VOGONS


First post, by deleted_Rc

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This rig seems to enjoy giving me headaches..... 😢
This mobo is hell to work with, after finally thinking I got it stability.... having issues with either hard drives, mobo or software. Few days ago my computer was running Windows 98SE stabil but after rebooting it always hanged at splash screen (not even safe mode or other modes want to boot). First I tried fixing the MBR which failed, so I decided upon a fresh install, here the problems started.
So I started out with fdisk and set a new primary DOS drive so I cold format the disk, this went all fine until windows started copying files to the hdd and hangs (tried 3 times), so I tried the secondary ide just incase, this time the mobo would not even properly format (installer said incompatible format after second format and requests reset.)
Guessed my hd was broken, it's a Samsung 10 Gb HDD which had 0 corrupted sectors as of last scan last week. Still possible though so I ordered a NOS wd 40 gb ide hd hoping it would solve the problem. It arrived today and the mobo couldn't detect this HD in neither ide device set at cable select limited to 32Gb in jumper settings with no other ide device present. Tried different jumper but no luck, when bios wants to detect the HD it hang and needs reboot.
Can anyone help, this is beyond my knowledge.

Reply 1 of 4, by Jo22

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Hi there! Is the mobo able to handle more than 8GB ?
Did you try other modes other than LBA/auto detect ? (like Large or ECHS)
Are using PIO Mode 4 ? If so, choose a lower mode..

Some other ideas that come to my mind:

a) Create a primary FAT/FAT32 parition using GParted, then install Windows 98SE
b) Install a Windows 95 version w/ FAT32 (take care of the parition bug), then upgrade to Win98SE
c) Do a test installation of Win ME or XP, to make sure it's not an Win98SE issue
d) Try to install Windows 98FE instead

Sorry, I am in a hurry right now; maybe I can think of something better later on! 😅

Good luck! 😀

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In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

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Reply 2 of 4, by deleted_Rc

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The samsung hd is recognized as 10 Gb in the bios.
The wd hd is set at 32 gb through jumpers.
Other settings haven't changed since I build the rig with the Samsung hd but I will check those settings.

A) the Samsung partitioned though Fdisk with a properly working win 98 diskette (which I used previously to install multiple working window 98 rigs) but gave errors when I tried to formathe it (partied multiple times)
C) worth a shot got ME lying around

Reply 3 of 4, by deleted_Rc

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ok small update:
tried the suggestions and didn't work.

following I used another rig to install windows and all went fine and windows even booted, continued to switch it back to the other rig and again hanged itself everytime I started booting windows (even safe mode doesn't work).
when I tried to boot through the CD-rom, it gave a Vfat which I cannot fix either (tried to fix it through the config.sys file but it didn't react to this).
conclussion: nothing wrong with the HDD or the software. its the Mobo but what is wrong with the motherboard that could cause these problems, the rig was running stable 1 day and the next this...

Reply 4 of 4, by Nvm1

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I would try a few other things since the problems are kind of rare for a mobo issue.
Do you have another PSU to try with, and can you verify the cpu cooler works well?
As another thing, try changing the ide cable as well. In rare occasions those die too without real reason.