Assistance with BIOSTAR K8NHA Pro mobo.

[TMSKILZ]

Hi, newbie here to the forums & also to building my very own PC.

I recently purchased a bare bone system (Case & mobo) I had to buy everything else seperately.

I am having trouble with installing my Seagate barracuda 120 GB SATA drive on this mobo. My system doesn't recognize it & I have received different advice/suggestions.

BIOSTAR only offers email tech support, which is very slow & is no where near as effecient as phone support. I wrote them about the matter & am awaiting a response.

My second option was to call Seagate tech support, the tech rep I spoke with told me that this mobo doesn't support a SATA HD as only one single storage. He said the only way to get a SATA HD to work on this mobo is to set it up in a RAID configuration, which of course means having to buy another 120 gb SATA HD. THe said I can only set up a single HD using IDE HD's, not SATA, but I have read reviews of customers who have bought this Mobo who only use one SATA HD.

I'm @ a lost & would truly appreciate anyone help here in hopefully solving my dilemma.
Thanks in advance.

 

[TMSKILZ]

Well now I can't even try to install WIN XP, because everytime I hit F6 & I'm prompted to insert FD with SATA Drivers & hit enter, I get the following error message over & over....

" File \raid\winxp\viaraidmraid.sys caused an unexpected error ( 18 ) @ line 2108 in d:\xpsp1\base\boot\setup\oemdisk.c. "

I've tried installing the SATA drivers to new formatted FD's & trying the process over, but still receive the same error message.

I've run an Anti-Virus check on the FD's containg the SATA Drivers, everything comes up clean.

I even tried using my WIN XP 64-Bit evaluation CD to run & when I insert the SATA Drivers during install I get the same error message, but with a different file mentioned.

Has it corrupted my WIN XP CD's? Anyone know what this error message means & how to fix it?

Man it's just one issue after another!

 

[TMSKILZ]

Here's a quick update....

I received an email back from BIOSTAR's (MobO Manufacturer) tech support, they provided me the link & instructions to D/L the proper SATA Drivers from my CD Driver tht came with my mobo.

I followed the instructions & was able to get the SATA DRIVERS TO INSTALL & thus was able to continue on through the 1st part of the WIN XP install.

I was able to get WIN XP to recognize the HD during setup. I was taken to the partition/format screen, ran through it, Win XP began copying files, then it rebooted. I took out the FD & CD before restarting, POST was run, then the PC just froze & went blank.

I then restarted & the PC booted up into the 2nd part of WIN XP setup, it stated how many mins it would take for WIN XP to finish install
(39 mins), it began installing devices, the little green bar on the lower left hand corner started moving, the mins started counting down, then I received the following error message....

" VIA SATA RAID CONTROLLER has not passed WINS logo testing to verify compatibility with WIN XP, continuing with install can result in setup or future WIN XP operation failure, do you wish to continue with install, Yes or No?"

I click "YES" & the install continued, but then shortly after I received a blue screen with the following text on my screen......

"A problem has been detected & WINS has been shutdown to prevent damage to your PC.
Memory_Management
If this is the 1st time you're seeing this stop error screen, restart your PC, if this screen appears again follow these steps:
Check to make sure any new hard/Software is installed properly. If this is a new install ask your hard/software manufacturer for any WINS updates yo may need.
If problem continues, disable or remove any newly installed hard/software.
Technical Info: stop: 0x0000001a (0x00041284,0x07302000,0x000038b,0xc0503000)
beginning dump of physical memory,
physical memory dump complete,"

I tried over & over & I get the same error messages. Sometimes the 2nd error message (blue screen) shows up fast or later during setup. The shortest amount of time I went before the blue scrren appeared was with 19 mins left for WIN XP install to finish. I have never gotten past that.

Anyone know what can be causing this? Damn one thing after another, I tell ya.

 

[DaveGLI]

Damn Mobo, I have exactly the same mobo but a Samsung SATA 120GB drive, the problem is that I am able to install the drivers, but then failed in the reboot, it seems that WinXP cannot find the SATA drive after reboot.

Can you please forward me the provided info from Biostar??? I noticed you were able to boot up in the second part of WinXP installation, which I cannot.

Any advice will be appreciated.

 

[TMSKILZ]

Damn Mobo, I have exactly the same mobo but a Samsung SATA 120GB drive, the problem is that I am able to install the drivers, but then failed in the reboot, it seems that WinXP cannot find the SATA drive after reboot.

Can you please forward me the provided info from Biostar??? I noticed you were able to boot up in the second part of WinXP installation, which I cannot.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Dave, here's my advice, hope this helps.

The message you received is b/c you probably didn't ENABLED your SATA ROM in your BIOS. Go into your BIOS & find INTERGRATED PERIPHERALS, once inside look for something that says ONBOARD DEVICES, ENTER it & then look for SATA ROM & make sure that it is enabled.

I have a BIOSTAR KNHA Pro mobo, that's how mine is setup. I also disabled everything else in the ONBOARD DEVICES such as Firewire, USB, AUDIO,
MODEM, NIC & just ENABLED the SATA ROM. Reason was b/c during the 2nd stage of WIN XP setup I was receiving error messages which didn't allow me to continue install, so I disabled everything except the SATA ROM, worked perfectly. So it should look like this:

Onchip USB: v1.1+2.0
USB LEGACY SUPP: DISABLED
USB MOUSE SUPP: DISABLED
AUDIO: DISABLED
MODEMISABLED
SATA ROM: ENABLED
REALTEKGIGA LAN: DISABLED
FIREWIRE: DISABLED

Make sure you hit F10 (to save & exit setup) when you're done in BIOS.
So just retry the XP install, hit F6, make sure you have the VIA Drivers loaded onto a FD(FloppyDisk) insert it when prompted to, it will start loading the files into the install, then it will start copying files, then prompt you to remove FD & hit ENTER to reboot & continue rest of XP install.

If this works for you & WIN XP installs completely, & it states to remove any FD & hit ENTER to boot up into XP. make sure that when the PC reboots you enter your BIOS right away again & go into your Boot sequence & only enable your SCSI & disable all other Boot sequences. XP recognizes SATA HD's as SCSI devices, not HD's.

For example in my Mobo BIOS it gives me the option to set 3 boot sequences in order of 1-3 for my boot sequence. So go into BIOS & look for the option ADVANCED BIOS FEATURES, hit ENTER, once in there you'll see down @ the bottom it states BOOT SEQ & FLOPPY SETUP, highlight it & hit ENTER.

Make the 1st BOOT DEVICE your SCSI & disable everything else. So it looks like this....
1st Boot Device: SCSI
2nd Boot Device: DISABLED
3rd Boot Device: DISABLED
Boot other device: DISABLED

SWAP FD: DISABLED
BOOTUP FLOPPY SEEK: DISABLED "

This allows XP to boot up from your fresh install of XP that was installed on your HD.

Post back & let us know. If you are able to install XP & boot up into it, let me know, that way I can advice you on how to install the audio, LAN, other stuff using this board, it's important.

 

[DaveGLI]

Thanks for the input TMSKILZ, I tried some of those points and thought to go through some of them before, happens that today manufacturers make things easier normally... but with these SATA drives things went bad...

I will try again today after work in order to see if your procedure works, I noticed you did not use the provided drivers in the MoBo CDROM, so I just downloaded the latest drivers from Biostar website, hope they work.

By the way, SATA Rom were enabled all the time, I even disabled it b/c I thought it was the cause of the problem (you never know...), I don't know if you experienced slower boot up, just after POST when the SATA Rom is enabled???
And pressing TAB during SATA ROM Boot does not allow you to modify anything, since you got a single unit right??

Thank you

 

[TMSKILZ]

Dave hi,

Actually I need to make some changes to those steps I gave you. You already D/L the latest SATA Drivers of the website onto the FD (FLOPPYDISK) but Dave you also need to COPY/BURN those same SATA Drivers onto a CD-R because after you finish the XP install & boot up into XP, you'll have to insert that CD-R & double click the SETUP.EXE file in it. It's too big to fit onto a FD. Just go back again to the website & D/L the SATA Drivers again, create a folder on your DESKTOP call it VIA SATA that is where you should unzip the files into. These are the following files & folders that should be copied:
FOLDERS : DRIVERDISK, PIDE, RAIDTOOL, VIARAID.
THERE WILL BE 21 FILES ALONG WITH THESE FOLDERS. THERE ARE ADDITIONAL FILES INSIDE EACH OF THE 4 FOLDERS MENTIONED ABOVE. IT'S IMPORTANT DAVE THAT YOU KEEP THE ENTIRE FOLDER STRUCTURE IN EXACT FORM!!!

Do a brand new clean install of XP by doing the following:

(1) Go into your BIOS & find INTERGRATED PERIPHERALS, once inside look for ONBOARD DEVICES, hit ENTER & then set things up like this:
Onchip USB: v1.1+2.0
USB LEGACY SUPP: ENABLED
USB MOUSE SUPP: DISABLED
AUDIO: DISABLED
MODEM: DISABLED
SATA ROM: ENABLED
REALTEKGIGA LAN: DISABLED
FIREWIRE: DISABLED
[NOTE] ONLY ENABLE USB LEGACY SUPP & SATA ROM IN THIS 1ST STEP!

(2) While still inside BIOS go into BIOS & look for the option ADVANCED BIOS FEATURES , hit ENTER, once in there you'll see down @ the bottom it states BOOT SEQ & FLOPPY SETUP , highlight it & hit ENTER.
Make the 1st BOOT DEVICE your CDROM & disable everything else. So it looks like this....

1st Boot Device: CDROM
2nd Boot Device: DISABLED
3rd Boot Device: DISABLED
Boot other device: DISABLED
SWAP FD: DISABLED
BOOTUP FLOPPY SEEK: DISABLED
This is so you can install XP off your XP CD.

(3) Upon boot up hit ENTER when prompted to BOOT FROM CD HIT F6 when prompted. You'll be asked to hit S to specify 3rd party SCSI drivers Location, place FD that contain the SATA Drivers you D/L off the website in the Floppy drive, proceed with installing them. Format & partition your drive when propmted. After that is done, system will begin copying files from XP CD. [Quick Note], Sometimes during this phase some files become stuck & you'll be propmted to hit ENTER to Retry. This usually doesn't occur, but from time to time it might, just hit ENTER usually goes through. Once that's done Dave, remove FD, but leave the CD in the CDROM, you'll need it for the 2nd stage of XP install.

You'll be prompted to hit ENTER to reboot after taking out FD, do so. Immediately upon reboot, go into your BIOS & change the BOOT SEQ again.

(4) Make the 1st BOOT DEVICE your SCSI & disable everything else. So it looks like this....
1st Boot Device: SCSI
NOTE : I SHOWED YOU ABOVE IN STEP (#2) HOW TO GET INTO THIS SECTION. MAKE SURE ONLY SCSI IS YOUR 1ST BOOT SEQ & ENABLED, & EVERYTHING ELSE STAYS DISABLED
NOW XP WILL BOOT UP FROM YOUR SATA HD. XP RECOGNIZES SATA HD'S AS SCSI DEVICES, THAT'S WHY YOU MUST CHANGE BOOT SEQ/DEVICE TO SCSI AS DESCRIBED ABOVE IN STEP (#4)!

XP TAKES YOU TO 2ND STAGE OF INSTALL, YOU'LL SEE THE GUI (GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE) & WILL BEGIN COPYING & INSTALL FILES & FEATURES. YOU'LL SEE GREEN STATUS BAR BEGIN MOVING & AMOUNT OF TIME FOR COMPLETION OF XP INSTALL.
USUALLY WHEN XP REACHES DOWN TO ABOUT 14 MINS, IT WILL HANG A LITTLE, DON'T WORRY, THIS IS NORMAL. BE PATIENT & LET IT FINISH. DEPENDING ON YOUR PC, THIS WILL TAKE NO TIME OR A LONG TIME.

AFTER IT'S COMPLETE SIMPLY REMOVE CD & XP WILL BOOT UP!

(5) Once you are in XP, install the CD-R with the SATA DRIVERS I told you to BURN! When the CD-R begins, a small WIN will pop up asking you which program(s) to use to open & view the content inside the CD-R. Choose WIN EXPLORER You'll then see the folder you created & placed those Folders/Files into, go into it, double click on the SETUP.EXE. (The one with the icon of a small PC that says SETUP) file. It will run, following the instructions, will install proper SATA DRIVERS. You'll have to reboot.

(6) After rebooting into XP. place the CD that came with the Mobo. Click on DRIVERS select CK8 CHIPSET! This will load the chipset drivers for the Mobo. once complete you'll have to reboot.

Reboot back into XP to allow changes to take place. Then restart your PC so you can go into BIOS & Enable other peripherals one by one.

(7) During reboot, go into BIOS. Here you already have USB LEGACY SUPP & SATA ROMEnabled, now simply ENABLE the AUDIO hit F10 to Save & Exit BIOS. I showed you how to get here above in step (#1).

When you bootup into XP. you'll have a New Hardware Wizard window popup & advice you that XP has detected new hardware & can have it install it for you. CLOSE THIS WIZARD WINDOW, DO NOT USE THIS WIZARD TO INSTALL YOUR AUDIO DRIVERS!! Simply load the Mobo CD again like you did above in step (#6) Click on DRIVERS select REALTEK AC97 AUDIO DRIVERS! This will load the AUDIO drivers for the Mobo. You might receive a XP message stated that these drivers did not pass XP Logo Verification, ignore this message by simply clicking on CONTINUE INSTALL ANYWAY option. Once complete you'll have to reboot. Boot back into XP, you'll see in your system tray an icon of a Blue Box with a Yellow symbol in the middle. That is your SoundManager Icon for your newly installed Audio. Right click on it & select SOUND MANAGER on top & play with your settings. Make sure your speakers are plugged in & correctly!

Dave I'll continue the rest another time. I', tired & there's a lot more steps to do. Let me know when you have completed all (7) steps I noted above so we can continue with the rest of the Driver installs. If you Like send me a PRIVATE MESSAGE/Email so that way if you like I can reply back & give you my phone # for you to call me so i can walk you through each step by step over the phone. Would be easier for both of us. I live in NYC, hope you have long distance on your Home or cell phone service!

 

[DaveGLI]

Dave hi,

Actually I need to make some changes to those steps I gave you. You already D/L the latest SATA Drivers of the website onto the FD (FLOPPYDISK) but Dave you also need to COPY/BURN ...

Must say you have helped me saved tons of time with this well done install guide, heaven's gates will be yours for sure :angel:

I installed yesterday the WinXP smoothly and flawless thanks to you buddy, now I wonder if it will be nice to install WinXP 64-bit Edition in my second SATA drive or it will be just gay.

My system specs are:
- MoBo Biostar K8NHA Pro
- Processor Athlon 64 3700+
- 1 GB Kingston 400 MHz DDR (512x2)
- 2 Samsung 120 GB SATA drives
- Chaintech nVidia FX5950
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2
- Unknown brand TV capture card
- Linksys 54Mbps Wireless NIC
- Liteon DVD-RW+

I will be using it primarily for Gaming on the WinXP pro and maybe for video editing/rendering if there's necessary drivers for the WinXP 64-bit, I've heard that not many drivers are available, at least for my video they are, don't know what you think about the WinXP 64-bit will it be PITA?? I am planning install it on my second SATA drive and then join MBRs and be able to choose which one to work at start up.

 

[DaveGLI]

Just one more thing that I notice from this system:
Be aware if you are using a PCI Modem, don't know if it is a defect from my MoBo or is a defect of the Bios or both, but when I installed a 56K modem (no cable available at this moment ) the system frequently locks after the POST and right after the Verifying DMI pool data thing.

I tried with 3 different modems from other computers and even the AMR slot does this weird problem, sometimes this problem only slows down the boot speed, but it's annoying any way.

The only way I could find a solution for this, was installing an AMR modem and a PCI modem, yes this is a very bad solution and don't even know the reason the system works ok with two modems, but if you find this problem, try solving it this way if have other modems handy.

Biostar sucks for not answering promptly to my inquiries about this issue, maybe it is only my MoBo???

When I install the PCI hardware, I always use a contact cleaner for the PCI terminals, clean then with a dry cloth, dust off the PCI (even when it's new) and properly grounded install the device carefully.

Well I only hope cable modem arrives soon...