BladeRunner

Hi Again, OK, motherboard is running latest BIOS (February this year) Matrox card has latest BIOS & latest drivers. This is currently a clean install of Win2000. It was freshly installed less than a week ago. Friend of mine also has a G400MAX and is having exactly the same problem on a Intel SE440BX-2 Motherboard. (Hard Lock as soon as you use PowerStrip to modify settings to AGP 2x) Due to ACPI all of my devices including the Matrox are sharing IRQ11. I will have to try and get hold of a more powerful power-suply. Not that I doubt PowerStrip, but is there any other software out there that could confirm what speed my AGP port/Card are running at, just for confirmation? ********************************************* ABit BE6-II, PIII 550, 384MB RAM, G400 MAX, SB Live! Value, Adaptec 2940UW, Intel Pro 100 PCI network card, 20GB ATA-66 7,200 IBM HD, 22GB ATA-66 7,200 IBM HD, Pioneer 6x/32x DVD, Yamaha 4416 CD-RW, SCSI Iomega ZIP drive, Iiyama VM Pro 410 - Phew, that's about it :-) *********************************************

Hi, Thanks for the replies. I'm using a 250watt power supply, but I do have quite a few devices inside my PC. Maybe I should consider moving up to a 300watt? So you feel this is more likely to be a problem with the AGP port on the motherboard than an issue with the Matrox card itself? Thanks. ********************************************* ABit BE6-II, PIII 550, 384MB RAM, G400 MAX, SB Live! Value, Adaptec 2940UW, Intel Pro 100 PCI network card, 20GB ATA-66 7,200 IBM HD, 22GB ATA-66 7,200 IBM HD, Pioneer 6x/32x DVD, Yamaha 4416 CD-RW, SCSI Iomega ZIP drive, Iiyama VM Pro 410 - Phew, that's about it :-) *********************************************

Hi, Two real quick questions I'm sure you guys will be able to answer. 1. Is ATA-4 the same as ATA-66? I bought a HD a while back that was advertised as ATA-66, when I have subsequently checked the specifications on the manufacturers web page I'm told it's ATA-4. 2. Under Win98 you know if you are running in say ATA-33 mode by checking the DMA boxes under the Hard Drive properties. How do you know/set the same thing up for Win2000 or is it all done automatically? Cheers again people.

Hi, Thanks for your reply. Yes I am running on an ATA-66 controller. It's the on-board HPT-366 controller on the ABit BE6-II MB. Win2000 obviously sees this controller as a SCSI device, but nowhere in the properties for the controller can I see the option to enable DMA transfer or similar. As a follow up question: Later today I will have two ATA-66 HD's, the IBM 22GB unit mentioned above, and also a 20.5GB IBM unit. As my DVD, CD-RW & ZIP are all SCSI, running off an Adaptec 2940, I don't need any of the standard IDE controllers enabled on my motherboard. Would I get a performance increase if I ran each of my ATA-66 IBM drives off of their own channel on the motherboard? Or should I just do the usuall slave/master configuration on the primary ATA-66 channel?

What I meant to add to the bottom of the previous post was: It is an IBM Deskstar 22GXP At the top of the page for this drive: http://www.storage.ibm.com/hardsoft/diskdrdl/desk/ds22gxp.htm It says 'Highlights' - Interface-Ultra-ATA/66 But if you scroll down to the bottom of the page under product specs it says: Interface: ATA-4 I guess an e-mail to IBM would give me the definitive answer.

Hi people, OK, up until thirty minutes ago I had a fully functioning Win2k installation. I still do to a degree. I have just replaced my old motherboard with an Abit BE6-II. This part of the installation went OK, Win2k detected all the new hardware devices and runs fine. However I have 2 ATA-66 HD's so I want to use the on-board ATA-66 controller (It's a Hot Rod 66) On the first boot Win2k detected this controller and installed all the required drivers from the floppy I got with the MB. However, now when I attach my HD's to the ATA-66 controller WIn2k hangs on boot-up at the 'Starting Windows screen' It wont go in Safe Mode either. If I remove the drives from the ATA-66 controller and plug tem back into the standard IDE controllers it boots fine, hence I can get to this page and type this message Anybody give me any clues? Thanks in advance

A special cable for UDMA-66?? Didn't know you needed any kind of special cable. <joke> You have to keep in good spirits when things don't go according to plan Well, I'm back up and running. It's funny what was said in the last post about 'The Correct Cable' and Western Digital HD's. I'm using the UDMA-66 cable that came with the ABit board, but I thought they were all the same. However, as soon as I re-attach the ATA-66 confirmed & enabled HD to my chain, the PC goes back to hanging at starting Windows. As soon as I remove it, and just have my IBM alone on the chain, Windows boots perfectly and everything runs fine. Thanks to all who posted your ideas about the problems I was having. All your posts helped. Last question I guess. What do you think is more likely to be the problem I'm having: 1. A faulty ATA-66 cable 2. The Western Digital Drive is dodgy. I've kind of thought I'm now going to have to buy another HD, think I'll go for IBM again, but of course I'd rather spend £8 on a cable than £100+ on a new HD. Thanks again.

Give it time, it will happen. Who remembers all the fun we had trying to get games, some as young as six months old, working Under Windows95 when it first came out. OK, so a lot of these games were never patched, but the companies soon made all their future releases compatible. The only thing that stopped developers developing for Win2k was DirectX support. Now Win2k has it, the majority of game producers are going to realise the merits of making their games win2k compatible. MS can say until their blue in the face 'This is a business platform.....' However this is falling on deaf ears as both the next home user Windows (after ME) and the X-Box are based on Windows 2000.

As an after-thought. I have both the primary & secondary IDE channels disabled. Not required as all my CD/ZIP devices are SCSI. The ATA-66 controller has two channels, maybe I should consider placing the Western Digital as Master on the second channel by itself? Not that I have a spare cable to try this, but one could soon be purchased.

As an after-thought.

My lunch hour is now over, so I guess it's time for a progress report OK, tried disabling 'Plug & Play OS' in the BIOS still hangs at the same point. Tried removing all cards not needed for installation, SB Live! & Intel Pro Network card removed, still hangs at same point. I did have the Western Digital set as master (Due to wanting Win98 using the smallest drive) and the IBM as slave. Decided that Win98 really wasn't needed. Swapped Slave/Master configuration, and zapped both disks. Setup still hanging at same point. Have confirmed the IBM unit is ATA-66. I ran the Western Digital HD checker utility. This confirmed both that the drive was indeed ATA-66 compatible and it's current status was ATA-66 enabled. The ATA-66 controller BIOS does correctly identify both HD's. Then, for reasons unknown to me, I decided to detach the Western Digital drive from the chain. With just the IBM unit attached the Windows 2000 setup program DOES continue past the point where it was hanging. I didn't have time to run a full installation, but I did get to the point where it was asking about partitions and format types, a lot further than before. I have no warranty on the Western Digital unit, but it looks like this might be faulty?? What I am hoping is: I install Windows 2000 onto my IBM disk. Once this is all set-up, I simply re-attach the Western Digital unit and away we go. Anyone think this will/wont work? Once again people of this forum, thank you for your ideas and help.

Hello people, Due to now, after a re-format of the HD's, having a non-working PC, I've had to wait until I get into work before posting CUrrent status is: Totally wiped PC. My Windows98 installation now seems to be OK, installed it with the HD's attached to the standard IDE controller. Installed the Win9x drivers, moved the HD's over to the ATA-66 controller, all works. Problem now is again with Win2000. Boot from the CD & Press F6 when prompted to install other drivers. I get to a screen that says 'please insert the manufacturers floppy disk containing updated drivers' Do this, it lists the High-Point as a device it will install. Continue. I get to the Blue Screen with White writing saying Windows2000 Setup, Windows2000 Setup will now Start Windows. The HD LED stays constantly on, but it doesn't progress any further than this. I had picked up from the manual that slot3 shares IRQ's with the High-Point. My configuration is: AGP Slot - Matrox G400 Max PCI Slot 1 - Adaptec 2940UW PCI Slot 2 - SB Live! Value PCI Slot 3 - Empty PCI Slot 4 - Intel Pro 10/100 Network Card Both my HD's are ATA-66 compatible. A 22GB 7,200rpm IBM & a 13GB 5,400rpm Western Digital. I checked on the Western Digital web page, and according to their specs this drive comes ATA-66 enabled. I'm pretty confident that the hardware is connected correctly and both drives are ATA-66 complient & enabled due to Win98 now working fine. Your further help greatly apprechiated All in all the ABit board does seem good. Solid build etc. Just these dang ATA-66 Controllers

Hi, Thanks for your reply. No go, still nothing, still just hangs on boot-up. Neither High-Point or Abit mention Windows2000 installation. They give instructions as if I was using the add-in card. Followed them totally. What I did: Installed new Motherboard, attached HD's to on-board ATA-33 controller. Booted into Windows2000. New hardware detected, installed drivers from the High-Point floppy disk included with MB. Prompted to re-boot PC, did so. On re-boot the second ATA-66 controller was detected. Prompted for drivers again, installed, re-booted when prompted. Allowed Windows 2000 to load, got message 'Windows has finished setting up your new hardware'. Powered down PC, moved HD's from ATA-33 controller to ATA-66 controller using the correct cable and cable configuration etc. Switched PC on, went into BIOS, set second bootable option to ATA-66 controller. ATA-66 BIOS screen shows both my HD's. Windows 2000 start loading, hangs at 'starting Windows' screen. Safe mode, hangs at the VGA 'Starting Windows' screen. Eeegads, I go through all the hassle of choosing my MB (see massive thread) and then hit problems Cheers for any input.

Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right kind of forum to post this question, but you are all such nice guys and always answer the questions :-) And I will be running Win2000 on my purchase. OK, here goes. I'm looking at upgrading my current mobo. I currently have a BX based motherboard that wont accept any of the Coppermine CPU's. Now I'm tearing my hair put here deciding which will be the best option. Major choices here: Another BX based mobo that will accept Coppermine CPU's, allbeit not the 133mhz versions. An 820 based mobo which has RIMM sockets on & temporarily use a SIMM - RIMM converter, but have the option of RIMM's if/when prices drop. An 820 based mobo with just DIMM sockets. Obviously no option to upgrade to RIMM's. I know there is a performance issue when using DIMM's on an 820 based mobo, but are we talking major hit here? I'm really look for any advice you can give me here. Also, as for the make of board I have been looking at both Abit & Asus, anyone care to comment on these manufacturers and/or add other good names to look for? Thanks a lot for any advice you can give. Paul

Hiya, Yes, thanks I got my coffee In reponse to your last sentance, the PIII 550 on a BX is an option, and my current option. I just wanted to know if I moved to a 820 chipset I don't want a performance drop from what I was using two weeks a go, a PIII 500 on a BX. I think the general posts say go BX, so ABit BE6-II here I come. Thanks everyone for the input.

Go forth and purchase ye self a Yamaha Seriously, I have a 4x/4x/16x Internal SCSI Yamaha CD-RW and it's excellent. Had no problems with it, 2MB buffer etc etc. You didn't mention if you were looking for IDE or SCSI, but both types are good.

At last!!! Thanks for that post, it's what I've been looking for. I wanted someone who had used the board to tell me what they thought of it. I know that when I got my last but one Intel Motherboard I was so impressed that I took every oportunity to 'sing it's praises' Nobody seemed to want to do the same on this ABit board, so I was a tad worried I know I said a while back this was going to be my last question on this thread, but: Going back to the performance hit issue with the 820 chipset & DIMMS. Up until 2 days ago I was using a PIII 500. I now have a PIII 550. Would it be fair to say that using an 820 Chipset & DIMM's would be similar performace to how my PC was when I was using the PIII 500. eg. 820+DIMM'S+PIII 550 = BX+DIMM's+PIII 500 I'm sure the above question doesn't make sense, but hay it's 10:30am, it's busy at work and I haven't had my morning coffee yet

I don't think it is an IRQ problem. I have the following devices all on IRQ9. Matrox G400 MAX Adaptec 2940 Creative SB Live Value (With Liveware installed) Intel Pro 10/100 network card. My PC powers itself down without any problems. Always has done without changing any settings.

Hi, I think your being a bit harsh there :-) I've been using genuine Intel boards for quite a while, and have always found them very very reliable. The last two companies I worked for only used Intel boards and to be honest I've never seen one fail. I've had the Endevour, Marl, Tucson and currently the Seattle2. What I don't like about the Intel boards is that Intel seem to assume what you do & don't want to do with their products. As you said the SE440BX-2 board doesn't support two floppy drives. OK the majority of people don't want or need two floppies, but it should be the users choice. The reason I'm moving away from Intel this time is their bad upgrade path. This particular revision of the Seattle2 can only go upto the PIII 600 512k. If I had waited two months, the later revsion supports upto 733 Coppermine. The same was so for the Original SE440BX (Seattle) board, it can only take upto a PIII 450. If it wasn't for the very poor upgradability I would probably have stayed with Intel boards. But that's just my opinion

Ok chaps, Thanks for all your input. I do have a reason for upgrading the motherboard now and not the CPU. It's basically due to the fact that a CPU upgrade costing me nothing may come along in the future at any stage. It would basically involve me swapping out my current 550 at no cost to myself. I'm not going to go into too much detail here, but I do work as an internal IT support chap After reading all your coments, I'm now certain that the 820 chipset is a no no. On one of the Intel forums today somebody posted a link to an 815 chipset MB. OK, it's probably only a prototype, but everything on-board and only 2 PCI slots!! I can see what 815 is aimed at. Anyway, back to the plot. After all consideration am looking at ABit BE6-II. Seems a very good all round board, ATA-66 on-board etc etc. So as my final question in this thread.... Anybody here own one or installed one, are they good? Any general ABit owners here, do ABit make a good board? Thanks again.

Hi, Yes I know that a lot of the BX boards can take at least a few of the Coppermine's. But...... Up until now I have always been an Intel board person. To be honest I've always found the boards very reliable, currently on my 5th. I'm using the SE440BX-2, but due to the voltage regulator installed on my reviosion of the board it wont accept any of the coppermine's 550mhz enough......never!!! Must have more power!!! Well, OK, yes it is fine for me at the moment, the only reason I would like a board that will accept the CuMine's is that a faster CPU might become an option for me at any minute (not going into too much detail here and I'd hate to miss out on the chance of a faster CPU just because my board wont accept it.

Hi, Thanks for your reply. I'm using a Matrox G400 Max. I'm currently running a PIII 550, so this is really a purchase MB now and purchase new CPU a little later when prices drop. I've read the reviews on the VIA Appollo Pro chipsets, but I've always been very wary of non-Intel chipsets. *Remembers the old VIA & SIS boards he used to fit many moons ago* Does anyone have any ideas of the release date for the 815 chipset?

Hi, I purchased Adaptec Easy CD-Creator 4 on Friday last week. I removed Easy CD 3.5c from my Win2000 installation, and then installed Easy CD 4. At the end of the installation, it automatically upgraded the version to 4.02 with an enclosed update floppy disk. However.... After the prompted re-boot Windows2000 hung at the colour full screen 'Starting Windows 2000' I left it at this point for about 15 mins. A hard re-boot on the PC didn't help. After three attempts to get into Win2000, I was foced to choose the 'Last Known Good Configuration' I'm now back into Win2000, all of the Easy CD 4 icons are still present, but of course non of them actually do anything. I have e-mailed Adaptec tech support, still waiting for response. Anybody else had this problem?

Hi, I'm stuck at work at the moment, waiting for CD's to write hence time to check out the forums I'll check the files you listed tonight on my Win2k machine and see how our versions match up. I've had to un-install ECDC again, I can't compare my files post installation of ECDC as I can't then get back into Win2k without using 'Last Known Good Configuration' Thanks for your reply, I'll post my results later.

Hi, I see that this combination is listed as working. I managed to install the game OK, but when I ran the game I got a message saying: 'Sorry, not supported under WindowsNT' The installation & patching went fine. Have the people who have managed to get this game working used the APCOMPAT.EXE program? Or should it just run 'From the Box'? Thanks. ******************************** Intel SE440BX-2 MB Intel Pentium III 550 384MB RAM Matrox G400 MAX Soundblaster Live! Pioneer 32x/6x SCSI DVD-ROM Yamaha 4416s SCSI CD-RW Iomega ZIP 100 SCSI Internal Adaptec 2940UW Intel Pro 10/100 Network Card *********************************