hiya guys, need some help please
i am starting to think that my new DS3 (F5) mobo is borked.
its doing weird things. i'm trying to install windows on it but even tho the drives i've used have fat 32 or ntfs partitions on it, the installation of XP doesnt recognise it as valid for windows. the same is true even after deleting the partition and creating a new one. windows sees it, lets me pick it to install but then says its not valid
this is for a partition that had XP on it on a diff PC. tried on pata and sata drives that are fine in other pcs and have had windows on them at various points. tried diff sata/ide cables and still the same
tried the same cd i always used to install XP and even downloaded one in case mine went weird - still the same.
also, it wont let me update the bios either. tried through the bios - it finds the file on my floppy drive but says its the wrong size. when i try through a boot cd going to dos it just opens the program, goes through the motions and nothing happens.
the bios is still F5 when all is done.
i've tried this with the bios on a floppy and a cd. both checked and read fine, no errors on either. for some reason the mobo just wont update it.
i decided in the end to put a copy of windows that is already installed on a different pc with acronis true image onto a spare drive and see if it worked.
this let me into windows and i tried to flash the bios there again - same thing again. it simply doesnt update it.
i have reset the bios settings to optimized defaults as well as fail safe defaults and cant see a reason why it would fail.
all the drives i use are fine on other PCs, my memory passes memtest fine so its not a ram fault, the power supply is a 580w tagan so more than enough for a barebones setup and the processor is also ok as it was tested in my other intel setup (intel motherboard - d975xbx) and all is fine.
oddly, after trying to install XP from scratch on the same drive as i did the image copy onto, windows says its corrupted? i go with the option to format the drive and it does the same again. the drive is fine when connected to another pc. no diff if IDE or SATA.
the only thing i can think of is the motherboard is faulty in some bizarre way
i am starting to think that my new DS3 (F5) mobo is borked.
its doing weird things. i'm trying to install windows on it but even tho the drives i've used have fat 32 or ntfs partitions on it, the installation of XP doesnt recognise it as valid for windows. the same is true even after deleting the partition and creating a new one. windows sees it, lets me pick it to install but then says its not valid
this is for a partition that had XP on it on a diff PC. tried on pata and sata drives that are fine in other pcs and have had windows on them at various points. tried diff sata/ide cables and still the same
tried the same cd i always used to install XP and even downloaded one in case mine went weird - still the same.
also, it wont let me update the bios either. tried through the bios - it finds the file on my floppy drive but says its the wrong size. when i try through a boot cd going to dos it just opens the program, goes through the motions and nothing happens.
the bios is still F5 when all is done.
i've tried this with the bios on a floppy and a cd. both checked and read fine, no errors on either. for some reason the mobo just wont update it.
i decided in the end to put a copy of windows that is already installed on a different pc with acronis true image onto a spare drive and see if it worked.
this let me into windows and i tried to flash the bios there again - same thing again. it simply doesnt update it.
i have reset the bios settings to optimized defaults as well as fail safe defaults and cant see a reason why it would fail.
all the drives i use are fine on other PCs, my memory passes memtest fine so its not a ram fault, the power supply is a 580w tagan so more than enough for a barebones setup and the processor is also ok as it was tested in my other intel setup (intel motherboard - d975xbx) and all is fine.
oddly, after trying to install XP from scratch on the same drive as i did the image copy onto, windows says its corrupted? i go with the option to format the drive and it does the same again. the drive is fine when connected to another pc. no diff if IDE or SATA.
the only thing i can think of is the motherboard is faulty in some bizarre way