WinXP setup and Ubuntu Live CD both fail

[AncientPC]

My problem is that WinXP setup freezes all the time at the device installation phase, specifically installing the network card. I did have a PCI one in there at a time but I had yanked everything but the barebones (mobo, cpu, ram, vid, hdd, cd-rom) and it still freezes at that spot during setup.

I then tried Ubuntu. I can boot off the Live CD, and both CD check and memtest86 (overnight) turned out fine. However when I try to select the install/setup Ubuntu option it loads the kernel and then hangs for no apparent reason.

Any ideas appreciated.

Specs:
Antec 300W PSU
EPoX 8KTA3
AMD Athlon 1.4Ghz (socket A)
512MB RAM (reseated, memtest86'ed overnight)
Voodoo3 3000
Maxtor 200GB hdd

 

[Auric]

If hanging upon installation of drivers for integrated network controller then disable it from CMOS Setup/BIOS. Makes sense, n'est pas?

 

[AncientPC]

There is no integrated NIC.

 

[Nocturnal]

Can you remove the PCI NIC? Otherwise, you can try a few things. Run Memtest on your memory. Try upgrading the BIOS to the newest available. Try disabling everything from the Parallel port to Serial and pretty much everything that can be disabled and try again.

 

[AncientPC]

-The PCI NIC is removed, that's why it's odd that XP setup hangs on installing network drivers.

-Have already Memtested overnight.

-Have already flashed BIOS to newest, and thus used fail-safe BIOS defaults.

 

[BadRobot]

hardware failure for the win?

maybe mobo?

 

[AncientPC]

If anything on a barebones system fails upon bootup it'd throw a POST code.

Motherboard? It wouldn't post, plus there are bulging or popped caps.

Memory? Tested with memtest86.

Video card? It'd give me video problems.

hdd? After flashing BIOS it can't even load Windows setup anymore.

After flashing and using fail-safe settings Ubuntu LiveCD now but Windows setup won't even load.

Edit: I just found out what was preventing WinXP setup from running. I'm using cable select and I'm not sure why or how, but the end point of the cable is slave and the middle is master.

Since I had set up the hdd as slave already I didn't care or think it would make a difference, but apparently once I set it back to master an then WinXP setup would load.

Let's see if the Windows install will work now . . .

 

[Matthias99]

Motherboard? It wouldn't post, plus there are bulging or popped caps.

On my last build I got a flaky motherboard that would POST and load into setup but wouldn't install an OS cleanly. Took a while to figure out (thought it was RAM initially, since memtest86 would also fail after a few hours.) You can't just assume that because it goes through a basic POST that everything is fine.

However, it sounds like you found the issue. Not sure why that would be a problem, but hey...

 

[BadRobot]

If that doesnt work it could be overheating or even your power suppply. Also like was stated previously it could still be your mobo even if it posts.

 

[oynaz]

Defective optical drive?

 

[Auric]

CS FTL. It exists (nay, existed) to make things simpler and quicker for volume system builders. For an individual it has the opposite effect.

 

[AncientPC]

Originally posted by: oynaz
Defective optical drive?

I've replaced the optical drive with another one that's guaranteed working (just used it to install XP on another system yesterday) and WinXP setup still crashes at the 34 minute mark (device setup again but no NIC message).

I'm in the process of replacing the PSU right now.

 

[BadRobot]

Sounds like overheating, could of anything happened phsyically to the chip that would have ruined its capabilities of cooling itself? The heat sheild couldof cracked...you over clocking?

 

[AncientPC]

BIOS reports 55C CPU / 32C Mobo which is fine for an AMD Thunderbird 1.4Ghz. My linux box uses the exact same chip and used to run fine at 70C for years before I realized that I had improperly seated the HSF.

 

[BadRobot]

What hardware have you eliminated?

 

[AncientPC]

cpu - untouched

video - untouched

ram - re-seated and memtested

mobo - flashed and loaded fail-safe settings

hdd - replaced and in the process realized that cable select was causing problems, fixed and switched back

psu - replaced and I don't want to jinx it, but WinXP setup is the farthest it has ever been (9 minutes left, past the dreaded device setup)

I don't understand how the power supply (300W) can be causing the problem as it's a barebones system, but it's apparently the culprit in this case. In my past experience if a psu is dead computer won't turn on, or if a device (like the newer video cards) is power hungry than the motherboard won't POST.

 

[BadRobot]

The power supply was probably faulty and not that it was not enough power...that is, if it actually works now.

 

[AncientPC]

The power supply worked with a Duron 700Mhz setup a few weeks ago.

 

[BadRobot]

It could be it was instable enough to not work with your 1.3 but was stable enough for a 700

 

[Puffnstuff]

As long as you dismiss suggestions without performing a systematic check you'll never resolve the problem. Have you taken readings off the rails with a digital mm to be sure the ps is still working right?

 

[VirtualLarry]

My friend was trying to re-install XP, and during the text-mode setup, at some point it would always complain about a corrupt file during setup. It turned out to be the power-supply. So I vote for the PSU here in this case too.