Damn computer!!!

[LC1104]

I have posted before about Win2k not installing properly and i think i figured it out. for some reason, my computer just randomly messes up. Examples: I will try to unzip a file and it says that it is corrupt. If I reboot, sometimes, it unzips fine. It is just random. Another example: I try installing Win2K from CD and the installation fails due to random files that weren't copied correctly, but if i try to copy again, different random files are copied incorrectly. I don't think it's my harddrive, because i have tested my system with three different hardd drives and this happens to all of them.

My system:

P3B-F 5PCI 2ISA bios rev 1006
P3-450 100mhz bus speed
2 x 128mb Viking PC100 ram CAS-2
Adaptec 2940U
Plextor 40x Ultra SCSI
Plextor 8/20 CDR Fast SCSI
(terminated correctly)
3Com 905B NIC
SB Live Value
G400 MAX w/ RR-G
Promise RAID Fasttrak 66
3x IBM 20GB 7200 RPM together in a 60GB RAID0 Array
IBM 22GB 7200 RPM on primary IDE controller


I have tried taking out the SB Live, the NIC, the RAID controller, RR-G card, and installing Win2K and still get the same errors. I am guessing it might be a problem with either the CPU, the motherboard, or the RAM. It might also be the SCSI but I just don't see that having a big chance messing up data on the harddrive. I hate this problem. This causes me to have downloads be corrupt and i often have to redownload 4 or 5 times.

Can anyone help? Is there a way to find out which component is bad? And does anyone know a good newsgroup i could post to?

[Cpt_KiRK]

My votes goes for that it's your memory, one of both of them, that isn't working. I have had problems with NT4.0 earlier and then it was problems wiht my memory. So try to borrow 1 memory slot from a friend and see if it helps.

Cpt_KiRK

[wkulecz]

Try to borrow an IDE CDROM and install from it.

If this fails, I think its time to assume the MB is bad. Could be RAM, but you've two sticks that you can try one at a time. If neither works alone, unless you got the wrong memory for your MB (PC100 on a PC133) odds of both being bad are slim unless you're buying from flea markets.

Have you checked the ibm site posted in the long thread to see if your IBM drive needs the firmware mod to work on an ATA33 controller? This could expalin everything!

All your drives are IBM, if they all need the mod, then none will work! You're not making "known good" substitutions.

--wally.

[LvR]

Dont think it is the IBM GXPs

Have quite a few running reliably on P2b and P3B boards - ATA33

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Lawrence

[wkulecz]

LvR,

LC1104 needs to check the exact model numbers of his drives, not assume that all models of the class are the same. This is a known problem that needs to be checked for each of his specific drives. You may have older (non-ATA66 firmware) or newer where the problem is "fixed".

I think this is his last resort before a motherboard swap. Bad motherboards are a bitch!

--wally.

[LvR]

Wally

Sure.

The ones I have installed are all with date codes after July 2000 and are all ATA100 7200rpm drives - exact model numbers starting with DTLAxxxxxxx.

Your comment may actually be more significant than you think - I have always been under the impression that the 7200 rpm drives use 15G platters - ie sizes of 15/30/45/60 and 75 only!?

LC1104
What is the exact model numbers of your drives?



------------------
Lawrence

[LC1104]

I will try checking later today if I do need the firmware upgrades. But I tried putting the IBM drive on an Ultra 66 Promise controller (not the raid controller) and received the same errors. So i do not think it is compatibilty error with the UDMA 33. Tell me if I am wrong, i will open the computer up later when i have time to find the model numbers on the drives. Thanks everyone for your help.

[LvR]

Just for the hell of it!

I seem to remember you saying that W98 ran fine.

If that is the case - may I suggest start with W98 boot stiffy, run fdisk, delete all partitions on IDE drive, power off and on, run fdisk again and create primary dos partition, power down and up, format C: with fat32, and then copy contents of W2K cd to your C drive in a temp directory, then try installing from there - that way you will know that the rom is not causing the fun and games. (Have not actually tried this myself but it used to work with W98)

------------------
Lawrence

[wkulecz]

If you have a known good ATA66 cable and have properly disabled the on-board ATA33 controller in the motherboard BIOS then I think its time for a motherboard/RAM/CPU RMA,

Resolving the issue is beyond the home user unless you happen to have full spec "known good" RAM and CPU to sub, which then leaves only the motherboard or SCSI controller and cables. The only way you'd be in this situation is if you were duplicating a second system.

I've never ran into bad RAM from legit vendors and I've only had one bad CPU, it was a real bitch to trouble shoot!

Also, I've never ran into a bad SCSI controller that would get far enough to do anything that let me think the problems were elsewhere, so my advice is based on observational probabilities. Bad motherboards are way too common, espically weird "infant mortility" failures!!!

Don't burn up your warrenty period futzing with it!

--wally.

[mynx]

Try changing the memory timing to cas-3 and see if the problem changes. wkulecz is right about cpu problems. I salvaged a thrown away pc. I put the cpu into another computer and had random shutdowns, which was the problem with the original one.