Hi, this is my first post and i joined to inquire about what i could be overlooking in my most recent build...

The Components are

Asus P5N-E SLI Nforce 650i
2x1 gb Mushkin HP2-6400 (DDR2 800)
2x Nvidia 8800 GT
Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66 ghz
Lite-On DVD-Ram (sata dvd rw)
Thermaltake 700Watt Toughpower

Hard Drives are older and as follows
Seagate 120 gb hd
Western Digital 40 gb hd

Whats happening is basically i reformat the drives and during the XP Home Discs process of copying files for the installation, the process freezes the system anywhere from 11% at driver.cab to 54% at some random file (i didnt take note). I have tried 2 different XP home Discs (both legal etc.) and two different disk drives, though both are new... and still it is yielding the same result. I have also tried loosening the ram timings to 5-5-5-15 (they are rated at 4-4-4-12). No luck!! and this is beggining to wear me down...

Any suggestions?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

I do not have the P5N MB, but do have an Asus board that supported both the SIS and NVidia chipset SATA. I had the same problems with the DVD hooked up to the SIS SATA driver. If this is what you are doing, move the DVD to the NVidia SATA ports and try again.

Gerritt

You can get a thorough system test suite in UBCD (Ultimate Bood CD). The self-booting CD tests multiple system components: memory, CPU, hard drives, peripherals, etc. It does a very thorough job and is extremely easy to use.

Although it's reported version ver4.1.2 is available, the latest version I could obtain was 4.1.1
http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/
http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/download.html
You can download a .iso, .exe self-extracting, or .zip file depending on what connection speed you have. (download filesizes range from 87mb to 115mb) The .iso file is easiest as you just download it and then burn the .iso image to a CD using Nero, or CDburnerXP, or burnatonce, etc.

MD5/SHA-1 Hash Verification
I do recommend performing a hash verification to make sure your downloads aren't corrupted. Long downloads tend to be somewhat vulnerable. Use a program like freeware Fingerprint to calculate the MD5 hash and compare to the value provided by the download site.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/FingerPrint_d4388.html
http://www.2brightsparks.com/

edit to add-download data verification using Fingerprint or similar

The SATA ports are all Nvidia? i believe but my alternate dvd burner is actually an IDE based model and that gave me the same problem ughhhhhh........ so im now downloading the testing ISO and i will run it ASAP.

Ill post back with my results.

Well ive started running tests and i am in the process of running Memtest 86+ right now. I was just curious... if i start to see some Errors. Exactly how many should i see to justify that the ram is faulty? Just one? or....? Anyway. I am new to running these diagnostics and curious about what to look for. Ill be back with more details when the program has run its course.

Ehhhhh..........


I suppose i could take this as an error of some sort but...

Memtest has remained stuck at:
Test #5
Test: 2%
Pass: 34%

This was the first pass and it is locked up. I cant hit escape or c or anything to get a response from the program.... Also, it is recognizing my processor as a Pentium III at 2667 Mhz. (strange)...

Whats the deal with this? Im not sure exactly where to go from here.

Another piece of good news... cough cough...

Windows Memory Test also freezes completely at the test called

Stride6

Just a complete lock up. ugh....

If you didn't verify the download via hash comparison, that would be the first step.

You should also make sure you use proper ESD (Electro-Static Discharge) handling and parts storage procedures at all times. ESD damage can cause permanent damage to computer parts. Damage may be immediate or may be noticed only after some time has passed.

Remember that you can, and probably should, perform all memory testing with your hard drives disconnected.

You should also try to check that your memory is getting assigned the right voltage. A program like CPU-z can provide that information. For example some sticks require a minimum 2.7volts but some motherboards only provide up to 2.5volts. That could make a difference. Also, if your mobo can support increasing the voltage to the memory cards, then an incremental increase may resolve the problem. This should be performed carefully and slowly and as if you are trying to overclock the memory. Too much voltage can result in overheating the memory and damage it.

Also of course, verify the memory sticks are properly seated. Since you have 2 memory sticks, you can try running with one stick at a time, swapping stick positions to see if the location of the memory error changes, etc.

While you're doing that, you should visually check the sticks AND the motherboard near the memory slots to look for missing or damaged parts. Sometimes very small rectangular components called capacitors or resistors are damaged or knocked off the circuit boards, and these can affect memory reliability. People have reported damaging these components while inserting/removing long PCI adapter cards depending on the motherboard design.

Another thing you should do is change your BIOS setting to run the LONG memory test at POST. Computers are often set to run the short test, which doesn't do a thorough test.

You may find that each stick by itself passes the tests, but when you plug in two or more the tests fail. That would suggest you have some memory sticks with sloppy memory timings.

Normally, the memory controller will ensure that all the memory is running at the speed acceptable to the slowest memory stick. But, it's possible that you are using memory sticks with different gross timing differences and for some reason your system is running at the faster stick's speed. There are a couple of reasons this could happen but with most modern motherboards, running with memory speeds/timings selection set to "auto", this won't happen. However, if this were the case I would expect more in your problem history. Use a memory interrogation program (like CPU-z) to VERIFY the sticks are equivalently rated in your configuration...regardless of what any label says. Again, normally this is not necessary, but when you are having problems possibly memory related, it's a valid item to investigate.

One remote possibility is a memory controller problem due to using the "spread-spectrum" mode on the motherboard (not all motherboards have this option). Disabling "spread-spectrum" sets the clock generators to use the predictable and stable constant frequency mode. "Spread-spectrum is often enabled to allow a motherboard to pass EMC testing required by some governments...but it can lead to system instability in some instances.


edit-change generalized memory information to info more specific to user's configuration
edit-include ESD handling warning
edit-add item to visually inspect for missing/damaged parts
edit-add item on disabling Spread-Spectrum mode operation

Bruce,
Your Asus MB should have shipped with a utility called Probe II. It provides the same functionality as CPU-z and is specificaly designed for the ASUS board offerings.

I agree with John, that you should try a single stick of RAM. You may have timing and or voltage issues in BIOS but on ASUS boards these can be difficult to track down...I've had some recent problems with mine. If a single stick works then try two in single channel mode, If that works then try dual channel mode. If it fails at that point try manually setting the type down a notch, for instance going from DDR400 to DDR333 and try again.

Although if you have to lower the ram speed too much you should consider returning the defective sticks instead of just crippling them to squeeze out some use.

MoE,
I was attempting to give some insight into how to issolate the error. It could be a bad stick, or it could be bad timings set in BIOS. The ASUS MBs are very particular about DRAM timings and speeds and indications can change from stick to stick.
If he does find a bad stick, then I agree it should be out of the system.

well the suggested timings are 4-4-4-12. i laid it back to 5-5-5-15... and stil the same thing. i tried the process using each stick individually and same thing :-X. Right now im in the process of trying ram i know is working (because im using it in my current system) and seeing if that provides any sort of remedy for the situation!

Also... i looked through the bios ALOT and cant find the voltage settings for the ram which is a little strange to say the least... i have worked with these voltages before on the system im using now to get a very modest overclock on my Q6600 and ram.

Ill report back with any news of using the ram i know is working.

Also, the capacitors and ram slots appear to be in good condition as well as the sticks of ram themselves. (from what i can see)

I think the power stuff for CPU, MEM, etc, is found under "jumper free" configuration.

Bruce s said:
The motherboard user manual usually contains a very detailed list of every BIOS seeting possible in a BIOS section in the manual. If you didn't get a manual, the motherboard manufacturer's website should have one you can download...often in .pdf format.

Bruce, if you are having issues with the install files, use the floppies to load the installation files, but note there are 6 different ones. The ones for XP Home won't work for an XP Home SP1 CD which in turn won't work for an XP Home SP2 CD. Your install CD will say which it is. Same holds true for XP Pro. I was having so many issues installing XP with my SATA DVD-RW I had to go out and buy an IDE CD DVDROM. No install issues since that. Once the 6th floppy finishes installing the last files you can switch to the CD to begin the install of the actual OS. The different sets of install disks can be found here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310994

Edit: On the BIOS Advanced tab, you need to set AI Overclocking to manual to get access to memory voltage settings

Well! everyone, thank you for your advice. i ran the diagnostics and re-read the manual for the mobo. After suspecting problems with the ram i went into the bios one last time and found the "jumper free settings" option. Under that i had the option to change ram timings, and voltage. The voltage recommended for my ram was 1.9V and sure enough when i had finally set it to that guess what?! it worked like a charm... complete install... no hangs, etc etc. I feel stupid for not discovering this sooner but i suppose i got a thorough check on all the parts. Also, the diagnostics ran smoothly after editing the settings for the ram to the right timings and voltage.

Once again thank you all for your suggestions and advice. I am very happy to have a fully functioning new pc

Sweet!
(I pat myself on the back)
I'm glad that we were able to help you out.
Come back when you can, to offer your insite to others.

Bruce s said:

john albrich said:

Definitely don't feel stupid...there's a hell of a lot that can negatively impact computer operations these days. Sometimes the only choice you have is to step through each item trial after agonizing trial. It's gone way crazy when one must have a tutorial for the BIOS Settings.

Also, you did fix the problem...and that's something worth crowing about!