Windows 2000 sucks! :(

[Avron]

Ok I just installed Windows 2000 with the 5.03 drivers for my G400 MAX.. Well.. Everything crashes.. Half-Life crashes in the beginning when it runs that Sierra logo movie etc.. Also iexplorer.exe crashed when I went to microsofts website.. Random crashes seem to occur with any application I run... All I have done was A: Installed win2000, B: Installed drivers for G400... Nothing more... So why does it crash all the time?

My system:
AMD K6-2/300
ALi chipset Super7 MB
128Mb PC100 SDRAM

Help me please....

- Avron -

[mj12]

WoW, you blame all this on W2K? It couldn't possibly be your setup or matroxs drivers huh.

[paulcs]

Uh oh.

Gurm will be here to explain some stuff to you about W2K. He may have some helpful comments about your chipset as well.

I have to be going now. I think I hear my mom calling.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[glarec]

i can see rag and gurm all over this one now. i think i'll let them do the honor

hint: chipset, driver.

[Kookstick]

I was on the nt compatible site and came across this-Socket7 system problems:
- If you are using a K6 processor be sure to disable the "K6 write allocation" option in your bios. This is a general rule for WinNT4/2000.
- Be sure to get the latest BIOS for your motherboard.

ALi Aladdin V chipset (like Asus P5A):
- Install the new AGP beta drivers. ftp://www.ali.com.tw/driver/agpw2k01.zip (version 0.10 beta, 666 KB)
- In combination with a SoundBlaster Live! there are still some problems. Use this patch: http://www.ticino.com/usr/seba/1541w2kp.zip
- The best performing Matrox drivers are the 5.00.007 beta. The newer ones are much slower. ALi is working on these problems.
It appears you have a k6 processor so it could help. I am having very good luck with win 2k pro on my setup. It is by far the most stable this system has ever been

------------------
Asus P2b(1010),P3 500,256 mb pc133,Matrox G400 DH,Asus 50x,Iomega zip,Mitsumi CDR,Ibm 10 gb hd,Sb Live,Win 98

[Kookstick]

By the way, I just cut and pasted that so if the drivers they were saying to use are not the most recent ones don't blame me. Personally i'm using the microsoft latest certified ones and they work great but I also don't play open gl games. I only play rogue spear mostly.later

------------------
Asus P2b(1011),P3 500,256 mb pc133,Matrox G400 DH,Asus 50x,Iomega zip,Mitsumi CDR,Ibm 20 gb hd,Promise ultra 66 controller,Sb Live,Win 2000 pro

[T'kul Bastile]

Gurm: Ok I am going to risk life and limb here. What is wrong with the Ali chipsets? I have been running W2K on my system since it was released. And have had very few probs.

Now I do have probs with OpenGL. Mainly cause it has not been important enough for me to fix. So far all my D3D games work just fine.

A wee bit about my system:
Asus P5A
K6-2 400@450
128 meg mem

Now I plan on upgrading to an Athlon very soon. So tis no biggie. I just wanna know why this chipset is so bad.

Thanks man

------------------

System Specs:

One bourbon, one scotch and one beer

[Gurm]

I'm gonna be nice, and tell you to CAREFULLY read what Kookstick had to say.

Then I'm gonna be not so nice and tell you to get a real chipset before you start bitching.

I'm gonna save "mean" for when you come up with some pissant reply to this post.

- Gurm

------------------
Listen up, you primitive screwheads! See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! Etc. etc.

[Gurm]

We've been into this a thousand times, but I'll humor ya.

Your OpenGL problems... are because you're using an ALI chipset. Sorry. If you had a nice BX like the rest of us you wouldn't have the same problems.

Random crashes? Mostly due to non-BX chipsets.

I'm not saying non-intel chipsets have to suck, just that the current batch DO suck.

And we're mostly just talking SS7 here, since I'm given to understand that most of the Athlon chipsets are ok...

NOT great, since a great chipset wouldn't need to be patched a half dozen times. *sigh*

- Gurm

------------------
Listen up, you primitive screwheads! See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! Etc. etc.

[T'kul Bastile]

Thanks for the info Gurm. I will look try and find any other threads this was discussed in.

I am curious about this. As I am not having any of the problems you speak of. W2K has been very stable for me. More stable then W98 ever was, or could dream of being.

I will give you this though. I do not have any OGL games. Although Q3 seems to work just fine. But that is the only OGL game I have.

Perhaps I just got lucky.

------------------

System Specs:

One bourbon, one scotch and one beer

[Wombat]

Gurm,
You seem like a pretty smart guy, so why can't you understand that even the best hardware needs driver support. Patches != poor quality, just lack of initial support.

[glarec]

wombat: just curious.. do you ever have to patch your intel bios? assuming you have/had one.

i have never had to patch any chipset before since i always stick to the intel chipsets. don't get me wrong. i would love to get a athlon if there's a good chipset for it. but i have to agree with gurm.. good chipsets shouldn't have to be patch.

i can't say anything after the bx chipset for intel though :P 810 and 820 is/was a big disappointment. this kinda suck because i really need a new system and for the first time in my upgrading life, i can't because of bad chipsets.

[Khalendar]

driver support is the responsibility of the hardware vendors, not microsoft's.

------------------
-Khal

System Specs:
Asus P2B bios 1010
P3-500
256MB PC100
Adaptec 2940UW
G400 Max PD5.52, TGL 1.3
Diamond Voodoo2 12mb card
Pioneer Scsi 6x DVD
SoundBlaster Live
IBM 9.1gb UW Scsi
3com FastEthernet XL

[Greebe]

I'll jump into this... Wombat (Howdy Rob) is completely right... unless the OS has the support when it was developed then you will always have to patch it. Now every one knows that MS and Intel have been sleeping together for most of their lives, so what's the problem.
Secondly, Gurm your partially right... VIA chipset do in general suk. Yes many have had flaws in their design and there are many different revisions. But not all MB manufactures are created = either. Thus any given set of drivers may work for some and then not for others as there are differences in quality, construction, and design. Lets not forget the BIOS either.
Now I've had almost every chipset at one time or another and grenerally have done enough research/testing to avoid most of the problems. I try to advise others as what to get and what to avoid, but few rarely listen. Then they pay the price for it in additional service fee's. This is how I've accumulated many customers over the years.
Currently I have a Cyrix PR166 OC'd to 233 (ie 188mHz), Mtech Mustang r581a Socket 7 with AGP which has a Ali chipset and have had my G200 in it. Other than AGP1x only (no loss there) I've had 0 problems. Then I have an Abit BH6/300a@464 it's rock solid AGP2x with either G200/G400Max (currently G200, using it to write this). Then I have my Athlon500@850 MSI 6167 AMD chipset with my G400 Max in it and again no problems there either.

In between and prior to these systems, I've built and installed many other different configurations and setups. All had to pass my tests. All the while I took the time to do the neccessary research beforehand to ensure the most problemless future for me and my customers. Haven't been sucessful all the time, but the customers have always apprieciated my concern for their well being. Yes there is a point in saving a buck, but not at the expense of future stability.
Also not all things are meant to work forever. Would I put my Max in my Cyrix system? NO, That would be totally foolish and secondly the Max would have more processing power that the CPU does! Will I install Win2K on it, NO. Like I wouldn't install Win98 on a 486 system, that would be another oxymoron.

Now if someone wants to throw a rock at me, go for it.

[Greebe]

Gurm, Try this, Intel may have a published the spec, but have they included ALL the information neccessary? NO
They do what they must in order to maintain dominance in the market place. Do they make their own chipsets flawless...

And don't even get me started with MS, they can't even release their own products to spec. How long did it take them to resolve most of the issues with Win98... eYup >2 years. Does ANY of there software work flawless... thank you

Please reread my post. Now how come I can discuss these things with you via email and we can come to an easy understanding and yet in a public forum it results in High velocity rants? I just don't get it.