
7. ran Seagate HDD utility (no errors)
8. tried installing an old copy of XP Home (fromm Dell) I had laying around, same deal
9. used Seagate utility to format drive first (split it into 2 partitions) then reinstalled - no dice
10. repeatedly banged my head against the wall
Now at this point I have re-installed the OS about 6 or 7 times and I keep getting this problem. I am at my wit's end and am not sure what to do at this point.
Is it possible the drive is faulty? FYI I have no other parts around that I can swap in to test things, unless I go out and buy something.
Please everyone, I am begging for your help. I have spent so many hours working on this already. I am bleary eyed and exhausted and have no idea what to do now.
Thank you to everyone who spent their time reading this.
Cheers, KT
UPDATE (for anyone who runs into this issue): So it looks like all I needed was an updated BIOS. We took out one stick of memory and everything started working fine (tested both sticks this way), so for some reason the old BIOS was not working with both sticks. Flashed the 0203 BIOS and, low-and-behold, everything started working fine.
I have been reading a lot of issues with this board and memory compatibility, but I thought I had picked RAM that worked fine. Oh Well, live and learn.
Thanks to everyone who tried to help!
Cheers, KT