OldGrayGary

Glad to hear the system drivers are in OK. You probably don't need to worry about the SATA RAID drivers, since you didn't set up RAID. Am I remembering right, that your hard drive uses the older type connector, the parallel IDE type? (and not the newer SATA)?

If you decide to try updating the Bios = follow the instructions as exactly as possible. You might first check to see what Bios version is already installed: it should show on-screen while your computer is booting up. It's probably also listed in the Bios Setup somewhere. If you've already got the latest version that you downloaded, you shouldn't have to flash it again. To flash the bios, you put the new Bios file, along with the flash utility it came with, onto a bootable DOS floppy diskette. You boot your system from that diskette, and start the flash from DOS. You need detailed, step-by-step intructions for all this -- see if they were included in the zipped Bios download (both the Bios file and the Bios utility are in that same zipped download). Not much info in the online manual for your model (strange thing is - that I think they added more details in the version 3 manual). In any case, if you can't find exact instructions, don't flash until you are certain of the details for your board and your bios flash utility.

How is the system running?
. . . Gary

nikeman

it has locked up since the system drivers were installed... I do not think the BIOS came with a flash utility. I dont see anything like that but maybe its just me..

I looked at what BIOS I had and it said Award Winning 6 or something like that and the current one i downloaded just says Award Winning... Guess they are not the same..

nikeman

I can't figure out how to flash my bios. I put the files on a CD and booted from that CD but it wont do anything. It just starts windows up like normal after it says Boot From CD...

nikeman

i keep looking at the word doc that came with it but it seems to be for windows ME and older windows other then XP and it isnt helping me much.

I will attach that to this post if i can so maybe you can help me a little more with it. I have gotten that blue screen error a few more times now and I am starting to think it is directly related to my BIOS settings now..

I also do not have any floppy disks and thats the only directions I see for XP.. I went to riteaid and they dont sell them.. I thought this was strange, and wal-mart is about 20 mins down the road from me and I have to leave for work soon now.

Attached Files

How to flash the BIOS.doc (34.5 KB, 2 views)

nikeman

also, just so I will know. If it turns out to be a problem with my motherboard causing the crashes what exactly could be the problem? Is is a part that I could replace? If so what part is it?

OldGrayGary

Hi nikeman -

Tell you what, I think you might be better off trying the Live Update feature to help with your Bios (you could even run it again for the system drivers, just to see). It's complicated business & I don't think your level of experience really calls for Bios-flashing from DOS right now. Just make sure that when using the Live Update for a Bios Update, to check the motherboard manual to see if you need to enable any settings in the Bios first.

Do your best when setting up the Bios (after it's updated, you'll want to check the settings) -- remember that hardware misconfiguration can result in errors and lockups.
_______

You usually won't want to try any repairs on the motherboard components - leave that to the technicians working for your motherboard manufacturer. In fact, most of the time, they aren't going to bother repairing individual motherboards - it's cheaper for them just to send a replacement.

I think that sending your board back for warranty replacement is looking like something you'll want to consider - especially if there's no improvement with a new Bios and fresh system drivers in place --- and since the system has never been particularly stable, even from the day it first arrived home.

Once all the possible software causes for your troubles are exhausted, the time comes for "known-good parts replacement" as the repair technique. One at a time, critical parts are replaced & the system is tested for stability. If it's a hardware problem, eventually the problematic part is identified. You've already replaced the power supply, tested the memory & hard drive -- so our attention next turns to the motherboard and the cpu.


I remember that you mentioned that the system ran well in Knoppix Linux --- I'm curious to see if you can try running several programs all at once while the PC is in Linux, and see if it remains stable or not.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

nikeman

that MSI site really loads slow. Most of the time it dosnt load at all. I have to hit refresh 2 or 3 times. do you have this problem with that site too?? I am looking for live update on it now and I can't seem to find it anymore


I will have to try to find that Linux program again because I think i through it away. Also, what programs should I run? I couldnt really download anything if i remember right and it doesn't come with much for me to run..

nikeman

i tried the live update (iguess the site was down earlier) and it is saying I have the nvidia4 Platinum mainboard and only showing me those BIOS and system drivers. I do not know how to fix this so that it goes back to the original settings before i flashed them the first time so I guess i dont have much of a choice other then flashing them myself. If you give me a good step by step on flashing the bios and getting the right ones installed then I'm positive i can do it. You seem to be pretty good at explaining things to me and I will print out the entire instructions and use my girlfriends laptop if i have any problems..

OldGrayGary

Hi nikeman

OK - looks like we'll do the manual Bios update after all. This will rather be our last-ditch effort before turning to replacing the motherboard: 1) You'll flash the Bios from DOS. 2) You'll go through the Bios Setup & make sure the settings agree with the manual. 3) You'll re-install the system drivers. 4) You'll test for stability.

For the Bios and system drivers, use those you downloaded for your version of the Neo4-F. According to the note on the Bios download at MSI, you must use the Award flash utility that the website says is included in that download. You can download a bootable floppy suitable for flashing a Bios from bootdisk.com. Go to their main homepage --- http://www.bootdisk.com --- and click on the number 1 for "Driver Free Disk For BIOS Flashing" --- and save the file to your hard drive. Then get a good, blank floppy diskette (you can erase a good old one), and put it in the floppy drive (make sure the write-protect tab is set to 'off'). Then run the "drdflash.exe" file that you downloaded from bootdisk.com. The program will create a bootable floppy for you.

If you don't have the Bios file and flash utility anyore, you can download them (in one download) from here --- http://www.msi.com.tw/program/suppor...UID=652&kind=1 --- The download 7125v1D.zip is "zipped", and MSI seems to be very insistent that you extract it by double-clicking on it = so do that to unzip it. They recommend uzipping to C:/test [you create the folder just for the Bios flash -- for whatever reason, for your board MSI prefers that you run the Bios flash from the hard drive, rather than the floppy you booted from.

MSI recommends that you check in your Bios Setup before flashing, and disable "Bios Protect" (this would keep you from being able to flash).

During a Bios flash, disconnect from any networks, disconnect any phone lines connected to the computer, disconnect any printers, cameras, faxes, multifunction devices, webcams, PDAs, memory card readers, scanners, etc. Absolutely do not power off during the procedure - or your motherboard can become completely unusable.

Make sure your boot order has the floppy drive first.

When you are ready to begin: boot the computer from the DOS bootable floppy. You should be at an A:> command prompt. From there, type in the following commands (shown here in bold) ---
A:> C:
C:> cd \test
C:\test> awflash855a W7125NMS.1D0

(that last character is the number zero, not the letter "O")

... the program will ask if you'd like to save a copy of the old bios: you can say Yes & let it save a copy - call it Bios.old if you'd like. Then let it update the bios. It will prompt you to restart the system when done --- remove your floppy diskette from the floppy drive, and reboot (ctrl-alt-del will do). As the computer is powering on, then tap the DEL key to enter your Bios Setup -- and check your settings with manual in hand. You should notice that the Bios number in the Bios startup banner matches the version you've just flashed.

If you printed out some of the Bios settings we went over earlier, you can use those. Or simply follow your manual. If I didn't mention it before, in the 2nd menu, "Advanced Bios Features", set IOAPIC to Enabled. (It probably was set that way before, but check to make sure). When done, choose "Save Settings and Exit" & try running the system.

After testing it with the new Bios for a while - if all is running better at this point, you might be able to skip updating the system drivers. If things are still acting up, try reinstalling the system drivers from the download page --- http://www.msi.com.tw/program/suppor...UID=652&kind=1 --- (make sure NOT to download the 64-bit drivers by mistake) --- then test once again for stability.

Some games simply require a bit of coddling -- if the only time the system crashes is when multitasking and gaming at the same time --- see if things run fine when the game is pretty much the only thing going.
_______

As far as testing in Knoppix -- it doesn't matter what you run - just run a bunch -- there are many programs included on the disk - play some media, run a search, etc...
_______

If things keep going badly, see if MSI will send you a replacement - if you are still within warranty.

. . . Gary

nikeman

I updated the BIOS vis Live update because it turned out that the premium and mine both used the same BIOS.. In fact, thats what it said in the live update under BIOS. So that is done and I had a lockup today still. I will find the knoppix again and run that with a CD playing or something along with the games that come with the program. If it dosnt lock up during this what does it mean??

I forgot to mention that now when I restart my computer it tells me that the current clocking settings were bad or something and have been reset back to the previous setting. Then when it boots it trys to install some kind of controller but it fails because it can't find a certain file. nvidia.sys or something like that...

OldGrayGary

Sounds like you need to enter Bios Setup & go through the settings one by one. Pay special attention to the "Core Cell" menus. That's the overclocking section.

It also sounds like either your system drivers or your video drivers are in trouble again. Fix the Bios settings, then reinstall your system and video drivers.

If your system runs fine in Knoppix, it's possible that your hardware is fine, and that your system builder simply goofed when they built your system. You've done a (mostly) clean install using their "Recovery Disk", and yet things aren't stable - even right after the reinstall. That could indicate that their original XP installation & configuration itself was faulty. You've mentioned that you've endured crashes pretty much all along.

Your self-help options are problematic - which is why this thread has gone on so long. A repair shop has "known-good" parts to swap in and out, that would either identify failing hardware, or eliminate that possibility for further troubleshooting. It's prohibitively expensive to ask you to swap out a different motherboard, cpu, memory, hard drive, and video card. But -- that's what a good repair shop would be doing during troubleshooting.

Truthfully, you could even try completely removing the XP hard drive, and run a full Linux install on a spare disk (Ubuntu and Mandriva are easy-to-use versions) --- then install and run some extensive Linux-based open-source games, and test how the system runs. If it suddenly seems cured, then you know the problem was Windows-related (whether Windows itself, or damage to it from incompatible or poorly configured software & drivers). -- And the only way to get things stable in XP might be to grab a retail XP disk & clean install from that --- or to keep trying to get XP repaired (which, as you see, can be complicated when your XP CD source is part of the problem).

I'm a little skeptical that the Neo4-F version 1.0 has the same Bios as the Neo4-Platinum. Certainly isn't performing very well, if so.

Try the stuff in the first two paragraphs of this reply - & keep your fingers crossed.
. . . Gary

nikeman

ok, now I know that I have the right BIOS cause the live update gave me 1.D which is what is listed on the site for my board. I got all the drivers installed now and am about to reboot and fix the ATA controller (i found the floppy). Then i will go to BIOS and set them up like you told me in your previous reply and see what happens. I will probably run the computer in Knoppix for most of the day today and maybe all day tomorrow while I am at work with programs running or something to see what happens.

nikeman

i got that stop error again and checked the tech details and it says the same 2 files everytime will be included in the report if i chose to send the error report.

C:\DOCUME~1\ROBERT~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WERf085.dir00\Mini032907-01.dmp
C:\DOCUME~1\ROBERT~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WERf085.dir00\sysdata.xml

nikeman

Everything is set up right. I got the right BIOS for sure, the system drivers all installed and the ATA controller is also installed. My computer still locked up a couple times (once while my girlfriend was taking a test for her online class!) since all this has been done. I ran Knoppix pretty much all day yesterday and it never froze and actually ran smooth the entire time. I cant install anything on knoppix but i did play a few of the games at the same time and got online for a while during the gameing and it still ran smooth. I will let it run all night tonight also while i am at work because my computer seems to always be locked up when i get home from work...

nikeman

I am really starting to lean towards a windows issue now since i had Knoppix running for about 2 days straight doing normal stuff and playing a few games here and there + leaving it on 24/7 while i was at work.. No lock up at all. Not even a lag from what I saw.. I even went to youtube for a while with no problems

knowing this, how can I deeply troubleshoot windows to find any problem files so i can fix them? Would it be better to do that or try to find another XP SP2 CD and reinstall windows again that way? I dont know where I would get this CD but i guess I could ask around..

OldGrayGary

If I remember right, the last time we tried the clean install - you used the CyberPower "Recovery Disk" - right?

What about doing a clean installation again, but this time use the Windows XP Home SP2 CD --- which looks to be either OEM or retail --- it's on your parts list that you found . . . . . What you would do:

1) Download the installation files (and the definition files for malware fighters) and burn them to a CD for the following tools: avast! antivirus ( http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html ), Ad-Aware ( http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-...bj=dl&tag=top5 ), SpyBot ( http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html ), and ZoneAlarm 7 firewall ( http://www.zonealarm.com/store/conte...try=US&lang=en )
... For now, these will be the only anti-malware products I want you to use. Since you'll be using the free ZoneAlarm, there is no conflict with avast! (ZoneAlarm Pro users don't run the avast! web proxy due to a conflict). So if prompted, keep the avast! web proxy running - it does a great job of protecting computers.
2) Download the nForce4 chipset drivers directly from nVidia. We haven't had much luck with the MSI versions so far --- http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf4_win2k_6.86.html --- burn these onto CD too.
3) You can probably use the Realtek drivers MSI has - those haven't changed in ages --- download them from here --- http://www.msi.com.tw/program/suppor...UID=652&kind=1 --- the Realtek drivers are at the bottom of the page, use the 2000/XP drivers, and not the 64-bit, not the Vista. Burn these onto CD as well.
4) If you still have the video drivers from xfxforce.com, you can use those for this latest install. Double-check that the serial numbers and product code matched your model exactly. Keep these drivers close by, or add them to your CD also.
5) Disconnect from all networks - wired & wireless (unplug cable, disable wireless), disconnect phone line from modem, disconnect printers, scanners, multifunctions, webcams, memory card readers, PDAs, gaming controllers-joysticks, etc.
6) Zero-write the hard drive again. Completely.
7) Boot with the Windows XP SP2 CD (not the CyberPower Recovery Disk), and let XP Setup partition and format the drive as part of Setup. Follow the prompts & install XP from scratch.
8) Even though the installation of XP has completed, stay disconnected from networks. And install the nVidia chipset drivers, then the xfxforce video drivers, then the RealTek sound drivers. Then install AdAware, then SpyBot, then avast! antivirus, then ZoneAlarm.
9) Don't install or reconnect anything else yet! --- Reboot, and then plug in your ethernet cable --- visit Window Update right away, and click only on the "Express" button to download updates [you only want to download and install the Critical updates --- leave the "optional" updates alone].
10) Let AdAware, SpyBot, and avast! check for updates - install them if available. [By the way, for now, don't use TeaTimer or AdWatch, please].

Leave installing odd peripherals for later -- and test the system extensively for stability. Load one game at a time, and test for stability each time.

If things don't lockup during these stages, you can start reinstalling and reconnecting printers, etc.

See if it makes a difference by using the Windows CD rather than the possibly problematic CyberPower Recovery disk.
. . . Gary

[PS --- turn off any "download manager" programs that you might have while downloading the drivers and software for the clean install. In fact, just toss out any download managers, period: they can cause corruption for driver downloads.]

nikeman

i think the CYberpower recovery disk is the Windows XP disk that it is talking about because I do not have any other disks for XP..

OldGrayGary

Sure doesn't look like how I'd list a Recovery Disk: they've been pretty helpful so far --- give them a call & see if an XP system-disk-only shipped --- and if not, would one be available at a modest cost (some OEM system CDs, when purchased from the OEM vendor for repair use [the license if often tied to the motherboard] - can be ordered for as little as $20 to $30).

The errors and symptoms that you are seeing most often are usually either driver problems, or hardware/configuration problems. I wouldn't rule out that your system is getting reinfected with malware, either - since you run fine in Knoppix. Knoppix isn't going to be affected by Windows drivers or malware troubles. That's why: this time, after your Windows clean install, I want you to have all the anti-malware security software on CD, so it can be installed & running before your system reconnects to the Internet.

It's possible to catch an Internet worm in less than a minute, when connecting with an imperfectly protected and incompletely patched Windows computer. I'm not making this up -- it's been proven in the research labs. The hacker sites have tools that anyone can download, that provide port scanners that can run 24/7 --looking for the unsuspecting and vulnerable.

Try CyberPower with our latest question & see what they say. And - is the motherboard less than three years old? See if CyberPower can confirm that the manufacturer's warranty on your board is three years [many models are only one year, but I seem to remember seeing that your premium board had a three-year warranty].
. . . Gary

nikeman

i have been busy lately and have not yet called to ask about the windows disk. I do however have a XP SP2 disk from my parents computer that I could use. There computer is pretty old but i do not think it has ever locked up one time sine they got it. You think this would be ok to use on my computer too? Don't want the FBI knocking on my door. lol

OldGrayGary

Sorry, unless their CD is a retail [bought separately from the computer at the store], and the original computer isn't in use anymore, you probably won't be able to use any other sort of disk. OEM disks are "locked" to hardware from the PC they ship with (often the motherboard) -- for most OEMs, that license isn't transferrable. Even if you did try to use the disk, it likely wouldn't work.

You've got a legal license from your CyberPower purchase, and that license has been "activated" with Microsoft -- so you might as well get your money's worth from it [you paid for it already]. I imagine they might have either a replacement Recovery Disk, or an XP installation disk for a reduced price.

Check your local Sunday papers, too: XP retail disks have been on sale [partly due to Vistas appearance] -- I've seen them as low as $40 here in Southern California. You've just got to catch the sale just right.

I'll stay tuned
. . . Gary