New Build Unable to install XP

[jonzo]

Hiya Guys ! Having just built a rig with a P7n Diamond
Unable to install windows XP at all ..
It formats the drive ok to setup a new version of windows gets through the setup (to the point where u have a screen which tells you that it will install in 39 minutes and tells u stuff about XP) then crashes out and reboots.

This then loops round and round until I have to switch it off.

Things Ive tried ....

Replacing ram and swopping out ram with ram which I know works,
trying another grahics card and trying another HDD.

The ram Ive got runs at 2.1v and the default on the board is 1.9v Ive left it at 1.9v and changed it to 2.1 with the same results.


To be honest im a bit fed up, off to eat some chocolate. Hope someone out there can help. ta

My specs are as follows ..

P7N Diamond
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 2.4
GeIL 2GB PC2-6400C4 800Mhz DDR2 4-4-4-12
BFG GeForce 8800 GT OC 512MB
Corsair HX 620W Modular

 

[jonzo]

just get vista

No thanks ..

 

[jonzo]

Run a memtest on the ram.

yeah Ive tried that and it checks out ok ....

 

[jonzo]

I seriously doubt it has anything to do with XP and Vista will install.

I had an issue like this twice, but dont wanna claim its same.

1 was a weird NF2 by Chaintech that you had to enter the SATA Bios and set up a SINGLE Drive as some kinda of Raid or OS could not be installed.

Other was a dying PSU, it would let PC run etc but could not handle a clean install of XP, I thought it was Disk or Rom drive and every other part but it was PSU.

Hmm tend not to think its the psu been throu the bois and it all checks out ok and sees all my drives.
Although at the mo ive just got the one plugged in and the other three disconnected...
Any other ideas guys ??

 

[jonzo]

DO NOT overlook anything when working on PC's.

It was the last aspect that I looked at for a PC that was running for years and needed a simply clean format and could not take it as thats 1 time the PC is under a lot of strain. (ROM Drive+HDD going full pelt and CPU/RAM working hard also.

Once it was all installed using a spare PSU I was able to run it with old one till new PSU arrived.

Hmmm its the one thing I havent tried ..and I do have the old 650w one from my old PC

 

[jonzo]

If not the CD/DVD Media, and you have tried another Rom Drive, try another PSU.

Ive tried it on both optical media drives.. I have a dvd drive and a dvd rw.

Hmm im thinking psu ..

 

[jonzo]

@ jonzo, Thats a NF Mobo so does your XP CD have at least SP1 already on it (slipstreamed), if not your going to need SATA Drivers or it will act up (yes it can sometimes see the HDD but wont install).

I know for my last Mobo as it was Silicon Image SATA I needed the SATA driver for even XP-SP2, but not for Nvidia, simply XP-SP1 or SP2 on the CD.

ASSUMING your HDD is SATA.

The drive im installing on is ide of which I have two but only the one im using is plugged in ..and two sata drives which I havent plugged in ...

 

[jonzo]

I would also try upping the cpu volts to 1.3, just incase it's under volting.

An idea I hadnt thought of ..

 

[jonzo]

Looks like im going to have to swap the psu out to see if its that.....

 

[jonzo]

Have you checked that the xp disc works ok on another rig?

Do you think that a corrupt disk would reboot the pc and the installation ? I have xp pro and xp home I could try the home version and see...

 

[jonzo]

Ok ill try another XP disk ..then if no joy Ill make sure the ram timings and voltage are correct in the bois (its all on auto) then check the cpu voltage and finally the psu .. wish me luck ..

 

[jonzo]

OK Ive run memtest and it brings up no issues at all. Ive swopped out the psu for another one a 650w from my old pc and still the same problem. It still hangs on XP install.. It can only be the mobo/ram combination Im thinking ?

 

[jonzo]

OK after spending most of the day on it Ive decided to change the ram to a different manufacturer and send the geIL back. On the MSI website regarding my mobo it specifies that Buffalo, Crucial, Corsair, Kingston, Mushkin and OCZ Technology are supported so Ill get one of those

 

[jonzo]

Thanks guys for all your help so far.

Update time .....

Bought some OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 and slapped it in .....
Put in correct voltages and timings and ...

Aghh did exactly the same !! constant rebooting on Xp install
..so have RMAed the mobo. Guy at overclockers said they had had a quite a few back (all brands) due to the chipset being a pain in the ass (nforce 7) but this means it will be the end of next week until I get news because of the bank holidays ..

oh well ...ill let you know the outcome, thanks once again for all your ideas and suggestions

 

[jonzo]

I had exactly the same problem 6 months ago, my spec was;
Q6600 2.4
Gigabyte DS3R
GEIL 2x1GB 6400 DDR2
LG DVD Burner
BFG 320mb NVidia 8800 GTS
600W PSU


After swapping the RAM, PSU, Mobo, GPU and all the cables, turned out to be a dodgy CPU, RMA'd it for another and been running sweet as since.
So don't automatically rule anything out.

So your rig powered up and post ? with a dodgy cpu ? how far did it go ?

 

[jonzo]

UPDATE !!!!!

Overclockers have sent me a new mobo BUT still same problem !! Xp will not install and just reboots still !!!!! I had a windows2000 cd lying about and tried to install that and success !! It installed perfectly fine, however thats no good to me being so old. Ive tried three different Xp cds including a slipstreamed xp with sp2 on and ive run out of ideas. Guys help ???? All thats left to me is to buy another mobo from a different manufacturer. In all my years of messing about with Pcs this has me stumpped and pretty annoyed

 

[jonzo]

Quick question ... when resetting the board i get a halt on post saying CMOS checksum bad press f1 to run setup press f2 to load default values is that normal ?

 

[jonzo]

Sounds very similar to the issues I've suffered. Sent my whole system back to ocUK, as in, the WHOLE PC. It turned out my build itself wasn't correct, wrong types of screws in certain places, certain power connectors connected in unstable fashion.

1. Have a REALLY thorough check through your build, make sure it's all what it should be like according to the manual, to the absolute letter.

2. If you're trying to install an un-legit. copy, get a legit. one =D Not accusing or anything.

3. Go with vista.. would probably do this anyway seeing as compatability with certain programmes is much less of an issue than it used to be.

Good luck with it, hope it all works out mate. But do check the build, it seems really ridiculous but it sorted my problems.

I built it myself

 

[jonzo]

Another update ...Tried installing Vista ...and again it falls over in installation ....wtf have I done wrong to deserve this boohoo

 

[jonzo]

Solution Found !!


After all this time Ive managed to find out how to get Xp on my rig

For some unknown reason I had to disable IOAPIC in the bios for it to enable me to put an OS on my system, then once installed Ive turned it back on again.

The term IOAPIC is explained here ..

The 82093AA I/O Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller (I/O APIC) provides multi-processor interrupt management and incorporates both static and dynamic symmetric interrupt distribution across all processors. In systems with multiple I/O subsystems, each subsystem can have its own set of interrupts. Each interrupt pin is individually programmable as either edge or level triggered. The interrupt vector and interrupt steering information can be specified per interrupt. An indirect register accessing scheme optimizes the memory space needed to access the I/O APIC's internal registers. To increase system flexibility when assigning memory space usage, the I/O APIC's two-register memory space is re-locatable.


So as you can see I have no idea why I needed to do that but anyway now Im happy so thankyou guys for all your ideas and suggestions