K8NGM2-FID warm reboot/reset problems

Hi everybody:
The system:
MSI K8NGM2-FID Bios V 3.4
RAM - G.SKILL 2GB F1-3200PHU2
Processor Athlon X2 3800+
Drive WD2500YD 250GB 7200 RPM SATA150
DVD R/W Pioneer DVR-111D
DVD-R ASUS DVD-E616AG
Case Antec Sonata II w/ Antec 450 W PSU 3.3 V/32A 12V1/15A 12V2/17A
OS WinXP SP2 w/auto update set
The Problem:
When the system runs for more than 1-2 minutes and I do a restart under Windows OR hit the reset button it hangs with the HDD light on steady and no video output.
If I try a warm restart or reset button push immediately (10-30 seconds) after windows comes up the system restarts OK.
When the system is 'hung' repeated hits (short or 5-10 seconds) on the Reset button have no effect besides causing the DVD lights to blink (i.e., they seem to be getting a reset signal) but HDD light is still steady.
If I power the system down and restart it reboots OK - this means power down from the 'hung' state OR power down from Windows via 'Start' --> 'Turn off computer' or momentary push of power switch.
Looking at the Windows system log I see that warm boots done before many system processes load are successful, those afterwards are not. I have tried disabling these processes (i.e., App layer gateway, SSDP discovery, Norton protected storage) w/o any change in behavior.
This looks like a hardware problem to me, but I want to be sure it's one before I R&R the mobo w/ a spare.
Has anybody else seen this problem?
Thanks,
ss

Update:
It was the mobo - R&R w/new one: warm boot/reset problem gone. Plugged in drives w/o doing any software reinstall and unit came right up (and down and up and down....).
This is the second K8NGM2-FID that has gone south on me since March.
Both have been Ver 2.0 builds; the other one has a problem with onboard video but continues to function with an add-in video card (yah, it's better video too, but that's not the point). The warm boot problem described in the original post isn't a show stopper, either, but I can't use these boards in a system for sale (unless I sell it to my brother-in-law).
I have built eight systems since March using the K8NGM2-FID. Six were for customers and are still under my personal six month no-questions-asked warranty (the extended 12 month lots-of-questions-asked starts after six months). I have had to eat two at this point and am not too happy with the board. Since MSI no longer makes this board I am having to use another vendor's mATX-6150 unit, perhaps for the better, I don't know.
IMHO MSI is the best board maker in the consumer/office sector. I hope they can stay that way.
ss

Similar Messages

K8NGM2-FID Cool-n-Quiet Problem & Resume from S3 Standby

I all I have a new K8NGM2-FID. I've installed all latest available drivers/BIOS from MSI, nVidia, AMD, and Microsoft.
I have a stability problem with system when I enable Cool-n-Quiet via Power Options (Control Panel on WinXP Pro SP2). Minimal Power Management. System is Dual Core Athlon64 4200+ with two 512MB DIMM (one is 333, and other is 400/333/266) Total 1GB RAM. Have no PCI/PCI Express cards installed. Once minial power options is enabled running apps begin to fail & generate Dr. Watson erros, and system will eventually BSOD. Cool-n-quiet is enabled in BIOS. Processor came out of another system with ATI Radeon 200 chipset, and Cool-n-Quiet was working fine there.
Also when I put systems in standby S3 mode, PATA IDE is not recognized (this is not main OS drive). But 36GB SATA WD Raptor drive works fine (this is main system drive).
Ideas? Suggestions? Fixes? ???
TIA

Quote
If you're ocing your system my advice to you is disable C&Q.
No OCing here.
Quote
What is your bios version?
Per initial post:
Quote
I've installed all latest available drivers/BIOS from MSI, nVidia, AMD, and Microsoft.
This includes 3.2 of BIOS.
At this point I'm leaning towards getting new (matched pair) Corsair RAM.
Thanks for suggestions.
Any other things I can check? Suggestions

K8NGM2-FID problems: no usb and high cpu usage - HELP!

hi folks,
i've setup K8NGM2-FID inside an htpc with a clean install of mce 2005 (onboard video). For the past couple of days I've noticed a few things:
1) if the pc goes into standby (S3) and then wakes up, sometimes task manager shows a cpu usage of 50% (on the graph) but looking at the list of tasks (for all users) nothing is runing that high - in fact system idle process shows 98% (while the graph is still showing about 50%) and the system is a bit sluggish; reboot fixes this but it's getting really annoying. I've installed the latest AMD x2 driver. Sometimes it goes to 98-99% after waking up but that's been rare.
2) i've been getting a few BSODs lately, actually all started yesterday - 3 of them in a span of about 2 hours after insalling Nero. I'm going to try to figure out what is causing it that (proabably Nero - I hope since that's easy to undo) but what i've noticed is that when the system reboots after the blue screen, none of the USB devices work (i.e. keyboard, mouse, etc.). windows has to load, then I need to go in the back and unplug/replug the usb devices which then 'wakes' them up; this can get really annoying in a typical cramped home theater setup. software restarts seem to be good - ok hardware restarts are the problem. hooking things up to a usb hub has the same effect - i.e. I need to re-plug the hub to get them to work - it just means less things to plug/unplug.
has anyone else noticed this? help save my sanity - this is driving me crazy. since this is an mce setup, it goes into sleep and wakes up several times a day so the high cpu issue when it comes up really gets in the way of using the pc. btw. during high cpu times, no mce related function (record/watch/the shell itself) is running.
here's my setup:
K8NGM2-FID - boots up with 3 short beeps - I think it's 1 beep pause then 2 beeps
2 gigs kingston 3 CAS (2 x 1 GIG kit) pc3200 - boot screen shows it running at 400mhz in dual channel config
X2 3800+ stock fan/heatsink with silver 5 (runs around 35-38 idle - inside a silverstone 'stereo rack' case)
ms usb keyboard/mouse/mce remote
coolmax 550W power
3 140GB WD drives (ata 133 - not sata)
onboard video - framebuffer set to 128megs
latest (as of 2 days ago) nvidia and msi drivers - msi bios is the stock 3.0 (more on that later)
the bios settings are all default as far as I can tell.
pvr-150 tuner card
promise ata 100 card
nec 3500dvd
all running on mce 2005 with rollup 2 and all the updates windows could find
i haven't updated the bios because i've read about other folks having blue screen problems and the suggestion has been to up the voltage for the ram (I guess the default setup from MSI is lower than it should be) but apparently that option is missing from the 3.1 and later bioses? and reading the text file, it wasn't very apparent what the bios 3.1 was fixing other than a few cosmetic bootup texts. I'm planning to up the voltage later today.
anyhow, any suggestions short of throwing the entire pc out the door are welcomed.
thanks!

ok here's what I've found about the high cpu...
using process explorer, hardware interrups is taking all the cpu. i've tried to disable items one by one but nothing is working so far. what does work is if i choose scan for new hardware, cpu goes down to normal. standby and resume and cpu is up again. do the scan and it goes down again - without changing anything.
i've re-installed the graphic board driver, nvidia 430 drivers, sound driver. not sure what else to do. checked my drives and they are all properly master/slave set.
this is really getting crazy...anyone come across this?
i'm a bit hesitant to go to bios 3.1 since i've seen lots of posts about BSOD and i've just gotten rid of that.
thanks
thanks a bunch!

K8NGM2-FID problems

Hello,
I bought K8NGM2-FID (1.0)
I have many problems with this board.
1. If I power it up & VGA bios text comes to monitor.
I read from there: Engineering Release - Not For Production Use
I made pic about that PIC
Is this normal?
2. I insert windows cd (Plextor PX-716SA) (doesnt matter wich... xp pro, home... etc)... pressing F6 when he / she ask. then I load sata & raid drivers (as shown on manual). Then windows loads his own drivers (scsi etc. what he load on every new install). Then he shows me bluescreen with text: Serious error! - ntdll.dll. Thats it, only reset or power button helps.
3. Ok I thought that I can fix 1 & 2 problem when I update BIOS. I download BIOS (yees I controlled that THIS is my board bios.) Make boot floppy. When I try to update BIOS. He / she tells me that: Unknown chipset... next line: Unsupported chipset. I controlled once again: I downloaded correct BIOS.
What should I do for next?
RMA?

Hello PMn03:
I have the 3.13 BIOS installed, having gotten it from MSI tech support after filling in a support request form (a bit tedious) and indicating the my POST screen said 'engineering sample not for resale'. I got the BIOS and installer files in less than 8 hours. The installer works (as opposed to the one on their support site, which doesn't recognize the device...). I saved the 3.0 BIOS before burning (the /O option preceeded by a file name to save to).
I ran the command line comp program and compared the 3.0, 3.1 and 3.13 BIOS. They differ in the following bytes:
offset 89B0: FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF xx xx xx xx FF FF V3.00
offset 89B0: 44 00 00 00 D7 13 C1 01 xx xx xx xx 44 00 V3.13 & 3.1
Not much of a difference. However, I have not disassembled these to see what these bytes do.
ss

K8NGM2-FID LAN Problem Realtek 8201 CL

For the life of me, I can not get the LAN to work on this board. The Realtek site states that there are no drivers needed for this. The problem I have is that I show the LAN is working correctly,but XP keeps reporting that there is a cable disconnected. A PCI NIC works fine in the motherboard. What do you need to install to get this working?

Quote
The exact NIC is the VITESSE vsc8201RX.
That is correct Richard, he said he has the 8201CL version which did not add up.
VITESSE VSC8201RX only available on K8NGM2-FID
Realtek 8201CL only available on K8NGM2-IL and K8NGM2-L

K8NGM2-FID Serial Port problem

The K8NGM2-FID has a serial connector, to which I attached a port so that I hook it up to a Polar heart rate monitor transmitter (Interface Plus unit with wire to serial port). I never noticed, but assumed it was COM1. In any case, it was transmitting fine as needed, then literally one night to the next morning it wouldn't anymore. That's the problem. This is my home computer and there were no other people or changes, and the watch's battery is ok (checked with a backup). Looking at COM1, Device Manager (XP) says it's working, but the Polar software (PPP 2.1) says "Port Not Found" and chooses COM3 ("get status"). In Belarc, under Printers it shows COM1 being used by Amyuni Document Converter 2.51. I've long had two of its affiliated programs installed, PDFWriter and PDFill Editor & Tools - document conversion is part of the latter, tho I've never used it - but would that interfere with a hardware connection? Just to test, I uninstalled PDFill Editor/Tools, but Belarc still shows the Doc Converter on COM1.
So, if I haven't lost you, this is to say I am. I did unplug/replug the transmitter connection to the serial port. Other than the Polar unit going bad (think it's passive), the only other thing I can think of is the COM plug on the board went bad, but that's hard to believe (would it effect the COM port reading in Device Mgr?) Any other ideas? Thanks.

Quote from: Russ_xp on 24-May-07, 16:41:24
I think you are on the right track - seems that your PDF software has taken over COM1 and it is now assigned to a software Printer device. You could try to remove this or go into Device Manager and open the properties of the COM Port and change it to COM3 (just go through all the Advanced Options).
I did remove the PDF software, moved what remained of the folder to another drive, and ran two registry cleaners and restarted, but Belarc still shows COM1 held by Amyuni Document Converter 2.51. Turning to plan B, in Device Manager>Properties, what would need to be changed to make it COM3?

K8NGM2-FID bios v3.10 flashing problems

I just downloaded the K8NGM2-FID v3.10 bios. When I flash it to the motherboard, it always said unknown chipset and do not allow for flashing.
Can anyone help me.

ok..I think it should have the winflash utility if you've installed the msi liveupdate from the cd itself. If you've the cd for the mobo then you should be able to installed it but not to used through liveupdate to FLASH it. You may see from my sig on how to flash the BIOS!! Refer to this link ===> https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=84865.msg606175#msg606175

K8NGM2-FID: bad PCI-e x16 slot on motherboard?

Computer boots fine, but I do no get any video output when booting from a PCI-e graphics card. I've tried 2 eVGA GeForce 7600GS cards and 1 PNY 7300GT and they all have the same problem. Components and detailed description are below. I assume my motherboard's PCI-e slot is bad, but don't want to RMA it unless I have to (don't want to be without it for 2-3 weeks).
Components:
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 2000MHz
MSI K8NGM2-FID micro-ATX
2x512MB Corsair ValueSelect PC3200
Onboard GeForce 6150 / eVGA 7600GS / PNY 7300GT
Samsung SP0822N IDE 80 GB Boot Drive
2x Samsung SP2504C SATA 250 GB in Raid 0
Samsung IDE SH-S162L/BEBN DVD R/W
SeaSonic S12 380W Power Supply (+3.3V@22A, +5V@21A, +12V1@10A, +12V2@15A, [email protected], +5VSB@2A)
Hauppauge PVR-500 Dual TV Tuner (PCI)
Vbox Cat's Eye DTA-150 HDTV Tuner (PCI)
D-Link Wireless G USB adapter
Windows Media Center Edition 2005
Detailed Description:
eVGA 7600GS: Before purchasing the PCI-e video card I was using the onboard GeForce 6150 graphics via DVI. I went into the BIOS and selected [PCI Express] as the Primary Graphics Adapter and [Disable OnChip VGA if have PCIe VGA]. I then installed the video card and hooked it up to the monitor via DVI. The computer booted fine, but I got no video feed from the video card. I reseated the card and restarted a few more times but still got no picture. I hooked the DVI cable back up to the onboard graphics and got a normal video feed. The heatsink on the video card was warm so I know it’s getting power. I gave up for awhile and shut down the computer. Awhile later I booted the computer back up and I didn't get any video from the onboard graphics. So I plugged the DVI cable back into the video card and restarted, and I got a video feed! The add new hardware wizard appeared and installed. I restarted the computer later that night, and once again I got no video feed via the video card. I hooked the DVI cable back to the onboard graphics and I got a video feed. I have not been able to get any video feed from the video card ever since.
2nd eVGA 7600GS: I returned the video card to the store and got an identical replacement. I have not been able to get any video feed on this video card either. I have tried enabling [Both exist and OnChip VGA by frame buffer select] in the BIOS and that didn't help. I hooked up a monitor via DVI to the onboard graphics and a monitor via VGA to the video card (and vice-versa), and only the onboard graphics displayed anything. I unhooked nearly all components - USB devices, PCI cards, additional Hard Drives etc. and still could not get a video output from the card. I have reseated the card many times. It’s almost like the motherboard is not detecting that a PCI Express video card is installed. The Device Manager only shows the GeForce 6150 Display Adapter. eVGA suggests a 400 Watt Power Supply, and I only have a 380 Watt PSU.
PNY 7300GT: Installed and went into the BIOS, made sure everything was correct and rebooted. I got a video feed from the card, but when windows detected new hardware, the computer froze so I had to restart. I have not been able to get video output from the card ever since. Card only requires a 300W power supply with 12V rating of 20A or more.
I've been using this motherboard for about 8 months without any problems until I tried installing a PCI-e video card. So, do you think it's my motherboard or something else?

Quote from: TheBigMan on 19-October-06, 07:57:01
Try this:
Go into BIOS to 'Advanced Chipset Features' and in:
'Primary Graphics Adapter' -> PCI Express
'OnChip and PCIe VGA Selection' -> Disable OnChip VGA if have PCIe VGA
'OnChip VGA Frame Buffer Size' -> Disable
'OnChip VGA Trap' -> Disable
See if it helps...
Be well....
Yes, I've tried all that except setting the OnChip VGA Frame Buffer Size to Disable. I just tried that and I couldn't get a video feed via the PCI-e VGA or the onboard graphics, so I had to reset the CMOS.

K8NGM2-FID onboard video won't go to DVI in XP

System is:
K8NGM2-FID
BIOS 3.4
Onboard video using 128 MB memory off motherboard
Athlon 64 x2 3800+
2 GB (2 x 1GB) RAM Patriot PDC2G3200LLK 2-3-2-5
Case Antec Sonata II w/PSU Antec Smartpower 2.0 450W dual 12V (15A/17A)
HDD Seagate ST316012A Barracuda 7200.9 160 GB
OS WinXP SP2 auto updated
This system has run 24/7 for about 5 months using onboard video driving a Samsung SyncMaster 940t thru the onboard DVI port.
I am using the DVI (digital) onboard video output to drive my monitor. Recently I have experienced blank screens when waking up from monitor power down (20 minute w/o activity - no screensaver, just auto power down). When I connect a VGA (analog) cable from the onboard connector to the monitor's analog input the video is there but not present on DVI (digital) output of board. Otherwise the machine is still completely functional, just no DVI video output.
Rebooting, the video signal is present on BOTH connectors (DVI and VGA) up to the point when Windows loads the desktop (i.e., past Windows boot screens), then it switches to VGA ONLY.
If I power down and wait 3-4 hours, the DVI will continue to work after Windows loads the desktop, then will not return after the monitor powers down due to inactivity (20 minutes, set in properties - screen saver) OR a warm reboot OR a power cycle. Switching to the VGA (analog) output, the video is still there and system is running as before, but with analog video only, no DVI (digital). This occurs with two other monitors that have dual inputs (HP and Viewsonic).
Video drivers are from MSI and are the current Version 8205 - (8.2.0.5 on device manager screen) but BIOS is 3.4. BIOS update 3.4->3.5->3.6 notes do not mention any DVI issues so I am hesitant to flash to 3.6 (current version) as I do not think it will fix the problem.
Bringing up nVidia Nview desktop manager, it 'sees' the monitor but there is no mention of DVI or VGA interface or way to switch between them. If I hook up a TV to the Svideo output it 'sees' that as well as the monitor and I can switch between them.
Does anyone know of a way to explicitly direct signal to either of the onboard video connectors (DVI and VGA) connector on this board (K8NGM2-FID)?
Any other ideas?
Thanks in advance,
ss

I fixed the system.
However, I still don't know the root cause of the original problem.
The missing piece of the fix was doing an uninstall of the video device drivers using the Control Panel 'Add or Remove Programs' function. Prior to that I was just updating things using either the package's native installers or the Device Manager Update Driver function.
After the uninstall I did a clean install of the MSI drivers off a CD and now have selectable digital and/or analog displays in Windows XP. Also, the nvidia drivers DO work, provided they are installed on a 'clean' suystem (thanks, Stu). Installing either driver set as an update results in unstable output - sometimes digital, sometimes analog.
Moral of the story: clean up toothpaste before squeezing the tube again.
ss

K8NGM2-FID / MS-7207 - Unable to install WinXP

K8NGM2-FID / MS-7207 - Unable to install WinXP
Problem: When attempting to install Windows XP Professional (original version prior to SP2 release), the system either hangs after the second reboot (when attempting to load for the first time) or blue-screens at some point during the initial setup (segment fault.)
System Description:
AMD ATHLON 64 X2 3800+ - MANCHESTER (dual core)
MSI K8NGM2-FID nVIDIA GeForce 6150 CHIPSET
CRUCIAL 2GB (2 x 1024MB) PC3200 400MHZ CL3 184-PIN DDR DIMM(s)
400W ps - Sparkle
no floppy, nothing fancy, no PCI cards, stock system
bios ver: 2.59 (I need winxp installed so I can use the live bios update)
I am not overclocking.
Details:
Tested with three different UltraATA IDE harddrives, capacities from 13.6 - 40 GB.
Tested with two different 80-conductor Ultra ATA cables.
I'm unable to get through a Windows XP installation. I've eliminated the harddrive or cable as the culprit by testing with more than one KG component. I can successfully boot from a Knoppix 4 live CD and the system will run overnight like that.
Does this motherboard not like UltraATA IDE drives? I don't have any SATA drives to test an installation with.
I ordered the Motherboard/CPU/Memory as a pre-tested kit.
UPDATE:
Flash bios to 3.4 using A7207nms.340 from msi web site. Did _not_ solve issue. Also noted that when attempting to load WinXP in Safe Mode the last thing I see on the screen is loading Mup.sys then I get the PAGE_FAULT_IN_NOPAGED_AREA blue screen.

> This error can be caused by a power supply that's too weak.
I researched the power supply prior to the purchase, selecting one that was reported by another person to work with the board. I have spare KG supplies that I can test with though.
> Also, can you try with one dimm? Test your RAM with memtest86 to make sure
> it's okay.
I removed one of the sticks, checked bios to ensure system corrected the RAM count, and then started over with the WinXP installation, which still resulted in PAGE_FAULT_IN_NOPAGED_AREA near completion.
> By the way: don't flash your bios with the LiveUpdate utility. Always
> flash bios in DOS mode, preferably using a CD.
Okay, I will go ahead and update the bios with the DOS utility.
> Also, why do you want to flash bios? If all works when Windows is
> installed, flashing your board can cause problems you don't have now.
Often, with a mobo updating the bios will allow windows to detect mobo resources it was unable to do before. The manufacturer most often ships prior to all the bugs being worked out of the bios. PC builders and vendors recommend using the latest stable bios.
Although there is something to be said for "If it's not broke, don't fix it. However, mine is broke to begin with. If I have to RMA this board, I will not be exchanging it for an identical model, or another MSI board.
> Edit: what other hardware do you use? Videocard, opticals, etc.
Video is onboard. Everything is pretty stock. The keyboard and mouse are on a test bench that gets used for dozens of other systems.
I have to say I long for the simple standardized motherboards of the past. I don't mind setting jumpers but I am not impressed with the inferior quality and overwhelming diversity in today's computer hardware.
ty

PM8M-V updating ESCD and unable to make a warm reboot

I have a problem with my PM8M-V motherboard.
Almost everytime when the computer boots it says
updating ESCD.....(about 20 seconds)...success
building DMI pool ......(another 25 seconds)....Flash ROM protected
and then Windows loads. Sometimes Windows hangs during loading and I have to press the reset button to reboot.
Then it works almost OK with some exceptions:
When the computer starts like this it is impossible to make a (warm) reboot. It comes to "closing windows" and then hangs, I have to use the reset button to restart it.
The software sems to be unable to read information about the hardware, for example MSI info tool and Live Update can't read information about motherboard and BIOS.
I have found that if I disable OnChip SATA in BIOS the computer sometimes (maybe one time out of ten) starts in the right way (no updating of ESCD, it's possible to make a warm boot and MSI Live update detscts my MB and BIOS and works properly). If OnChip SATA is enabled and SATA Mode set to IDE I always get the updating ESCD message, Windows sometimes hangs during loading, it's impossible to make a software reboot and MSI's software can't detect my MB.
I have flashed BIOS to V3.4, formatted the C: partition and made a fresh install of Windows but the problem persists.
Anyone here who have any ideas?
Ulla

Hello
I don't have the computer here now, I brought it back to the retailer.
What is NVRAM and under what menu in the BIOS do I find it? I can't remember that I have seen it even though I think I have looked everywhere. What I do know is that sometimes during the boot I have got the message NVRAM protected instead of Flash ROM protected (and then I have the same problems).
Even during the Windows installation the computer didn't restart automatically, I had to use the reset button.
The PSU is part of an AOpen housing, I don't know what brand it is, according to the box it is "300W/PFC Power".
I haven't payed much attention to voltages, but I have noticed that 12V varies slightly between 11.9 something and 12.04 (I think), and then something is usually around 5,12 and the third maybe 3,47, but I'm not 100% sure I remember correctely.
The hard drive is primary master and the optical drive secondary master. If I enable the SATA controller they are listed as IDE channel 0 and 1 (IIRC).
I am not very good at theese hardware things. I had the computer built for me (by the technician at the retailer's, so I trust that it is done properly). Motherboard, PSU, optical drive and card reader are new. CPU, hard drive, graphics card and memory are previously used in a Shuttle.

Can't get SATA drive to boot - MSI K8NGM2-FID

Mobo is MSI K8NGM2-FID. I've had two IDE drives w/ XP and added a SATA II (WD7500AAKS) recently as a storage drive. Now I'd like to make the SATA the boot drive, but after cloning it from the IDE boot drive it hasn't yet got far in the start up process (cloning with WD Tools, then again with Acronis). I can't tell whether the problem is BIOS or Windows (XP) or ? MSI Update says the BIOS is current and I set the SATA drive as the first HD in the boot order in Advanced BIOS features.
On start up, the computer runs through the BIOS sequence onscreen and then stops somewhere between the end of that and the Windows blue screen coming up, leaving a blank screen except a flashing cursor on the left. When I disconnect the two IDE drives as a test, the same thing happens. Then, with them still disconnected, I try booting from the XP CD and it gets to the point of checking the computer's current configuration and then the screen goes blank indefinitely. I would think it would either show the XP setup menu or give a message that's something is missing.
Does this sound like BIOS or Windows or ? Is there anything else in BIOS that needs changing? I've been told that IDE drive jumpers have no effect on SATA drives. Is that true? Thanks.
MSI K8NGM2-FID
Athlon 64 3000
2GB RAM
XP/SP2 current

Quote from: genegold on 29-January-08, 01:31:18
Good timing. I'd like to add partitions to my new (cloned) SATA boot drive (C:), but wanted to back up first. A problem and a question come up. First, when I remount the old IDE drive as a second drive D:, even wiped clean, problems ensue. Comodo wants to look for my firewall installation on D: and Acronis won't allow me to clone back, i.e., clone from the new drive to the old.
It's not really clear what you had before or what you have now in terms of HDDs: you had two IDE drives, C: & D: and one SATA as E:??; now you have a SATA boot drive. Do you still have the 40GB IDE drive? Did the clone over to the SATA automatically extend the old 160GB C: partition to 750GB? Sorry but I've no idea how Acronis works. "Wiped clean" is kinda vague - it could mean using the HDD mfr's utility to write zeroes to the entire surface... or just creating a new Extended partition containing a formatted(?) logical volume. If that old IDE drive has a Primary partition it could still be marked as bootable, which you can check with BootitNG... and it's not a good idea to have a Primary partition on a 2nd drive.
Quote
Second, I assume that files are spread over the boot drive, not just grouped in the first 150GB, even if defragged. In reducing the partition size - now 698GB - how does BootitNG know to make sure everything ends up in the first partition? I read about this somewhere but don't see any mention in BootITNG.
Again, I don't know how you got to the situation of a 698GB partition on the SATA boot drive - it would have been better to clone to the same sized C: partition as the old 160GB drive and then use a tool like BootitNG to extend it to whatever size you want... then add new partitions.
No partition management software can guarantee a partition shrink will work - they can only shrink out unallocated space. In that respect Windows XP Defrag is unreliable at both leaving unallocated space at the end of a partition AND at accurately reporting what is used and what is not. In such a situation, without a better, more accurate, defragger I generally run defrag several times, with reboots in between until it "looks" like it's safe to shrink and do the shrink in steps, with checks and defrags again, in between. Yes, it's a PITA.

K8NGM2-FID no video or post

Hi everyone, i found this forum and found alot of helpful info here, but ive run into an issue I havent been able to track down a solution to.
Ive been trying to troubleshoot an issue im having with my htpc. its an older system using an MSI K8NGM2-FID motherboard, AMD 3700+ 939 processor and 3GBs ddr ram (2x 1gb/2x 512mb), and Seasonic 430W power supply all in a Zalman 160 htpc case.
the problem started after the system experienced a few shut downs in a row. the system would just shut off on its own. this happened a handful of times as i tried to troubleshoot the issue, but it now wont show any display when trying to boot.
my first though was maybe the onbaord video had failed since the system was getting power (i.e. fans spin up, hdds spin up and stay running, etc). I got hold of another K8NGM2-FID board and big suprise, same issue.
So far, I have tried running a barebones system with just the power switch run to the case, cpu fan, and psu power connected to the board. I only used a single stick of ram in the dimm 1 slot. I also tried using the cmos reset button and pulling the battery, but none of that has resulted in anything different. Also, I noticed the board isnt making any beeps, even if i have no ram plugged in at all. If its a hardware issue, then its down to all 4 sticks of my ram being bad or the cpu.
After reading other posts here, it sounds like it might be a bios issue as well. If that is true and if its recommedned that I try to flash it, is there anyway to do that using a usb flash drive? The reason I ask is that I have no floppy drives and would need to buy one if thats the only way.
any other suggestions going forward would be much appreciated

You changed the board already, so it comes down to the cpu/memory.
It can't be a bios isue, since the system ran with this bios without any problems before.
I think your cpu has a problem or there is a bad dimm. Did you try all four dimms seperately?
Try >>Memtest86<< to find out any trouble on the memory.
@0125: please use proper English. No chat/sms language please, thank you!
S

K8NGM2-FID CPU core voltage Fluctuations and instabilities-- Bad caps!!?

I Have K8NGM2-FID bought 6 months ago and started having stability issues since last month.
Here is my configuration
K8NGM2-FID ver 2.0 Bios 3.73 now, used to be 3.5, experimented both, but did not help
Onboard video, Onboard Lan, firewire
Memory : 512 x 2 Corsair DDR400 in dual channel mode at 2.65v 64MB to Video
CPU: AMD64 X2 3800+
HDD WD 160GB SATA150
Winfast TV2000 Expert Tv Tuner
Drivers, tried many version ( currently using latest Nvidia Video, MB drivers)
Now, the description of the problem.
System suddenly hangs with or without load, intermittenly. Nothing to do what we are working on. Even when System is idle.
Hangs means, it could happend two ways,
1. simply it would not respond, screen simply freezes,
2. sometimes, you simply see horizantal lines on monitor( Typically happens when cpu core voltage drops below it can handle). I know this because
I am using RMClock on my Turion laptop, and when we try to find lowest stable voltage we see this behaviour.
Now, some other observation, from the day one CPU core voltage has been fluctuating a lot. Used to fluctuate anywhere between 1.37v to 1.304v( at default 1.35v). But still has been stable. Ran 24hour prime95, so no problems.
Recently I am seeing voltage fluctuations is more, as low as 1.28v to 1.39v at default 1.35v, so I tried RMCLock and raised the voltage to 1.4v, but it seems that did not help much.
Now, As per the MSI PCALert4 voltage is changing anywhere from 1.28v to 1.38v, but also I get core voltage field empty( that is right no CPU core voltage shown) and alarm sounds. It seems, CPU does not get voltage at all and gets very low voltage for a second or so.
Things I tried, Changed the powersupply, changed the Memory, but no use. I am lucky enough to have exact same configuration I built for a friend. So, I checked voltages on his PC and I do not see this behaviour.
Now, I ran out of options.... any idea anyone had similar problem, and if they solved?
Now, here are PCAlert 4 images
http://img171.imageshack.us/my.php?image=128vatdef135sp5.jpg
http://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=novoltageif5.jpg
http://img406.imageshack.us/my.php?image=132vredbi3.jpg
Also, another weird behaviour with Bios, even when I change setting in bios, they did not take effect, even loading default does not help, so I have to press CMOS reset button.
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks

Thanks for the quick reply.
First to clarify, these things has been developed a monrh ago only. It has been fine for more than 5 months.
1). Yes Memory is insalled in closest DIMM sockets to CPU,
2). I think you mean mem voltage. The memory I have is Corsair Value series and it even runs fine DDR400 at 2.55v, but I bumped it to 2.65v and also tried 2.75v ( 2.65v is typical I have been using with this MB).
3). Memory has been tested with Memtest for 24 hours and ran Dual Prime95 for 24 hours when system is assembled.
Also swapped from another PC I built for my friend with same components( same corsair value series memory) Also tested my memory on his PC, no probs. BTW I also tested my memory at 333, freezing even happens even at that speed.
4). PSU has nothing to do, because I have been monitoring all PSU rails with SPeedFan none of of the rail voltages moved at all. I even monitored with Digital Multimeter to ensure. Anyways I even tried 3 psus, one ANtec 350W smart power supply, ThemalTake 420W, Ultra 400 Watts. All have more than enough juice to power this setup. (onboard Graphics card).
5). Yes, freezing happens in simply desktop too. Nothing to do with CPU load or graphics load. It could happen even when just idling.
6). I use stock CPU cooler in Antec 1650B case with 120MM Fan running in the back( approx 50cfm) and CPU temp never exceeded 47c and MB temp typically around 28c and NB temp around 50-60c using a digital probe and 55-70c using Nvidia Monitor based on load vs no load.
7). As per Dual core patches, I applied AMD Dual Core optimizer quite a while ago. As per the MS Patch, No I have not applied( But I doubt it helps because it has been stable without that for all these months). I may try that.
Now, what I am trying, I disabled CNQ, and logging Core voltage fluctuation with speedfan( no monitoring).
as of yesterday night the core voltage was varying from 1.28v to 1.39v( I think that is insane 110mv fluctuation in CPU core voltage!!?) at default CPU voltage of 1.35v. BTW it has nothing to with CPU load, all these logs generated when it was idle. I remember fluctuation even when MB was new, but lowest I observed was 1.304v.
SOmehow, I suspect VRM is pretty bad on this MB.
Anyways, see the response and let me know if you think I am missing somethings. Appreciate your help.

K8NGM2-FID IDE weirdness

hi,
new K8NGM2-FID board, 3.13 BIOS. II have a SATA drive which works just fine. However, some very weird things are happening to my IDE devices.
I added a DVDRW as primary IDE. Booted into XP and it said 'new hardware found'. all ok. Then all of sudden, system freezes. Rebooted. Now the board doesn't see the drive at all. I didn't change anything.
I took out the drive and removed cable from IDE1. But when I booted up, the BIOS screen says "auto detecting 3rd IDE master." Huh? I have NO IDE device connected. In the BIOS screen, only my SATA drive is detected.
I plugged the IDE cable back into IDE1. BIOS doesn't see the drive now. Pressing eject button does nothing. Removed the IDE cable. Drive spins up and LED blinks. Door ejects again.
Ok, so I tried IDE2. Nothing.
Keep in mind the drive was working once and I have not made any changes.
Ok, maybe the drive is dead. I plugged in a IDE HD (by itself), jumper also set as primary. Nothing. I seriously doubt both the HD and DVD (new) are dead.
I reset the CMOS by pressing SW1 per the manual. But no change. I eent into the BIOS and saw that my settings are still there, so I didn't do it right somehow. I did it both with power on and off.
Can someone help?

With computer off, switch off power supply or pull AC power cord to the power supply then push the computer power up button a few times until the cpu fan no longer turns. Now use the jumper to clear the cmos.

K8NGM2-FID warm reboot/reset problems

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