VERY slow boot up??

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chris Wilson
  • Start date Start date
C

Chris Wilson

[This followup was posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus and a copy
was sent to the cited author.]

System is Asus A7N8X Deluxe PCB 2.00 with rev 4.1.50 Bios (as factory
supplied with board) Processor is AMD and system describes it as x86
family 6 model 10 stepping 0 authentic AMD ~1094 Mhz Memory is TwinMOS
DDR PC3200 in slots 1 and 3 totalling 1 gig and it came as a boxed
matched pair. Drives are 36 gig WD Raptor and 128 gig Maxtor. Both are
Serial ATA drives and the OS is 2000 Professional, service pack 4, with
the motherboard SATA driver loaded via F6 at OS install time. All
components are brand new, fresh install.

Main problem is at boot up time, with all default bios settings, the BIOS
text scrolls by normally, then there is a two and a half minute pause,
with a totally blank screen and no audible action from either hard drive
or floppy drive, and neither the CD nor the DVD drive start up, either.
After 2.5 minutes or so the system shows the bottom of screen Windows
scroll bar and Windows starts normally. Booting from the 2000 CD this
long period of inactivity is NOT present and it boots at what I assume to
be a normal speed. Can anyone suggest, in the simplest terms, what might
be going wrong please? I have tried it with just one memory card in, and
tried both of them individually, with no difference. I suspect something
either in the bios, or maybe the way the drives are formatted, which is
as 2 individual single partions, using all the first drive (36 gig
Raptor) and the recommended smaller amount that the disc utility
suggested for drive 2, the balance being unformatted space.

Thanks. From the above rather lame descriptions I am sue you don't need
telling I am a PC novice :-)
 
Chris said:
[This followup was posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus and a copy
was sent to the cited author.]

System is Asus A7N8X Deluxe PCB 2.00 with rev 4.1.50 Bios (as factory
supplied with board)
Click to expand...

Thats the version of the BIOS on the SATA controller... all BIOS versions to
1006 have that SATA BIOS.
Processor is AMD and system describes it as x86
family 6 model 10 stepping 0 authentic AMD ~1094 Mhz
Click to expand...

Barton I think, but speed is very low, doubt you're using the default
multiplier, unless your FSB is set to 100MHz.
Memory is TwinMOS
DDR PC3200 in slots 1 and 3 totalling 1 gig and it came as a boxed
matched pair. Drives are 36 gig WD Raptor and 128 gig Maxtor. Both are
Serial ATA drives and the OS is 2000 Professional, service pack 4, with
the motherboard SATA driver loaded via F6 at OS install time. All
components are brand new, fresh install.
Fine.

Main problem is at boot up time, with all default bios settings, the BIOS
text scrolls by normally, then there is a two and a half minute pause,
with a totally blank screen and no audible action from either hard drive
or floppy drive, and neither the CD nor the DVD drive start up, either.
After 2.5 minutes or so the system shows the bottom of screen Windows
scroll bar and Windows starts normally. Booting from the 2000 CD this
long period of inactivity is NOT present and it boots at what I assume to
be a normal speed. Can anyone suggest, in the simplest terms, what might
be going wrong please? I have tried it with just one memory card in, and
tried both of them individually, with no difference. I suspect something
either in the bios, or maybe the way the drives are formatted, which is
as 2 individual single partions, using all the first drive (36 gig
Raptor) and the recommended smaller amount that the disc utility
suggested for drive 2, the balance being unformatted space.

Thanks. From the above rather lame descriptions I am sue you don't need
telling I am a PC novice :-)
--
Click to expand...

Which drive are you booting from, the Raptor?

I'm a little unsure as to where in the boot process it is stopping... Since
it doesn't happen when you boot from CD, I'll assume it is at or around the
point it attempts to boot from the hard drive. That'll occur after the SATA
BIOS detects both of your SATA drives and then the BIOS summary screen that
tells you the IRQs of your devices.

How did you partition the drive? If you used dos fdisk then did you
remember to set the partition active?

What is the boot order set in the BIOS?

Ben
 
[This followup was posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus and a copy
was sent to the cited author.]

System is Asus A7N8X Deluxe PCB 2.00 with rev 4.1.50 Bios (as factory
supplied with board) Processor is AMD and system describes it as x86
family 6 model 10 stepping 0 authentic AMD ~1094 Mhz Memory is TwinMOS
DDR PC3200 in slots 1 and 3 totalling 1 gig and it came as a boxed
matched pair. Drives are 36 gig WD Raptor and 128 gig Maxtor. Both are
Serial ATA drives and the OS is 2000 Professional, service pack 4, with
the motherboard SATA driver loaded via F6 at OS install time. All
components are brand new, fresh install.

Main problem is at boot up time, with all default bios settings, the BIOS
text scrolls by normally, then there is a two and a half minute pause,
with a totally blank screen and no audible action from either hard drive
or floppy drive, and neither the CD nor the DVD drive start up, either.
After 2.5 minutes or so the system shows the bottom of screen Windows
scroll bar and Windows starts normally. Booting from the 2000 CD this
long period of inactivity is NOT present and it boots at what I assume to
be a normal speed. Can anyone suggest, in the simplest terms, what might
be going wrong please? I have tried it with just one memory card in, and
tried both of them individually, with no difference. I suspect something
either in the bios, or maybe the way the drives are formatted, which is
as 2 individual single partions, using all the first drive (36 gig
Raptor) and the recommended smaller amount that the disc utility
suggested for drive 2, the balance being unformatted space.

Thanks. From the above rather lame descriptions I am sue you don't need
telling I am a PC novice :-)
--
Click to expand...

Do you have a NIC installed?



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Chris said:
[This followup was posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus and a copy
was sent to the cited author.]

System is Asus A7N8X Deluxe PCB 2.00 with rev 4.1.50 Bios (as factory
supplied with board)
Click to expand...

Thats the version of the BIOS on the SATA controller... all BIOS versions to
1006 have that SATA BIOS.
Processor is AMD and system describes it as x86
family 6 model 10 stepping 0 authentic AMD ~1094 Mhz
Click to expand...

Barton I think, but speed is very low, doubt you're using the default
multiplier, unless your FSB is set to 100MHz.
Click to expand...

Something in the bios text shows 100 megs, not sure what though, sorry.
What is FSB please?
Which drive are you booting from, the Raptor?
Click to expand...

Yes, the Raptor, I think it's the quicker of the 2? It's a single
partition, using the whole drive, formatted with the disk utility from
their website.
I'm a little unsure as to where in the boot process it is stopping... Since
it doesn't happen when you boot from CD, I'll assume it is at or around the
point it attempts to boot from the hard drive. That'll occur after the SATA
BIOS detects both of your SATA drives and then the BIOS summary screen that
Click to expand...

It stalls for ages after all the bios text, but before the incrementing
line saying Windows is starting. During this period screen is totally
blank and nothing at all appears to be happening. I have tried solely
enabling boot from HD0 in the bios, makes no difference... Thanks for the
reply!
 
am a PC novice :-)

Do you have a NIC installed?
Click to expand...

Yes, but at the moment it doesn't work.... Packets are sent, the other
machine (2 machines on a hub, the other running NT4) isn't seen, nor does
the NT4 machine see the 2000 one,
 
Chris said:
Something in the bios text shows 100 megs, not sure what though, sorry.
What is FSB please?
Click to expand...

It's the Front Side Bus, which is what connects the CPU to the rest of your
machine. It is likely that it should be set to 166MHz if you have a Barton
2500+ (am I right?)
Yes, the Raptor, I think it's the quicker of the 2?
Click to expand...

Should be.
It's a single partition, using the whole drive, formatted with the disk
utility from their website.
Click to expand...

Hmm. I take it that the utility does the partitions too? I'd fire up fdisk
and ensure the partition is set active and conforms. Beware that changing
the partition is as good as formatting.
It stalls for ages after all the bios text, but before the incrementing
line saying Windows is starting. During this period screen is totally
blank and nothing at all appears to be happening. I have tried solely
enabling boot from HD0 in the bios, makes no difference... Thanks for the
reply!
Click to expand...

Sounds like the pause is during loading of, or figuring out which bootloader
to fire up.

Ben
 
It's the Front Side Bus, which is what connects the CPU to the rest of your
machine. It is likely that it should be set to 166MHz if you have a Barton
2500+ (am I right?)


Should be.


Hmm. I take it that the utility does the partitions too? I'd fire up fdisk
and ensure the partition is set active and conforms. Beware that changing
the partition is as good as formatting.
Click to expand...

<snip>

Can I set it active within 2000? If I use a DOS boot diskette it can't
see any drives, presumably because both are SATA? I am a bit frightened
of FDISK, am I safe just making that partition active? Thanks again.
 
Chris said:
Can I set it active within 2000? If I use a DOS boot diskette it can't
see any drives, presumably because both are SATA? I am a bit frightened
of FDISK, am I safe just making that partition active? Thanks again.
Click to expand...


Not sure, I suspect so.

fdisk isn't too bad... if you just set it active without modifying the
partition table you'll be fine.

Ben
 
UPDATE:

Thanks for all the help, I have now updated the original text (see UPDATE
at end, and have found that disconnecting the Maxtor Diamond Max plus9
SATA drive (160 GB formatted to 127 GB, rest unformatted) cures the boot
time, it now flies through. There are no jumpers on the Maxtor, is that
right or wrong??

Updated original questions below:

System is Asus A7N8X Deluxe PCB 2.00 with rev 4.1.50 Bios (as factory
supplied with board) Processor is AMD and system describes it as x86
family 6 model 10 stepping 0 authentic AMD ~1094 Mhz Memory is TwinMOS
DDR PC3200 in slots 1 and 3 totalling 1 gig and it came as a boxed
matched pair. Drives are 360GD gig WD Raptor and 160 gig Maxtor SATA .
Both are
Serial ATA drives and the OS is 2000 Professional, service pack 4, with
the motherboard SATA driver loaded via F6 at OS install time. All
components are brand new, fresh install.

Main problem is at boot up time, with all default bios settings, the BIOS

text scrolls by normally, then there is a two and a half minute pause,
with a totally blank screen and no audible action from either hard drive
or floppy drive, and neither the CD nor the DVD drive start up, either.
After 2.5 minutes or so the system shows the bottom of screen Windows
scroll bar and Windows starts normally. Booting from the 2000 CD this
long period of inactivity is NOT present and it boots at what I assume to

be a normal speed. Can anyone suggest, in the simplest terms, what might
be going wrong please? I have tried it with just one memory card in, and
tried both of them individually, with no difference. I suspect something
either in the bios, or maybe the way the drives are formatted, which is
as 2 individual single partions, using all the first drive (36 gig
Raptor) and the recommended smaller amount that the DOS WD disc utility
suggested for drive 2, the balance being unformatted space.

I have two EIDE CD drives set each as master on the 2 EIDE sockets, one
on each. Disconnecting these and setting to NONE for both EIDE sockets in
the BIOS makes no difference. I have upgraded to latest Rev2 motherboard
bios from Asus, again, no change.

Thanks. From the above rather lame descriptions I am sue you don't need
telling I am a PC novice :-)
 
Chris said:
UPDATE:

Thanks for all the help, I have now updated the original text (see UPDATE
at end, and have found that disconnecting the Maxtor Diamond Max plus9
SATA drive (160 GB formatted to 127 GB, rest unformatted) cures the boot
time, it now flies through. There are no jumpers on the Maxtor, is that
right or wrong??
Click to expand...

There are no jumpers to select master/slave as each SATA cable/channel only
supports one device.

If it boots without the second drive, then there is likely something wrong
with the configuration of that drive.

In Windows 2000 Server, you can check your partition info from
Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management

I suspect that your C partition should be the boot partition and active, and
I think thats called system. You can right click the partition to set it
active, unfortunately you cannot unset an active partition without setting
another on the same drive as active. I still prefer dos fdisk :-) (or
linux fdisk if I'm in the mood)

I still think you need to set your FSB from 100MHz to 166MHz, your CPU is
running far too slow.

Ben
 
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