500GB Maxtor S-ATA causes K8N Neo4 to freeeze

Is there a compatibility issue with the NEO4 and large drives such as this? I've tried everything I can think of to get this drive to work. With the drive connected system boots fine, but when I try to partition and format it my system freezes and I'll have to reboot.
I've tried Partition Magoc 8, Windows Disk Manangement and MaxBlast and the result is the same with each, as soon as the software tries to do something to the drive my system crashes. I checked and double checked cabling and have updated to the last BIOS with no luck. I'm running XP Pro SP2 and have 4 other drives in my system that are all large, over 200GB each, some S-ATA, some IDE.

if it's a maxtor diamond max 10 plus, than there is a general incompatibility between those drives and nforce4 chipsets. you have to contact maxtor support and ask them for an updated firmware for the HDD. just search the forum, it has been already discussed.

Similar Messages

New build: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum + maxtor 300gb = problem?

Got these 2 products included in a order:
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939)
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 10 NCQ 300GB
While checking up on the MB on the MSI site, I noticed a version of the bios (1.2) that says 'support for 300gb maxtor drives'
That's the same HD one I have coming with my order >.<
If the MB I get hasn't got that version of the bios already installed will I have trouble installing the drive?!
I downloaded the bios and it says in the readme not to install it from a floppy disk, so I guess you need a system up and running to make that update in the 1st place. No Idea how to go about this, if the need arises.

Quote from: Supershanks on 19-May-05, 21:45:00
Hi drjugears,
Welcome to the forum.
Many people are runnimg ok anyway as dope says.
But it's not an issue you can update the bios via floppy b4 connecting the maxtor.
See Flashing the BIOS for Users using NON FAT file system This is a guide written by msi. Strictly speaking if you folow the instructions you aren't flashing from a floppy the actual update is done on a virtual drive in memory.
if you need a floppy boot disc see Why no floppy for bios flash?
luck with build
Thanks very much for the welcome and info.
Unfortunately I'll have to wait a while to see...I installed everything....but need some adapter for the 6pin connecter on the ATI card. The power supply came with some 8 pin one. So I need a 4 to 6 pin adapter. Doubt If I'll find one local, so will probably have to wait until monday now to try it out.

Maxtor 6Y160MOSTD 160GB DiamondMax Plus 9 SATA/150 -- on -- MSI K8N Neo4 Plat...

Hello there... I have a Maxtor 6Y160MOSTD 160GB DiamondMax Plus 9 SATA/150 on my MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum. I've had this problem before but it wasn't important enough to report until now.
I have the latest BIOS (1.B)
Now... I did have a dual boot - XP and Fedora Core... then I decided since Linux would only install the base text system, to get rid of it. I formatted using Windows disk manager. BUT the GRUB MBR was still on there. It resulted in an error. So I took my winXP disk and popped it in. I tried to first repair the MBR. I used the command BOOTCFG DEFAULT. that didn't work. So without thinking I decided to reinstall XP all together. When It got to the restart, the GRUB was still there, therefore didn't boot. Well what I ended up doing is trying the repair again. Used the command FIXBOOT - didin't work. I tried agian. Repair - found the command FIXMBR DUH! So I ran that and it recognized that the original MBR had been replaced. So I fixed the MBR and rebooted. XP wanted to install. So I let it. I came back some time later and found out it was stuck on "Initializing Devices...". At first I thought it was the graphics card. b/c linux had problems before probing the graphics card. I decided out of the blue to swap my 160GB HDD for a smaller PATA 2.1GB HDD and installed XP seemlessly. The obvious reason: XP couldn't detect the hard drive. The reason this is confusing is because I installed XP before on my HDD and no problems. I tried figeting with the chords, switching SATA slots. No luck. I really wanna know whats up with that. Help PLEASE.
Did I leave some info out?

Have you tried to download the Firmware for your HDD? Maybe you can refer to this site ==> https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?action=profile;u=77029

MSI K8N NEO4-F SATA ISSUE

System Specs:
MSI K8N NEO4-F
x2 512mb Corsair Xtra Low Latency 2-2-2-5
VisionTek x850XT
Creative Audigy 2 Platinum w/ Live Drive
(1) WD Raptor 10k rpm 74gb (SATA)
(1) Maxtor 300gb (SATA)
(1) Maxtor 200gb (IDE)
(1) Samsung 52x32x52 Burner
Windows XP Pro
Recently built system but I'm having SATA performance trouble. Let's start from the boot process. Sometimes when booting, the system will hang while detecting drives, and not detect my 300GB sata drive. A simple reset will sometimes fix this. If allowed to continue to boot, a blue windows XP error screen briefly flashes and the system reboots itself. Going into the bios and trying to autodetect the drive causes a long hang and no detection.
Moving into windows if everything seems to detect alright, sometimes the 300GB drive seems to function perfectly well, and for as long as my system stays up. Other times I'll go to open some sort of media on the drive (like video), and it will run rediculously slow, skipping and barely running.
I tried replacing the SATA cables, thinking that maybe they were bent too much or perhaps just bad, but after replacing them the problem seems to persist. This problem at first seemed confined to the 300GB, but my last boot to windows was crawling and anything i opened didnt respond, as the OS is housed on the raptor. So now it seems both drives are capable of this problem.
Does anyone have any incite?

Hi mjc2264,
It's the series 10 300gb maxtors that have been giving pps some issues not just with msi but all AMD64 Nvidia chipsets, its unusual to have Maxtor9 ?? give problems.
A number of things you might try:-
1) Bios Standard Cmos Features try changing the Access Mode for your 300Gb to Large instead of Auto.
2) Detection is sometimes Worse due to the Pata channel issues. If using the Nvidia IDE Drivers ensure your
Maxtor 200gb (IDE)
Samsung 52x32x52 Burner
are Jumpered explicitly as Master/Slave the NV drivers don't like CS (cable select). Ideally have 200gb on IDE1 & Samsung on ide 2.
3) If 2) gives no change Or if you feel the need Roll back The IDE drivers & try the MS Default ones
Click update driver on the Nvidia Pata driver tab in properties.
Choose install from a specific location
Select dont choose , i will choose the driver
Then select standard dual channel pci controller which is the XP 1
4) If Windows detects problems with drive access r/w errors it downgrades the drive access mode. If you have been having issues check in device manager IDE Ata/Atapi Controllers Right click properties on each tab & check access mode it s/be Serial ATA DMA for SATA & I think Ultra DMA 5 (or 6??) for Pata HD. If you find any down graded Set them back & XP will ask to reboot.
Luck

MSI K8N Neo4-F Problems

I'm on my very first build and I'm running into problems. When I power up, all the fans spin up properly and the D-Link LED's go through the usual settings but it gets stuck on the combination that the manual translates into "Initializing Floppy Drive Controller - This will initializing Floppy Drive and controller." The D-Link LED's just hang there and I've left it alone for a couple minutes and it still wouldn't budge. On the screen, sometimes I can see the POST message and other times I see nothing at all on the screen from the various times I've restarted the computer. Any idea why it's hanging on this certain combination and not booting me to the BIOS setup screens? These are my system specs...thanks:
MSI K8N Neo4-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice
ZALMAN CNPS7000B-AlCu Heatsink
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-380 ATX12V 380W Power Supply
OCZ Performance Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200)
Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
Leadtek 6600GT

I take that into consideration! But as hardware goes, no two are exactly the same. But let's not focus on that, as I believe it could be problems elsewhere.
Posted by: Talannon
Hi!
First, the problem is I made this computer for a friend and when I boot the computer it always freeze at startup. I hear the normal bip when you start the computer then I see the first screen where it says to hit del to enter SETUP but it freeze there. I can't even go into BIOS. I have 2x512 MB in dual channel and when I remove one I can usually be able to go into the bios, then once there I check if everything is there by default ( I already reset cmos ) and it looks good then I reboot and it freeze again. I really don't know what to do...
But I will tell you the whole story. First I get the computer and at first boot I get no video signal. I see that I forgot to put the spacer between MoBo and the case. Then I fix that, comp boot I go into bios. I made another error by setting the FSB speed at 400 mhz because I read that it was going at 400 (I forgot that it was 200 x 2) so I reboot and I get nothing. I reset the cmos by pressing the button then i can get into bios.
From there I changed the boot order and I make it so MSI doesn't show his logo when you boot but you get the POST instead. I exit and save then I start getting that problem... Since then I am not able to go into BIOS unless I play with the memory module. Another thing is when I can't get into BIOS I watch the 4 LEDs on the USB thing you add to the MoBo (definition here http://www.msicomputer.com/support/sup_tshoot.asp#1_3 scroll down a bit). When I can't get into BIOS I get a combination (1 and 3 red) saying "testing base and Extended Memory, Testing base memory from 240k to 640K and extended memory above 1MB using various patterns" and when I changed the memory and I get into the bios (2 red) I get " Initializing Floppy Drive Controller, This will initialize Floppy Drive and controller". I got that from the book that came with the board.
The comp is:
MSI K8N Neo4-F
Athlon 64 3200+
MSI NX6600 TD 256 FX6600 PCI-E
Antec SLK1650 MINI TOWER CASE 350W
Kingston 1024 MB DDR400 Dual KVR
Maxtor 120Gb S-ATA
If anyone can help I would appreciate it! Thank you!
Posted by: Talannon
I will add that I tested the ram on another computer and it works fine. Also, when I only have 1 module of ram installed he start to detect the ide drive and sata HD but when It get to the floppy it fail. From there I can go in the bios but when I restart he won't even start detecting stuff he will only freeze after he wrote the memory testing line and then I can't do nothing... or I can hit continue and it even got started with the windows xp install but it crashed, it didn't take long. Reboot and crash at verifying DMI pool data or something like that after I hit continue again after detect floppy fail.
I tried resetting the cmos then reboot and it said that my config was in overcloaking mode and to reset it on the bios... But there was nothing to change. Also tried to continue there but it stop at Verifying DMI Pool Data.
The bios installed by default is v 1.3, which is the only version there's not on the msi website... strange
Anyway I pretty much said all I could, hope someone could help but I have a feeling that the MoBo as problem...
Posted by: keymaker
hmm......try takin out all of thec computer parts out of the computer case and this time only reseat the following devices: case, motherboard, cpu, ram, and videocard.
also try replacing the floppy cable and see if the computer will be able to detect the floppy this time. good luck
Posted by: Talannon
It still freeze the same way with only cpu ram and video card on mobo...
Posted by: zach1288
Try leaving your battery out longer, Some CMOS batteries can take up to 8 hours to clear.
Posted by: linderman
Welcome to TSF:
two items for consideration
A) what is your power supply and specs / this is by FAR the most underated overlooked component that plays such a vital role / the generics PSU just plain cant cut the mustard / they rely on cheap price to lure sales not performance / it doesnt take much of a fluctuation in power to send the newer systems baulking.
B) download and run memtest86.com on your memory modules / sounds like you may have a trouble maker there. Test them one at a time first / then as a pair
please post back with your findings
regards
joe
Posted by: Talannon
It could still play a role if I go back in bios and the settings seem to be back at normal? (like the FSB at 200 instead of 400 mhz like I tried to change at first.
edit: Power supply is a 350W smart Power by Antec
Posted by: Tumbleweed36
Hi,
An Antec is a great power supply, but frankly, don't think a 350 of anything is big enough to handle what you have. Even an Antec, you probably would need a minimum of a 450 to 480 with a very strong amperage rating. Antec and Enermax is where good power supplies are made if the wattage is what you need. That is the first place I would look after the memory thing is checked.
Posted by: Talannon
So... I made the test with the ram with this computer and the ram seems to have no problem at all.
So I guess I should try with a better power supply? But even a 350W with only the motherboard, cpu/fan, ram and video card would still not be enough to run it? Because I still have problem while running only that... Before I go out and buy a good power supply I would like to make sure it could be the source of the problem.
BTW, thank you all for the help so far, I hope we can find the problem :(
Posted by: Tumbleweed36
Hi,
If you have a Best Buy nearby, go find a good power supply and if it is not the problem, take it back or return it. That way, it would not be an expensive venture that might not solve the problem. Just be careful how you deal with the packaging so you can return it if it does not help. That sounds like the best solution at this time.
Posted by: Talannon
Ok, one other I will add is I noticed a trend. If I start the computer I can usually go all the way and start windows installation but it will stop working right after I hit enter to actually start windows installation. If I reset it will always hang at the beginning and unable to even get into the BIOS...
If I put the ram in dual channel setting it won't even start on first startup. But if it's on single channel it will at least let me go to the bios and such (but never recognized the floppy). Dual channel take more juice to run?
With this in mind is it possible that the mobo and/or cpu still be the cause of the problem?
Anyway I think I will try to get a power supply of at least 450W to test it. Just for testing purpose, can I get any power supply even if it's not antec or enermax as long as it has high voltage? I can test it and if it's working I can always return it and go buy a real power supply from antec or enermax where there is one.
Posted by: ginger6
I dont think it is your power supply, the power supply you have should handle what you have got no problem, the problem will be your memory...... are the 2 memory sticks you have identical, ie: same manufacturer, same speed, same chips on the board..... to run in dual channel mode you need both sticks to be exactly identical otherwise you will have problems.
What brand is the memory, if it is a cheap brand then you may have compatibilty problems.
Have you run memtest86 when both sticks are inserted but not in dual channel mode?
Kevin
live links of this type are no longer allowed outside of the advertising form
dai
Posted by: Tumbleweed36
Quote:
Originally Posted by Talannon
Ok, one other I will add is I noticed a trend. If I start the computer I can usually go all the way and start windows installation but it will stop working right after I hit enter to actually start windows installation. If I reset it will always hang at the beginning and unable to even get into the BIOS...
If I put the ram in dual channel setting it won't even start on first startup. But if it's on single channel it will at least let me go to the bios and such (but never recognized the floppy). Dual channel take more juice to run?
With this in mind is it possible that the mobo and/or cpu still be the cause of the problem?
Anyway I think I will try to get a power supply of at least 450W to test it. Just for testing purpose, can I get any power supply even if it's not antec or enermax as long as it has high voltage? I can test it and if it's working I can always return it and go buy a real power supply from antec or enermax where there is one.
Hi,
Before you go out and get another power supply, you need to make sure you have everything hooked up correctly.
Try flipping the floppy cable over and see if the BIOS recognizes it. That is a common mistake that all of us make from time to time. The red stripe (pin 1) goes toward the power plug on that one and it is opposite as a rule from the other ribbon cables, because the normal power plug on the hard drives have the power plug on the opposite side.
Second, tell us exactly what drives you have and how you have them hooked up...here is an example: Maxtor 30 gig IDE, set as master, on the end of the ribbon cable, and connected to IDE #1.
Third, the memory thing does seem to be an issue. Is the memory that you have listed on the QVL list in the motherboard manual?
For now, for testing purposes, just leave one stick of Ram in the board, and do follow the instructions in the manual about where that single stick should be. As an example, some boards require that when you use a single stick, that it is in Dimm2, Dimm3, or even Dimm4 instead of Dimm 1. That feature is new to some who don't regularly build, so please check that out before you go too far.
Let us know these things and we will try to get right back to you.
Posted by: Talannon
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tumbleweed36
Try flipping the floppy cable over and see if the BIOS recognizes it. That is a common mistake that all of us make from time to time. The red stripe (pin 1) goes toward the power plug on that one and it is opposite as a rule from the other ribbon cables, because the normal power plug on the hard drives have the power plug on the opposite side.
It will only go in the way I put it. Other thing is the power supply is an ATX with 20 pin. My manual says it should work but it also says that I could use a 24 pin SSI power supply but never use those. Again I am sure the power supply is in correctly cause I couldn't plug it any other way anyway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tumbleweed36
Second, tell us exactly what drives you have and how you have them hooked up...here is an example: Maxtor 30 gig IDE, set as master, on the end of the ribbon cable, and connected to IDE #1.
Maxtor 160 gig connected on sata 1 and there doesn't seem to ba master/slave option. Is it because it's SATA? It also seems to be detected as IDE THIRD Master on the first page.
LG DVD +/- RW in master on ide 1
Nothing on IDE 2
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tumbleweed36
Third, the memory thing does seem to be an issue. Is the memory that you have listed on the QVL list in the motherboard manual?
My ram is PC3200 (DDR 400) it's supported from what I can read in the book
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tumbleweed36
For now, for testing purposes, just leave one stick of Ram in the board, and do follow the instructions in the manual about where that single stick should be. As an example, some boards require that when you use a single stick, that it is in Dimm2, Dimm3, or even Dimm4 instead of Dimm 1. That feature is new to some who don't regularly build, so please check that out before you go too far.
Manual says it should be in a green slot first which is dimm 1 and 3. I put it in dimm 1 ans it should be fine. The setup like it is now, is in the combination list in the manual.
Posted by: Talannon
Quote:
Originally Posted by ginger6
I dont think it is your power supply, the power supply you have should handle what you have got no problem, the problem will be your memory...... are the 2 memory sticks you have identical, ie: same manufacturer, same speed, same chips on the board..... to run in dual channel mode you need both sticks to be exactly identical otherwise you will have problems.
What brand is the memory, if it is a cheap brand then you may have compatibilty problems.
Have you run memtest86 when both sticks are inserted but not in dual channel mode?
Kevin
I've only run test with the ram installed separately...
I also bought my ram as dual channel so I got a kit from Kingston KVR. So they should be identical to each other. Kingston is in the list of supported memory on MSI webpage of the motherboard...
Posted by: Talannon
So I tested the both ram at the same time but in single channel and no error.
One thing I notice is when I boot the ram is showed to go at 201 mhz instead of 200. Not sure if it says something...
Posted by: whodatknocking
Quote:
First I get the computer and at first boot I get no video signal. I see that I forgot to put the spacer between MoBo and the case.
this might be a real problem, we'll see
but first:
go into your bios and relaxe the timings on your ram, maybe 3-4-4-8
pump the voltage up on the ram a notch,to maybe 2.7 or 2.8
post back
Posted by: Talannon
humm I'm not sure what I should be looking for in the bios for that.
If I put Timing mode in manual instead of auto I can change a bunch of thing. I have no idea what you mean by 3-4-4-8... There is something in that called CAS# latency (Tcl) which is by default at 2.5 but could change it to 2.0 or 3.0. Is that the voltage?
Posted by: whodatknocking
try 3
no it isnt the voltage, the voltage would be in another spot in the bios
post back
Posted by: Talannon
changed nothing
I guess I am to a point to check the cpu on another socket 939 MoBo to see if it's the cpu or the MoBo the problem. With everything we tried I start to doubt it could be anything else.

Really STRANGE K8N Neo4 Platinum Problem

I need help so badly.. I couldnt get my WIndows to boot , unless I shut it down when it froze, and then when the "Windows was improperly shut down" screen came up, I had to select START WINDOWS MANUALLY, then it works... now I tried everything, changing PSU to 24pin, removing all drives, all usb devices, 1 stick of ram etc... always same thing, so I take my computer to my cousins house... and BLAM it works, so Im like , come back home, and its not working again...
The only difference here and there, would be monitor, and keyboard+mouse...
hius being 14" old pos, and ps2 keyboard, and usb mouse
my system
19" Viewsonic Ultrabrite
Logitech Wireless Duo
Msi K8N Neo4 platinuim
3200+ 64 0.09 939
2 x 512 Ballistix pc4000
Geforce 6600GT XFX
Maxtor Diamondmax plus 9 120gb
CD rom + DVD RW + Mulitmedia Floppy
3 lighted fans, + lighted case
Antec Trupower 430W 26A +12V
Now... Since it works at my cousins house.... Im thinking... it has to be related to Monitor or LOGITECH WIRELESS DUO, I dont have spare monitor or Mouse+keyboard to test... anyone have any clue :(

My guess is there's no definite standard for USB pin configuration. Therefore, to re-word what's already been said: the motherboard his its own independent layout for each USB pin on the motherboard. What does this mean, (EG. it means that pin1 on your female case USB connector might be pin4 on your male USB motherboard pin and USB pin1 on the motherboard might be pin4 on your female USB case connector). This obviously is not the case but something similiar to this is causing you a problem.
The reason I said try using your USB devices solely with your motherboard/d-bracket connectors is that the motherboard connectors were built into the motherboard by MSI so we know they're correct and the D-Bracket was built by MSI so we know that's correct. If you still experience the same BSOD/crashes when connecting your USB devices to the motherboard/d-bracket then it sounds to me like an RMA is in order. However, if you're experiencing these crashes when connecting them only to the case connectors then it sounds like you have some research to do because nothing wrong with your board. If this is the case, RMA'ing the motherboard will only delay your computer endeavors and you will experience that exact same problem (if not worse) with the new board.
What kind of research must you do, might you ask? You will need to remove each pin in the motherboard connector and find out what it is (Ground, VCC, what?) then you will need to pin them up as a moderator like Wonkanoby has listed and that should fix your problem. Most good cases don't have the USB ports pinned. They label each wire and you pin them yourself. This allows for no room for error.

HELP! Installation of SATA HD on K8N NEO4 PLATINUM

I finally put together my system
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ venice
MSI K8N NEO4 Platinum
1 GB DDR400 RAM
Etc....
now my problem has to do with the SATA hard drive i bought for it, a maxtor diamondmax10 6L080MO, my system will boot and say "invalid drive" and will tell me to go into the RAID Tool.
I really dont know much about sata interface setup so i would appreciate a step by step walkthru on it, right know im forced to use my old reliable maxtor 20gb,
is it possible to have both the 20gb ata hd and the new 80gb sata drives? how do i install my sata drive?
i was planning on using the small one for software installation and the big sata one for storage
everything on my system is running well so far, except for the SATA drive problem,
PLEASE HELP!

Ceckardt,
You should not need to install any special drives with single SATA that not in a RIAD Array, if you have Windows XP SP2 installed, if you do not have SP2 installed, upgraded to it before doing anything I instruct you to do below.
If you using just SATA hard drive, all you should have to do is plug it in to one of the nVidia SATA connectors on the motherboard and if you have Windows up and running on the old 20GB Maxtor. Start windows and open the Disk Management Window. You get there by right clicking My Computer, menu will pop-up and left click “Manage” a Window will open and on the list on the left side of the call Computer Management, left click “Disk Management”. On the right of the Window you should see all of you drive of you system including you new 80GB SATA drive. You will have to Partition and format it, then it will show in My Computer as logical drive, the drive letter you will have assigned in the Disk Management.
If you need instructions, other the Windows Help to partition and format your drive under the disk manager, just reply or if the drive is list in the disk manage window and you cannot figure out how to partition and format the just start a new post asking for help using the Disk Manager.
If the drive is not listed in the Disk management Window, reply in the post for more help.
Good luck,
Roger

MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI sound needs -5V; newest Antec 550W has no -5V rail

I came within a whisker of ordering a non-returnable 3700 Venice, MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI mobo and an upgraded Power Supply, Antec's newest 550W PS the TP2-550 EPS12V ($117). This has dual 2x24pin 12V 19A rails and is touted as the new V2.0 EPS12V/ATX12v compatible power supply for high performance SLI systems. By accident I came across a page at MSI for this mobo
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mai...ail.php?UID=641
At the end is this warning: MSI Reminds You...
• For this model, you must use a Power Supply which has a -5V pin supply. Also, the users manual which I downloaded on Pg 2-10 says the same thing
The above Antec PS specs do not show a -5V rail, nor does an Enermax 600W I looked at. The V2.0 specs for ATX12v which added 2x24pin 12V rails dropped -5V rail from the spec and it appears MSI is not conforming to the spec (See Antec response at end) None of the web sites selling these PS & mobos contain any warning. I vaguely recall from a forum a while back it may have something to do with the Soundblaster system in the mobo.
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=22551 (click specifications)
Isn't this a major showstopper which is going to cause a lot of grief for those of us upgrading to SLI systems using this mobo and upgrading our PS to the newest & best power design? We won't know the PS won't work until we build the system.
Regards, Ron
Antec reply to me:
>>>>Thanks for the link. Since MSI's website does state the motherboard needs the -5v, the True550EPS12V will not work with this motherboard. The Standard (http://enhanceusa.com/documents/atx12v_v2.01.pdf) has removed the use for the -5v rail and it is no longer needed. MSI has not manufactured that motherboard to the Standard. Finding an ATX12V v2.0 power supply with the -5v might be hard to find. You should contact MSI for a compatibility list of power supplys that were tested to work with the K8N SLI Platinum.

Quote from: ccve3 on 21-May-05, 07:27:40
Wow!! syar2003 thanks for that post. I've spend an hour going through it & fasteddies links. Now I are a power expert. The dual rail argument is enough for me to go back to the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI with one of the single rail PS -5V units listed by fasteddie. The only question left now refers to computerpro3 recommendation on ultra power supplies for SLI
>>I quite simply wouldn't dream of putting anything else in my machine. Keep in mind, this section is for 2x 6800 models, not the 6600's which most any good psu will handle (like Antec Neopower, ocz 520, etc). . Pc Power and Cooling 510 Deluxe SLI edition (refer to list)
2. Zippy/Emacs 550-700w models
3. OCZ 600w (personally I would get the pcp&c for the price, but it's been proven here, so I'll be fair...).
These are really high end, expensive and only 3-4 choices. Since I'm getting one 6800GT and eventually another & possibly eventually a 4800 X2, I was hoping the OCZ 520W would do it but computerpro3 says Powermaster 520 isn't good enough for SLI. I found that there is an OCZ 600W ATX12 dual rail which surprisingly has a -5V rail needed for K8N Neo4 SLI Soundblaster. Will this meet computerpro3's preference for a high end PS for SLI systems even though I'm losing the 1 rail advantage. Maybe the 600 Watts just overwhelms the 1 rail/2 rail question.
Thanks again for the teriffic help
Regards, Ron
Wondering what you settled on. I got the Antec TP550 and it's flawless on the board. I even have the older 20pin model which works perfectly (including sound). If you really wanted what I would consider to be a top dog (pcpower and cooling), and find the -5v rail missing, all you have to do is place a phone order and request they add a -5v rail. It's a minimal cost and a total solution for having everything. Just my $0.02

How are some guys running an Athlon 3800+ X2 chip on the K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI?

I see many people running an AMD Athlon 64 3800+ X2 Dual Core proccessor on a K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI board, but mine dosen't work. I don't get any signal to my monitor (don't know if this is the cause). MSI says the 3800+X2 dosen't support the SLI board, but many people got it to work. Any one know how?

Mine working fine, but on cold boot, sometime it hang on me. I have changed 3 PSU to get it stable, from Coolermaster 450W, Be Quiet 520W to Silverstone 650W, ambient 25C, CPU 30C, Proc 37C.
Bios 3.7 the one they are still testing.
Have you check you PSU rails volt., disable CnQ,....
So far stable, multiple programs at once with no significant drop in responseness & speed, Half Life 2, P2P downloading x2, IE x 3, encode DVD at the same time.

MSI K8N-Neo4 and PCI-E x4

Hi Folks,
I've got an MSI K8N-Neo4 (MS-7125) motherboard that I'm looking to add a RAID card to. It's got a PCI-Express x4 slot on the board that I'd like to utilize. However, I've seen some conflicting information regarding it's use. In the manual on page 2-26 it states "PCI Express x4 Slot (Support PCI-E x2 device Only)". However when I look at the webpage for the board at http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=K8N_Neo4_Platinum& it makes no mention of this limitation.
The main reason why I'm wondering is because I'd like to add a HighPoint RocketRAID SATA raid controller to my system. If the slot can handle x4 cards, then I'll purchase the 2310 model, which is an x4. If it cannot, then I'll purchase the 2300, which is an x2 model. I've seen some mentions of other people on the forums with K8N-Neo4 boards using the 2320 (an x4 card with 8 SATA ports instead of 4 on the 2310), but haven't seen what sort of bandwidth they're getting. Are you actually able to get PCI-E x4 bandwidth out of this port? Or will it downgrade it to PCI-E x2 or PCI-E x1 (the PCI-E spec says that when cards a plugged into a different size port they only need to be supported at x1)? Or, and even better question, will it even work?
Thanks for any help you can provide.

Quote from: Bas on 09-July-06, 07:25:26
Those are not different then from what's on the motherboard
Want a real one? Look at this: >>Real one!<<
That's real raid controller.....
What you mention is just the same as the onboard stuff.
As for the Linux raid stuff, I presume you mean the Linux Software raid, no those controllers aren't that good, but the High-points aren't that good either.
Heck, they don't even have their own CPU or memory.....the one I showed you has and is WAY faster
(PS. sample given is PCIx, won't fit your board, but that's a raid controller!)
Okay, that still doesn't answer my question about the PCI-E slot. You make a decent point, but I was more using the Highpoints as an example and because they came up in several searches of the forum. For the sake of getting a real answer, lets assume it is a real RAID card, such as the PROMISE SuperTrak EX8350 RTL, which according to the Serial ATA on Linux page is a real raid card and all that. Will it work in the PCI-E x4 slot on the MSI K8N-Neo4 Platinum or not?
All I really want to know is if the slot can actually run a PCI-E x4 card or not. The documentation contradicts itself.

MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum or MSI 6600GT PCI-E ?

Dear Sirs,
I've just bought a MSI NX6600 TD GT 128MB PCI-E and
Motherboard MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum.
I Think that one of these is defective bacause WinXP
can't work with MSI original drivers, MSI old
drivers or Nvidia drivers. The system reboots.
I think that i've tried almost everything and this
card only works badly with VesaSave driver (Generic
Windows driver).
Could a defective video card works ?
Is it possible that the problem is the Motherboard ?
Any idea ?
Help me please,
Thank you very much,
ISW
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum
A64 3500+ Winchester
Original Cooler
DDR PC4000 GEIL 1GB ULTRA DUAL
MSI NX6600 TD GT 128MB PCI-E
Maxtor 120GB
Seagate 120GB
XP Home SP2

Duplicate Post.
Look for all replies here:
MSI 6600GT PCI-E or MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum ?
Take Care,
Richard

MSI 6600GT PCI-E or MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum ?

Dear Sirs,
I've just bought a MSI NX6600 TD GT 128MB PCI-E and
Motherboard MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum.
I Think that one of these is defective bacause WinXP can't work with MSI original drivers, MSI old drivers or Nvidia drivers. The system reboots.
I think that i've tried almost everything and this card only works badly with VesaSave driver (Generic Windows driver).
Could a defective video card works ?
Is it possible that the problem is the Motherboard ?
Any idea ?
Help me please,
Thank you very much,
ISW
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum
A64 3500+ Winchester
Original Cooler
DDR PC4000 GEIL 1GB ULTRA DUAL
MSI NX6600 TD GT 128MB PCI-E
Maxtor 120GB
Seagate 120GB
XP Home SP2

About PSU I'm a old (41 years old) newbie, and I had to re-assemble my old computer to work but I check this before with MSI software and at motherboard bios voltage check and remember that it was ok it is a 600 watts. But I think that even if it is not, I could at minus install the driver and start Windows. I had no possibility to even start Windows.
If I install any MSI or Nvidia driver, when loading WindowsXP the screen turns black and at some time after the system reboots and prompts to start in secure mode. So I can't do anything, even starts Windows with this videoboard with right drivers. It only works with "VesaSafe" driver.
ISW

BSOD's on my x64 K8N Neo4 Platinum based PC, Any ideas what's wrong? Help!

Over the past few month I've been getting BSOD's. There is no real pattern to their occurence and it's not something which is constantly happening (It happened around 5 times in the past 2 months), but I've really grown to hate them. You see, after getting one what has happened in the past is that when I go to restart my pc after getting a BSOD, I find I need to re-install my whole OS! What happens is that after booting (which oddly enough doesn't work well after a BSOD, It freezes on the boot screen and I need to restart several times), a black screen appears telling me that certain files in the C:Windows\ direcotory are corrupt or missing.
So the real problem is that the BSOD's cause me to re-install my whole OS. One will happen, then it will be ok, I turn the system on, log into windows, then it might happen again, after which I'll need to re-install. The files that go missing are always different too, and when I run scan-disk (after plugging in my main drive into another computer) it finds corrupt files and deletes them.
At first I thought it was Azureus (p2p client) which was causing the problems because it seemed to happen when I was runing that. I stopped using it, and the BSOD's still occured...sometimes randomly when browsing...etc. I figured that since files got deleted and corrpupted, it must be a problem withthe Hard Drive....So I bought a new one, and I've still had the BSOD error (although files haven't been deleted yet).
So yeah, I really need to solve this problem as it is taking away from my productivity and causing me to re-install far too often. I will post the BSOD info as well as my system info below (and a screen shot):
Quote
MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION
*** STOP: 0x0000009c (0x0000000000000004,0xFFFFF80000113BC0, 0x00000000B2000000, 0x0000000000070F0F)
I looked that up on the net, and it seems the first part seems to indicate, or at least COULD indicate overheating. I checked CPU and System temps and they seem acceptable.
I am running Windows XP x64 Edition with the following hardware (please note that all of the hardware drivers I'm using are written for x64, MSI is so good:)). I have had this PC before it started having these problems, it could be related to using x64 I guess, but the error doesn't show that does it?
Quote
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0 GHz Socket 939 (Venice Core) w/ stock heatsink/fan
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum S-939 nForce4 Ultra
OCZ PC-3200 DDR400 Premier Series 1GB (2x512MB) Dual Channel Kit CAS 2.5
Ati Radeon x800xl 256MB gddr3, PCI-E
LG 17" L1720B LCD monitor 16ms, 1280x1024
Western Digital Caviar 120GB SATA
Western Digital Caviar SATA II (WD1600JS) 160GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer
Western Digital Caviar SATA II (WD2500KS) 250GB 7200RPM 16MB Buffer
Pioneer DVR-109 DVD-RW
Pioneer DVR-110D DVD-RW
Antec Sonata II Mid tower ATX black power supply 450 Watt ( ATX12V 2.01 )
Creative I-Trigue 2.1 L3450 speakers
Sony 1.44MB Floppy Disk Drive
Microsoft multimedia keyboard and Microsoft optical mouse (PS/2)
My OS and drivers are fully updated. As for my BIOS I've been running the version I'm using now forquite some time and I believe it is version 1.5. Also in another bad turn of events, my northbridge fan seems to be on its way out of this world (this just happned so I don't think its related to the BSOD). I haven't been able to find a replacement, and since its not spinning very fast, and sometimes stops...It's causing the heatsink to get quite hot. I need to get a new one, and I can't find them anywhere...I wonder if thats covered under warranty... I looked into getting a different heatsink, but my Graphics card is so colse to this heatsink, that theres no room for a bigger one at all.
Do you think this problem is motherboard related, I cannot understand what the technical info the BSOD gives me means, can anybody understand it? I don't think its my HD's, or Ram, or CPU...could it be a motherboard problem? And if so, its under 1 year old, can I get an RMA?
Thanks for the help in advance.

At one time I had a weak 450w psu that had only 18a on the 12v rail. When I overclocked my cpu and gpu, I was getting bsod's every once in a while and couldnt figure it out until I read a similar post like yours on this forum. I decided to upgrade my psu and havent had that problem since.
Power supplies can be deceiving. I now have a 480w psu but its has 30a on the 12v rail. So what we need to know is the ratings of your psu (see my sig) just to see if your psu is the culprit. Just my 2 cents.

Constant HDD access (K8N Neo4 Platinum)

Hello all, this is my first time posting on these forums.
A couple of days ago I put together a new system for myself, with the following components:
* Athlon64 3200+ processor
* MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum motherboard
* 1Gb RAM
* Gigabyte 128Mb GeForce 6600GT graphics card
* 2x Seagate 250Gb 7200rpm SATA drives
* LG IDE dual-layer DVD-RW drive
* Apacer 7-in-1 internal USB 2.0 card reader
* Thermaltake "soprano" ATX midi-tower w/ 400W PSU
The two hard drives I have connected to ports SATA5 and SATA6 on the motherboard and set up in a RAID1 configuration (using the on-board Silicon Image SiI 3114 RAID controller). I then installed Windows XP Professional, which went on fine. The only problem I have now is that the hard drives are being constantly accessed by the system, even when I'm doing nothing on the system. This isn't just an occasional access once every second or so, the little HDD LED just flickers away merrily the whole time. I have run both filemon and diskmon on the system, and found that while no particular files appear to be being accessed, there is almost constant write activity being performed to the hard drives.
I have narrowed it down to somehow involving the Windows XP RAID drivers. If I boot from the Windows XP install disk and load the third party drivers for the SiI 3114, I get the constant disk access when sitting at the first screen of the install process ("Welcome to Windows XP" text-only screen). If I do the same without loading the drivers (thus Windows does not recognise the RAID drive), no disk access. I have tried updating the RAID controller drivers under the Device Manager (now up to version 1.2.0.0), but it does not fix the problem. I have done a full virus and spyware scan (bearing in mind that this is a clean install), with no results. I have checked all running processes and services (including making sure Indexing Service is not running), but have been unable to find anything that could be causing this constant activity. I have yet to try actually breaking the mirror and running the drives off the normal SATA controller. I will be trying that tonight when I get home if no other solution presents itself, but obviously I would rather get it behaving properly in RAID1 if at all possible.
It's driving me crazy. There doesn't appear to be any actual issues with the performance of the machine, but the constant hard disk activity can't be good for the drives long-term. I have searched these forums for a possible solution, and while some people have had similar problems, none of the suggested solutions have worked for me so far. If anyone can help me with my dilemma, I would be Eternally Grateful(tm).

Yes! At least I'm not alone... constant disk ticking is driving me nuts too.
I have same issue with a newly built system - different board but Sil3114.
My C: is on the NF4 SATA interface, but I have 4 250GB Seagaets on the Sil3114, intended for a RAID5 array. Having installed XP, I've become distracted by the constant disk access and have been trying everything to eliminate it before proceeding with the rest of the build - nogo. Your post gave me the clue - boot with Sil3114 disabled = no disk activity; boot with enabled = constant disk flogging.
I've got the Sil driver up to 1.2.3.1 but no better. Suspect it may be the Sil3114 BIOS that needs upgrading but seems no way to flash it - have you got anywhere with your debugging?
Appreciate a solution before I go crazy with the tick, tick tick....

K8N Neo4 build shutting down at random

**Update: I remounted the mobo and tried powering up with just the processor/heatsink, power supply, ram, and video card. No go. I don't know what else to do. It refuses to boot!
Well, my computer worked fine for almost a day. The first thing I did when I got it up and running was update the bios through live update, because I heard the default one for this board is pretty bad. I was also hoping that would fix the sudden unexplained shutdowns, but it didn't affect it. After a few more shutdowns, it finally refused to boot up at all. I turn the power on and nothing happens. I've tried resetting every piece of hardware except the motherboard. I'd rather not take the mobo out if I can help it, but if that's the problem, I will. Any ideas?
Edit: You know, I'm almost positive the motherboard has more spacers installed than I actually used to mount the mobo. Keep in mind, though, that they're not just touching the back of the mobo. I installed one or two more spacers than I needed, but they all had holes. Could that be causing this?
-Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo4 nForce4 socket 939 that I bought from geeks.com
-Bios: I used liveupdate, can't remember for sure. The newest one?
-CPU: Athlon 64 4000+
-Memory: 512x2 Corsair ValueSelect in dual-channel mode
-Video card: XFX 7900GS, think the drivers were 93.xx
-Power Supply: this is coming from newegg, where I bought it. It's an FSP Fortron Group 450w.
Output:+3.3V@30A, +5V@28A, +12V1@18A, +12V2@18A, [email protected], +5VSB@2A
More info can be found at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954
-Hard Drives: One Seagate 160gb for storage, I think I had it as master because I had a hard time connecting it as the slave drive. 20gb generic for the o/s, slave. They were in IDE 1.
-Optical Drive: 1 CD/DVD-RW in IDE 2
-Operating system: Windows XP Professional, Service pack 1

Quote from: Grayone on 05-January-07, 15:50:44
Removing it from the case eliminates any possibility of something shorting out against the case as well as giving you a chance to examine the back side for discoloration or burn marks.
not sure exactly what to look for, but I don't see anything out of the ordinary on the back of the mobo.
I have a strange update... at first I could use the monitor with my old pc, but an hour ago when I tried to hook it up, it did the same thing it does on the new computer. Lights flash on and off, doesn't come on permanently. This is veeeery strange, because it technically rules out all the hardware in my new pc as the cause of this. To make things stranger, the monitor connects to onboard just fine. It only malfunctions when connected to the Geforce 2 or my new 7900GS. But I have gotten both pcs to boot, monitor included, before. It doesn't make any sense. Early yesterday I had the monitor connected to this old pc through the Geforce 2. Late last night, when I tried to connect them again, it adopted the symptoms of the new computer. So it seems like this problem has to do with the monitor, but I find it strange that it decides to become defective the very same time I'm building a new pc. Plus, it DOES work with onboard.
ugh...

500GB Maxtor S-ATA causes K8N Neo4 to freeeze

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