narghhrgarg. abit kt7 raid mobo shenanigans :(

[nath]

right then, it's like this.

My pc was working ok(ish) but crashed a few times, and I got miffed so I decided to format and reinstall. I had tremendous problems doing this that involved downloading about 5 different revisions of my ata100 channel drivers, and updating the mobo bios then reverting to the old one and so on and so on. Eventually, I managed to get it working. Then it had more problems in that it didn't shut it down properly, that was eventually solved by a really early raid driver thing.

So, there I was, happy in having my pc working again on xp, then I try to burn a dvd. Crashes. Try again. Crashes. Hmmm... I get frustrated. I figure I was on 2k before, so it must be the fresh install of xp that has the problem. Go back to 2k, all of a sudden I can't burn there too! Hmm, what to do what to do. Upon more fiddling I find out that I can't copy large files from one hard drive to another (across ide channels) it just freezes completely, just like it does when I burn dvds/cds.

Anyhoo, nos suggests checking the fans, hurrah! I found out my northbridge fan has stopped, so I buy a new 40mill fan and replace it. Hmm, no joy. Someone says the same thing happened to him and it was that the northbridge was already damaged from overheating so he had to buy a new motherboard. Getting a replacement Abit KT7 raid mobo was not easy. Well, it wasn't easy to find any motherboard that takes SDRAM and old amd thunderbirds anymore. So I checked ebay, found a replacement of exactly the same model motherboard as my busted one and buy it.

It arrived today, and guess what.. it didn't fix the problem!!

So, to conclude my sorry tale, I have NO idea what to do. I've tried the hard drives/dvd burner in another pc, worked fine. I've tried new ide cables, lots of different drivers, and win2k or XP. NOTHING works, I'm getting very very very frustrated. Worst part is that I actually paid 50 quid for a nice replacement motherboard and its done nothing.

Surely one of you out there has some sort of idea as to what to do? Any help muchly appreciated :\

 

[CptDoom]

Sounds awfully similar to my System Instability thread

http://forums.game.net/showthread.php?threadid=71823

Except i didnt even DARE trying to burn a dvd, i have also learned that the northbridge chip on my Epox 8k7a doesnt even need a fan on it as the heatsink provides more that enough cooling, the chip is barely warm.

I just get the feeling that i have a mismatch of components but i do have people on the case still so ill let u know if i find anything

 

[TedTheDog]

I had a KT7 Raid and I had random crashes, even after reinstalling.
Check the motherboard capacitors. Make sure the tops (they look like little cans) are all flat and none of them have a earwax like goo leaking out of the bottom.
Domed capacitor tops or goo leaking out of the bottom will cause the voltages to various devices to fluctuate, causing crashes.
Its a long and complicated story, but Abit (and some other companies) used faulty capacitors for a while, and they heat up and release a gas that blows the seal out of the bottom and sods them up.
Check the capacitors carefully, its hard to see (use a torch) you'll have about 50+ on the mobo. I found 14 of mine had domed or leaked or both.
If its the capacitors, then bin the board and start again (yes, it affects the whole production series of KT7's and KT7a's so may well affect both mobo's you've tried).
Just a thought....

 

[nath]

Well, the @#~!?*@# thing won't even turn on now.

This is with the new board that I got yesterday, I'll be having words with the guy that sent it to me.

 

[TedTheDog]

Did you inspect the capacitors though? It might not be the mobo...
heres an article about it, which might help.

 

[nath]

Checked every one on both motherboards, all fine.

I got angry, took it all to pieces, then put back the motherboard and the cpu and the graphics card. It booted. installed XP fine, and now I can copy files across hard disks.

I have only put back my pci adsl card, and it's still working. Gunna stick back a card at a time and see what happens. The annoying thing is, I've already paid for another mobo. Anyone wanna buy it?

 

[smurkin]

Check the motherboard capacitors. Make sure the tops (they look like little cans) are all flat and none of them have a earwax like goo leaking out of the bottom.

Fascinating...wheres my torch