*** Official ASUS P5W DH Thread ***

[brock01]

i have the raid drives right now in ez-backup,but from other posts i have read that the ICH7R is faster in raid 0 than the ez-backup

 

[Whirlwind]

Thank You Phile

 

[CRChickadee]

New beta 1801. No info on changes. I wish they'd put in a txt file for the mods.

ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5W%20DH%20Deluxe/

 

[klindy]

I've read this thread from beginning to end (some parts more than once) and I'm still having trouble getting this thing to boot properly.

My goal is to have (2) 160gig SATAII hard drives be set up in a RAID1 configuration and have them hold the OS and any other programs loaded on the machine. They also will have any non-media data files. My purpose is redundancy.

I also have (3) 400gig SATAII drives I want to set up in a RAID5 array on the Intel controller. These will hold my music, video and picture files. Again, redundancy is the key to prevent catastrophic failure (I really don't want to rip all those again!)

Here's my trouble - I set up the 2-160gig drives on the EZ-Backup (SI Controller as I read it) as a RAID1. Loaded the OS (WinXP pro) and things run fine. When I added the 3-400gig drives to the Intel controller I ran into problems.

I was able to get the mobo to recognize the drives and was able to use Control-I to get to the RAID setup screen. It saw my 3 new (empty and unformatted) drives and the RAID1 array (as a single "external" drive). I was able to set the 3 drives up as a RAID5 array.

I changed the BIOS to allow the JRMicron and Intel controllers to be "RAID" and set the "External0" drive (my 160gig RAID1) as the 1st Boot disk. However, when it goes through the POST and finally gets to the Windows splash screen, that splash image is on the screen for about 2-3 seconds before it spontaniously reboots. This cycle doesn't stop. If I pull the power and restart, I am asked if I want to boot in 'safe' mode, etc and generally some of the BIOS settings are changed.

So, my question is for help! I am willing to set this up differently if I achieve the same results - RAID1 for OS, etc and RAID5 for Media data. Finally, I do have a couple additional drives I would like to add for additional storage (320Gig SATAII drive and one 250Gig and one 300Gig IDE drive). I do not need these to be part of a RAID array but simply be used for additional storage (or live backup).

Any advice would be appreciated!!

BTW - at one point I did have to force the memory voltage to match the memory itself but that's another issue. I was able to get that setting to hold properly.

My purpose for this box is a file server and one video/audio rendering device in my house.

Thanks for the anticipated help!

 

[snowdrift]

All, I woke up to my P5B Deluxe (running Windows XP SP2 fully patched through 12/2006) with the following screen Saturday:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

... Several attempts at rebooting finally let me get in Windows long enough to make sure I had a decent backup of my data. (I have since had to re-install Windows XP.)

I noticed later in the day that my backups' MD5 hashes were not the same as the originals, which got me to thinking maybe I had some sort of virus or hardware issue. On some files, the file sizes between the archive copy and original copy would match exactly, but the MD5 would differ. On other files, both the MD5 hashes and the file sizes would differ significantly. (My C: drive is my main OS drive, all one partition. My D: drive is a backup drive, as is my E: drive, an external USB 2.0 drive. All partitions are NTFS.)

My current set-up is: one WD 250GB hard drive on SATA01, and a second one (same make and size) on SATA02. I do not do any RAID array/striping. I have two older IDE DVD burners on the PATA connector (the JMicron connector on the mobo, if I'm correct). A third hard drive is a perpendicular density 300GB Seagate housed in an external USB2.0 Vantec anodized aluminum case.

The only way I can ever get this system to boot up correctly is by treating setting the SATA set-up as "AHCI" and doing the same under the JMicron BIOS entry. I have often wondering why I need to set things to AHCI to get things to boot the way I want them. It seems like in my case, the plain "IDE" setting would work but it never seems to boot up right, or else reboots.

I have the current BIOS 0804 installed and have correctly installed the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility 8.1.1.10 for Windows XP. Before re-installing to try to address my data corruption issues this weekend, I had installed "JMicron JMB36X RAID Controller Driver v1.12.07.00 for Windows XP (WHQL) -- JMB363_1120700." I have since *not* reinstalled the JMicron controller driver since I am not doing RAID. Damn the yellow exclamation point in the device driver listing... The yellow "!" was the only reason I ever installed the JMB36X driver anyway.

I cannot get the Intel Matrix Storage Manager to install despite reading somewhere that I should install it so as to optimize my SATA experience, even though I'm not using a RAID array. Trying to install it, I get some error message saying the current configuration isn't current or else is lacking in some way. I *have* since installed Western Digital's Data Lifeguard Tools, although I am not sure I need it. I did notice that when I first installed Lifeguard, I got some error message about the 137GB registry issue, which surprised me since my XP installation is a slipstreamed installation current through 12/2006. I thought the 137GB issue was more a Win2K issue anyway. I let WD install its "fix."

So... any ideas as to why I might have had data corruption? ... What the "...\CONFIG\SYSTEM" error meant or pointed to? And, have I set up my two plain SATA drives all right with the AHCI setting?

Thanks for any insights. I know this is a long recitation, but I want to get it right. I cannot doubt my hard drive's data credibility again like this weekend. My nerves are shot.

 

[motorbikeking1]

how many 3pin fan connections does this mb have?

 

[klindy]

Originally posted by: motorbikeking1
how many 3pin fan connections does this mb have?

I count 4. Plus there is a dedicated CPU fan connection with 4 pins.

However I read somewhere on this forum (or at asus) that one of the chassis fan connections is not controlable the same way the others are. Sorry I can't elaborate but since I'm having trouble setting up the RAID array's I want, I haven't been able to research the chassis fan connections any more.

Hope this helps.

 

[motorbikeking1]

ok thx that does help.

is it possable to connect 2 fans up to use one connection? for example, have 2 case fans at the front of the case through the same connection freeing another connection up. if this is possable than this is probably what i would do as it doesnt matter if their both the same speed as their at the front of the case(both doing exactly the same job, to pull air into the case)

 

[iamdw]

Originally posted by: motorbikeking1
ok thx that does help.

is it possable to connect 2 fans up to use one connection? for example, have 2 case fans at the front of the case through the same connection freeing another connection up. if this is possable than this is probably what i would do as it doesnt matter if their both the same speed as their at the front of the case(both doing exactly the same job, to pull air into the case)

Guess i'll double the question here rather than googling for it since this thread seems rather helpful and i'm not completely committed to the upgrade..

I'd contemplated the same thing as i was interested in dropping 40mm fans on NB/SB heatsinks. Problem is, two fan connections are currently in use due to my Crossfire setup.

So, i would imagine this would be possible with an adapter of some sort, no?

 

[motorbikeking1]

i got bored and decided to google it and found this.
it should do the job but i am not sure wether it is safe to do this because twice the power will be going through the one connection on the mb, whats the limit one fan connection on the mb can take?

 

[srs]

anyone figure out what that little plastic piece is that is included with the remote battery? Some kind of stand for the remote???

 

[QuietRiot]

Yep, I think you can stick to the side of your machine and have the remote hang there upside down.


Does anyone even use that remote?

 

[srs]

ah, makes sense

I find the remote rather useless myself, but could make use of the usb receiver to use with my regular remote w/ girder.

 

[motorbikeking1]

if someone were to build a pc for media centre they could use that remote to control the videos they play (play, pause, etc.) just a thought.

 

[lexcyn]

Hello everyone.

I just received this board along with an E6600 for Christmas. I'm trying to get it all set up and I've come across the following issues:

* The stock BIOS was version 1001. Tried to boot, it would POST then randomly reset itself. Also, my USB keyboard and mouse were not being detected in all of the ports.

* Updated to BIOS 1707 to see if this would resolve the issues. Issues were still present but more evident than before. Now I'm at the point where either 2 things will happen when I power on:
1) My fans will all be on, my video card fan will be on FULL speed and it will stay that way. The HDD light will be flashing even though no HDD is plugged in. Also USB keyboard will not work.
2) Computer will power on, I will see the BIOS screen flash for a second and then it will reboot. This loops over and over again. Also USB keyboard will not work.

My system specs are as follows:
E6600 with stock fan
P5W DH Deluxe with 1707 BIOS (presumably dead)
512MB of test RAM (Elpidia PC2-4200 - it's on the QVL)
ATI Radeon x1900XT 512MB PCIe
CoolerMaster 600w

Anyone have any ideas? I think it may be the RAM, Mobo or PSU but I'm not sure, and I have no idea where to go from here.

 

[Butterbean]

Well I'm not the person to ask but it looks like the mavens are away so the only I could tell you is if your using usb mouse/keyboard remember the bottom 2 usb ports in rear function differently and are used for remote etc. I have read a few people who plugged things in there and were surprised things shut off and on.

 

[touchstone1]

@klindy, @snowdrift...

Well, I've experienced combinations of both of your issues over the last couple of months (spontaneous reboots, apparently 'corrupt' Windows installation, no ICH7R driver installs etc.). The only 'stable' install I've managed is a single WD250GB SATA attached to SATA1 in 'Standard IDE' mode. If I add even a single PATA drive the board starts rebooting. Add a second WD250GB SATA to SATA3 and Windows won't start up (fails during driver load). The JMicron is disabled, BTW.

I've just upgraded to 1707 BIOS and might start the whole process all over again, but I'm starting to think life's too short.

I'm stumped, but maybe there's something (hardware, config etc) we've got in common that might help us diagnose the root cause?

 

[DutchBBQ]

December 2006 driver releases for P5W HD Deluxe:
* JMicron: Dec. 12, 2006
* DirectX: Dec. 13, 2006
* WiFi AP Solo: Dec. 22, 2006
* Marvell Yukon LAN for VISTA: Dec. 27, 2006
* Realtek Audio drivers for XP: Dec. 29,2006

January 2007 driver releases:
* Intel Matrix Storage Manager 6.2.1.1002: Jan. 4,2007, offering slightly improved SATA harddisk performance and helps preventing iastor0 error.
* DirectX for XP ONLY: Jan. 5, 2007
* Realtek Audio driver for VISTA: Jan. 8, 2007
* Realtek WLAN driver for VISTA: Jan. 11, 2007

Downloading and installing latest BIOS & Drivers helps reducing installation problems and instability of your system. While the idea is dead obvious--the problem is that we don't do the obvious. Don't use the drivers on the accompanied ASUS CD of your P5W HD Deluxe motherboard!!
For your convenience, I've listed here the links where to get the LATEST of them.
Check it out REGULARLY as new drivers are released every couple of weeks.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=...l=P5W+DH+Deluxe&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: lexcyn
Hello everyone.

I just received this board along with an E6600 for Christmas. I'm trying to get it all set up and I've come across the following issues:

* The stock BIOS was version 1001. Tried to boot, it would POST then randomly reset itself. Also, my USB keyboard and mouse were not being detected in all of the ports.

* Updated to BIOS 1707 to see if this would resolve the issues. Issues were still present but more evident than before. Now I'm at the point where either 2 things will happen when I power on:
1) My fans will all be on, my video card fan will be on FULL speed and it will stay that way. The HDD light will be flashing even though no HDD is plugged in. Also USB keyboard will not work.
2) Computer will power on, I will see the BIOS screen flash for a second and then it will reboot. This loops over and over again. Also USB keyboard will not work.

My system specs are as follows:
E6600 with stock fan
P5W DH Deluxe with 1707 BIOS (presumably dead)
512MB of test RAM (Elpidia PC2-4200 - it's on the QVL)
ATI Radeon x1900XT 512MB PCIe
CoolerMaster 600w

Anyone have any ideas? I think it may be the RAM, Mobo or PSU but I'm not sure, and I have no idea where to go from here.

Things to try and/or confirm:

1) Is the PSU properly connected (two connectors: ATX 20+4-pin and 4-pin 12v)
2) Is the motherboard properly grounded in the case? If all else fails, thy hooking-up mobo/mem/CPU/VID outside of the case.
3) Try a single stick of mem (try both, one at a time, to see if you have a bad DIMM)
4) Try booting without any USB peripherals connected, besides the mouse and keyboard. Make sure to connect mouse and keyboard to USB ports 1 and 2 only (back panel, upper two slots). The lower two slots are "always on", so connecting input devices to these ports can be problematic.
5) Reset the CMOS (see manual for exact jumper location).

If none of the above helps you get the machine to post, I would conclude that you have at least one faulty device, likely the mobo, mem, or PSU. Iderally, before RMAing the board, see if you can test both the mem and PSU on a different machine. There's nothing quite as frustrating as going through the hassle of replacing a mobo, only to learn that it was something else causing the problems.

Report your results.

-phil

 

[nrs251]

Anandtech Dominator memory on the 975X

Sometimes I don't understand how these reviews work. The Corsair forums specifically state that the 975 chipset cannot achieve memory clocks > 1000GHz and remain stable. The P965 can. Yet this review has it doing just that.

Comments Phile?

 

[lmark84l]

Hey everyone, I came here hoping to get a question answered (it may already be answered in here, but I was hoping someone could point me to it). Anyway, I have 4 250GB WD HDDs. I wanted to put them into a RAID 10 setup. I can get the RAID set-up and the driver installed. However, when I go to set-up windows, it doesn't detect and HDDs. Any idea what is going on? I have been bashing my head for hours over this. Any help would be appreciated. Also, another quick question, what is the difference between the 32 bit and 64 bit RAID drivers. Thanks!

 

[lmark84l]

Wait, I figured it out, I was trying to use ICH8R RAID drivers instead of ICH7R drivers. I didn't realize that you could scroll down the list and get to the RAID driver that the manual instructs you to do. Wow...that took me 3 hours to figure out.

 

[shaunix]

Hi, i can't find in the thread the problem i'm having.
I recently completed building a pc but have got two problems.
1. HDD activity LED is not flashing -- using ASUS Q-connector or without it makes no difference.
2. HDD is making a noise, initially it was just like munching/crunching whenever there's an activity, but after i've unplugged and plugged both ends of the SATA connector and the SATA power cable the noise becomes a bit louder-- it's like coming from a drum. My HDD is DiamonMax10 80GB SATA plugged to SATA1, in Standard IDE mode (by default).

Apart from the above problem my pc is running OK. (AMI BIOS version 1407)

Any help is very much appreciated

 

[touchstone1]

Hmmm .... well, after all the disk controller woes I've had with the P5W DH, I'm seriously thinking of changing mobo. At the moment I'm looking at the Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 or Abit AB9 Pro ... does anyone have any experience with these boards?

TIA...

 

[Skott]

Originally posted by: shaunix
Hi, i can't find in the thread the problem i'm having.
I recently completed building a pc but have got two problems.
1. HDD activity LED is not flashing -- using ASUS Q-connector or without it makes no difference.
2. HDD is making a noise, initially it was just like munching/crunching whenever there's an activity, but after i've unplugged and plugged both ends of the SATA connector and the SATA power cable the noise becomes a bit louder-- it's like coming from a drum. My HDD is DiamonMax10 80GB SATA plugged to SATA1, in Standard IDE mode (by default).

Apart from the above problem my pc is running OK. (AMI BIOS version 1407)

Any help is very much appreciated

Problem #2 sounds more like a bad hdd than anything else. Its shouldnt be making that kind of noise at all.