Gigabyte heartburn

[sghindc]

I purchased a Gigabyte 7VAXP (with raid) as an upgrade to my existing board. I also bought a new enermax case and PS for the new improved look.

The first one I bought would never get past the 'Press Del for setup',it would immediately flash to a black screen and the PS would continue to run. Just for kicks I tried booting with the keyboard unplugged. It seemd to get a little further, but I couldn't navigate.
With the keyboard plugged in (I even tried my wifes USB keyboard) the system would boot then flash black and remain running, no attempts to reboot.. it just ran dead.

I checked everything! I checked all of the settings and even tried another power supply!

Today I exchanged it for another and I got my two raid disks configured and started to install Windows XP. It made it thru the whole setup and just as it got to the last part.. (finalizing settings?) I left the room for a moment. I came back and it was a black screen and I just assumed it was finished and rebooting..

Noooooooooo!!! it was the same thing! I am now unable to reboot.. It flashes black, and then dead while the PS is still running.

What are the odds of two Mbs from two diffrent stores going down in the same way?

I plan to go back and exchange it yet again tomorrow. Should I get another brand? I've tried everything I could possible think of. Since I can't get to bios, I'm limited on what I can try. I did try to clear the bios by unplugging the battery, but I think this dual bios thing from Gigabyte is working against me.

I'm desperate for any solution or comment you might have...Otherwise I think I'll have to start drinking heavily..

Thanks... ( Hiding from snipers in DC)
I should add that I'm running a stock 2200XP+
I have 1 512mb 333 mem... and I'm not using the two 266's that I have.

[bigjackusa]

Chances of 2 with identical problems are slim. I doubt the dual bios is the problem as it only uses the primary bios to boot unless it is corrupted. When clearing the bios, you should use the "clear cmos jumper". Taking the battery out can be hit-or-miss unless you leave it out for a long time. I would first suspect the memory though. Since you have spare memory, try swapping it out. What video card are you using, and did it work ok before or is it new too?

[sghindc]

It was left over, but rather new, from my old setup.

I just don't know whwere to go next! Did i mention that I had tried two power supplies? the same with both, but if it is a memory issue, I guess that wouldn't make a bit of difference!

[mickw]

Hey there sghindc,normally you should connect to a standard IDE channel to install windows.
When you are done,make sure your next step is to install all the latest drivers for everything (really!)
After you are all done with that,go to bios and select raid and connect to raid controller with your drives.
When you get to windows ,you will then match to drives on the raid channel.
When installing windows,the raid channels or ATA 100 channels don't really exist until the proper windows drivers are loaded and functioning.
Doing the setup with the generic ata channels will allow you to get the drivers all setup and functioning properly.
Hope this helps (I did the same thing myself)
Mickw

[bigjackusa]

mickw

What you suggest is not "normal". I've installed XP on several raid systems. At the begining of the instalation you have to press F6 to install 3rd party raid drivers. This is the "normal" way, and it works fine.

[Katana21]

I have run 2 Gigabyte boards now and when installing an OS from the raid channels you should first go to the Bios and make sure that you have the first boot device as CDROM after the install is complete you shoud change the first boot device to Raid/SCIS.. This will allow you to boot from the raid drives. You will at the intial point of install need to hit F6 and install the Raid drivers. You will first have to load them on a floppy from the other folder on the disk. This should get you up and running clean. I have setup my 2 and five others this way...

:afro: