Asus A7V8X-X I/O problem

[Onyx Paladin]

Just got the a7v8x-x motherboard in along with a 60gb ata133 hard drive. Attempted to install os to it last night. The bios seems to detect the 60gb drive, but, after the initial copying of files from the windows 2000 disc to the drive, and the next step system boot, where the drive is supposed to boot and continue the installation, I get an I/O error.

Troubleshooting-- Already downloaded and installed the lastest bios version, put known good 20gb drives in place of new 60gb drive, only to get same problem. Booted into dos with both drives, and tried fdisk, and it seems to find the drives, but is unable to communicate with the drives. Read over entire manual looking for perhaps some jumpers on mobo to switch, found nothing. System seems to boot fine, recognize the drives, it just does not seem able to properly communicate. Switch out mobo with prior mobo, asus a7a266, used same ide cables, same ide drive settings, and everything installed and ran fine.

System Specs--Duron 1.0Ghz, 1,0Gb ddr pc2100 ram, maxtor 60gb ata133 hard drive/20gb western digital drive.

It seems to me that the primary IDE port must not be working properly. Normally when I have encountered such a problem, the mobo would not even recognize anything on that ide port. Is it possible for the port to be working just enough to actually recognize the drives, yet, not enough to be able to communicate properly with the drives? Or, have I overlooked something which causes communication problems on this particular mobo?

Thanks much in advance!!!

[Onyx Paladin]

ps. I've already submitted tech support questions to asus via their website and email, and thus far have found no responses. I've gone through the faq's at asus and found nothing like this on that particular mobo.

also, I've used both my old ide cables on both mobos and the new ide cable that came with the new mobo on both mobos, nothing happening on a7v8x-x but both work fine on a7a266 board. If it makes a difference, the larger drive, 60gb drive, I ordered and it said maxtor, but when I got it, it was a white label generic drive. But, as I explained earlier, it picks up and installs fine on the old mobo, just not the new one.

Thanks again everybody.

[BipolarBill]

Sure sounds like a bad motherboard to me. Have you updated the BIOS and cleared CMOS? Do that.

I assume that the CDROM is working off of the IDE ports. You could always mount the HDDs on a Highpoint or Promise card...

[Onyx Paladin]

yes sir, updated bios, cleared cmos, tried 1-60gb drive, 2-20gb drives. ide primary = ide hdd master and cdrom as slave, and both on cs as well. had ide secondary with hdd as master and a cd-rw drive as slave, and on cs as well. The board seems to recognize that something is there, it just does not seem to be able to communicate with the drives. It will go through the initial installation, but when it reboots and tries to boot to the hard drive, I get the I/O error and it also says error reading hard drive no matter which drive I have in there as the primary master. I've used all three as primary master on my other mobo with absolutely no problems at all. I tend to agree with you, about the mobo being bad, seems like the ide primary just is not communicating properly.

[fishybawb]

Time for an RMA :(

[Onyx Paladin]

thought so, thanks much guys!!!

[Onyx Paladin]

You guys are never going to believe this. I rma'd the first a7v8x-x board, and my new one came in today, after a week of 2cd day shipping. I came home from work, removed my old mobo, installed the new one, and I'll be danged if that new mobo didnt give me the same errors as the other one. I updated the bios again to the latest version, cleared cmos.
This has to be a known issue guys and gals. I could not possibly have gotten two bad mobo's back to back, giving me the exact same errors..... I/O 0000002b9 and 000000629, something is out of whack big time.
Oh, and uh, no, asus has not yet gotten back to me from the numerous times I have contacted them concerning this issue the first time, so obviously the posts I have seen elsewhere about asus needing warm bodies is unfortunately true.

Any ideas guys? I'm at my wits end and I'm no closer to redoing my system then I was when I started this post!!!
Could this have anything to do with the duron 1.0Ghz processor I am running? I have that plus 1024MB of ddr pc-2100 ram, 2x512 sticks, but from what I have read the mobo is supposed to support both the duron and the pc2100 ddr ram.

[BipolarBill]

Maybe it's bad or incompatible RAM? Run a test:

www.memtest86.com

[Onyx Paladin]

I'll download and run the mem test after I am finished downloading winrar to unzip it. I know the memory is good, it runs fine in my other asus mobo, but if it is compatible or not, now that is another question. I dont seem to have any problems booting up, it just seems to be a problem reading/writing to the hard drive. I believe one error was 000002b9 and the other one was 00000629 I/O errors. If the ram is non-compatible, would it cause such a monster to rear it's ugly head?

[BipolarBill]

If the memory was totally incompatible, you would likely get errors in the first stage of setup, but you never know.

If the first stage of setup goes well and the second fails, it usually means bad storage drivers. Are you using the IDE ports or a RAID port?

[TweakerXP]

Could the proc be damaged or cracked?? :confused:


.......Just tossing out ideas.

[Onyx Paladin]

when I first try to install, I get an I/O error 00000629, then it goes on normally, like it is loading files to the drive, goes through the entire setup until you have to reboot, then when it reboots, the operating system isnt on the drive to continue the installation, when I try to boot from my drive that is running right now on my a7a266 asus, it gives me the 000002b9 error, then just sits there.
The ram checked out with no problems, not one error.
I have a feeling though, it may not be compatible. I am going to order some better ram, and a 2500+ 'barton' and plug that in. The proc is fine, its running the mobo I am using now, and it does not give me any problems. Everything runs pretty much without a hitch with the a7a266 board, its just the a7v8x-x board that seems to want to give me migraines!

[Onyx Paladin]

ok, I have 512mb pc3200 cl 2.5 ddr ram and one amd 2500+ cpu on the way right now. I'm going to install that cpu and ram on the board, if it does not work then, then asus is going to have some tall explaining to do. That should be here in a couple of day, in the mean time, if anybody can think of anything else that may be causing problems, I'm open to any suggestions!!

[BipolarBill]

TweakerXP has a point. Be careful mounting the heatsink.

Let's see about the RAM, but take the time to run the Maxtor PowerMax software and check the drive:

http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm

[Onyx Paladin]

thanks, I'll download that software and run tests on the drive, but it's the ram. I pulled the ram again this morning and sure enough, it 64x4 or something like that on the ram, and it isnt name brand, all it says on it is 'get', went to a memory site and found this board uses 32x8 or 16x8 ram chips only.
The processor and the ram I used on the a7v8x-x is the same processor and ram I'm using on this a7a266, which is running the system fine right now as long as that old mobo is in place.
We will definately see once the ram and cpu come in, what the deal is, I can only hope that 2cd day is actually delivered 2cd day now and not a week later!
I will keep you guys informed.
One question though, would you consider buffalo technology a 'name brand' maker of ram? I've never heard of them before, I am used to hearing geil, crucial, corsair, kingston, etc..., but I dont ever recall hearing the name buffalo technology.
Again, I wish to thank you guys for all the input that you provide. You guys always come up with the best suggestions and links to try things!!!

[BipolarBill]

Buffalo is indeed "name brand" RAM. It should be fine.

[TweakerXP]

Buffalo has been around for a while.... also if you look at the chip on the memory, they'll say......SAMSUNG. Mine does. Just bought a stick and it had Buffalos name on it but the chips are Samsung.

[Onyx Paladin]

thanks much for all the input guys. It is tremendously appreciated, especially considering the 'lack' of support provided by the actual manufacturers. It's good to know buffalo is considered name brand, I spent quite a bit more on that stick then I would have on many others, but all the others had that cal 3 and this one had the recommended cal 2.5. I'm not quite that deep into it to understand what exactly this is for, but one day I'll figure it out!!
I came across another website, and I have to say, I was quite dissapointed in what I read about asus boards having been going downhill. I've really enjoyed the few asus boards I've had till having to tangle with this a7v8x-x board, so I hope they continue to try and make quality boards, but if I keep reading reviews like that one, I think I may have to start looking for another mobo maker. When the two of you have time, if you have any opinions on where asus is heading, (not counting the non-support problems they have) let me know. Also, if you have opinions on the least problematic boards, but boards that are worth buying now, remember, I need my speed for my gaming tournaments, I'd like to hear about them. Thanks again guys.

[Onyx Paladin]

You guys are NEVER going to believe this.....
System specs now
asus a7v8x-x (second one after rma'ing the first one)
amd 2500+ athlon with barton core
buffalo 512 mb pc3200 ddr ram cl 2.5 but it says 64x64 on the sticky note on the stick instead of the 32x8 which is what I had ordered
3 different KNOWN GOOD western digital drives 20gb each
1 seemingly good maxtor brand new ata133 60gb drive

SAME FREAKIN PROBLEM!!!!
I run fdisk, the **** bios sees the drives, all of them one at a time of course, but there is always an error reading fixed disk
I try to install windows, I/O error 000002b9 is STILL coming up.
Is this motherboard just junk or what?

I even disconnected my removable hard drive bay just to see if that could be the problem, same results, I have already updated the bios, reset the bios, but nothing seems to help.
I can use all those drives on my old asus a7a266 board, but that does me little good as it wont run the faster processor and ram along with my 8x agp card at 8x agp!!!! I am at my wits end here guys, any further assistance would be appreciated big time!!!

[TweakerXP]

RMA the board, just my two cents here. If its seeing the drives and stuff but still giving you the errors. My money is on a bad board.

Asus make some great boards. I have a A7N8X deluxe and she running great from the moment I put power to her.

This is just MHO...... wait and see what others here have to say.

[Onyx Paladin]

I am thinking it will take an rma as well. I am just flabbergasted (hope I spelled that right ) that this is twice now. I've NEVER had a problem with an asus board!! Seriously, they've always ran so beautifully, and now to get 2 in a row!! I wonder if maybe it was a bad batch? I hope not, these shipping charges are getting to be outrageous.
I may check out the board you have, might go ahead and get that one instead.

[TweakerXP]

About a year ago three of my friends and I ordered Iwill XP 333-R mobo together. All failed to boot except mine!! I tried to make it fail but no luck, She has kept right on rolling ever since. I've pulled the power plug out, shut it off in the middle of download and updates you name it I done it to this board except put a screwdriver to it..lol <G> .. It's just one of those things we can explain why my board worked and theirs didn't. One guy got a refund and the RMA, then sold it to a friend...hehehe! Never did hear what happened there. Need to find out....hmmmm.

Don't give up on Asus yet......

Good Luck and lets us know how it turns out.....:t

[Onyx Paladin]

oh not to worry tweakerXP, I'm not giving up on asus, although some of the things I've read about their latest snafus I wonder if perhaps I should try out another board for awhile while they get everything back in order. I'm just highly dissapointed in the fact that for the past few weeks, I've been fighting with this system to get it up and running properly, and the two boards that I have received are not working. I'm not used to running on bare end systems, and while the system is bare like it is, I'm unable to work on clients sites or anything else. I have the dreaded dialup so I'm not going to start downloading all the updates and patches etc..., until I get the darn thing redone properly!!!
I was hoping to wake up this morning and find a post here saying 'oh yeah dude thats a known issue you can do this and it will work', but I see nobody else has posted, so, Im going to go for an rma, AGAIN, and Im not sure if I'll get another a7v8x-x or maybe go with another board all together.

[TweakerXP]

If you change mobos might give Abit consideration. I have had real good results with them over the years.


Good Luck.......:t

[Onyx Paladin]

Well guys, I finally heard back from asus tech support over the weekend. Their solution to the problem. Remove all components from the case, install os outside the case, then install the via 4 in 1 patches on the asus motherboard cd.
Only problem is, still getting the I/O error: status=000002B9 when I tried that, so didnt even get to install the os properly.
RMA'd the board, once again, and I have an asus a7n8x-x on it's way to me right now, which I am hoping is going to give me better luck than what I've had thus far.
I need to know from anybody that knows a LOT about ram.
I bought that stick of 512mb pc3200 cl2.5 buffalo ram from newegg.com. Now on the site, it says the chips are 32x8, but when the stick got here, it says 64x64. The chips themselves are not samsung as previous posts would indicate. Instead, there is a 'W' inside of a 'wire' globe. The s/n is 430912 nonECC unbuffered 400Mhz. According to 1stchoicememory.com and their ram compatibility listing on their site, you can ONLY use 32x8 or 16x4 chipsets on either of these boards, a7v8x-x or a7n8x-x
Tweaker, do you know what type of ram chipsets you have on your board? I repeatedly asked this question to tech support that contacted me from asus, but never once got even so much as an 'I have no clue' response, it was never addressed.

[BipolarBill]

Crucial says that 64x64 is fine.

I can tell you one thing - cheap memory in an nForce2 motherboard is a very bad idea.

[TweakerXP]

Onyx,

Sorry I don't. I DO KNOW that both memory modules have Samsung chips on them. I put heatspreaders on them, but I do remember that they were Samsung chips.

It's like Forrest said..."memory is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get!"

:x :eek:

Vendors tell you that it's something when it's not. I had one module that came with a heatspreaded on it. It would NOT run in my system with my other Samsung memory. Come to find out, I pull the heatspreaders off, voiding the warranty, and found it was overclocked PC2100 instead of PC2700. Vendor said ,he was sorry and that some got labled wrong. YEAH RIGHT, labled wrong my a--. He was just trying to pull a fast one.

Email Newegg and demand what you ordered, not what "THEY" want to send you. Newegg has a good rep about getting problems fixed correctly.

Good Luck on the new board.......

[Onyx Paladin]

thanks guys. I have absolutely no idea what chips are on this one, but I've looked high and low and inbetween for the word samsung on them and cant even find so much as the sam much less the sung!! *lol*
sorry, attempt at humor
Thanks for the crucial update bill, I have no idea what the difference is between 64x64 and 32x8, I guess I need to learn more about ram.

[Imperion1]

Crucial (http://support.crucial.com/scripts/crucial.exe/solution?11=001115-0006&130=000974322108&14=&2715=&15=0&2716=0&57=search&58=&2900=xKISnJkWMS&25=6&3=64%20x%2064) faq explaining 64x64, 32x8, 16x64, etc.

Pretty much, multiply the 2 numbers together then divide by 8, this will tell you the size of ram.

[DIMfilm]

hehehe, I had the same problem with my a7v8x-x, well thats what I thought it was, but its wasnt the board it was my illegal :eek: copy of windows 2000 that caused the problem. :)