DVD-ROM reader drive won't work in a Gigabyte slot 1 mobo \ VOGONS

DVD-ROM reader drive won't work in a Gigabyte slot 1 mobo

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First post, by retro games 100

Posted on 2009-09-21, 11:44

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Mobo: GA-6BXC. Problem: Windows Explorer either freezes when launched, or freezes when D: (CD/DVD) is accessed.

I've tried - 2 different ribbon cables, 2 different DVD-ROM 'basic reader' drives, master in secondary IDE and also slave in primary IDE, 2 different HDDs.

The BIOS POST identifies the DVD-ROM device OK, then reports: CD-ROM, Mode 4. Is mode 4 correct? I've also tried disabling UDMA. The BIOS is dated 2000 and something - that should be good enough. The only thing I haven't tried is using an actual CD-ROM drive, and not a DVD-ROM drive, but my other slot 1 boards can handle a DVD-ROM drive just fine.

Any ideas please people? 😀

Edit: Solved - I tried a 3rd cable, and the BIOS POST now reports the drive as: CD-ROM, UDMA 2. Also, at the same time, my trusty DVD-RW which I have been using for many months has failed, and I think that added to the confusion.

Edit 2: It seems that my DVD-RW disc had gone "bad". It cannot be read any more. Looking carefully at the "read/write side" of the disc, there's a small area where the dye has vanished. Leaving this disc inside my DVD-ROM reader, and booting-up my slot 1 mobo, this confused it and consequently the entire DVD-ROM device became unusable. I think that's interesting. I thought the mobo's IDE port was faulty. Or maybe the ribbon cable. But it was just the DVD-RW disc. The thing is, I did try other pressed CDs, and they didn't work. They didn't work, because I had booted-up with the "bad" DVD-RW disc in the drive.

Reply 1 of 9, by HunterZ

Posted on 2009-09-21, 16:38

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I had the GA6BXC mobo for a long time and loved it. Used a PII-450 and PIII-550 CPU with it over the years. Some revisions have a voltage regulator on the AGP port that makes it fail the AGP spec though; nVidia still mentions it in their video driver release notes. You can bypass the regulator though: http://www.plasma-online.de/english/upgrade/t … gabyte_tnt.html

I never had problems and wasn't sure if my revision was affected, but I did the bypass just in case.

Reply 2 of 9, by retro games 100

Posted on 2009-09-21, 16:44

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That's really interesting. This is my first go with this GA board. It says Rev 2.0 on the PCB. I really don't know much about it! It came with a PIII @ 450mhz. So far, I've tried a universal AGP 3.0 card, an nVidia MX440-8x, and it works OK. I'm hoping to put in a PIII @ 800mhz, and see if the onboard dip-switches allow me to get that fast! 😀

Reply 3 of 9, by HunterZ

Posted on 2009-09-21, 16:49

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I don't remember how high the multipliers on that board go. It should do at least 600 though I think.

I used AGP nVidia TNT1 and a GeForce2 MX video cards in it without problems.

Reply 4 of 9, by PowerPie5000

Posted on 2009-09-21, 16:53

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retro games 100 wrote:
That's really interesting. This is my first go with this GA board. It says Rev 2.0 on the PCB. I really don't know much about it! It came with a PIII @ 450mhz. So far, I've tried a universal AGP 3.0 card, an nVidia MX440-8x, and it works OK. I'm hoping to put in a PIII @ 800mhz, and see if the onboard dip-switches allow me to get that fast! 😀

I'm sure it will be fine with a PIII 800mhz if it's a later board revision 😀 I'm using an Intel SE440BX-2 and it runs any slot-1 CPU from a PII-233 upto a PIII-850. My board does not have dip switches though as it's all automatic 😎

EDIT: i'm going to be listing my PIII system on evil bay soon! I have decided to use a micro system for my old emulators and homebrew!

Intel Pentium III 650mhz Coppermine CPU.
Intel SE440BX-2 slot-1 mobo.
384mb Kingston PC100 RAM (3x128mb).
40gb hard drive.
32mb Matrox G400 MAX AGP graphics (dual head)
Yamaha YMF724 DS-XG PCI sound card with SB-link connection.
54x CDROM drive.
1.44mb floppy drive.
ATX tower case manufactured by "dan" computers.
Win 98se installed.

Reply 5 of 9, by retro games 100

Posted on 2009-09-21, 17:14

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Wow! You're even throwing in that Yamaha soundcard you said was so cool - only the other day. (I even bought one, through your recommendation!) That's a good system you got there. P3 complete systems don't fetch all that much on evil-bay (hehe, I like it!). IMHO, I think you're making a mistake.....

Edit: In all my excitment, I forgot to mention that the GA mobo's online manual states that the onboard dip-switches can be set to go up to 950...and my 800 CPU installed just fine. That's the fastest 100FSB CPU I have.

Reply 6 of 9, by PowerPie5000

Posted on 2009-09-21, 17:20

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retro games 100 wrote:
Wow! You're even throwing in that Yamaha soundcard you said was so cool - only the other day. (I even bought one, through your recommendation!) That's a good system you got there. P3 complete systems don't fetch all that much on evil-bay (hehe, I like it!). IMHO, I think you're making a mistake.....

Edit: In all my excitment, I forgot to mention that the GA mobo's online manual states that the onboard dip-switches can be set to go up to 950...and my 800 CPU installed just fine. That's the fastest 100FSB CPU I have.

Yes the Yamaha sound card is awesome but it will not fit in my micro system 😢 and not many mobo's support the SB-link feature! My new (old) system uses a C-media audio chip and the sound blaster emulation is surprisingly good... but the midi support is not quite as good as the Yamaha!

I may just change my mind and keep it 😁 how are you getting on with your Yamaha card? are you using the SB-link for dos compatibility?

Reply 7 of 9, by retro games 100

Posted on 2009-09-21, 17:27

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>> are you using the SB-link for dos compatibility?

I'm going to check that out again, cos this GA board (like most slot 1 boards I expect) has that SB-link header on it. I'll report back later... 😀

Reply 8 of 9, by PowerPie5000

Posted on 2009-09-21, 17:30

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retro games 100 wrote:
>> are you using the SB-link for dos compatibility?

I'm going to check that out again, cos this GA board (like most slot 1 boards I expect) has that SB-link header on it. I'll report back later... 😀

Using the SB-link cable gives it SB Pro 2.0 hardware support and it uses genuine OPL3 😀

Reply 9 of 9, by retro games 100

Posted on 2009-09-22, 10:24

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BTW, I got that Yamaha soundcard working with the SB Link connector on the mobo. Very good value for money soundcard.

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