Okay, to start out with, here are the specs for my new comp:

MSI K8n Neo4 mobo
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor
1 GB (2x 512) Corsair Value RAM
EVGA e-GeForce 4 6600 GT Video card
ASPIRE 520W PSU
80 GB Western Digital Caviar HDD (SATA, slave)
40 GB Western Digital Caviar HDD (IDE, Master, old HDD with Windows)
SONY FDD
Micro Advantage CD+/-R/RW DVD+/-R/RW (basically, does everything)
Thermaltake Tsunami case.

Now for the exciting part: :bounce:
I put everything together, started it up, and alas... it just stayed on the startup screen for the [mobo?] which says ('Platinum'). I checked, and the keyboard was inactive, then looked in the back of the computer where the D-Bracket is (in case you don't know, the D-Bracket uses a variety of combinations of red/green LEDs to tell you what your computer is doing during startup. A very convenient tool when your computer doesn't work.) The code which was shown between the 4 LEDs translated into 'Early Chipset initialization'. I left it for a while, came back, and it was still not working. I restarted the comp several times, but always the same. The next day, however, I turned it on, and everything worked - Except Windows (XP), but that was because, as I soon realized, it was from a Windows Restore disk from eMachines (my old computer, the one I'm using now). However, I retrieved a real retail version of XP and installed it on that computer. It worked. Kind of. A large number of files were missing, not installed. But anyways, I restarted the computer for some reason, and... [take a wild guess here]

Early Chipset Initialization. Stuck.

So I put the HDD back into my eMachine, started it up, and it was fine (hey, I'm usin it now)... i had to reinstall Windows to get all those missing files. I'm not sure if the fact that they weren't installed had anything to do with the new computer, or just the disk being wierd.

I have gotten my friend's HDD to work in the computer twice, but both times after restarting once or twice for various reasons, it just didn't go - stuck on ECI.

So, therein lies my perdicament. I realize that there are many, many things that could be wrong, but I'm just hoping that someone may be able to think of something.

Thank you in advance for your help, it is much appreciated.

I recently built my box using the K8N Neo Platinum board and an AMD3400+. I had a similar problem, but it turned out that a connection was loose on the motherboard. You might want to check that. When the platinum screen comes up you should be able to go into post view, maybe that will give you some insight into whats actually happening as it freezes. Are you able to get into bios?

Thanks for your response. I am only able to get into the BIOS sometimes, when it's working... otherwise, when i get the platinum screen and the chipset initialization is stuck, I can do nothing. The keyboard won't even work.

Try going into bios, setting your boot priority to disc and use the windows install disc and try to re-install windows. Generall with any big hardware change such as mobo/cpu etc you're gonna have to reformat/reinstall windows. It sucks like that. What might be happening is windows is tryin to talk to your old hardware and its confusing the crap out of it. I'm not sure if thats the exact scenario of what happens, but i know that with a cpu/mobo change you have to reinstall windows.

I already re-installed Windows. As I stated previously, this problem has nothing to do with windows - even when the HDD is not present, sometimes the computer loads the BIOS and the chipset initializes, other times it gets stuck. This is most certainly not in any way connected with windows (though there is another problem with that, I know why and how to fix it).

hm sorry about that, i posted that last one a while after i read your problem. Mustve forgotten you already fiddled with windows. I've worked with MSI boards a few times in the past, let me try and dig up some old manuals and troubleshooting charts

You listed your 80gb SATA hard drive as a slave. Is that a misprint? Slave and master don't apply to SATA HDs. I don't know if this has anything to do with your problem, however, you should leave the SATA HD jumper in its default position.

Sorry - I just meant that it didn't have windows installed on it... I'd love to install XP on it, but I can't because the CD I have is an upgrade disk... so im stuck running off the IDE drive. And as I believe I stated in a previous response, I get the same problem regardless which combination of the 2 HDDs I use (IDE only, SATA only, or both). But thanks for your help, it is much appreciated

That sounds great - Thank you!

I have the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum motherboard too with a single Western Digital SATA HDD but, fortunately, didn't run into any problems. After installing Windows XP, did you install the various mobo drivers?

I was unable to - I restarted the computer after the reinstall for a reason which I am unable to recall, and after that it didn't work - so no, I didn't. Do you think that it may work if I were to install them onto the HDD on this computer, and then put the HDD back into the new comp, or would those drivers mess up this comp in the process?

The hard drive needs to be in the MSI machine for the MSI mobo drivers to install properly.

Mmmm... the floppy disk that I got withit which contains the drivers needs to be put in when Windows is running, correct?

The floppies have your RAID drivers while the CD that came with your mobo has your other mobo related drivers as well as utilities such as temperature and fan speed monitors and controls.

Have you tried changing memory speed settings to slower ones, or tried with different memory modules?

I've been lookin through some old troubleshooting charts and one of the symptoms of failure to initialize is driver failure. Just a thought. Ill do some more digging and try to come up with a solution

Hardly a driver failure if it happens before any operating system has been loaded...

Have you tried clearing the CMOS settings? Also, it looks like a new BIOS was released on the 9th. Perhaps a flash would resolve your issue.

Yes, i've cleared them several times... i've become a bit trigger-happy with that button hehehe - and thanks for the BIOS update, I'll check into it shortly

No, I have yet to alter the memory speed - but, isn't RAM used only when Windows is loading/running?