Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

I have a KT7A-Raid mobo. Last week a hard drive failed. I used another
drive to reinstall the OS but it runs really slow.

I was using IDE3 before...now for some reason, the HPT controller sees the
drive during POST, but then does nothing after checking the CD and Floppy.

If the same drive is plugged into IDE 1 or 2, it boots...but as I
mentioned...REALLY slow. About 5 minutes to a working desktop vs a little
less than a minute. This includes loading of minimal start-up items.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

mrbisco wrote:
> I have a KT7A-Raid mobo. Last week a hard drive failed. I used another
> drive to reinstall the OS but it runs really slow.

..........................
> I was using IDE3 before...now for some reason, the HPT controller sees the
> drive during POST, but then does nothing after checking the CD and Floppy.

" ... but then does nothing after ... "

Interpreted as ...
the bios code halts "here" , progresses no further, no boot to an OS.


....................
> If the same drive is plugged into IDE 1 or 2, it boots...but as I
> mentioned...REALLY slow. About 5 minutes to a working desktop vs a little
> less than a minute. This includes loading of minimal start-up items.
> Any help is appreciated.

An educated 'guess' ...
your ESCD has become confounded by the all HD swops ...
no comment on the coresponding Reg entries,

The 'ESCD' is the successor to the overworked CMOS PC parm storage ...
and 'sits' behind the (flashed) bios code in your BIOS prom chip .
The BIOS 'probe' creats this parm 'table', but isnt(probe code) entirely
bulletproof under follow_on hdwr changes.

If 'so'(??),
a BIOS reflash to the same 'ver',
using the "flash" clear flags for CMOS & ESCD ,
forces the BIOS to re_probe the hdwr, and re_do the ESCD anew.
Me? ... given your scenario ...
I'd use the latest flpy_booted, DOS Awdflash .exe,
as =opposed= to the 'Win' based flash.

At BIOS code 'endo' ...
you should 'see' a DMI update "successful" msg ... somesuch.

Hopefully, the Registry 'accomodates' to the new ESCD,
and your PC runs as 'before'.

You may/may_not have to enter the HPT bios to re_re_enable "it" ...
I'm not quite sure 'where' these 'HPT' parms a stored ...
*if* they're preserved thru the re_flash & 'clear' ...
??? TomG ???

best of luck,
Qed.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

Thanks for the advice. I actually did reflash to the latest bios. Same
thing.


"0_Qed" <nano.bot@shaysnet.com> wrote in message
news:42C5D541.1818@shaysnet.com...
> mrbisco wrote:
>> I have a KT7A-Raid mobo. Last week a hard drive failed. I used another
>> drive to reinstall the OS but it runs really slow.
>
> .........................
>> I was using IDE3 before...now for some reason, the HPT controller sees
>> the
>> drive during POST, but then does nothing after checking the CD and
>> Floppy.
>
> " ... but then does nothing after ... "
>
> Interpreted as ...
> the bios code halts "here" , progresses no further, no boot to an OS.
>
>
> ...................
>> If the same drive is plugged into IDE 1 or 2, it boots...but as I
>> mentioned...REALLY slow. About 5 minutes to a working desktop vs a
>> little
>> less than a minute. This includes loading of minimal start-up items.
>> Any help is appreciated.
>
> An educated 'guess' ...
> your ESCD has become confounded by the all HD swops ...
> no comment on the coresponding Reg entries,
>
> The 'ESCD' is the successor to the overworked CMOS PC parm storage ...
> and 'sits' behind the (flashed) bios code in your BIOS prom chip .
> The BIOS 'probe' creats this parm 'table', but isnt(probe code) entirely
> bulletproof under follow_on hdwr changes.
>
> If 'so'(??),
> a BIOS reflash to the same 'ver',
> using the "flash" clear flags for CMOS & ESCD ,
> forces the BIOS to re_probe the hdwr, and re_do the ESCD anew.
> Me? ... given your scenario ...
> I'd use the latest flpy_booted, DOS Awdflash .exe,
> as =opposed= to the 'Win' based flash.
>
> At BIOS code 'endo' ...
> you should 'see' a DMI update "successful" msg ... somesuch.
>
> Hopefully, the Registry 'accomodates' to the new ESCD,
> and your PC runs as 'before'.
>
> You may/may_not have to enter the HPT bios to re_re_enable "it" ...
> I'm not quite sure 'where' these 'HPT' parms a stored ...
> *if* they're preserved thru the re_flash & 'clear' ...
> ??? TomG ???
>
> best of luck,
> Qed.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

mrbisco wrote:
> Thanks for the advice. I actually did reflash to the latest bios. Same
> thing.

'Technically' ...
a flash aughta clear the old ESCD, located behind the bios_code ,
and cause a hdwr re_probe to build a new ESCD ,
whereupon (maybe) ,
the Reg "adjusts" to the new ESCD .

The DOS awdflash.exe , ver=8.12, does infact "load" a new (modular)
bios,
and overlays the old ESCD with 'naught' ...
no experience with later flash(.exe) versions ...
I've had mixed ?results? with "this" approach ,
got very tired of RTFMing 'Reg' Manual-S- to find 'spuroneous' glitches
....
spureous + erroneous.

I have no worthwhile 'exposure' to the Abit 'Win' flash ...
continuing cowardice.

Aside from
a hand-bash of the 'Reg' and, assuming the ESCD is intact ...
I's =swag= a re_re_flash & OS+app fresh install,
as your easiest "way" out.

Dunno, really, what your remaining valid "fix/recover" options are.

Me?
I use a 'clone' to a similar/duplicate HD ... in rack&tray ...
once I have a fresh/new, seemingly "good" OS+app install ...
same verified as 'bootable' & 'useable' .
Seems to "avoid" the ESCD/Reg 'matching' problem(s), so 'far', knock
wood.
Agaain, the coward's way 'out'.

Qed.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005, 0_Qed <nano.bot@shaysnet.com> wrote:

>> mrbisco wrote:
>> > I have a KT7A-Raid mobo. Last week a hard drive failed. I used another
>> > drive to reinstall the OS but it runs really slow.

This means the new OS load knows nothing about the old, dead, buried,
lamented, Given Back To It's Maker, hard-drive-cum-door-stop.

>> .........................
>> > I was using IDE3 before...now for some reason, the HPT controller sees the
>> > drive during POST, but then does nothing after checking the CD and Floppy.
>>
>> " ... but then does nothing after ... "

Or did you leave the door-stop-disguised-as-a-hard-drive in your
computer? So the HPT controller sees the dead drive (meaning the bus
interface electronics are powered and running, and attempt to respond to
some commands but can't because of the parts of the drive that really
ARE dead?) BTW When you roll-call the patients in a hospital, Terry
Shiavo's room can slow you up quite a bit, too. (woman brain-dead for 14
years).

>> ...................
>> > If the same drive is plugged into IDE 1 or 2, it boots...but as I
>> > mentioned...REALLY slow. About 5 minutes to a working desktop vs a little
>> > less than a minute. This includes loading of minimal start-up items.
>> > Any help is appreciated.

is "this drive" the one you loaded the OS onto, or the Zombie Door-Stop?
(one of the technological drawbacks to these newfangled
HugeInsideTinyOutside drives is that now a good door-stop requires
terabytes of drive space, instead of a few hundred meg...)

>> An educated 'guess' ...
>> your ESCD has become confounded by the all HD swops ...
>> no comment on the coresponding Reg entries,

He re-installed the OS, so "reg entries" depends on whether this was a
clean install on the new drive or not.

>> The 'ESCD' is the successor to the overworked CMOS PC parm storage ...
>> and 'sits' behind the (flashed) bios code in your BIOS prom chip .

On the KT7 family it's not read-only, there is a BIOS menu option for
"clear ESCD data". Say Yes to that, exit-saving-changes, and the ESCD
is re-probed and re-learned.

Try that, and if there are still problems, clear up some of our
confusion here and we'll try again. We're free, and worth every penny!

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

Did you load new drivers? The ones with WinXP tend to be slow. Does the
HPT bios version match the drivers? Is your IDE cable good and properly
connected (blue to the board)? Is the new drive jumpered correctly?

Good luck,

Mellow

mrbisco wrote:

> I have a KT7A-Raid mobo. Last week a hard drive failed. I used another
> drive to reinstall the OS but it runs really slow.
>
> I was using IDE3 before...now for some reason, the HPT controller sees the
> drive during POST, but then does nothing after checking the CD and Floppy.
>
> If the same drive is plugged into IDE 1 or 2, it boots...but as I
> mentioned...REALLY slow. About 5 minutes to a working desktop vs a little
> less than a minute. This includes loading of minimal start-up items.
>
> Any help is appreciated.
>
> Thanks.
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

Ok...I will try that.

The bad drive is no longer connected. Both drives were in use before. One
on IDE 3, the other 4. I moved 4 to 3 and took the old 3 out. They are 100
gig drives. When I was unable to install to IDE 3, I moved it to IDE 1 and
had no probs installing.

When the HPT controller polls thru the IDE channels it will see the current
drive on IDE 3, but then it just stops once it gets to the boot option. It
goes for about a minute, then says non system disk or something like that.


"Brian Brunner" <brian.brunner@verizon.net.prophet> wrote in message
news:h05dc1prb9akgrosna4m2vsnm46oieinkd@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 01 Jul 2005, 0_Qed <nano.bot@shaysnet.com> wrote:
>
>>> mrbisco wrote:
>>> > I have a KT7A-Raid mobo. Last week a hard drive failed. I used
>>> > another
>>> > drive to reinstall the OS but it runs really slow.
>
> This means the new OS load knows nothing about the old, dead, buried,
> lamented, Given Back To It's Maker, hard-drive-cum-door-stop.
>
>>> .........................
>>> > I was using IDE3 before...now for some reason, the HPT controller sees
>>> > the
>>> > drive during POST, but then does nothing after checking the CD and
>>> > Floppy.
>>>
>>> " ... but then does nothing after ... "
>
> Or did you leave the door-stop-disguised-as-a-hard-drive in your
> computer? So the HPT controller sees the dead drive (meaning the bus
> interface electronics are powered and running, and attempt to respond to
> some commands but can't because of the parts of the drive that really
> ARE dead?) BTW When you roll-call the patients in a hospital, Terry
> Shiavo's room can slow you up quite a bit, too. (woman brain-dead for 14
> years).
>
>>> ...................
>>> > If the same drive is plugged into IDE 1 or 2, it boots...but as I
>>> > mentioned...REALLY slow. About 5 minutes to a working desktop vs a
>>> > little
>>> > less than a minute. This includes loading of minimal start-up items.
>>> > Any help is appreciated.
>
> is "this drive" the one you loaded the OS onto, or the Zombie Door-Stop?
> (one of the technological drawbacks to these newfangled
> HugeInsideTinyOutside drives is that now a good door-stop requires
> terabytes of drive space, instead of a few hundred meg...)
>
>>> An educated 'guess' ...
>>> your ESCD has become confounded by the all HD swops ...
>>> no comment on the coresponding Reg entries,
>
> He re-installed the OS, so "reg entries" depends on whether this was a
> clean install on the new drive or not.
>
>>> The 'ESCD' is the successor to the overworked CMOS PC parm storage ...
>>> and 'sits' behind the (flashed) bios code in your BIOS prom chip .
>
> On the KT7 family it's not read-only, there is a BIOS menu option for
> "clear ESCD data". Say Yes to that, exit-saving-changes, and the ESCD
> is re-probed and re-learned.
>
> Try that, and if there are still problems, clear up some of our
> confusion here and we'll try again. We're free, and worth every penny!
>

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

I have the A9 Bios...I believe that has the most current HPT bios on it.
Jumpers are correct. Blue/black is correct. Latest drivers are in the
OS...can't get to the OS from IDE 3, tho.

I think the speed prob is IDE 3 vs 1. Even though they should run at the
same speed. It could be something else, but until I am able to boot on the
channel I booted from before, I will suspect that as the culprit.


"Dr. Mellow" <Mellow@spamblock.com> wrote in message
newsa6cbg$dut$1@domitilla.aioe.org...
> Did you load new drivers? The ones with WinXP tend to be slow. Does the
> HPT bios version match the drivers? Is your IDE cable good and properly
> connected (blue to the board)? Is the new drive jumpered correctly?
>
> Good luck,
>
> Mellow
>
> mrbisco wrote:
>
>> I have a KT7A-Raid mobo. Last week a hard drive failed. I used another
>> drive to reinstall the OS but it runs really slow.
>>
>> I was using IDE3 before...now for some reason, the HPT controller sees
>> the drive during POST, but then does nothing after checking the CD and
>> Floppy.
>>
>> If the same drive is plugged into IDE 1 or 2, it boots...but as I
>> mentioned...REALLY slow. About 5 minutes to a working desktop vs a
>> little less than a minute. This includes loading of minimal start-up
>> items.
>>
>> Any help is appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

Just another note. DMA is not enabled on the hard drive. I am unable to
force it, either. This is also a likely culprit for the severe speed issue.

It was enabled before.


"mrbisco" <nospam@isgoodspam.net> wrote in message
news:Scixe.4640$3o4.2994@tornado.socal.rr.com...
>I have a KT7A-Raid mobo. Last week a hard drive failed. I used another
>drive to reinstall the OS but it runs really slow.
>
> I was using IDE3 before...now for some reason, the HPT controller sees the
> drive during POST, but then does nothing after checking the CD and Floppy.
>
> If the same drive is plugged into IDE 1 or 2, it boots...but as I
> mentioned...REALLY slow. About 5 minutes to a working desktop vs a little
> less than a minute. This includes loading of minimal start-up items.
>
> Any help is appreciated.
>
> Thanks.
>

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

In article <h05dc1prb9akgrosna4m2vsnm46oieinkd@4ax.com>,
brian.brunner@verizon.net.prophet says...

<snip>
>BTW When you roll-call the patients in a hospital, Terry
> Shiavo's room can slow you up quite a bit, too. (woman brain-dead for 14
> years).
<snip>

Be advised Terry Shiavo has left the building.

Bill

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 18:39:14 +0000, mrbisco wrote:

> I have the A9 Bios...I believe that has the most current HPT bios on it.
> Jumpers are correct. Blue/black is correct. Latest drivers are in the
> OS...can't get to the OS from IDE 3, tho.
>
> I think the speed prob is IDE 3 vs 1. Even though they should run at the
> same speed. It could be something else, but until I am able to boot on the
> channel I booted from before, I will suspect that as the culprit.
>
Got rid of both my KT7 Raid boards some time back but I do recall that the
bios drive had to be specified in the bios if you were going to boot from
the HPT controller. It seems on version of the bios would boot if HD0 was
selected and another required it to be IDERAID or something like that. I
also seem to recall that the boot drive had to be specified from within
the HPT bios also. In any case, I always go it to work since I never used
a HD on the standard controllers (IDE0 $ IDE1). Setting up OS/2 to boot
off hde required non IBM drivers. Linux worked without a hitch on the
HPT370 chipset but had problems on the later HPT chipsets for a while.
Don't recall having any problems with windows, but I didn't run win anyway.

--
KT133 MB, CPU @2400MHz (24x100): SIS755 MB CPU @2330MHz (10x233)
Need good help? Provide all system info with question.
My server http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php
Verizon server http://mysite.verizon.net/res0exft/cpu.htm

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

mrbisco wrote:
|
|I have the A9 Bios...I believe that has the most current HPT bios on it.
<snip>

Abit's A9 BIOS does not contain the latest Highpoint 370 BIOS.

The latest available at http://www.highpoint-tech.com is 2.352 (which adds
support for Windows XP/2003 X64 Edition).

I've modded the A9 BIOS to include version 2.351 of this Highpoint 370 BIOS.
You can pick it up at the following link:
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/jefn/KT7_A9.BIN

As usual, flash at your own peril. The above link is well tested by others.

You'll want to download and install the 2.351 Highpoint 370 drivers BEFORE
flashing to this BIOS. You can pick them up at the first link above.

Jef

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

Thanks for your support.

I just updated the driver and bios. Didn't work. Still slow, still can't
boot off of IDE 3.

I think there is a prob w/ the mobo. Still troubleshooting. Really
frustrated.

I am gonna find a system testing program...like Sandra, to see if that can
shed any light.

Also..DMA still not working.


"Bird Janitor" <jefn_REMOVE_YOUR_SHORTS@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:sfIxe.2957$0V3.1658@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
> mrbisco wrote:
> |
> |I have the A9 Bios...I believe that has the most current HPT bios on it.
> <snip>
>
> Abit's A9 BIOS does not contain the latest Highpoint 370 BIOS.
>
> The latest available at http://www.highpoint-tech.com is 2.352 (which adds
> support for Windows XP/2003 X64 Edition).
>
> I've modded the A9 BIOS to include version 2.351 of this Highpoint 370
> BIOS.
> You can pick it up at the following link:
> http://pages.sbcglobal.net/jefn/KT7_A9.BIN
>
> As usual, flash at your own peril. The above link is well tested by
> others.
>
> You'll want to download and install the 2.351 Highpoint 370 drivers BEFORE
> flashing to this BIOS. You can pick them up at the first link above.
>
> Jef
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

Just found something out:

The drive is running UDMA-2...ata-33. Should be UDMA-5, ata-100.

The weird thing is, if I plug into IDE 3, boot, hit Ctrl H and go into the
raid settings, the highpoint controller is seeing it as UDMA5. Still won't
boot, tho.

So, that is the speed issue right there. How can I change this? I don't
care about running on IDE3, I just want to get the thing to run at the
proper speed.

Also...can this be connected to the DMA issue?

I installed Sandra and ran info checks and stuff. Thanks.


"mrbisco" <nospam@isgoodspam.net> wrote in message
news:Scixe.4640$3o4.2994@tornado.socal.rr.com...
>I have a KT7A-Raid mobo. Last week a hard drive failed. I used another
>drive to reinstall the OS but it runs really slow.
>
> I was using IDE3 before...now for some reason, the HPT controller sees the
> drive during POST, but then does nothing after checking the CD and Floppy.
>
> If the same drive is plugged into IDE 1 or 2, it boots...but as I