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GA-P35-DS3L Rev 1.0 Problems

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  • GA-P35-DS3L Rev 1.0 Problems

    I am in the process of bringing online a PC that I have just built. I'm not a supertechie, particularly with the latest and greatest technology out there. But I can get around inside a computer pretty well.
    The basic specs on this computer's main components are:
    - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Motherboard Rev 1.0
    - Intel Core2 E6320 processor
    - (4) sticks of Crucial 240-pin DIMM 128Mx64 DDR2 PC2-6400 CL4 memory, each 1 GB
    - PNY NVidia GeForce 8500 GT PCIeX16 graphics card with 512mb onboard video memory
    - onboard Realtek RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC
    - Win XP Pro Operating System with Service Pack 2 and all applicable updates from the Microsoft website installed

    The system is up and running, but with the following problems:

    1 - When I first boot the computer from a cold start, I get continuous long beeps although the computer continues to boot and then install the operating system. The only problem is the beeps continue. The BIOS beep codes imply that the "graphics card not inserted properly". A RESTART usually makes the beeps go away. (I don't know if this is related, but I also notice that when starting from a "cold" start, the CPU fan repeatedly kicks on and off. I haven't been able to determine if this is because the CPU isn't hot yet or if the fan, being cold, can't get itself started.)

    2 - When I doubleclick the "System" icon in Control Panel, under "Computer" in the resulting "General" tab screen, it says "Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU / 6320 @ 1.86 GHz / 1.87 GHz, 3.00 GB of RAM" although there are 4 GB of RAM installed.
    If, from the START/ALL PROGRAMS popup menu list, I go to Accessories/System Tools/System Information, then the entry for "Total Physical Memory" is 4,096.00 MB. Other entries related to RAM are: "Available Physical Memory: 2.54 GB"; "Total Virtual Memory: 2.00 GB"; "Available Virtual Memory: 1.96 GB"; and "Page File Space: 4.84 GB".
    I don't know how to interpret the "virtual" memory entries as they relate to physical memory (useage, etc.), and, if my "available physical memory" is only 2.54 GB, then I don't know what the 1.46 GB of memory being used is being used by -- I'm not running anything except the Operating System.

    3 - My last, and for me the most troublesome, problem is with the onboard NIC (Realtek RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC). After installing Outlook 2000 and establishing connection to my ISP for email, more times than not when trying to download email from the ISP to my Outlook Inbox, the process times out. (Allowed time is 1 minute which is more than enough time.)
    I can connect to the internet via Internet Explorer 6 with no problems -- I just can't send or receive email from my ISP. (And, "Yes", I've contacted my ISP provider and verifed my account settings. I've even REMOVED my account, and then reestablished it.) I HAVE been successful once or twice over the last two days (after many failed attempts) in establishing a connection with my ISP email account, and was able to receive and send emails when that happened, but I can't get connected again.
    I would attribute this problem to software except that when I go into BIOS from bootup, then go to the Integrated Peripherals screen, arrow down to SMART LAN and press Enter, the screen for SMART LAN comes up, the message "Start detecting at Port" appears, then three dots, one at a time, appear after the "Start detecting at Port" message, and the system hangs up. I don't get ANY LAN cable diagnoses, and the only way to get out of the screen is to press RESTART -- the SMART LAN test won't accept any keyboard inputs.

    Sorry for being so longwinded, but I figure the more information the better. If anyone can offer a solution to any of these problems, I would be grateful. Thanks.
    There are 10 kinds of people in the world; those who understand binary and those who don't.

    Mobo: GA-EP45-UD3P Rev 1.6 LGA 775, Intel P45 ATX Intel; Award modular BIOS V6.00PG
    PSU: Antec EarthWatts Model EA-500
    CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E6320 LGA 775, 1.86GHz, 4mb L2 cache, 1066 MHz FSB
    RAM: (4) 1GB Crucial Ballistix BL12864AA804.16FD3, 240-pin unbuffered DIMM 128MX64 DDR2, PC2-6400 CL4 EPP
    Graphics: PNY-Verto GeForce 8500 GT 512mb DDR2 PCI Express
    SCSI Controller: Adaptec AHA-2940/2940W PCI
    HD 1: Maxtor Diamondmax 20, 160GB, NTFS, 8mb cache, 7200 RPM, SATA II/300
    HD 2: WD Caviar SE WD1600, 1600GB SATA, NTFS, PN=WD1600JS-00MHB0
    HD 3: WD Caviar EIDE, 80GB, NTFS, with Rosewill RC-204 IDE-to-SATA mini Vertical Bridge
    CD/DVD: MadDog Lightscribe Internal DVD-RW MD18XTL1 (TSSTcorp CD/DVDW SH-S182M)
    CD: LG CD-RW CED-8120B
    Floppy + Card Reader: ULTRA All-in-One USB2.0 internal, No. 348479355B (Floppy connects to FDD plug.)
    OS: WinXP Pro SP3 (build 2600)
    Case: Antec Sonata III

  • #2
    Re: GA-P35-DS3L Rev 1.0 Problems

    I'm not much help on the other issues but I do know that you will have problems with more than 3GB of ram being recognized by a 32 bit operating system. What you are seeing with the ram issue is normal unless you want to move "up" to a 64 bit O/S.
    Antec 900 case (4 120mm and 1 200mm lighted fans + UFO flashing light set + 2 12" and 1 6" Mutant Mods meteor lights) - Aerogate ll thermal controller - Asus M2N-e SLI - AMD 64 X2 AM2 6400+ - Corsair TX650 PSU - MSI 450GTS Cyclone OC - 2 X 2GB Patriot Extreme Performance PC2 6400 RAM - SATA 320 GB Seagate HD, SATA 300GB Maxtor HD and IDE 80 GB Samsung HD - Floppy Drive/Card Reader Combo - LG SuperMulti Lightscribe 18x DVD RW - Plextor PX-716A DVD r/rw - Windows 7 Home Premium 64

    Crude but Effective ... it is a way of life.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: GA-P35-DS3L Rev 1.0 Problems

      PrairieDawg:
      Thanks for the feedback -- I hadn't thought about that. Do you think that having 4 GB RAM in a 32-bit system means that the system is only USING 3 GB or only can't report that there is 4 GB? If the former, I'll have to see if there is a workaround out there somewhere.

      Thanks for your speedy response.
      There are 10 kinds of people in the world; those who understand binary and those who don't.

      Mobo: GA-EP45-UD3P Rev 1.6 LGA 775, Intel P45 ATX Intel; Award modular BIOS V6.00PG
      PSU: Antec EarthWatts Model EA-500
      CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E6320 LGA 775, 1.86GHz, 4mb L2 cache, 1066 MHz FSB
      RAM: (4) 1GB Crucial Ballistix BL12864AA804.16FD3, 240-pin unbuffered DIMM 128MX64 DDR2, PC2-6400 CL4 EPP
      Graphics: PNY-Verto GeForce 8500 GT 512mb DDR2 PCI Express
      SCSI Controller: Adaptec AHA-2940/2940W PCI
      HD 1: Maxtor Diamondmax 20, 160GB, NTFS, 8mb cache, 7200 RPM, SATA II/300
      HD 2: WD Caviar SE WD1600, 1600GB SATA, NTFS, PN=WD1600JS-00MHB0
      HD 3: WD Caviar EIDE, 80GB, NTFS, with Rosewill RC-204 IDE-to-SATA mini Vertical Bridge
      CD/DVD: MadDog Lightscribe Internal DVD-RW MD18XTL1 (TSSTcorp CD/DVDW SH-S182M)
      CD: LG CD-RW CED-8120B
      Floppy + Card Reader: ULTRA All-in-One USB2.0 internal, No. 348479355B (Floppy connects to FDD plug.)
      OS: WinXP Pro SP3 (build 2600)
      Case: Antec Sonata III

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: GA-P35-DS3L Rev 1.0 Problems

        After a week and a LOT of time spent trying to resolve these three issues, here is what I've come up with:

        Prob #1 (Continuous beeps when booting a cold system.): This problem was attributed to the BIOS CPU Smart FAN Control setting found in the PC Health Status Screen. It is ENABLED by default, and allows the CPU fan to run at different speeds according to the CPU temperature. On my system, when booting a "cold" system, the fan would kick over, stop; kick over, stop; etc. I set this BIOS feature to DISABLED so the fan runs at fullspeed all of the time, and the problem went away.

        Prob #3 (Email from my POP3 Email Server to Outlook 2000 would not download.): I had strongly suspected my onboard Realtek Ethernet NIC as being the source of this problem since I had already discounted my Antivirus program as causing the problem. (After turning the Antivirus program off, the problem persisted.) After downloading and installing the latest drivers from the Gigabyte website for both the NIC and the onboard Realtek HD Audio, and after disabling the onboard audio, the problem still persisted. After removing my GeForce 8500 GT PCI-eX16 video card, and replacing it with a plain PCI video card, and the problem STILL persisting, I was running out of ideas. Just before going to the trouble of disabling the onboard LAN and installing an old DLink PCI Ethernet card, I decided to take another look at the Antivirus program. (I am using iolo Technologies' Antivirus version 1.1.14 which came with their System Mechanic 7 Pro package, and have not seen any "buzz" on the internet nor on their website about this not working with Outlook 2000.) It turns out that, although I disabled it before starting Outlook 2000, it still leaves processes running which cannot be "Ended" via the Windows Task Manager. By turning the iolo Antivirus OFF, setting it to NOT start at the next system RESTART, and then RESTARTing my computer, Outlook 2000 will connect to my POP3 email server and bring in any messages there. After Outlook 2000 connects once after a RESTART/Reboot without iolo Antivirus running, I can manually start the Antivirus program and Outlook will continue to communicate with my POP3 email server. I can even shut Outlook down and later restart it within the same computer session, and it continues to communicate with the POP3 email server. I have reported this problem to iolo Technologies, but have not gotten a response from them yet. I plan to uninstall the iolo Antivirus program, and install, instead, the free AVG Antivirus program to see how that "plays" with Outlook 2000.

        Bottomline: IT WAS THE ANTIVIRUS PROGRAM !
        There are 10 kinds of people in the world; those who understand binary and those who don't.

        Mobo: GA-EP45-UD3P Rev 1.6 LGA 775, Intel P45 ATX Intel; Award modular BIOS V6.00PG
        PSU: Antec EarthWatts Model EA-500
        CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E6320 LGA 775, 1.86GHz, 4mb L2 cache, 1066 MHz FSB
        RAM: (4) 1GB Crucial Ballistix BL12864AA804.16FD3, 240-pin unbuffered DIMM 128MX64 DDR2, PC2-6400 CL4 EPP
        Graphics: PNY-Verto GeForce 8500 GT 512mb DDR2 PCI Express
        SCSI Controller: Adaptec AHA-2940/2940W PCI
        HD 1: Maxtor Diamondmax 20, 160GB, NTFS, 8mb cache, 7200 RPM, SATA II/300
        HD 2: WD Caviar SE WD1600, 1600GB SATA, NTFS, PN=WD1600JS-00MHB0
        HD 3: WD Caviar EIDE, 80GB, NTFS, with Rosewill RC-204 IDE-to-SATA mini Vertical Bridge
        CD/DVD: MadDog Lightscribe Internal DVD-RW MD18XTL1 (TSSTcorp CD/DVDW SH-S182M)
        CD: LG CD-RW CED-8120B
        Floppy + Card Reader: ULTRA All-in-One USB2.0 internal, No. 348479355B (Floppy connects to FDD plug.)
        OS: WinXP Pro SP3 (build 2600)
        Case: Antec Sonata III

        Comment

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