Issues getting a 945 chipset machine to boot \ VOGONS

Issues getting a 945 chipset machine to boot

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First post, by TheAbandonwareGuy

Posted on 2016-06-22, 06:37

TheAbandonwareGuy Offline

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Another issue to the list of issues. One of my projects randomely shuts down in between when ''starting windows'' and the animated windows logo show up on windows 7. Windows Recovery hangs at zero percent loading files, and safemode just hangs out right before it can even start loading. When it hangs i cannot turn it off via the power button. Its done this before but the last time the issue was with the hard drive having multiple bad sectors causing boot sector corruptions (i checked, its not the hard drive this time). I've been having to install Windows on this via putting the hard drive in another PC because it always says ''UNknown I/O Interface error'' or something similiar. Ive tried 3 different hard drives, none work. I doubt using another PC to install windows is the issue as the other pc is another 945 chipset PC. It restarts as if it was a power failure yet the power supply is good (ive tried multiple ones) The system currently is:

Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate X64
ECS Elitegroup 945GCT-M3
Antec SP-350 350W PSU
Intel Core2Duo 65Nm @ 2.4GHZ
2GB Crucial DDR2
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 512MB
80GB Seagate Barracuda

upgraded from

Microsoft Windows XP x86
160w Stock PSU
Intel Celeron 440 2GHZ
1GB Generic RAM
Onboard Video
160GB Hitachi Hard Drive

Ive tried swapping out every part except the motherboard. Its got to be something set wrong as the motherboard supports the CPU so we can rule that out as the issue since that CPU works fine in another mobo. Im not sure where to go from there.

Background on the machine. The hardware is stripped out of an Emachines PC i got for 25 dollars. When i got it there was so much dust in it the motherboard was earth tone and you couldnt see parts of the motherboard at all, the cooler was filled with dust, and dust had jammed the CD Drive. The first time i powered it on it shot a cloud of thick dust out the back. I shit you not it looked like it had been burried and dug up. Purplish PCP earthtone with dust.

I dont think the dust contamination could have caused this, i cleaned it out after i noticed how much dust was in it.

Any suggestions are appreciated,

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Reply 1 of 8, by agent_x007

Posted on 2016-06-22, 06:51

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Did you switched SATA/IDE cables as well ?
What BIOS are you using ?

Reply 2 of 8, by TheAbandonwareGuy

Posted on 2016-06-22, 07:09

TheAbandonwareGuy Offline

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agent_x007 wrote:
Did you switched SATA/IDE cables as well ?
What BIOS are you using ?

I havent tried switching cables but the cable worked in another machine.

Im 95 percent certain there is only one bios version for this motherboard. Anyways the PC it came out of was manufactured several years after the boards release so it should be up to date if im wrong.

Reply 3 of 8, by ODwilly

Posted on 2016-06-22, 07:13

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Strip the PC down to it's bare components and scrub/wash it. Maybe there is some weird short somewhere that is causing your issues (iv had it happen) otherwise you should be fine. Seems like a solid and fun setup! EDIT: Run memcheck just to be sure, maybe try another CPU that is compatible just to be sure, and try another hard drive if you have one handy 😀 eliminate every possible cause before determining motherboard issues!

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Reply 4 of 8, by Sammy

Posted on 2016-06-22, 07:30

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Is that a sata or ide HDD?

Have have you tryed to disable DMA Transfer in IDE-controller options? (bios)

Reply 5 of 8, by TheAbandonwareGuy

Posted on 2016-06-22, 22:33

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Turns out i have the 3.1 version of this board which doesn't officially support any but 2 specific core2duo proccesors. The older non-emachines OEM v3 of the board does support them however which makes me think emachines purposely disabled faster Core2's so people would have to buy new PC's from them instead of just upgrade. Im wondering what the results of bio-flashing it with the older versions bios would be.

That being said; i had it booting with this same config until i took out the CMOS battery to see if an 8800GTX would fit in the case if it wasnt there. I of course put the battery back in. So the board should work. I just need to figure out what has changed.

Reply 6 of 8, by TheAbandonwareGuy

Posted on 2016-06-22, 22:37

TheAbandonwareGuy Offline

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TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:
Turns out i have the 3.1 version of this board which doesn't officially support any but 2 specific core2duo proccesors. The older non-emachines OEM v3 of the board does support them however which makes me think emachines purposely disabled faster Core2's so people would have to buy new PC's from them instead of just upgrade. Im wondering what the results of bio-flashing it with the older versions bios would be.

That being said; i had it booting with this same config until i took out the CMOS battery to see if an 8800GTX would fit in the case if it wasnt there. I of course put the battery back in. So the board should work. I just need to figure out what has changed.

Ive decided to attempt the flash. Worst case scenario i brick a near worthless mobo, best case, it unfucks the whole thing. Wish me luck

Reply 7 of 8, by nforce4max

Posted on 2016-06-23, 00:05

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Good luck, can cook meat with that chipset (throws on a brisket)

On a far away planet reading your posts in the year 10,191.

Reply 8 of 8, by TheAbandonwareGuy

Posted on 2016-06-23, 00:39

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It may have killed another hard drive and/or have major over heating issues all of a sudden. The hard drive was burning hot and it melted part of my sata cable to the hard drive connector (the plastic clip part). Everything else inside the PC was too hot to hold for more than a few seconds and the PC was hot to the touch on all sides (and this was with both 3.5 inch bays empty so i had good airflow). I have the hard drive in another PC running tests on it. This PC may just be a hard drive killer, idk.

@nForce4max , i could have cooked a personal pizza and a couple of burritos inside this high performance oven.... and im not kidding, i really could have. Im not sure how much more time, money, and hardware i want to throw at this thing. I may buy an IDE hard drive incase the issue is with the boards SATA controller but thats about it.

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