PC wont boot with X-Fi instal

When I was building my new PC, I installed my new X-Fi Fatalty card and attempted to boot, I got the old "lights on but nobodys home" business. So I took out the card, and tried again. PC booted fine, went on to install Windows, necessary updates, all drivers for everything I had. Great! So then I went to put my X-Fi back in, tried to boot and it went back to "lights on, nobody home". Eventually after restarting my PC more than enough times, it FINALLY started up, got into Windows and it wasnt detected. At all. Nothing.
I assume this is a hardware issue, but is anyone else having these problems?
My spec is below
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
2Gb Crucial Ballistix RAM
WD 50Gb Raptor
Gigabyte 965P-DQ6 Motherboard
GeForce 7950GX2 Gfx

pavlf wrote:
take immortalz' advice, I did! You'll waste hours of your life trying to get that card to work.
Right said...there seems to be a batch of "bad" X-Fi cards out there (allegedly, a firmware problem) which will just cause them to turn your b0x into a non-functional piece of buggy (or was that buggered?) hardware.
Solutions include forgetting the X-Fi completely, or trying another sample, hoping you get a "good" one this time.

Similar Messages

Wont boot with internal drive installed

I have a 17" PBG4 that will not boot up when an internal drive is installed in it. I have tried 2 known good drives.
Trying to boot normally just produces a white screen. Holding down the "Option" key when booting gets me into the boot loader, but it proceeds to crash and never displays any boot volumes.
If I remove the internal drive, and attach a firewire drive with a bootable partition, i can boot the computer just fine from the boot loader.
I suspect it must be either the cable that connects the drive to the logic board, or the logic board itself...
If anyone has any experience with this, it would be most appreciated!

my drive died so badly in my 15" that it did this, wouldn't even boot when it was installed, not even from the optical drive...
speaking of that, tried unhooking that & then plug in the external drive? the PATA bus for the HDD & slot drive was shared on these too, I think, similar to the ibooks. maybe not, but worth a try.
otherwise, start with the cable. if that doesn't work then it's the logic.
also, try the usual reset PMU & PRAM voodoo.

Laptop wont boot with new memory installed please help

Hi I am trying to upgrade my laptop memory to two gigs When putting in the I gig modules in each slot the laptop will not boot. When I put in the original 256 memory module in slot one and the 1 gig in slot two I get it to boot and it only recognizes the 1 gig slot. Even with belarc it shows only slot one with 1042.
Sys TOSHIBA Satellite A105 PSAA2U-01T018B
Enclosure Type: Other Processor a Main Circuit Board b 1.60 gigahertz Intel Celeron M
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Not hyper-threaded Board: ATI SB450 Rev0.4b
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies LTD 2.30 09/30/08 Drives Memory Modules c,d 59.75 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
39.74 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
TSSTcorp CDW/DVD TS-L462C [CD-ROM drive]
FUJITSU MHV2060BH [Hard drive] (60.01 GB) -- drive 0, SMART Status: Healthy 896 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
Slot 'M1' has 1024 MB
Slot 'M2' is Emptytem Serial Number:
Enclosure Type: Other Processor a Main Circuit Board b 1.60 gigahertz Intel Celeron M
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Not hyper-threaded

Satellite A105-S101
When putting in the I gig modules in each slot the laptop will not boot. When I put in the original 256 memory module in slot one and the 1 gig in slot two I get it to boot and it only recognizes the 1 gig slot.
That sort of thing is typical of incompatible modules. Turns out that unless you order your add-on memory from Toshiba or buy memory made by Kingston, you'll likely as not have that difficulty.
-Jerry

PC wont boot with X-Fi Fatal1ty card instal

ok, so my pc refuses to boot when this card is installed. im running Windows Vista Ultimate x64 Bit
on a ASUS Striker Extreme motherboard, with 2 gigs of 800Mhz Crucial ram, and i have a GeForce 8800GT installed and nothing else. when i get the loading screen of vista on startup. the loading bar startes to fade in, then i BSOD and pc restarts its self. tried booting in safe mode, it loads all the drivers stops when trying to load crcdisk.sys and then BSOD and restarts its self. i've tried everything in my bios. onboard audio isnt installed when i do this and its set to disabled in the bios. i even tried with it enabled and onboard audio card not installed. and with the card installed disabled and enabled. it just dosnt want to work. i have the latest bios. i even tried reflashing it. no clue whats going on. person told me its possible its my PSU but i have a 700W PSU. if any knows please help

If possible, you might want to try the card on another computer. This should tell you if the card is faulty or if there's something else that needs work on your current system.
If you are unable to test the card on another computer or if the card does work on another system, you might want to contact support and providing the system information so that they can assist you. Be sure to run the system information utility only after you have installed the sound card on the system in question.
The article below further explains on the Creative System Information Tool.
http://us.creative.com/support/kb/ar...p?l=3&sid=2964

What happens if i boot with windows an install a new version of windows on mac book pro ?

I tried to install a windows on my mac book pro but i couldn't because of i don't know different problems which finally in this forum they told me u can not because of my hard disk partitions ( Link to that post) , now i am using vmware but its really slow for windows 8.1 and visual studio .
i have now a question , what happens if i boot with win 8.1 boot able DVD and install a new windows ?
the main questions are :
1. does it recognize any of my partition to select for windows installation ?
2. if no , can i format any partition for new partition during windows installation?
3. if i could install a windows , who is the boot loader ? windows or mac ? can i still boot to windows or what ?

majid khalili wrote:
I tried to install a windows on my mac book pro but i couldn't because of i don't know different problems which finally in this forum they told me u can not because of my hard disk partitions ( Link to that post) , now i am using vmware but its really slow for windows 8.1 and visual studio .
Give your previous partition layout, you cannot install Windows via Bootcamp, unless you are willing to give up all your extra partitions and go back to EFI, OS X and RecoveryHD only configuration.
i have now a question , what happens if i boot with win 8.1 boot able DVD and install a new windows ?
the main questions are :
1. does it recognize any of my partition to select for windows installation ?
2. if no , can i format any partition for new partition during windows installation?
3. if i could install a windows , who is the boot loader ? windows or mac ? can i still boot to windows or what ?
1. Windows installer will not work and you will end up with driver issues.
2. No.
3. You cannot, but if you could, the Apple Bootmanager would be your Boot Manager/Loader.

Z68A-GD55 G3 -- how do you get it to boot with 4 DIMMs installed?

Howdy folks,
I am really hoping that someone here can enlighten me on this magical BIOS setting that allows you to boot this unit up with all 4 DIMM slots populated? I have scoured the dark corners of the interwebz trying to figure this out and it completely eludes me, I even read the manual cover to cover... all I can find is a couple posts where people have updated the bios or went into the bios and changed a setting allowing them to escape the reboot loop that I get with all four memory slots filled.... the unit boots just fine with two DIMMs installed and it doesn't matter which two... I found this on a post but nothing else:
"One more thing, it wouldn't boot with four RAM-sticks out of the box, but it worked fine to start with only 2 RAM-sticks and use F1 to change bios-settings. After doing it that it had no problem with 4 RAM-sticks."
Take from: Google search "Z68A-GD55 megathread" since I can't post external links, the author of the article is "the Squonk"
Any one encounter this before?
Thanks in advance,
TF

That is a handy tool, thanks for pointing me to that.
Way more information but doesn't even show what you asked for?
Better printout:
Memory SPD
DIMM #            1
   SMBus address      0x50
   Memory type      DDR3
   Module format      UDIMM
   Manufacturer (ID)   Corsair (7F7F9E0000000000)
   Size         8192 MBytes
   Max bandwidth      PC3-10700 (667 MHz)
   Part number      CMX8GX3M1A1333C9
   Number of banks      8
   Nominal Voltage      1.50 Volts
   EPP         no
   XMP         no
JEDEC timings table      CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
   JEDEC #1      6.0-6-6-17-22 @ 457 MHz
   JEDEC #2      7.0-7-7-20-26 @ 533 MHz
   JEDEC #3      9.0-9-9-25-33 @ 685 MHz
DIMM #            2
   SMBus address      0x51
   Memory type      DDR3
   Module format      UDIMM
   Manufacturer (ID)   Corsair (7F7F9E0000000000)
   Size         8192 MBytes
   Max bandwidth      PC3-10700 (667 MHz)
   Part number      CMX8GX3M1A1333C9
   Number of banks      8
   Nominal Voltage      1.50 Volts
   EPP         no
   XMP         no
JEDEC timings table      CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
   JEDEC #1      6.0-6-6-17-22 @ 457 MHz
   JEDEC #2      7.0-7-7-20-26 @ 533 MHz
   JEDEC #3      9.0-9-9-25-33 @ 685 MHz

KT4 Ultra MS-6590 - Win XP Home boots with 2GB DDR333 installed but not 3GB

Spec...
KT4 Ultra MS-6590
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ (FSB set to 166MHz in BIOS)
BIOS MS-6590v1.4
Win XP Home 2002, SP3
Problem...
Previously, had 768MB RAM installed, and XP strangely identified CPU as a 2200+.
Recently upgraded the RAM to 3GB DDR333 (3 sticks of 1GB 184-pin unbuff DIMM 128MX64 DDR PC2700), and changed BIOS settings for CPU and DRAM.
In the DOS boot screen, Win XP progress indicator fills completely from left to right, then stops with a half-blinking cursor in the top left of the screen.
Removed 1GB stick and Win XP successfully loaded, also now recognising the Athlon XP 3000+, and running a heck of a lot faster.
Tried adding the /3GB switch to the boot.ini file, which didn't do anything, and after reading more forum advice, guessed this might be irrelevant. I don't think this is a 4GT and PAE issue, as I'm not trying to install above 4GB (if I've correctly understood).
Also, forum advice (various sites) conflicts on whether Win XP 32-bit is limited to 2GB or 4GB, and I can't find any workarounds for my current setup.
Any ideas?

Another test I've done is to enable boot logging with Win XP. This appends command lines to the file 'ntbtlog' in the windows directory, which mainly shows drivers being loaded as Win XP is launched. The log is normally date and time-stamped for every boot-logging session.
When all 3 sticks are installed, I cold boot, then press F8 and select 'enable boot logging' from the options menu. This is what appears on the screen as the system, attempts to load Win XP.
Loaded driver \WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
Loaded driver \WINDOWS\system32\hal.dll
Loaded driver \WINDOWS\system32\KDCOM.DLL
Loaded driver \WINDOWS\system32\BOOTVID.dll
Loaded driver ACPI.sys
Loaded driver \WINDOWS\System32\DRIVERS\WMILIB.SYS
Loaded driver pci.sys
Loaded driver isapnp.sys
Loaded driver viaide.sys
Loaded driver \WINDOWS\System32\DRIVERS\PCIIDEX.SYS
Loaded driver MountMgr.sys
Loaded driver ftdisk.sys
Loaded driver PartMgr.sys
Loaded driver VolSnap.sys
Loaded driver atapi.sys
Loaded driver disk.sys
Loaded driver \WINDOWS\System32\DRIVERS\CLASSPNP.SYS
Loaded driver fltmgr.sys
Loaded driver sr.sys
Loaded driver PxHelp20.sys
Loaded driver KSecDD.sys
Loaded driver Ntfs.sys
Loaded driver NDIS.sys
Loaded driver Mup.sys
Loaded driver BTHidMgr.sys
Then the process freezes and a solid white block appears in the top-left of the screen, with the top-right corner of the block blinking.
At this point, I turn off the PC using the main power switch, then remove the 3rd memory stick. After booting up again, with only 2 sticks installed, opening the text file 'ntbtlog' reveals that this boot event wasn't logged.
So, I reboot Win XP with only the 2 sticks installed, and select 'enable boot logging'. This time, the above list of loaded drivers is shown in the text file, plus a whole lot more. The potentially interesting observation is the next in the list after "Loaded driver BTHidMgr.sys" which is "Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\amdk7.sys".
'amdk7.sys' is a driver file which seems to come with one of the Win XP Service Packs, and which "is necessary to enable Windows XP support for AMD PowerNow! technology on computers that use a mobile Athlon 4 or mobile Duron processor." http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306458
Various other posts refer to it in relation to AMD Athlon XP 3000+ Mobile, whereas mine is a 3000+ in a desktop. Also, if 'amdk7.sys' isn't available, then Win XP will load the generic driver 'processr.sys'. In fact, my 'ntbtlog' includes the entry "Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\processr.sys" which would make sense.
However, my curiosity is that with the 3 sticks installed, Win XP fails to continue loading when reaching 'amdk7.sys' in the driver list.
Another test I did was to change the power management settings in the BIOS.
"IPCA Function: This item is to activate the ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power
Management Interface) function. If your operating system is ACPI-aware, such
as Windows 98SE/2000/ME, select Yes. Available options: Yes, No."
This was normally set to Yes. When I set it to No and rebooted with 3 sticks installed, instead of a half-blinking white block (as described above), the screen went black and then the system rebooted itself...
The plot thickens!...
Maybe there's a clear explanation for this - however, I'm wary of doing something to the 'amdk7.sys' driver file (whether removing or disabling it somehow) in case it prevents Win XP from launching with just my 2 sticks installed. I'd guess there are precautions, but need further info on whether this is relevant, and what the implications might be.

Comp wont boot with ram in any slots besides 1&3 no matter what, faulty board?

Ok i've tried pretty much everything, got latest bios, changed timings to everything but the comp just wont boot if I have any ram in slots 2&4. Actually got the comp to boot up with ram in slots 1&2 once, but tried with all 4 slots filled and didn't work, and after that slot 2 didn't work again.
Could it be a faulty board? I know it's not the ram.

Ahh, turns out you were right tiresmoke.
Even though I thought I had 4 sticks that were exactly the same..one wasn't. 3 of them are xms32004.1 0427033 - 0...the one i've always had in my comp is 5.1 0430069 - 1. Put in 2 of the 4.1 and was able to run dual channel np. That explains why one time I was able to run dual channel then switch the ram and couldn't..had no idea there was minor differences..and have no idea why I got 3 of one kind and 1 of another when I orderd the 4 sticks.
Going to try and exchange the 4 sticks for 2 1 gig sticks..how good is neweggs return policy heh? Been like nearly 2 months..

Ibook g3 wont boot after trying to install classic

I have an ibook that has a missing keyboard...a usb keyboard worked fine, until i tried to install classic by dragging the system folder from my cdrom of os 9 to the drive and choosing it to boot from it in startup disk preferences...now it wont boot..holding c wont work, trying to clear the pram wont work, not even getting into the open firmware will work...nothing...PLEASE HELP ME!! thanks in advance and sorry for being too long winded..i just really love this ibook and wish i wasnt so dumb in my actions...

Hello,
Try booting to safe mode http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455?viewlocale=en_US.
Once in the OS change the startup disk preferences back to OS X

MSI p67a-gd53 (b3) Wont boot with ram in slot 1 and 3, or 2 and 4.

Hi i recently built my own system, with just one ram stick in it boots fine and everything.
When i try to put the other stick in slot for so that in runs dual channel it just wont boot, it turns on starts the fans up and then just goes off, and repeats this.
The ram i have is Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit.
It also doesnt work in slots 2 and 4, can anyone help me :(?
My setup is :
OCZ ZS Series 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail
MSI P67A-GD53 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
MSI ATI Radeon HD 6870 OC HAWK 1024MB
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 4GB
Seagate Barracuda 500gb HD
Gets no beeps on boot with just one stick in, im really confused :s
All Help will be appreciated.

Both ram sticks worked in slot one and it would boot but I tried running a game and it froze each occasion, cud this be due to the ram being dual channel and only having one in? Or that the ram has the wrong settings.
I have returned the motherboard along with the ram to the shop i got it from for tests to see if the dimm slots had problems. Il let you guys know what they say.
Thanks for the advice, when I get it back il build it again and see if it runs fine, if not il try the things youve said.
Can anyone else shed any light on this? Any other things I may have to try?
Thx again

P35 Neo FR wont boot with 1066 Ram

Hi Guys,
I have a problem with a new build. The specs are
P35 Neo FR
E8400 (not overclocked)
2 gb Crucial Balistax tracer 1066 Ram
XFX 7900GS card
450W PSU
It will boot and I have been into windows to which all seems fine, however I have an issue.
1. The BIOS and CPU-Z are showing my ram at 667. I have manually adjusted it to 5-5-5-15 and set the divider so it should be running 1066. However it wont boot and goes into the re-boot over and over and over and over and over again "mode". This can only be rectified by re-setting the CMOS and then it will boot with its origional 4-4-4-24 timing @ 667. I have checked the voltages and they make no difference. It will only boot when the LED's on both ram sticks are lighting up on first power up. Ram has been tested in another PC and doesnt seem an issue.
Bios is 1.5 I think. Should I flash and go to 1.8?
I will also try the Mobo, PSU, HD and GPU without anything else attatched to see if there is a problem
Also, 1 stick of ram at a time to see if thats causing an issue.
I would appreciate any suggestions
Thanks

Quote from: Jack the Newbie on 19-March-08, 22:28:13
Which FSB/Memory Ratio did you choose in BIOS?
Does it work, if you choose the divider for DDR2-800 MHz?
What is the memory voltage recommended for these modules @1066 MHz effective speed?
Did you try with one stick of RAM only?
Thanks for the quick reply
I think the divider was 1.1-6? I will confirm in a couple of hours once I am home. It works at 1-1 but the speed was 400mhz. It also ran at 667. Whatever that divider was.
I am going to try the one memory module test tonight and I will also report on that and the DDR800 settings.
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=BL2KIT12864AL1065 Is my ram and its rated at 2.2V
Thanks in advance and I will update in the next few hours.

KT4AV will not boot with SATA card installed and no SATA drive

I put a Promise brand SATA II card in a KT4AV motherboard. There is an IDE drive and a DVD drive hooked up to the IDE1 port on the motherboard. That IDE drive has Windows XP Pro SP2 loaded on it.
If I have a SATA drive plugged into the card, the machine works fine. If I remove the STAT drive and leave the card in, I cannot boot to Windows. If I remove the card, it works fine. The only time there is a problem is when the SATA card is plugged in and there is no drive on the SATA card.
As one possible solution, I tried to boot to a Windows CD to reload Windows. It will not even allow me to reload from the CD, it says there is a file missing from the CD. If the SATA drive is hooked up, it will work fine on the CD. Also, I tried multiple CDs and they all give the same message. Because it makes a difference whether the SATA drive is connected or not, I do not believe the CD is the problem.
I have tried looking on Promise's web site for a FAQ or an updated BIOS or for other information about this problem and I found nothing. I have e-mailed them and they did not reply yet.
There is no reason to think this is the fault of the motherboard, but I wanted to see if anyone had any ideas about this problem. Because of the symptoms, I believe it also cannot be the CPU, memory, PSU, video card, etc. Sorry if that makes this post off topic.

Quote from: HenryW on 16-March-07, 02:56:44
Have you tried to disable card in Device Manager when you don't use it? What is the model number of the card you are using?
It is a SATA 300 TX2, which means that it has two SATA ports and one IDE port. I have never used the IDE port, only one SATA.
I have never tried to disable it, but I could try, just to see what it did. It sure would be a lot more work to disable and enable it so that isn't a good long term solution. Among other things, it would mean that I would have to boot up in order to remove the SATA drive. Since it won't boot with the drive removed, it will require more planning.
Will post the results once I have tried. Still no reply from Promise :-(

Comp wont boot with ram in any slots besides 1&3

No idea why...have 4 of the exact same ram and i've mixed and matched so it's not the ram..if I put ram in slot 2 or 4 the comp just wont boot.
Anyone know what is causing this? Thanks in advance
Corsair xms 3200 and k8n neo2 plat btw

Quote
Originally posted by Paul Foster
Mine works just fine. Take one step at a time. Go back to the minimum configuration and use memtest86 to try to isolate where the problem is. This thread is a great place to start:
Basic Building tips
ditto - usual problem is BIOS - stick in one stick - boot into windows or whichever way you normally flash your BIOS and get the latest bios

RADEON 7950 WONT BOOT WITH P67A-GD65

Just got a new ATI Radeon HD7950 graphics card a couple of days ago and it refuses to even boot in my main PC (Intel i7-2700K, MSI P67A-GD65).
Won't even get into BIOS. Just black screen.
Updated to latest BIOS. Still nothing.
Today I have tried the card in an older PC (Intel Q6600, ASUS Maximus Formula) and it works just fine.
So I thought it might have been a power supply issue so I swapped the power supply from old PC into my new PC, but it still didn't work.
So now I think its an incompatibility with the MSI P67A-GD65 motherboard.
Note: Previous graphics card was ATI Radeon 6870 which is still working fine with P67A-GD65.
Can anyone suggest why this graphics card won't boot with the P67A-GD65?

Quote from: Froggy Gremlin on 02-March-13, 06:16:55
What OS are you running? UEFI/BIOS version? CPU? Is this an MSI graphics card? If not, have you visited with the card manufacturer for any available information they may have?
Too much time passed for me to edit and delete this question of CPU, as you did list it.

IBook G4 fails to boot with internal HD installed, works when removed

The short version: My iBook started failing to boot via any method (gray screen) and the boot menu (Option during startup) would freeze. Replaced HD, things were better. Six months into new HD, nearly the same symptoms appear again. Removed HD, now running off different HD via FireWire.
The long version–
Back in late 2008-12, my iBook started failing to boot up. Usually it would refuse to boot from any source. Booting the internal disk (10.4.11) would get to a gray screen without any logo and stay there. Holding down Option, the boot menu would come up, but it would usually freeze before it displayed any volumes. Booting from CD (AHT, or OS install disc) would fail in nearly the same way as booting from the internal drive. Target Disk Mode would start, but once the other machine tried to access the drive, the FireWire logo would stop moving and the drive would never show up on the other computer. Very rarely, the machine would get a bit further through one of the boot mechanisms, but it usually froze while booting or just after login.
This machine has gone through three logic boards in the past, so I suspected that was the problem again. I took it to a local Genius Bar and the Genius explained that it was probably the hard drive. He said that sometimes, depending on the way the drive fails, it can "take out" other parts of the system due to drawing too much current, etc.
I was a bit skeptical, but it was going to be much cheaper to replace the HD myself than it would be to send it in for a MLB replacement. So I ordered a new HD (80G) and a USB-to-ATA/SATA adapter. I hoped that I would be able to use the adapter to savlage a bit more data off the drive (it originally failed right before a backup!).
After extracting the HD (40G), I connected it to the USB adapter and was able to access the drive just fine. I used another machine to run another backup from the recently removed HD (40G) to one of my FireWire backup drives and proceeded to put the iBook back together with the new HD (80G).
Once it was all back together, the new HD worked fine. I was able to restore the recent backup from my FireWire drive to the internal, and it worked fine. The only oddity I noticed was that the new drive was apparently trying to sleep several times a minute. I used smartctl (installed via MacPorts) to adjust the power management setting on the drive, and that seemed to help. I also started running smartd (also via MacPorts) to better monitor the new drive.
Recently, a bit more than six months after the new HD was installed, the new HD started showing errors in the system.log. I never found any errors in the logs after the previous HD failed (even though I could look through the logs just fine with the drive attached through the ATA-USB adapter).
Jul 2 18:04:40 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
Jul 2 18:33:43 Blinky smartd\[217]: Device: disk0, ATA error count increased from 0 to 30\n
Jul 3 02:03:42 Blinky smartd\[217]: Device: disk0, ATA error count increased from 30 to 31\n
Jul 3 03:03:42 Blinky smartd\[217]: Device: disk0, ATA error count increased from 31 to 32\n
Jul 6 23:33:42 Blinky smartd\[217]: Device: disk0, ATA error count increased from 32 to 33\n
Jul 7 00:33:42 Blinky smartd\[217]: Device: disk0, ATA error count increased from 33 to 34\n
Jul 7 12:42:24 Blinky smartd\[217]: Device: disk0, ATA error count increased from 34 to 36\n
Jul 7 13:17:59 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
+same error message a bit faster than one every 3 seconds+
Jul 7 13:23:00 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
Jul 7 13:33:44 Blinky smartd\[217]: Device: disk0, ATA error count increased from 36 to 615\n
Jul 7 21:17:05 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
Jul 7 21:17:12 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
Jul 7 21:17:12 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
Jul 7 21:17:12 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
Jul 7 21:17:15 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
Jul 7 21:17:18 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
Jul 7 21:17:21 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
Jul 7 21:17:23 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
Jul 7 21:17:29 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
Jul 7 21:18:17 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
Jul 7 21:19:21 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
Jul 7 21:19:23 Blinky kernel\[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
I did not notice the errors until the afternoon of the 7th when the problem became evident. The events around 13:00 happened when I was trying to run a backup. The first backup failed in an odd way (when I came back to check on it later that evening, SuperDuper! seemed to have quit running). So I restarted the backup and started looking around in the logs. That is when I noticed the kernel I/O error messages. When I asked smartctl to query the drive, it showed that many errors had been occurring and it displayed the drive's log of the last five or so errors (alas, I did not save this output). Meanwhile the re-run of SuperDuper! was having problems again. It seemed to have hung (no SDAgent or SDCopy processes were running, but the main UI was still there). Since the backup was not getting anywhere, I decided to shutdown for a while and try again later.
When I did try again later, I was back in the situation of six months ago. It would not boot at all (no internal, no FireWire, no CD/DVD, boot menu hangs, Target Disk Mode hangs). So, I opened up the system, removed the HD and put it back together without an internal HD. The machine is now able to boot and run from FireWire. Again, the (6 month old, 80G) HD "works fine" via the USB adapter. If SMART were available through the USB adapter, I could check to see if the drive is continuing to have problems. I used SuperDuper! to copy the HD to a volume on my FireWire drive which is how I an now running the system.
Has anyone had any similar problems? Any idea why my iBook seems to be killing/rejecting hard drives? (I say killing because, while the drive is connected internally, it certainly seems to be dying. I say rejecting because once the drive is out of the system, both the drive and the system seem to "recover".) I have read messages there where others report success having their iBook MLB resoldered ("reball"). Has anyone experienced substantially similar issues that were solved with a resolder repair?
Thanks!

I was able to test my “failing” ATA drives in a G4 Mac mini (I had to take the mini apart because its drive had finally failed). I was able to successfully boot the Mac mini with either of my iBook drives installed. Once booted, +Disk Utility+ said that each one's SMART Status was Verified. I used smartctl to pull the full SMART info while I had them installed in the Mac mini.
Since the drives were still “good”, I think this emphasizes that the problem is with the ATA interface on my iBook's logic board. Maybe it is broken, or maybe it just needs to be resoldered. For now I am happy just booting off an external Firewire drive.
BTW, I ended up installing the 6 month old 80G drive in the mini. It has been working OK for 10 days now. As long as it continues to operate normally in the mini, it will serve as evidence that my iBook's HD ATA controller is borked. I just hope the ATA controller is more capable of accepting its fallibility than was HAL.
There is a minor problem with the 80G in the mini in that I am unable to use hdapm to change the aggressive head unloading that the drive suffers. I was able to adjust it with hdapm while it was in my iBook. I am able to adjust it with hdparm under Linux on the mini. Luckily the change I made while booted in Linux "sticks" after rebooting back into Mac OS X (I hear it will be lost if the drive is completely powered off though).

PC wont boot with X-Fi instal

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