EPoX "EP-9NPA+Ultra" NVIDIA nForce4 ULTRA Chipset Motherboard

[leigh6]

I am about to do a build for a friend using this board. The only usb ports that will be used would be for his keyboard/mouse setup. Without knowing now if there will be any troubles with the 2.0 vs. 1.1 will setting the bios to disable 2.0 affect the wireless mouse keyboard setup. I would prefer not to have ANY problem with this board.

Thanks, Leigh

 

[RideFree]

I have the MX3100 running on mine. Works great, however, some BIOS settings appear to disable the keyboard when used as USB. Keep the USB/PS2 adapter handy, JIC.

 

[Kyle W]

Yikes! 42 pages too much to read so I'll just ask. I'm thinking about getting this for a A64 3200+. Should I be worried at all about the newegg reviews? Since many say board is dead right out of box. I just want a board I can get and put it all together and hopefully not fiddle with anything. Ive heard this is a stable board. I dont plan to OC. I also heard that customer service is awful. Thank you.

 

[DrewCU]

I bought this board from Newegg, no problems with the board other than USB 2.0 woes, and those are tolerable considering I have options to get around them for now. Yes, people complained of dead boards but if that happens, you can always have them send you another and another and while it's a bit annoying, chances are decent you will be satisfied.

I have a PS/2 keyboard and USB mouse, printer, PDA, game controller, UPS, etc and they all run fine with USB 2.0 or 1.1 enabled. The only issue is with the higher speed devices such as my Linksys WirelessG adapter or harddrives but other than that you should have no worries!

I really hope Epox figures out a fix soon...

 

[DrewCU]

Can everyone who bought a USB 2.0 PCI card that works for them please post what brand and model and maybe where they bought it???? (My Startech is not fixing the problem so I wanna see if another brand will work)

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Meuge]

i am waiting for a usb2 pcie x1 card

 

[DrewCU]

Attention!

Been doing a ton of research on the issue and will know more once I do some calling to other manufacturers such as MSI, ECS, and Shuttle which each produced boards with the SAME EXACT problem, but they also came up with BIOSes that had SOLUTIONS!!!

One thing I know now is that this is EXCLUSIVELY an X2 problem and only an X2 problem that only resides with people with higher-speed devices plugged in (something I knew already). That explains why some of you don't have any freezings. It is reported (although you may not like this) that if you include the line "/onecpu" to your boot.ini file and XP loads with just one core of your X2, you will have NO USB 2.0 issues!

Some people were speculating that this is an IRQ sharing conflict issue but I don't seem to have any, yet I have the USB 2.0 issue. Some others were saying that using the Nvidia IDE driver got rid of at least the USB 2.0 issues, but I don't really want to experiment with that driver since it has been known to give a lot of trouble... Anyone with or without the driver and the X2 want to comment on this?

But since many people boards which had this issue now have BIOS's to correct it, I suspect that EPOX can do the same (assuming they get a good nudge in that direction).

Here are the boards which I have read to have the same problem: Epox 9npa Ultra, SLI (as you know already), Shuttle SN25P, Abit Fatality, MSI Neo4, ECS nforce4, and probably others...

We'll see what I can do and happy holidays all

 

[Mem]

but since many people boards which had this issue now have BIOS's to correct it, I suspect that EPOX can do the same (assuming they get a good nudge in that direction).

Problem with that is Epox have had dual core BIOS support since end of June and if there was a real USB 2.0 /x2 issue that a simple BIOS update could fix, well it would of been fixed by now,also in those threads of yours you'll still have people with no USB 2.0 issues with their dual core CPUs,so conculsion wise it is hard to point the finger.

The way I see it at moment seems to be very hard to track down the cause,some people have problems while others do not,if it was a dual core problem with USB 2.0 then all X2 owners would be getting lockups to some extent with their high speed devices.

Anyway here is my USB 2.0 irq settings to start the ball off.
At bootup USB 2.0 controller showing IRQ 12,
in Windows(System Info)I have the following,

IRQ 0 System timer OK
IRQ 3 Communications Port (COM2) OK
IRQ 4 Communications Port (COM1) OK
IRQ 6 Standard floppy disk controller OK
IRQ 8 System CMOS/real time clock OK
IRQ 9 Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System OK
IRQ 11 NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management OK
IRQ 13 Numeric data processor OK
IRQ 14 NVIDIA nForce4 Parallel ATA Controller OK
IRQ 15 NVIDIA nForce4 Parallel ATA Controller OK
IRQ 17 Creative SB Audigy 4 (WDM) OK
IRQ 18 NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT OK
IRQ 19 VIA OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller OK
IRQ 20 NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA Controller OK
IRQ 21 NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA Controller OK
IRQ 21 NVIDIA Network Bus Enumerator OK
IRQ 22 Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller OK
IRQ 23 Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller OK

As you can see nothing is shared,yes I did install the X2 driver and Nvidia SW IDE driver FYI.

 

[sixth]

I agree with everything above, I myself have been having HORRILBE USB 2.0 issues, and I rely on my USB 2.0, I relaly wish there was something that could be done to fix these problems. I have installed everything needed, Nvidia IDE drivers, AMD 64 drivers, etc.

Hopefully someone comes up with something...we need it!!!

 

[DrewCU]

MEM - It is a 100% an X2 problem; you don't have to believe me, and since you are the only one who doesn't have a problem, there is no point dwelling on your case. Check out those links if you don't believe me. At least over at Abit's forums, some people don't have problems apparently, but regardless, the problem is only with people with X2 processors, and considering the people at Shuttle and MSI have released BIOS patches long ago in September, I suspect that's what we need here.

These boards were released (many of them) long before X2's were around so I guess some things slipped under the radar such as things that have stipulations such as not just USB 2.0 will cause problems but having HIGH-speed devices working fully.

And if you can't understand why EPOX hasn't released a fix yet, you have never dealt then with the IDIOTS over there. I was told to change the Vcore settings on my CPU in order to fix this USB 2.0 problem!!!!!!!! They also told me to apply a SP1 fix despite having SP2 installed!!!! They are not the cream of the crop over there so any research I can do can only HELP matters. Instead of pretending like you know what you are talking about and saying I couldn't possibly know, Mem, how about doing some research or at least pretend by checking out the work I have done. It is nice that you went to some trouble with your own magical system to try to force the freezings, but we have already established that that is impossible.

Mem - You do have the NV IDE driver installed which someone said was the key for him with his Abit board, but then we have sixth who has the driver but has the problem. sixth, could you possibly check out your IRQ settings and report back with any USB sharing issues? Thanks.

And Happy holidays all!

 

[Mem]

MEM - It is a 100% an X2 problem; you don't have to believe me, and since you are the only one who doesn't have a problem, there is no point dwelling on your case.

DrewCU did you not read those posts in your links where members don't have any problems,I'm not the only one that does not have any problems, or can't you read?

Btw I had no problems before I installed the Nvidia SW IDE too,so you can rule that out of the equation,I only installed that after few weeks or so.

Mem, how about doing some research or at least pretend by checking out the work I have done. It is nice that you went to some trouble with your own magical system to try to force the freezings, but we have already established that that is impossible.

I would but your attitude is a bit rude to be honest in some of your posts,besides we need those that have problems to post their hardware ,IRQs etc so we can gather information.

 

[DrewCU]

I believe I already acknowledged that...

At least over at Abit's forums, some people don't have problems apparently, but regardless, the problem is only with people with X2 processors, and considering the people at Shuttle and MSI have released BIOS patches long ago in September, I suspect that's what we need here.

But just because some people don't have issues with X2 processors, does not mean that the issue does not reside with people who have X2 processors ONLY. Just try to find one person with this board and an Athlon 64 (non-X2) and PROBLEMS WITH USB 2.0! I bet you can't! I can't explain your case or the case of people other than myself since I am here and you are not. But I can say that more people than not have an issue with X2 processors and USB 2.0 and that other motherboard manufacturers released patches acknowledging this EXACT same problem!

 

[Mem]

Btw those that have had USB 2.0 problems have you tried an external powered USB 2.0 hub?..I don't mean PCI USB 2.0 card .

 

[DrewCU]

Huh? English please! I think you just asked me whether I tried a powered USB hub, and since I believe those need to plugged into a functional USB 2.0 port, that would not work for me. And I plugged my adapter into my LCD monitor's ports, and froze up. So that does not work.

 

[Mem]

Huh? English please! I think you just asked me whether I tried a powered USB hub, and since I believe those need to plugged into a functional USB 2.0 port, that would not work for me. And I plugged my adapter into my LCD monitor's ports, and froze up. So that does not work.

Question was very clear,don't know why you are being rude again,I was trying to rule out power issues that is why I suggested it and the question was for all members that have USB 2.0 problems not just you.

 

[DrewCU]

Considering you JUST edited the question and that was not how it was when I posted, I have every reason to be confused by a question that was NOT clear.

 

[Mem]

One more thing we need from those that have USB 2.0 problems,your BIOS settings well.

Off top of my memory I have the following disabled ,SMART,AC97 Audio(since I'm using Audigy 4) ,USB legacy support.

 

[Mem]

DrewCU:I accidently hit "I",so typo error,just STFU if you got nothing useful to say,consider this a warning from me ok,infact don't even post or reply to me anymore think that would be the best thing.

So my questions are for others which I will try and help if I can.

 

[RideFree]

Mem,
Finally!
You know me, I would have blasted him, when about 20 posts ago, he insisted that he'd heard enough about how your rig was running without problems.
32 to 12,853 - free speech is sometimes earned and always a privilege.
It is never an assumption. Assumption always starts with an ASS.
Is it too early for a, "Hope you all have a Happy New Year!"

 

[DrewCU]

You can't; you are a waste of space, Mem. You haven't done anything for these people and you simply can't. You also just ruined it for them by cursing at me, something I have not done at all to you. No longer will I post on this forum because of you, and if I find out even more information, I will keep it to myself, because of you. All you have done is tried to diminish this problem and live in your own NAIVE world, but the reality is that this is the REAL world, and problems such as yourself and this USB 2.0 issue exist. I have only tried to help people on this forum, and will still be available through PMs, but thanks to Mem, I am wiping my hands of this forum. And if EPOX releases a fix, you know who to thank, and it's not Mem.

Mem, I spit on you, and will take you on any time any place. Just try me!

 

[RideFree]

I think you ought "to take me on", also.

 

[RideFree]

Mem, etal
BTW I was editing/writing a term paper on this machine about a week ago and the dumb display started blanking out periodically. Being about 10 pages into the final product, I got scared that it would seize my work and I would have to write it all over from scratch.
So, I switched it over to another machine and finished it about three days later.
Pretty worrisome.

 

[Mem]

RideFree:hehe yes I know .
We still need more details from others that have problems with USB 2.0.I just been over to nforcershq and AMDMB forums ,the USB 2.0 problem is not a common one,I'm still hoping it can be a simple fix for those that have it.

Problem with USB 2.0 freezing is we need to rule out all typical common USB 2.0 problems caused by the usual conflicts ,power , hardware,user error etc... that you see in many threads over the years.

I'm not saying there is no issue,what I'm saying is rule out all the normal ones first, then we can see if we can find a common ground for the remainder.

I would of expected to see more of the USB 2.0 problem in nforcersHQ and AMDMB forums but quite the opposite,seem to be in the minority if you go on percentage.I'll keep looking at other forums.

BTW I was editing/writing a term paper on this machine about a week ago and the dumb display started blanking out periodically. Being about 10 pages into the final product, I got scared that it would seize my work and I would have to write it all over from scratch.

Very weird,one problem at a time .

 

[RideFree]

Originally posted by: Mem
...one problem at a time .

I know what you mean.

However, getting back to the EPoX issues, I'll bet they are somehow all related.

Edited for : BIOSFUBAR

 

[RideFree]

Another BTW,
I think I've got a powered hub around here somewhere, let me find it and try it out.

PS Want a third anomaly? This is the only machine on the LAN that refuses to access my NAS (DiskStation 101g+)
It shows up in "My Network Places" but refuses access to the EPoX. I've wondered if it is tied to the nvidia hardware firewall? HW firewall is disabled in BIOS & is not loaded in XP, in fact, has never been.
I do have other nforce4 M/Bs that have the BIOS enabled and the software also loaded under XP that have no trouble accessing the DiskStation. Go figure that one out
Like I said, BIOSFUBAR.