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FAULTY MB?

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by poettone

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I have a system with an Asus TX97-x mb, current bios ver1.08 and need help. I had problems with this system, like major explorer crashes, VXD crashes, and simply am at my wits end. I have changed the drives, the case, the memory, the cables, flashedthe bios, but still having problems.I have setup numerous fresh installs of win95/98 and still recieve after first boot, during the second stage of setup and hardware detection, major error's, first with accessing the registry, then explorer then hardware devices. Im very technical in my approach and have already exhuasted the obvious. I have never had a system act this way before, any help would be appreciated.

6 replies

by tbradley

1. Are you using any kind of drive translation software, like Ontrack to set your hard drive size rather than the bios?

If using one, ditch it. Reset your bios to defaults, and allow it to auto detect your hard drive ( with its settings ). Run F-disk from a win boot disk, and accept the maximum drive size, ie 2048mb for Win95B.

Format the partition, load windows, then use a third party partition program such as partition magic to re-size your drive.

The difference between the two isthe Ontrack works at a bios level, and may be getting corrupt by some system level calls by windows. Partition magic works differently.

Your problem could also very well be heat related. You've said you've replaced just about everyting, so I'll assume you've made sure that all cards and chips are seated, but
check your system to make sure it is not overclocked, and load windows in a "cold" room. Airconditioning on high, if you're down south/southwest, or with windows wide open if you're up in the frozen chosen states.

If you're successful in getting windows to load in this manner, bring the room up to normal temperature, and watch the system. If it crashes, yes, your motherboard has a heat problem and should be replaced. Adding extra fans etc is only a bandaid, and won't cure the problem, only mask the symptons.

hope this helps

by tbradley

One last note on drives. Look and see what type IDE interface your motherboard is capable of, and ensure that it matches the drive. You can only operate at the performance level of the weakest link, wether it be the drive or the MB. IE, if your drive is an ATA/33, you cannot force the mb to use the drive at ATA/66, or vice versa.

by poettone

Yes I have thought of the heat thing and as you laready know that its really hard to pinpoint, but also I have seen heat problems result in other forms of trouble, none like the above stated. Thanks for your input. I have since decided to replace the m/b..

by john.peatfield

I had a similar problem with an Intel Dual-Processor motherboard with the 440GX+ chipset. It turned out that the L2-cache on the second chip had failed completely.

If you have a CD-ROM that possibly came with your motherboard, and it has a diagnostic program, run it. It may reveal errors with the motherboard itself or in other places like the L2-cache, memory, bus problems, etc.

by poettone

Actually I have changed chips as well, and yes have adjusted m/b clocks to match. thanks. I have since decided to replace the m/b.

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