NT install help!!!

[new2]

Hello-

I originally put this post on the motherboard forum, but maybe the wrong one?

I am quite new to building a computer, this is the first one.

SIS 530, on board sound, on board video, Hi-val cd-rom 40X, i/o magic spin floppy ( trying to build a cheap system)and Maxtor 8.4 gig hard drive, amd k2-350 CPU. I wanted a learning experience, but not this much! Have installed NT 4.0 Server at work many times, but cannot get it installed on this machine. No NIC, so I chose to set this up later. (could this be a problem?)

I can install '95 with the special file amdk6upd.exe (without you get intermittent gpf's with a 350 or > amd cpu).Video and on board sound works fine- no problem with '95.

With NT get

Stop 0x0A error
0xFFFFF600,0x000000FF,0x000000,0x8013D871
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL address 8013d871 has base @ 80100000 ntoskrnl.exe

I am booting from 3 boot floppies. I have tried 3 different NT server CDs.

I disabled bios virus detection/protection, disabled LBA and chose normal. Tried the MS adapti (spelling?) driver that you insert after the 3 boot disks to supposedly give large HD support.(doesn't detect this hardware)

partioned and formatted FAT at 2000, left the remaining unformatted (through the NT option). reformatted partitioned FAT at 1000, left the remaining unformatted. Tried NTFS at 2000. I feel like I have tried this installation a zillion times. Checked the hardware compatibility list and it showed NT is supported with this motherboard/hardware.

Tried installing NT after 95 on the C drive, different directory, I can get further (even through set up) but still get the Stop 0x0A blue screen crash that instructs you to go into control panel to set debug options. Of course cannot get that far.

While I have learned an extreme amount during the process as I wanted to do, I am ready to just get NT server going. What am I doing wrong? I know that I must be a bonehead, but you can only learn if you try.

Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

And from now on I will probably leave machine building to the Pros. (well maybe)

And finally, would windows2000 be a better option?

I'm not a gamer. Just want NT to learn more and be able to emulate work environment.(for when I need to work from home)

[Mntsnow]

Well I'm no PRO at NT but I will say the best way to install NT (at least for me) is to Dual boot. Get the system up and running with either win95 or 98 on a FAT16 partition. (you must have the Boot partition FAT16! (so 2.1gig is the largest partition supported) then insert the NT cd and it will ask if you want to install it. When given the option choose a DIFFERENT partition to install to. (but before even getting to that point I would MAKE SURE ALL your hardware is supported by checking it against the "HCL" (hardware compatabilty list) that will be included on the cd.

Mntsnow

From what I can gather from your above error I would say you are having a IRQ addressing problem. Take all extra cards out of the system EXCEPT for a NIC. NT installs better with a NIC in place!

[new2]

Thanks for the insight. As far as I can tell all the hardward is on the hcl. I am going to double check again though. There are no cards as the video and audio are integrated on the motherboard and those components are listed as being supported. I don't have a NIC card installed, but will try to put one in and give it a try.

[jbob]

Check your memory. I upgraded a Compaq a year or so ago. We put in Compaq's memory, and NT kept dumping. we tried pulling every card out, and finally we put the old memory back in, BINGO.

Good memory is very important with NT. We use ONLY Viking. Right now, it's way too expensive, so we've dropped our machines to 32, for now. It is better than paying to replace it in the future.

[new2]

Thanks for the info. I have wimped out! While the memory idea is a good one, this bare bones kit came with the memory and it is the kind for the 100mhz bus speed. I don't have any other that is compatible, unless you can use the other type? I thought it was the CDRom, since I did not notice on the HCL after double checking. So I bought a new ACER CDRom that was compatible. Well it wasn't the CDRom. Still bombs in the same place. Didn't try adding a NIC (too frustrated by this point) The video and sound chip are on the HCL but are on the board. So I can't remove them. However, installing '98 worked like a charm. Guess I'll wait until Win2K. Thanks to those that posted.!

[toms111]

The problem may be the size of your harddrive. See this
:http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q197/6/67.ASP

[new2]

Thank you for the link. I have already tried the driver and it still crashed. It didn't crash during the format of the drive, during the install I can generally copy all the files and sometimes get as far as setup. I hae a beta copy of Win2000 that I am going to try. But thanks again.