Re: Weird hardware problem... Windows won't install

• From: David Maynard <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxx>
• Date: Wed, 01 Feb 2006 14:52:10 -0600

Pan wrote:

Hi everybody

I've recently brought a set of new parts to upgrade my old Athlon 750
computer, essentially a new motherboard, processor, power supply, RAM and
video card. I actually brought two of each, a family member wanted a new
system as well and we agreed that it would make sense to buy the same.
Anyway, after minor teething problems with his, it's now operational.
However, I'm having major problems with mine. None of them as explained
below occurred on the other machine I built, which has identical core
components.

The components I brought for the upgrade are as follows:-

Gigabyte K8NS Pro Motherboard
AMD Semptron 3300+ Processor
Levicom 450W PSU
Leadtek A6600GT Graphics Card
Two Corsair 512MB Memory Modules (Packaged Together Retail)

After upgrading the machine, there seems to be no immediate problem with
it. However, when I try to install Windows XP Professional, things start
to go wrong. When I approach the stage in which the hard disk is
formatted, one of the following always occurs

1) Blue screen "PFN_LIST_CORRUPT" error 2) Blue screen
"PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA" 3) Blue screen "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" 4)
Blue screen "BAD_POOL_CALLER"
5) Blue screen error with no distinct error message 5) Immediate reboot
without warning

At times, the system has crashed in one of these ways even before the hard
disk formatting stage is reached. But it normally occurs immediately after
a file format has been chosen. Errors 1 and 3 are the most common from
what I've seen.

I have absolutely no idea what the problem is. I've never seen anything
like this. For debugging purposes, I've tried all of the following.

1) I ran the memtest86 tool to test all the memory on the system. No
errors were found after several passes.

2) The installation problem nearly always occurs at the hard disk
preparation stage. Therefore, I attempted every combination of IDE device
(The only type I'm using) connection I could think of and still the
problem persisted.

3) I stripped the system to a bare bones configuration to try and find out
what was causing the problem. The error still occurred even at this time.

4) Upgraded the BIOS to the latest revision. No effect

5) Used a LiveCD to access both hard disks manually and read/write. No
problems at all in doing so. The system booted fine with the LiveCD too,
Knoppix is the one I was using.

6) Switched the graphics card from the order with one I had previously.
This didn't make any difference.

7) Removed each RAM chip and ran the system with one or the other. Changed
memory slots on the motherboard for each, no effect whatsoever.

8) Tried installing the OS with a different CD-ROM drive and onto a
different hard disk. No difference.

At this stage, I'm open to suggestion. I have no idea *what* the problem
could be. I assume it must be hardware related, perhaps the motherboard
and/or processor is faulty. It could be the power supply too, but I doubt
it given the situation. Does anybody have any idea of what it could be?

I've heard that changing the voltages to the RAM or processor has solved
problems like this before. But I'm very sceptical about trying this since
the items are under warranty and would rather avoid it if it's risky. But
if anybody has any additional information about this, I'd be interested to
hear from you.

Thanks

Regards,

Pan

.

• Follow-Ups:
  • Re: Weird hardware problem... Windows won't install
    • From: Pan

• References:
  • Weird hardware problem... Windows won't install
    • From: Pan

• Prev by Date: Re: Which CPU ....dammit ! ? :-)
• Next by Date: Re: Do PCs have more IRQs than before?
• Previous by thread: Re: Weird hardware problem... Windows won't install
• Next by thread: Re: Weird hardware problem... Windows won't install
• Index(es):
  • Date
  • Thread

• Security
• UNIX
• Linux
• Coding
• Usenet

• Archive
• About
• Privacy
• Search
• Imprint