K7D Master-L GPU suggestions

I received a lovely Visiontek X1600XT AGP 256MB board for my birthday, but I've had terrible trouble persuading it to play nice with my K7D Master-L. It's happy enough booting but when the drivers actually get round to doing their thing it inevitably crashes the system after a short while and gives Windows a certain half-life before it becomes inoperable. So I'm fed up with trying.
Does anyone have any positive experiences with any Xxxx or X1xxx ATI cards in the K7D Master? It's replacing an FX5900 (one of my favourite games has an nVidia aversion under XP).

Quote from: Stu on 10-April-08, 05:48:34
You could try the last BIOS available for this board and see if that helps:
http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=downloaddetail&type=bios&maincat_no=133&prod_no=664
Actually I tried flashing to 1.91 but the awdflash.exe wasn't having it, hanging whenever it was given the name of the new BIOS image. So I sent a missive to MSI who confirmed that the only things I was missing out on was 2800+ support. Figured I'd ask them directly since there are often undocumented fixes in BIOSes that they never tell you about on download pages.
Quote
Alternatively, to determine if the video card itself is actually at fault, you need to try it in another known good working PC (which also has a decent PSU in). If it exhibits the same behaviour there, then it will need to be returned.
I'm not sure I have a machine lying around that's actually AGP as opposed to one of those nearly-but-not-quite xGP slots. Certainly on my list of things to try out if possible.
Quote
As you are already using Windows XP SP2, that should already have the last drivers available for that AMD chipset.
Actually not quite: it doesn't come with the 5.33 AGP driver, which I have been using.
Quote
Which VGA drivers are you using? Do you see any BSOD STOP errors?
Using Visiontek's 8.3 drivers, I get BSOD STOP errors; whereas when using ATI's 8.3, I get display corruption instead (not usually right away; after a little bit of activity). In both cases the Windows install gets rendered unusable after a few reboots (won't boot even in safe mode, usually winds up requiring a few chkdsks before it gets to that point). I have had a 3D demo running on it at least initially before things went downhill.
One thing I'll try tonight is booting with /onecpu - I've found a report or two where this helps. But I'd rather not lose too much more sleep or pull out too much more hair continually reinstalling Windows if noone else has had this kind of configuration working.

Similar Messages

  • MSI K7D Master-L & 3ware 7506-4LP boot hang

    I recently purchased a 3ware Escalade 7506-4LP RAID Controller (IDE, 4 ports - see product info here) for use with my MSI K7D Master-L (MSI-6501-030 - see product info here) to replace my Promise FastTrak100 TX4. On boot, the system POSTs fine, and then freezes solid at the point at which it should load the BIOS for the 3ware controller. I get nothing but a blank screen with a blinking cursor in the top left hand corner, and a hard reset (CTRL-ALT-DEL doesn't work) is required to to reset the machine. The diagnostic LEDs on the motherboard indicate it's freezing at the point where it is "Initializing IDE controller".
    What I have tried:
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    - Adding 33 MHz PCI cards to 64/66 PCI slot to slow down bus
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    - Tried various BIOS settings (ACPI on/off, PCI Latency, etc)
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    - Detached all drives from card
    - Tested card in another computer to verify it works - it does.
    I have noticed some people on this forum have had similar problems with SCSI or RAID cards:
    http://forums.2cpu.com/showindex.php?threadid=39696 The first post in this thread describes the problem I'm having almost exactly.
    http://forums.2cpu.com/showindex.php?threadid=37755
    http://forums.2cpu.com/showindex.php?threadid=46450
    http://forums.2cpu.com/showindex.php?threadid=41381
    Here's my sistem configuration as I'm attempting to troubleshoot:
    MSI K7D Master-L
    2x Athlon MP 2200+
    512 MB Samsung PC2700 CL2 ECC DDR SDRAM
    ATI Radeon 9000 Pro 128 MB
    3ware Escalade 7506-4LP
    KDS Avitron AV-195TF Monitor
    Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro
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    MSI K7D Master-L w/ Dual AMD Athlon MP 2200+'s - 512 MB Samsung PC2700 CL2 ECC Registered DDR SDRAM - ATI Radeon 9000 128 MB - ATI Radeon 9000 PCI 64 MB - Hauppauge WinTV-PVR - 3ware Escalade 7506-4LP - 4x Western Digital WD1200JB (RAID 5) - Hitachi GD-2500 BV+ 5x DVD - LG GSA-4040B DVD-RW - Sound Blaster 5.1 DE - Addtronics 7896A Case - Enermax EG465P-VE PSU - 3x KDS Avitron AV-195TF Monitor - Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro - Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 - fUnc sUrface 1030 Mouse Pad

    Any luck with this issue yet, I have been trying to get some help from MSI tech support, but no replies to my email.

  • MOVED: K7D Master Video problem

    This topic has been moved to Server/workstation.
    K7D Master Video problem

    Quote from: Liquidman.com on 13-December-05, 09:40:12
    Well let's see, The k7D is a dual mobo and will work with only a limited number of cards, after trying a few I finally settled on an nvidia Direct X 9.something (there is no name on the card, and I have 6 video card box's) I put in a a Wildcat 5110 I had laying around, but the driver doesn't support Max 8, or even 7, can't use software/Heidi. You just see the desktop through the viewports. This mobo uses an AGP pro slot, I don't even know if anyone's makeing these anymore.
    Are you running linux ? If so i suggest a Nvidia card.

  • K7D Master Problem

    Hello all, I just purchased a K7D Master and 2 MP1800s. I cannot get the system to boot. The speaker emits a never ending click click click click and the D-LED shows all red, which the manual states, "The D-LED will hang here if the processor is damaged or not installed properly." I have tried both cpus by themselves in the primary cpu socket, and an XP 2100+ I had sitting here. All three processors work in other systems. I've cleared the CMOS multiple times, tried two different power supplies (Antec 350w, and a Thermaltake 480w), and in and out of a case. Any other things I should try?
    Thanks,
    Oldbenwa

    Hi,
    Probably a stupid suggestion but:
    Quote
    The speaker emits a never ending click click click click
    Sounds like a stuck keyboard key! Dodgy keyboard perhaps! Well I'll give myself 10/10 for effort and 0/10 for helpfulness!
    Sorry that's all I could think of!
    Hi, I don't know much of your server board, but does it have a FSB jumper (SAFE/USER)? If it does, set to SAFE before clearing CMOS! Make sure you also completely Isolated (unplug it) from the mains supply while clearing!
    Axel  

  • Connecting case speaker connections to K7D Master-L

    Hello, my Antec P-160 case has speaker connections at the front. The wires it has are
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       GND, SPK-, SLED, BUZ+, PLED, BUZ-, NC, SPK+
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    need some sort of an adaptor?

    I looked through the manual for the case to compare it to your manual:
    http://www.antec-inc.com/pdf/manuals/p160_uk.pdf
    But suddenly I can't seem to locate your board manual. Can't find K7D master, only K7T master, at MSI's site.
    Found it on the Internet though, a review saying:
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    Wouldn't a 25$ (?front mounted?) sound card like a cheap live or an audigy, be something to add to your system, since you are interested in sound?

  • K7D Master Freezing in several Linux Distros and Kernels

    It seems that no matter what I do, I can not get linux to function correctly in SMP on my box. It works fine in single processor mode. The only non-user caused problem is that the box freezes in SMP mode somewhat intermittantly . It will freeze for quite some time, then when it gets going again, it works fine for a while, then freezes again. I have tried to get it to duplicate when I am doing things, but there doesn't seem to be anything specific that sets it off.
    I have tried to change the SMP mode in bios to no avail..
    I have used several different distros including Mandrake, Redhat, and SuSe. I have gotten the latest SMP kernel to no avail. The box works fine in XP Pro, and is just OK in 2K (It is a bit slow and choppy till I get SP3 on for some reason... Oh well...). It works great in any distro of linux in single mode, but SMP just won't work.
    Specs:
    1X MSI K7D Master
    1X Leadtek GeForce 3TD AGP
    2X AMD Athlon MP 1900+
    1X Crucial 512MB Registered DDR Dimm (PC2100)
    1X Creative Labs SB Audigy Gamer
    1X Plextor 16/10/40 CDRW
    1X Toshiba 16X DVD
    1X Antec 400W PS
    If you need more information, please email me or just post here... I will check fairly often as this is getting to be quite annoying now, and I can't seem to figure it out.
    Phobia
    [email protected]

    >>
       Did that one... They were all fine and dandy...
    >>
       Did that one too... Should have mentioned that in my first post...
    >>
        I had it on checking only... Changed to scrub... Didn't change a whole lot though. I guess it was worth a try though.
    >>
       Still freezes... Had Scrub enabled... still freezes... I also threw in a stick of Corsair registered and it does the same thing. I also switched CPU positions on an off chance, and that didn't help.
       I am beginning to wonder if I have a bad board. The only thing that keeps me from thinking that is that it works with XP and 2K just fine.
    Thanx for the suggestions, if you can think of anything else please post it. I am getting desperate.
    Phobia
    [email protected]

  • K7D master, Scsi raid cards, bios flashes and confusion

    K7d master-l
    Ram, crucial reg+ecc
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    To cut to the chase when I install a fully functional Hp netraid-4m in an available 66/64 slot or any other for that matter the computer hangs at point "initializing hard drive controller".
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    First thing I tried was sans 3ware raid card but same problem.
    The next thing I tried was graphics card and NetRaid only in multiple slots, same problem.
    Thought "...well maybe a BIOS could solve the problem?"    I have done a few flashes before but not on this.
    Downloaded two separate BIOS from main site and they both stop responding just after I agree to it reprogramming the bios chip.
    Nothing is done when it hangs here. The computer is bootable. First time it hung I waited an hour each subsequent time 10 minutes.
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    I couldn’t find any option in the bios for write protect.
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    Flashing done from a bootable dos cd and the bios and flash utill are stored on a fat16 hard drive partition. And have tried 5 times.
    Any help with these two rather odd problems would really be appreciated.
    Thanks
    edit: my graphics card takes up 2 slots its a x800xtpe with a silencer. 256mb.
    edit2: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=24059.0 <-- im hoping that its a bios ishue like this person had but with a different card.

    Quote from: jefuk on 11-September-06, 18:52:30
    thanks for the reply. I am not convinced by flashing in windows though so i used good old dos on the made for the purpose boot cd. I keep a fat16 partition for things like this too.
    my steps were as follows
    1 pull plug
    2 clear cmos
    3 plug in. "what why did u turn your self on?"
    4 insert dos cd
    5 flash "its working!"
    6 reboot
    7 panic "whys nothing happening?"
    8 unplug, clear cmos etc "ITS ALIVE {insert manic laugh}"
    now iv seen windows works ill shut down and test the card
    I have used 191 I don’t know where you found that bios from its not on an msi server ether?  sorry to say i don’t trust much :( 
    what benefits/bug fixes does it have?
    Edit: Well the card is now detected it reports 6 disks attached each with a unique id and then it stops responding, wont let me into config. I’m figuring one disk could be at fault but my original problems are all resolved thanks to a bios update.   
    little hard but nice you have finaly able to update it.
    "what benefits/bug fixes does it have?"
    Changes from 1.91(old) to 1.90(newest):
    Added support for Athlon MP 2800+
    Fix somethink about Vcore problem but cant translate it (Behebt Probleme mit der CPU Kernspannung (VCore).)
    "I have used 191 I don’t know where you found that bios from its not on an msi server ether?  sorry to say i don’t trust much :( "
    dont worry we are never give/suggest you somethink that gona do damage/unsure its work correctly or somethink like that, especially when we are talking about BIOS updates. im thinking always from other side(etc in this case from your side what will be best for you) BIOS is tested and proved himself in time, thats why i recommend him. MSI Global servers are not always up to date.
    Here you can look from MSI official also but not global:
    http://www.msicomputer.cz/soubor.php?produkt=MS-6501+(K7D+Master-L)&typ=%25
    http://www.msi-computer.de/produkte/main_idx_view.php?Prod_id=191&Seite=BIOS
    There is also newest beta version (2.01 which added support for Sempron CPUs) exist at German MSI, but i didnt recommend couse didnt tested and lag of info about it, you can test it also at own risk. Probably will work good also but personally cant gurantee for issues or anythink about it.(but that is my guess only and i dont work with gueses.)
    "I’m figuring one disk could be at fault but my original problems are all resolved thanks to a bios update.   "
    you are welcome mate

  • K7D Master-L with ATI Radeon 7000

    Is anyone using K7D Master-L with ATI Radeon 7000? I am not able to use this
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    I just tried with Creative Lab's "3D Blaster Savage4 32MB AGP (32MB SDRAM) "   CT6900 which I borrowed from a friend. It didn't work either though this card is supposed to support AGP 2x/4x.  I need to see what other cards I can get hold of
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  • MSI K7D master L and Linux

    I just recently got a K7D master L and I have been doing some research on the mainboard while waiting for the ECC DDR memmory to arrive.  During my research, I found a series of messages to the kernel.org mailing list that concerned a 'southbridge' problem with the K7D when using a USB/serial mouse instead of a PS/2 mouse ( I only have USB mice now, but i do have the little green adapter to make them PS/2 )
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    Looks like I may have found my answer here in the AMD errata.
    clipped from: http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/24472.pdf
    Multiprocessor System May Hang While in FULL APIC Mode and IOAPIC Interrupt is Masked
    Products Affected. B1, B2
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    Potential Effect on System. Since the processor had previously masked the APIC interrupt, it is not
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    A system hang has been observed when executing a server shutdown command in Novell Netware versions 5.0 or 5.1 while using a serial mouse. During the server shutdown sequence, software writes an invalid CPU ID to the IOAPIC redirection table, and the system does not complete the shutdown.
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    Suggested Workaround. None.
    Resolution Status: No fix planned.
    X(

  • MSI K7D Master AMD Dual Athlon MP

    OK so I've completed my first Dual Athlon and I'm getting some varied results. here's the specs:
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    Antec 350W
    various NVIDIA video cards
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    Very cool thank you.
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  • K7D Master-L: Hang during start-up process

    Greetings all,
    I recently bought myself a K7D Master-L board to replace my extremely finicky Tyan TigerMP (S2460) board.  I had been having a lot of trouble lately, ranging from frequent bluescreens to complete lack of system start-up.  Assuming this to be either a motherboard or power supply issue, I bought replacements for both: a 600W PSU from TigerDirect and the aforementioned K7D Master-L.  
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    in my signature you will find a link to my trouble shoot guide.
    you will find images of standoffs in section 4.
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  • K7D Master CPU Voltage

    I have a K7D Master motherboard running dual MP2200+ Cpu's.  The computer is stable, but the second CPU runs significantly warmer all the time and can set off the heat alarm (which I ran up over 60 degrees Celcious) if the system is under a load.  Checking the heat sink, it seems on solid, the fan is running smoothly and quick (4800 RPM, I believe...same fan as on the first CPU..AMD box set with CPU), and the heatsink itself is VERY WARM to the touch (while the other heat sink remains cool).
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    After switching the CPU's positions (in addition to adding 2 Volcano 11 CPU coolers) my temps also switched.  Now my temp on CPU1 is 129 Degrees F (54 C), CPU2 is 116 F(46 C), and the mainboard is 82 F (28 C). These temps are being measure while the room temp is 70 Degrees and no load on the system and with the side of the case off.  The system has 2 case fans, 2 cpu fans, a graphics chip fan, a motherboard chipset fan, and the power supply fan.
        PCAlert 3 says VCore2 is running at 2.5 Volts (ok, it's obvious this MUST be a misread now, since CPU1 is not the processor overheating) CPU1 quickly climbed to 143F when I place the computer under a heavy load..it might go higher, I cut off the program that was running the CPU up because the alarm was annoying (and I don't want to risk burning up anything).
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    All in all, the computer is liveable.  No smoke yet or anything.
    Any suggestions Please.

  • K7D Master-L upgrade problem

    Hi,
    I just recently bought a second-hand MSI K7D Master-L to upgrade
    my aging ASUS mobo. I used to have ASUS A7V with a 900mhz AMD Athlon
    processor on it with Windows XP Pro installed.
    Now the problem is that I just threw in the newer K7D Master with
    one processor, AMD Duron 1600 mhz. I did not do a fresh winxp install,
    although I wonder if it would have helped.
    The OS won't boot - it just reaches the startup screen (the one that
    comes just before login prompt) and then reboots. Every time it does
    that in the exact same point.
    I tried also to boot with Knoppix 3.6 Live CD and it hangs. I tried noapic
    option and the same problem. Another Live Linux distro (can't remember
    the name, included in the Ultimate Boot CD) shows: "apic error in cpu0" endlessly,
    and hangs. Tried to run cpu test, but it hangs - the same error.
    The bios version is 1.3, but I will have it updated to newest version within
    some days (I screwed up the bios update ) by a computer shop.
    Suggestions, anyone?
    Regards: Juha

    reinstall windows
    but try this first: How to repair your Windows installation
    BTW, did you mean K7T Master? i can't find a K7D Master. The CPU Support list for K7T Master indicates that your CPU is not supported anyway

  • K7D Master hangs

    Motherboard: MSI K7D Master (6501)
    BIOS: 1.8B2
    Processor: 2 x AMD Athlon MP 2400+
    RAM: 2 x 1GB DDR266 Registered ECC (Kingston)
    I'm building a system with a K7D Master, and the system freezes
    (hangs) when installing/running Windows 2003 Server. All components
    have been replaced/removed during the troubleshooting (RAM, video
    card, RAID controller, HDD, NIC and power supply).
    One consistent way to reproduce the problem is to start the
    installation of Windows 2003 Server from the CD, choose a HDD to
    install and select "NTFS quick format". The next progress bar jumps to
    20% and the system hangs.
    I also have tried with Windows 2000, but the problem continues.
    The problem goes away if we we lower the FSB from 133MHZ to 100MHz via
    the JFSB1 jumper. The problem also does not exist of we run the system
    with only one CPU.
    Any idea what could be causing the problem?

    Thanks for the suggestion. I just tried with a new PSU (400W) that has been tested with another dual Athlon motherboard (not the MSI one). The same problem.

  • K7D Master L & Promise FastTrak SX4000 boot hang

    I am having major trouble getting a Promise FastTrak SX4000 RAID controller to work with a K7D Master-L (MSI-6501-030). I would appreciate any and all input, especially from those of you who have similar or identical hardware (same motherboard/chipset, same RAID controller or similar Promise card) and are able to get them working.
    Brief description :
    The SX4000 controller will hang at the IDE drive detection stage when installed on this board alone (plus an AGP video card) or alongside various combinations of PCI adapters, in various PCI slots available, and using various BIOS settings. The SX4000 appears to work fine in another Intel chipset system with the same AGP video cards. Both the motherboard and the SX4000 controller appear to have the latest BIOSes available.
    Symptoms :
    When the system is turned on with the SX4000 controller installed, it completes POST successfully, then loads the Promise FastTrak BIOS from the SX4000, and stalls after displaying "Scanning for IDE drives". Waiting for extended periods of time verifies the system is just 'stuck' here. It appears to be a 'hang' rather than a 'freeze', since the keyboard continues to operate and Ctrl-Alt-Del will still reboot the system at this point. The D-LED diagnostic LED bracket indicates (according to the included user manual), the system is at the "Initializing Hard Drive Controller" stage at this point.
    The system continues to boot fine if the SX4000 controller is not installed.
    The SX4000 controller functions fine on another system, a Dell OptiPlex GX400--a Pentium 4-based system built around the Intel i850 chipset. This OptiPlex GX400 has only a TNT RIVA 128 AGP video card installed, but has built-in audio and NIC. The SX4000 controller also works in this system using a GeForce2 MX TwinView AGP video card as well as a GeForce FX5600 AGP video card. It does not work on the K7D Master-L with either card, with the following exception. With only the TNT RIVA 128 AGP video card, it will in fact scan for IDE drives (indicated by ~10 - 15 dots/periods, ".", displayed after the "Scanning for IDE drives" message), but then will also hang as soon as the scan is complete without additional messages.
    All of the above is true whether hard disks are connected to the SX4000 controller or not.
    Disclaimer : I am not a newbie. I've built hundreds of systems over the past 10 years and know what I am talking about. :)
    What I have tried so far, and what I've been able to determine :
    I have gone through quite a bit of research about this. I've tried both Promise and MSI Web sites (both US and Taiwan), the Web at large through Google, as well as various newsgroups including alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar through Google, the MSI forums on their Web site, the AMDMB Forums, 2CPU forums, HardForum, AnandTech Forums, SysOpt forums, and Tom's Hardware Community. While there are many posts about the AMD 760MPX chipsets and various Promise RAID and non-RAID IDE controller cards, none describes my problem exactly. Hence my posting here.
    o There isn't a problem with the DIMM I am using on the SX4000. It's a 256 MB PC133 DIMM, with 8 HT33S328256K (32Mx8) DRAM chips on it. I am certain it's not a problem because the card works as expected in the Dell OptiPlex GX400 with the same DIMM. I have also tried a 64 MB PC100 DIMM (Crucial) and there is no difference--the SX4000 controller hangs the K7D Master-L, but works with the OptiPlex GX400.
    o Moving the card around to different PCI slots on the K7D Master-L doesn't make a difference, if only so to avoid a problem with a shared interrupt. I have tried the board in all 5 available PCI slots--the upper two 66MHz/64-bit PCI slots as well as the lower three 33MHz/32-bit PCI slots. I have looked at the IRQ assignment scheme for this board, and tried putting the SX4000 (alone or with other PCI cards--see configuration info at the end) in the first PCI slot, next to the AGP slot such that it doesn't share an IRQ with the video card. No luck. I have also tried the lowest PCI slot (#5), which should have a distinct IRQ ideally, based on the above scheme, but that also makes no difference.
    o Disabling various components, including all on-board peripherals (audio, LAN, serial, parallel, and USB ports, legacy USB emulation, ACPI), disabling all caching/shadowing (video/system BIOS) makes no difference.
    o The SX4000 controller came with the latest available BIOS according to the Promise Web site (http://www.promise.com/support/download/download2_eng.asp?productId=94&category=All&os=100), v1.02.0.5. Just for the hell of it, I copied the controller BIOS from the flash ROM to an image using Promise's own PFLASH.EXE utility and file-compared it with the latest BIOS on the Web site to ensure they are exactly the same.
    o The K7D Master-L came with BIOS v1.6, which, according to MSI's US (search for the K7D Master L) or Taiwanese (lists a v1.82, but I am hesitant since it doesn't recommend or caution against using it on the -L model of the motherboard) Web sites is not available. These list either v1.3 or v1.5 (the latter for the K7D Master) as the latest available that I can verify for K7D Master-L.
    o I tried downgrading the SX4000 controller BIOS to the other, earlier one available on the Promise Web site, to v1.01.0.15. No changes. The card still doesn't work in any slot on the K7D Master-L, and works fine in any slot on the OptiPlex GX400.
    o There *are* people on these forums who have similar systems, some with the same motherboard and controller, others with the same motherboard and similar cards like the FastTrak SX6000 who apparently are able to make it work. I know this only because they have open threads on other issues and happen to provide their configuration info. For example:
    --same mobo and controller card, apparently working as reported problems are other issues--
    2CPU forum post #1
    2CPU forum post #2
    2CPU forum post #3
    MSI forum post #1
    newsgroup post #1
    --same mobo, very similar controller card--this person first asked on MSI forums and then walked the AMDMB, Tom's Hardware forums, with no response except a supposed "will not work" from MSI; the last one is another person describing my exact problem I think--only one so far--but with an SX6000--
    MSI forum post #2
    AMDforums post #1
    Tom's HW Community post #1
    newsgroup post #2
    --same chipset though different mobo--
    2CPU forum post #4
    2CPU forum post #5
    2CPU forum post #6 (the K7D Master L has no "jumperless mode")
    --people building similar/identical setups--
    2CPU forum post #7
    AMDforums post #2
    AMDforums post #3
    What I have not done :
    o I have not tried downgrading the BIOS on the K7D Master-L to an earlier (pre-1.6) version. I don't know if this is wise, though, considering this appears to be a newer (with working USB 1.x) revision of the motherboard that might minimally need the BIOS currently on it.
    o I have not tried another SX4000 controller card, which I do not have. However, the card working fine on the OptiPlex GX400 indicates to me clearly that there isn't a functional problem per se on the card itself.
    o No components are overclocked.
    What I suspect :
    o The fact that the two GeForce-based cards behave slightly differently than the TNT RIVA 128 (see above about how the hang occurs slightly later with the latter card) indicates to me that the problem is some combination of the motherboard, RAID controller, and video card conflicting (conspiring?) together. I am looking for the plainest AGP video card I have around to further test this.
    o There appears to be a resource conflict *or* a BIOS/handover problem going on. It's not likely an IRQ conflict/sharing issue, since on the OptiPlex GX400, the SX4000 happily shares an IRQ with the video card (verified through the BIOS). The resources the SX4000 uses when on the OptiPlex GX400, as seen through its own BIOS/array utility are:
    Installed Memory Address FF1F8000   Size 256M
    Controller IRQ9
    ATA IO Address EC00
    XOR and HDMA IO Address E800
    Sequence Control IO Address E400
    Flash and SRAM Memory Address FF200000
    I do not know which of these are retained as is when in the K7D Master-L (the IRQ certainly isn't necessarily retained, but don't know about the rest). I also am not able to easily check for a conflict with these. I can verify that as Windows XP can see it (which does assign its own resources via ACPI, of course,) there are not system or motherboard resources overlapping with any of these.
    Also note this older K7T issue that may be relevant
    What I need help with :
    If you have a K7D Master-L and an SX4000, SX6000, or other similar Promise controller, please let me know how your system is configured.
    What other peripherals, particularly video card do you have?
    Which slots are all the cards in, particularly the SX4000?
    What BIOS version of the K7D Master-L are you using?
    What BIOS version is the SX4000?
    Many thanks in advance,
    MacGyver

    Hi, I believe of having your same problem..sorry, I do not speak well English,
    this is my system:
    Mainboard Microstar MSI K7D MasterL chipset AMD 761MPX
    CPU dual AMD MP2400+
    RAM 2x512 Corsair  pc2100 ECC Reg.
    Primary Master  DVD Rom Toshiba SD-M1712
    1° slot PCI(66Mhz) controller FASTRACK SX4000
    3° slot PCI  controller USB
    AGP 3Dlabs VP970
    3 HD Western Digital WD0800JB 80Gb with 8Mb buffer (new)
    AUDIO ONBOARD AC97
    LAN ONBOARD INTEL
    IRQ 11
    RAID 5
    BIOS FASTRACK SX4000 1.02.0.5
    RAM Dimm 256Mb (test OK)
    this is my problem:
    1) the HD in master or slave the HD do not come recognized from the bios of the fastrack..HD not found..control cables ide or current
    2) cable select or removing jumper from the HD the these they come recognized, it allows to make the Array (tried raid 5, 0 and the 1) ago boot of the fastrack but at the moment of the boot from floppy or cd rom (as from bios of the mainboard) remains the underscore that flashes. The PC is not of an all out..con ctrl+alt+del reboot.
    3) tried to use also only 2 of aforesaid the HD, invert channel, user also channel 4, same problems
    4) it recognizes the HD in master if I mount cables IDE to the contrary.. with the blue connector on the HD..ma remains problem of the boot from floppy or cd
    5) I have tried to install others 2 not new HD (samsung 6,4 Gb + seagate4,6 Gb)..il fastrack recognizes them also in master..it allows the Array in raid 0 or raid1 but it remains the problem of the boot from floppy or cd.
    6) tried to move fastrack on other slot Pci (also on one of those to 33Mhz) identical problems
    7) bios mainboard all ok..also why if I do not make array..part the boot from floppy or cdrom..also if then to the fine ones it says nonexistent disc to me (lacks the Array..)
    8) changed to cables courrent..do not creed is that one the problem..Enermax 460W..e then if septum in a determined way jumper the recognized HD
    9) modernized bios..le tests son been made it is with that old one that with last (the 1.02.0.5)
    10)  tried to use other cable 80 pin connecting a single HD WD in master..l' HD it is not recognized!
    11) tried also to detach controller USB
    12) moved reader DVD in primary slave and also in secondary (it is master that slave)
    13) mounted same fastrack SX4000 on other pc..same problems
    14) I have modernized bios to version 1,3 (last the available on the site US..on the taiwanese site is version 1,82 but I do not trust myself)
    15) I do not know what other to make!
    I have read on the situated one that not there were problems of incompatible with my Mainboard and was compatible with HD Western WD0800BB (80 GB and 2 Digital Mb of buffer) and with WD1200JB (120Gb and 8 Mb of buffer)..i 8 WD0800JB are 80Gb and have Mb of buffer..but creed are not a problem of HD..inasmuch as the problems remain also changing discs (seagate and samsung).
    I absolutely have need of this PC for job
    if it finds one solution..please it makes to know me! ;(  thanks

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