Announcement

**andrei** · 8 February 2000, 19:49

If you're using the latest drivers provided by Aureal try entering with step by step confirmation and when it asks you if you want to load au30dos.com enter no, if Windows will load normally after that delete the lines related to Aureal in config.sys and autoexec.bat.

Well, it's worth a shot, if you've just switched from the CD provided drivers for your Vortex 2 to the latest drivers

Come to think of it, shouldn't your MAX be on IRQ 11 ?

[This message has been edited by andrei (edited 09 February 2000).]

**The PIT** · 9 February 2000, 11:44

Could also be the classic case of windoze getting it's knickers in a twist with some many bits and bobs in.
If your using config.sys and autoexec.bat get rid you don't need them unless your going to be using dos for games. If you're going to do that create a dos startup menu.
If that don't work the best solution is to unistall everything bar the video card remove the cards from the machine and re-install them one by one until you hit the problem.
After that it maybe a case of hunting up the latest drivers or swapping slots around.

**CannyOne** · 9 February 2000, 19:15

Hi there "still frazzled",

It sounds like you've already been shuffling things around a bit. One of the things you might do well to check is that you don't have "ghosts" mixing up things for the different device drivers. To check this reboot and go into "safe mode". Once there check Device Manager to see if things like your G400Max, Xitel Storm Platinum, Buslogic SCSI controller, or Linksys NIC, have duplications. If there are any you should delete all of them and allow the system to redetect them on start up.
Simple experience leads me to agree with andrei that the problem could be with the sound card's drivers failing to load properly. The best case senario would probably be to have the Linsys and Buslogic cards share an IRQ if anything has to (and in your case it sounds like it does!).

One other thing you might try is disabling either COM port 1 or 2. Then remove the USR modem and see if you can get it to move to IRQ 3 or 4, when it redetects. This will free up IRQ 5. If you can figure a way to get the Xitel sound card to take that IRQ you'd be in great shape. Of course after all this you may need to check "safe mode" again for ghosts.

If none of this works then go to "the PIT"'s advice and pull out all the cards except the video and reinstall them one by one. Just leave one, or both COM ports disabled to free up some resources. Maybe this will save you from resorting to a clean reinstall.

Oh, BTW sounds like a nice rig there buddy!! Here's hopin you get to enjoy it soon.

**still frazzled** · 9 February 2000, 21:12

Well, I may be close.

I decided (just for the hell of it) to take advantage of Matrox's new "uninstall" utility and uninstalled and then re-installed the Matrox drivers.

Son of a gun, no more boot locks. I'm an experimentalist by trade so I don't find this very satisfying, but I've avoided a total Win98 re-install for the mo

ment.

Next step is to load one of my boy's games (probably UT or Half-life) and see what happens. Hopefully just gorgeous graphics and blinding speeds.

I've been thinking about giving Aureal's drivers a try, Andrei...I've heard good things about them.

And I agree with everyone about the IRQ "situation". I am overall *very* pleased with the MSI 6167, but this inability to assign IRQs can be pure hell.

I actually just bought a USB mouse which will allow me to disable a Com port so I will give that a try. I may very well just pull the cards out and put them in again one-by-one because I would like to bump the MAX up to a higher IRQ in any case.

And that is a *great* tip about the "ghosts", CannyOne...I will definitely give it a go. I read somwhere that these lingering troublemakers are one of the biggest causes of Windows problems.

I've printed this thread out for reference as I continue to whip this machine into shape. Strangely enough, after all of the stories I heard about putting an Athlon together, this has not been too bad. And I'm dying to see what the g400Max will do in Photoshop!

This is my 5th Matrox card (started with an old Mill I)...they haven't disappointed me yet.

Thanks guys for the help and support!

Jil (a little less frazzled)

Spoke too soon. It's locking again.
I see some serious shuffling in my future, though now I am less inclined to think it is the G400. ARGH.

[This message has been edited by still frazzled (edited 10 February 2000).]

**Kurt** · 10 February 2000, 10:24

'èç(!"@#%µ$#!!!!!!!

I have the exact same problem. Impossible to get this machine to work. I get to the desktop nice and fine, then it freezes. Can't click on anything, can't do CTRL-ALt-DEL, have to shutdown manually everytime.
I tried 3 Powerdesk 5.12/5.41/5.50beta, no change. I e-mailed Matrox about it a couple of days ago but was not answered yet.

I thought it could be the powersupply but I don't have a more powerful one lying around. So, as of now I am back with my ATI Rage 128, which works just fine ( I used to have 4*13.6GB 7200rpm Maxtor drives, and never a problem, so I am not sure it is the PS...).

I read somewhere that the Matrox cards would work best with IRQs 9/10/11, mine was stuck at 14 and I could not move it since my HD's run from the Promise adapter... -the IDE controller, COM2, and LPT are disabled on the mobo, which frees IRQs 3/7/14/15 (I run the printer from the USB port)

I DID try a clean install ==> no luck.
Eerything runs fine either in safe mode or when the MAX is set up as regular PCI VGA... :-(

this is what I use now:
Aopen HX-45 235W ATX
k7-700
3*128 MB PC100 Micron
msi 6167
ATI Rage 128 Magnum
Diamond Fireport 40 UW
Plextor Plexwriter 8/20
Plextor Ultraplex 32TSi
Promise Fastrakk66 IDE RAID
2*Maxtor Diamond Max Plus 6800 13.6GB
3Com 10/100TX

If any of you has got better advice...

Bye,

Kurt

**HollyBerri** · 10 February 2000, 10:54

Am I the only one who noticed this?:

My network sign-in dialog loads and takes input, then the background comes up and often some icons and then it locks hard(sometimes cuts the music off).

Why are we looking for a hardware conflict, here?? Doesn't this behavior imply that something that is loading from the network is conflicting with something else? Further implied by

After a couple of tries it will usually load and then all is well. There are no other problems after that.

.

Shouldn't we be asking what (if anything) is coming across the network, and if all the network protocols are correctly installed? I mean, the fact that the sound (sometimes) cuts out just indicates the severity of the lockup, afaic.

I also wonder if the position of the network card is relevant... I know that the NIC can cause problems sharing with the MAX, but several people have found:

The NIC on 11 <u>with</u> the G400 is the <u>only way</u> their system runs stably;
The NIC needs to be in the PCI slot right below the AGP slot (PCI slot 1), which is essentially the same thing as #1, since that slot shares an IRQ with the AGP slot.

And Kurt: If everything runs fine in Safe Mode... do you mean regular Safe Mode, or Safe Mode with network support. If you use no network support in Safe Mode, that again implies a problem with the network protocols in some way, since it would mean that Windows runs fine when it doesn't have to initialize the network.

Just a concept.... corrections gratefully accepted.

-----------------------
Holly

[This message has been edited by HollyBerri (edited 10 February 2000).]

**Jorden** · 10 February 2000, 11:06

Still Frazzled,

The only things you have attached to your SCSI are the Jaz, Zip and Scanner, right??

Why not start with unplugging the SCSI card first?

You have an obvious clinch between your audio card and the SCSI. Until we know how you can change the IRQ for your SCSI card (or audiocard), it's best to unplug or disable your SCSI.

Plus: With a CD/RW installed, do you need your Jaz/Zip drives??

Too much hardware on both SCSI and IDE can kill any system !!

A suggestion from a friend of mine with alot of Athlon experience (as he build a mod, called Eclipse for it): "Looks like it also might be your PWS. Although it's a 300w model, it might be to noisy under that much load! And it could very well be drivers"

Kurt: The same friend just told me that your 235 Watt PSU isn't AMD approved (Because it wasn't in AMD reference design... all most of the current SlotA MB manufactures did was copy AMD's design.), and consid

ering what you have installed he's surprised that your system starts at all !! Try a 300 Watt PSU or bigger.

BOTH: Did you by any chance use another videocard/accelerator before this and forgot to uninstall all drivers??

Jorden.

[This message has been edited by Jorden (edited 10 February 2000).]

**andrei** · 10 February 2000, 11:11

Speaking of sound cuting, after I reinstalled Windows (and had the usual fun with the Vortex 2 drivers) every time I connect to the net while having some mp3 plaing in Winamp the sound is cut for a short period while the modem starts to dial.
My modem is an ACORP made Rockwell HFC 56K Speakerphone PCI modem set on IRQ 10 while the sound card is on IRQ 9.

Any idea what might it be ?

**Jorden** · 10 February 2000, 11:22

I got an idea, andrei... but why don't you speak Dutch??

ICQ me when you think (feel) I'm online??

Jord.

**HollyBerri** · 10 February 2000, 14:28

Andrei, could you have your Multimedia properties set to use the modem's wave device instead of the Vortex card (under "Preferred Device" for playback)? Possibly "Only use preferred devices" checked off as well?

In addition, you obviously have the modem speaker on....

----------------------
Holly

**Kurt** · 10 February 2000, 14:33

BTW Jorgen, the powersupply from aopen is the Fortron-Source FSP235-60GT, which is apparently the same as the one listed on AMD's site (FSP235-60GN), only with the fan blowing out instead of the other way around.
-I can't say I wasn't surprised when the machine booted fine the first time, knowing the PSU is a bit on the weak side, but then it worked...;-) -

As for the rest, my G400 is stuck on IRQ 14 with one of my controllers, either the RAID or the SCSI, but always one of them (???). Moving the network card next to the AGP or disabling it didn't do it either....it still locks.

Kurt

**WereWolf** · 10 February 2000, 14:42

Locking desktop sounds like AGP Miniport driver problems...

**Jorden** · 10 February 2000, 14:59

Well Kurt, since you didn't supply us with an IRQ listing, how can we help otherwise??

Ir sure could be your PSU. Once you get to the desktop, your G400 is asking more power because it wants to display at anything better than 640x480x16 colours.

But let me ask you this as well: why the need for both SCSI and IDE drives in your PC?? And why not run the IDE hdd's from one of your IDE ports on the mobo??

Jorden

**andrei** · 10 February 2000, 16:12

Modem speaker volume is set to off, use only prefered devices in unchecked (was using the Vortex Playback anyway), problem still there.

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Announcement

Boot hangs in Win98: could it be my g400Max?

Boot hangs in Win98: could it be my g400Max?

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