Problem, possibly memory related?

I’ve spent the better part of the day putting together a computer for the g/f and keep coming to a halt, which I’m pretty sure, is due to the same recurring problem.



Everything is pieced together and running, I start to install Windows (Xp, Pro, Home, Hax0red and legit copies), the HDD formats without a problem, then setup starts listing/installing files but gets to a point where it can’t install some of the files (none specific, no recurring pattern). I skip the files and obviously it doesn’t work, instead I get the blue screen and a message saying something like “IRQL input same as output” or something like that, and “Memory Management”.



When I first switched it on there was a bios message saying CMOS Settings Wrong and CMOS Memory Size Wrong, I just pressed F2 and loaded the default values or something :unsure: when I didin't boot from disk there was an ntldr error, but that only happened once :ermm:



Here’s the specs for all this:



Mobo - PcChips M848ALU SKT A SIS 748 400 DDR AGPx8 ATA133

AMD Sempron 2200

2 sticks of Ebuyer 256MB DDR PC2700 333MHz 184pin Extra Value Ram

Western Digital Caviar 80Gb 7200rpm

Hightech ATI Radeon 7000 64MB DDR Memory

Liteon SOHC-5235 52x32x52x16x Internal IDE Combo

I've never gotten that error, so I dunno' what's wrong.

Try setting "PnP OS installed" (or something similar) to "no" or "disabled", and see what happens. If it's already set to that, try turning it on :unsure:

EDit: also, try with just one stick of ram installed and see what happens.





Wild stabs in the dark here :unsure:

i see two options...

No.1 do as snny said...

No.2 Get your gf to do it herself and go down the pub with her money.

Not sure if any of that helps...

Just messin

The only things with "PnP" are DMA and IRQ Channels which can only be changed to ISA/EISA? :unsure:

Doesn't seem to be a "PnP OS installed" option :cry:

edit: tried it with one stick, still no luck :ermm:

Quote:

---

No.2 Get your gf to do it herself and go down the pub with her money.

---

Hmmm, interesting :unsure:

Meh, pretty sure it hadn't helped.

All it does is let your bios handle the IRQ assignments on it's own, I think. Which might possibly help with weird hardware conflicts, if you are lucky.

It's also good for linux.


Try with just the one stick of ram since it says something about memory though.
I'll check some stuff and see if I can find anything.

EDit: meanwhile, try putting in as little stuff as you can, ie mobo, cpu, ram and graphics, and see if this does any difference.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SnnY

EDit: meanwhile, try putting in as little stuff as you can, ie mobo, cpu, ram and graphics, and see if this does any difference.

---

just tried it out, got the same fecking message :frusty:

CMOS Settings Wrong
CMOS Memory Size Wrong

:pinch:

we're guessing it's the ebuyer extra value ram, maybe the wrong sort? :ermm:

Quote:

---

CMOS Settings Wrong
CMOS Memory Size Wrong

---

Not to alarm you or anything, but if that error persists like it appears to do, it might be your bios/cmos chip/bios battery that's buggered. I thought it happened just when you started it up the first time.

I just remembered that when the caps blew on my kid brother's mobo we'd get that error or something like it a lot.

Does your bios keep any settings you save? :unsure:

Clear your CMOS.
Unplug the power cord, remove the battery and set the jumper to "clear".
Wait.

Perhaps now would be a good time to hit the pub.

Stumble home.

Replace jumper to running position, insert battery and power up machine.
Enter BIOS and "Load optimised settings".

If it works, you get laid.
If not, return to pub.

now you mention it the very first time i switched it on i got a low battery warning but then it went away :ermm: yeah it's saving stuff though :unsure:

i changed the jumper earlier, will take the battery out and wait a bit, maybe go to the pub :ermm:

When it comes to these things Clocker>me, so go with his suggestion.

cheers fellas i'll leave it all unplugged a few hours and let you know :01:

How very kind of you, Snny, however misguided your trust.

I'm hoping he gets hammered at the pub and forgets who recommended this fix if it doesn't work out.

That leaves Mulder bemused, my reputation unbesmirched and his g/f still pissed.

Which is pretty much where we started out, eh?

yous guys :fist:

set it all back just now, switched on and got CMOS Battery Low and CMOS Memory Size Wrong

would a new battery cancel out this memory problem too? :unsure:

Quote:

---

could be a memory problem, ebuyer evr is renound for having bad sectors on it, i would get a new battery which wouldnt be expensive, but most of all i would flash the bios, use a m8s pc to download the bios for the mobo and put it on floppy, that shoud work, it seems your bios may be corrupted, as far as the windows errors see if you can use a different copy

---

some bloke just said that on another forum, what do you make of it? :ermm:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr. Mulder

Quote:

---

could be a memory problem, ebuyer evr is renound for having bad sectors on it, i would get a new battery which wouldnt be expensive, but most of all i would flash the bios, use a m8s pc to download the bios for the mobo and put it on floppy, that shoud work, it seems your bios may be corrupted, as far as the windows errors see if you can use a different copy

---

some bloke just said that on another forum, what do you make of it? :ermm:

---

I would try a new battery without flashing the BIOS.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr. Mulder

yous guys :fist:

set it all back just now, switched on and got CMOS Battery Low and CMOS Memory Size Wrong

would a new battery cancel out this memory problem too? :unsure:

---

If it says something about CMOS like that, it's referring to the CMOS-chip. And since you did get that warning about the battery being low, it's a likely culprit.

I don't think it has anything to do with your ram.

Those errors come later in the process.

alright then, im going down to PCWorld for a battery, or a watch shop, whatever's nearest :unsure:

Our breath is bated.






I'm feeling lightheaded and faintly nauseous.

Hurry up, please.

(plz forgive the lateness of my reply)

Alright, after a trip to PCWorld (and McDonalds :shifty: ) I've gotten back, put in the new battery and have gotten the same fecking messages :frusty: Also just noticed that it says there's an Athlon 900MHz in, instead of the 2.2 Sempron I put in :blink:

it's the BIOS, right? :dry:

Something dodgy with your bios/cmos, prolly, yeah.

Where'd you get the mobo from?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SnnY

Something dodgy with your bios/cmos, prolly, yeah.

Where'd you get the mobo from?

---

ebuyer :ph34r:
I'm looking at the BIOS page for teh mobo and it's got options for USA, China and Taiwan - Can't tell if they're for the actual BIOS or just read me's ect? Don't want to get the wrong one and feck with the voltage settings etc :ermm:



Linkage

Don't play around with flashing your bios, if the chip is borked it won't help.


You still have warranty left, right?



(You might want to make sure they can't see you have swapped batteries, if you return it, btw)

So you're saying just return the mether fecker and be done with it? :ermm:

Now you mention it, it does sound like the safer option. I'd hate to flash it and find that the chip is broken, and learn that we couldn't return it due to the flashing breaching the warranty? :unsure:


but they'll be hell to pay in the mean time :cry:

Yep, 'fraid so.

No point in losing the warranty if you flash it and it doesn't work, as you say.



Blame me for it, I live half a continent away, so she can't hurt me.

She begs to differ :fear: :lol:

I'll do that then, expect an update sometime in August :ermm:

thnx for the help, everyone :01:

Do they have a hotline or something you can call before you send it back?

I reckon they'll say what I said, but that way you can point to what they told you if they give you trouble further along the road with the rma.

Good thinking Batman, I'll take a look and maybe phone them :01:

Returned a case to them not long ago and everything seemed to go smoothly, just took ages for the actual RMA number, so I'm optimistic :ermm:

Right O.

And just to cover all bases, in case I was off on the ram issue, try a stick of ram you know works, in both slots. Or try the same ebuyer stick you used when you tested this mobo with another mobo. (In fact, do both if possible.)

And have a look at the BIOS chip, so you know you haven't unseated it somehow.

That way you can be absolutely certain you've tried everything.



(The initial "battery low"-warning definitely points in another direction, but just in case.)

Just out of left field...
Try using a different CD-ROM to load Windows.

How long do you think we can keep him going? :unsure:


EDit:
Seriously though, I hope we covered everything, and it'd be brilliant if one of these last suggestions worked and you didn't have to send it back, arky.

Feck, the bios page tells you that you need to upgrade to support the Sempron chip. Flashing the bios will NOT void your warranty, in fact you should be complaining that it has come with an out of date bios.

However, from my own personal experience, if someone mentions the word PCChips, run like hell.

That's it, I'm out of hardwareworld for good, before something catches on fire :ermm:

there's a lot of different suggestions now :unsure:

I've tried two different CD's, one which has 8 different versions of Windows on it

I can't put any other sticks in other than the two ebuyer sticks as I don't have any others, though I've tried each stick on it' own in different slots

What Lynx said sounds spot on, but if i try to flash the BIOS and it fecks up, then it can't be sent back ...but, if they send another board with the same out-of-date bios, then it would have been a waste of time? :unsure:

My advice:
Flash the BIOS.
If you have trouble with returning the board, refer them to the PCChips site and their page stating the BIOS must be flashed to recognise the Sempron.
If ebuyer sold you the CPU, board and RAM, they're hardly in a position to deny warranty when you were following manufacturer's directions in order to get them to work together.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr. Mulder

I've tried two different CD's, one which has 8 different versions of Windows on it

---

I meant the CD reader itself...you know, the thing with the tray that comes out?
If the drive is bad it can throw errors when loading the files.

We've never had to flash a board's BIOS to get a Sempron to load Windows.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by clocker

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr. Mulder

I've tried two different CD's, one which has 8 different versions of Windows on it

---

I meant the CD reader itself...you know, the thing with the tray that comes out?
If the drive is bad it can throw errors when loading the files.

We've never had to flash a board's BIOS to get a Sempron to load Windows.

---

After lynx posted about it, I remembered having seen a couple of blokes posting about allegedly trying to install semprons on older socket A mobos and failing until they'd flashed bios.

Mostly sempron support with a new bios just means that it doesn't say you have an unknown processor during post, I think.

But I googled around and found a bunch of fairly recent mobos that supposedly can't work with a sempron, at least not without a new bios.

And Arky did say it reported his cpu speed wrong.



I stared myself blind at the "battery low"-thing and those error messages (which I'd have thought would have been different if it had to do with the processor, btw), didn't even consider that it might be a cpu compability-thing.

Like I said, I think I'll be staying out of hardware-world so I don't jinx anyone else's efforts to fix something.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SnnY

Like I said, I think I'll be staying out of hardware-world so I don't jinx anyone else's efforts to fix something.

---

Oh don't be silly.
Jinxing people is my job, anyway.

I can stay around to jinx you, I guess.

No fun doing it to yourself, is it? :unsure: