Abit NF7-s v2 Problems

mikeysyke · 4 Sep 2006 at 01:21

My old machine has run into some real problems right now, it cannot boot properly into windows, I have a 2500+ xp processor (it was slightly overclocked running at 2GHz) and 768mb ram. The processoronly registers as 1100mhz now. I also this message at startup:

'primary ide channel no 80 conductor cable installed
secondary ide channel no 80 conductor cable installed
CMOS checksum error - Defaults Loaded'

As I am a complete novice I dont understand what this means,
I have tried various bios updates but the problem still exsits could someone please help???

Thanx

Paramount · 4 Sep 2006 at 01:36

I know what your problem is...YOUR PC IS 3 YEARS OLD, PUT IT OUT OF ITS MISERY!! This is like hitting a deer on a dark winding road, mangling its entire body then just driving off while it slowly slowly dies.

Justintime · 4 Sep 2006 at 02:08

Your cpu is running at 100MHz instead of the designed 166MHz, i.e 1100 11x100 instead of 11x166 1833MHz, do you have older ATA33 cables on your hdds? those will cause that error as they are 40 conductor cables not 80 conductor as needed for ATA66 and higher. As for your checksum error, somehow your BIOS lost its settings, possible dead CMOS battery as the PC is fairly old, they usually last longer but ya never know. Did you by any chance clear the BIOS?

mikeysyke · 4 Sep 2006 at 08:20

Justintime said:
Your cpu is running at 100MHz instead of the designed 166MHz, i.e 1100 11x100 instead of 11x166 1833MHz, do you have older ATA33 cables on your hdds? those will cause that error as they are 40 conductor cables not 80 conductor as needed for ATA66 and higher. As for your checksum error, somehow your BIOS lost its settings, possible dead CMOS battery as the PC is fairly old, they usually last longer but ya never know. Did you by any chance clear the BIOS?

I assume that I was running ATA66 cables a the machine was stable for almost 3 years (I know that is not really helpful but I am a bit of a novice). I have cleared the bios several times and I still get the error, Whenever I change settings in my bios and try and save, when the machine restarts it does not out put to the graphics card, I can only get it to output to the graphics card by clearing the bios again. I kinda feared it was the end for my PC, it looking like I will have to invest in a new motherboard and processor.

MadMatty · 4 Sep 2006 at 10:17

As mentioned above, its most likely the battery has been drained so your bios settings are not being saved. The memory could also be at fault making the system not able to work at its normal rated speed. Ive seen bios do weird things like claim bios corrupted and reflash just due to to tight timmings.

with a capable gfx card the system can still hold its own in games.

Justintime · 4 Sep 2006 at 10:49

Thing is, even with a dead battery it should save whilst the PC is powered, only when disconnected from AC would the BIOS lose its setting, checksum error usually only means the CMOS went into default unsaved state for example when cleared, not a corrupt BIOS. I'd take the system apart and reseat the memory, gpu and cpu heatsink, also clean it out.

mikeysyke · 4 Sep 2006 at 18:11

I have tried all the suggestions and still no luck, its looking like I will have to get a cpu and motherboard. I am on an extremely tight budget but want good performace for my money, I was thinking the Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 and the AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ which will set me back around £160 inc delivery, is that the best way to go or are there any other suggestions?? th motherboard needs to be agp so I can use my 4400ti card in it (yes its old but t does th job for me!!)

Yoko · 4 Sep 2006 at 20:46

i used to have the same mobo myself (and still do - somewhere) and im almost certain ive seen that error when i was first overclocking my 2500+ to 3200+ speeds
i cant quite remeber what caused the error but i think i was using an old (but still ata80) cable
before upgrading id give the cable a good clean along with the connectors on th hdd
might not help but worth a try
if you do decide to upgrade ditch the 4400ti and get a pci-e mobo and gfx card
i upgraded my 2500+ system from a 9800pro to an agp x800xtpe before getting an opteron and tbh i wish id gone pcie as if i want to upgrade again ill need a pcie mobo and if getting a new mobo a would be as well going am2 which would mean more mem etc
aaarghh its a never ending cycle lol

ps the 2500+ i had lasted me over 2 years and still played most games great i only upgraded cos the x800xtpe was not much faster than the 9800pro in that machine as it was a little cpu limited and i only upgraded from a 9800 pro as it died lol