At 07:49 AM 6/19/99 , Ken Cornell wrote:
>Hello, this is a little more detailed discription of a problem
>I'm having with a new system build, also the solutions I've tried.
>System consists of the following:
>Abit 55T31 oem mainboard, atx form
>Ati 8mg pci expert 98 video
>64mg nec 2clock pc100 ram
>8.4gig WD cav. drive, format fat32
>Supra Max pci modem
>Creative Labs awe 64 sound, isa
>Antec 780 desktop case
>Award Bios using setup defaults?
>
>Problem:
>I am receiving random boot lock ups,
>system goes through the post fine, reads
>ram, accesses c:drive, when the system
>begins to load and read startup files and
>device drivers, it locks up, the drive light
>flickers, and system runs in slow motion.
>I then have to reset system to reboot which
>dumps me into safe mode.
>The system might boot fine 4 or 5 times,
>then lock up 2 or 3 times,
>
>Solutions I've tried:
>Changed ram, started system without startup files,
>started system ramdomly  selecting
>device drivers, striped system dowm to
>video card, ckecked to make sure mobo was
>operational, checked power supply, loaded
>cards one at a time and reboted after each.
>The fact it seems random is what puzzles me.
>Just when I think I have it fixed, same problem.
>The fact the system gets past the post I beleive
>tells me the hardware is ok, Hard drive is set at
>LBA 4, The ram however is using setup defaults,
>I'm not sure how to set the clock rate in the system
>bios, but it is being read at startup without errors.
>I was told that the board could use up to 64mb of
>PC100 ram with the TX chipset.

The first thing I would do is upgrade/flash the bios on
the motherboard.  I noticed someone mentioned it earlier
and this is good advice.

I would set the hard drive in your CMOS to auto-detect
and let the BIOS decide the best settings.  Some low end
motherboards have conflicts with large hard drives and
allowing the board to auto-detect each time can be helpful.

I would also be sure you have loaded the motherboard's
chipset drivers, you can download them from ABIT's web
site:    http://www.abit.com.tw      Windows does not always
have the latest version of MB drivers and this may also help.

Reviewing your hardware list, all the items listed seem to
have a low probability of conflicting.   I might remove the
modem until you can get the system stable and then add
it back.


                Bob Wright
       The NOSPIN Group, Inc
http://nospin.com - http://nospin.org

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