Problems galore - couple anyhow...

[aaroncgi]

Hey all! This could partly go in the Matrox Hardware forum, but I think the problem is the installer, not my Matrox card. This is the first system I've built totally from scratch, so it's no surprise I have some problems.

Windows98 seemed to install just fine, no problems there. However, with nothing but my G400, two hard drives, floppy, and CD, I come up with a conflict! In particular, my G400 won't work. I get a message when I select properties on the G400, saying "This device cannot find any free Input/Output (I/O) range resources that it can use. If you want to use this device, you will need to disable one of the other devices on this system that has an Input/Output (I/O) range conflict with it."

I go through the various troubleshooting tips and get nowhere. In the conflicting device listing under the resources tab, there are six conflicts, but all are memory range used by 'System board extension for ACPI BIOS', not Input/Output range. I tried selecting from the Resource Type/Setting list, in which there appear to be two free I/O ranges, but the result is a black screen after reboot.

Needless to say, I'm pretty bummed about all this, though not very surprised. I think what I need is a list of which things to install in which order. Here's what I did, probably quite wrong:

Format new HD, install Windows98 + 98SE.
Install VIA 4-in-1 drivers (4.24 or 4.20, didn't make a difference either way)
Install Matrox drivers (5.4 supplied, don't have newer but could download if needed)

Another major problem: My old hard drive doesn't have a drive letter designation, and I don't seem to be able to assign one. The BIOS sees it fine, and Windows device manager also sees it just fine, says it's working properly, yada yada.. However, I can't access it, doesn't show up in My Computer. It's a slave to the CDrom on the secondary channel, perhaps I'll try adding it to the primary...

Here are my components:

Tyan S2380 BIOS v. 1.02A
Athlon 650
Nanya PC133 128MB
IBM 75GXP 30GB
Maxtor ??? old HD
Kenwood 42X
G400 32MB DH
Zoom 56k PCI modem
Yamaha PCI soundcard


Thanks for your support! I'll get this G400 working eventually! It's pure torture running Windows in 16 color, by the way..

Aaron

[paulcs]

Try the 6.01 betas. They work very well with VIA chipsets. Use, at the very least, the newest VIA AGP driver.

I swear, Aaron, this will get a lot easier as time goes on. My first system build was a nightmare. (The fact that I was using a defective motherboard didn't help matters.)

Kenwood drives are very fast. I have one myself. But I've heard a lot of strange stories. I'd get rid of that 2.1 GB Maxtor, because it will probably slow you down, but if you must use it, try it as a primary slave. If it keeps giving you trouble, I recommend removing it from your machine and putting it in a closet.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[aaroncgi]

Well, thought I'd get lucky by putting the Maxtor on the primary slave - nope. For some reason, it seems to register fine everywhere, but I cannot access the darn thing because it has no drive designation. I changed the CD drive to E (was D), no effect. I couldn't really care less about having the drive in the system, but I at least would like to get some of the files off it before I stick it in the closet..

I'll try the newest VIA drivers again, and maybe download the Matrox newest as well. However, I'm not sure how much they have to do with my conflict, as I get the error before I load either one of them. Every time I go into Windows 98 in fact, I get an error saying my video card has a conflict that need to be resolved. Fun fun. Is this the kind of thing you call Tyan tech support on?

Aaron

[Jorden]

First off the harddrive problem: When you access it by a program like Fdisk or Partition Magic, does it show the drive? If so, check if you've set the drive to active or not. Although the primary drive should be the set to active only, sometimes the secondary drive wants to be set to active as well (if only to be able to format it, then deactivate it again).

The problem with the videocard then:
Have you disabled all caching in the MOBO's BIOS? And did you download the latest BIOS for the Mobo, and update it?

Can you disable the ACPI setting in the BIOS? Do you need the ACPI settings?

Also, try to install everything to a working order under Win98 before you upgrade to Win98 SE.

Last bit of advice: Only install the videocard, see if you still have the conflicts. If not, then install the modem, see if you have conflicts. If so, change the modem to another slot, before you install the soundcard. (or vice versa )

Jord.

[aaroncgi]

Thanks for all the info Jorden, seems I had screwed most of this up (no surprise), all the stuff you mentioned to try I hadn't done.

The second hard disk does show up in FDISK, I didn't change any of it's settings, I presume I can do so there without losing any info on it? Don't remember having any problems like these when I last added a new hard drive, seem to recall just plugging them in and copying from the old to the new..

I actually had my G400 working before I called it a night! Unistalled all the drivers, and the G400 from device manager, then reinstalled, and everything seemed to be working. This was the first time I was able to install any of the Matrox software, that demo is sweet! Looks awesome! Alas, I went to shut down, system froze up, and after I reset the darn thing wouldn't work again. Time to truly start over, again..

Aaron

[aaroncgi]

Update on old hard drive not working:

Stupid me forgot that my old MB wouldn't take a meager 2.8GB drive, so it's using Maxtor's EZ-BIOS, which now I will need to remove for the new system to access the drive... fortunately this seems fairly easy to do. Once I know that I can access the old drive, I'll feel a lot better about reformatting/partitioning the new one to do a fresh install.

Aaron

[Jorden]

If the Maxtor was the primary drive before, it will have an active partition which you have to deactivate before Windows lets you access it, yes

And the EZ-BIOS? I kinda hate that thing. Sorry to say so Once installed you want to have your EZ-BIOS floppy around to get rid of it as soon as possible

What's on your primary hdd? Already enough data you don't want to lose? If it's insignificant, then reformat and go about the installing Win98 with all the cards, and check if everything is working fine. Also, install the Powerdesk you want to use and DirectX 7.0a already if you have it, then check if all works fine (test some games).

If all's working fine, then install Win98 SE over it. Shouldn't give you a problem from there on

If still in doubt, give us an IRQ listing. By now you know where to find how to do so in the FAQs

Jord.

[This message has been edited by Jorden (edited 30 August 2000).]

[aaroncgi]

Jorden -

Yes, the Maxtor was the primary drive on my old system. How do you set it to be inactive, without erasing any data on it? Can FDISK do that?

The primary drive doesn't really have anything on it I can't do without, _except_, I did download the Matrox 6.01 drivers, which as you know is 4 MB, so if possible I'd like to get that transferred onto the old drive before reformatting the new one. It's not that long a download though at 5.0k/s, so no big deal if I have to get them again.

I hate those EZ-BIOS things too, at least, I do now! Was ok when I could use a greater than 2.1GB drive on my 437VX chipset MB, but to be honest I didn't once use that extra 700MB. Pretty impressed with Maxtor tech support though, got to a live person in just a few minutes, who told me just what I needed to do, even though I didn't have my drive model #/serial #, etc...

I'll get this thing up and running eventually, it really wants to work, I know it does! You just have to be smarter than the computer, I'm getting there...

Aaron

[Jorden]

Sorry for answering so late, but yes, you can set the drive to be inactive using FDISK.
And you won't lose any data then. As long as you stay away from the options to partition the drive etc.

I'll check on how to do so. Will be back

Jord.

[aaroncgi]

No need to check on FDISK, got that down pat now! I now have both drives running and recognizable, 2GB partition on my 30G drive for Windoze and stuff...

However, I'm still getting the problem installing my video card! Seems like it may be a motherboard issue, as it happens immediately following installation of Windows98, before I've installed any drivers at all. I still get the error saying my video card cannot find any free Input/Output range to use. Therefore, I can't install the drivers for it. Everything else seems to work fine. In the conflicting device list, I have 'System board extension for ACPI BIOS' taking up four different ranges of memory six times!

If I try and remove this from Device Manager, I either get a blank screen immediately, or Windows will simply reinstall it upon next bootup (or both), which then again conflicts with my G400. My motherboard has both a jumper to enable/disable ACPI, and a setting in the BIOS to do the same. The jumper seems to do nothing, but if I set the ACPI to disabled in the BIOS, when I get into Windows, all my devices in Device Manager are gone! IE no floppy, no hard drive, etc. And, my system wants to install a new device called 'Plug and Play Bios (failsafe)' and prompts me for drivers. Enabling or disabling the Plug and Play OS in the BIOS also seems to do nothing.

Think I'll try my old ATI card in the system and see what happens, maybe I have a bad MB though...

Don't see to be any IRQ conflicts, the only problem is this damn ACPI BIOS hogging all the memory..

Aaron

[Jorden]

Good about the harddrive, glad I could help

Do try the old ATI card in your computer, and see if it still hogs up on memory-spaces, yes! If it doesn't, then try the other option left open: Get an older BIOS for your Tyan MB and see if it still acts this strange. You might even want to try a BIOS (if available, but I doubt that) without ACPI.

Btw, this message you get is IN Windows? Have you tried installing the Powerdesk from within DOS? Just an option

Jord.

[Pertti]

Aaron,

Try installing Windows with "Setup /p i".
This will install the OS without ACPI (just another completely useless MS feature IMHO)

[aaroncgi]

Jorden -

I get the conflict message every time Windows98 boots up, telling me that my video card has a conflict that I need to resolve, then it gives me an option to start the hardware troubleshooter (which is no help as usual). Or, I can look at the same message by going into Control Panel, System, Device Manager and looking at the properties of my G400. Never thought to try installing the Matrox drivers from DOS, as I figured what good is it to install drivers for a card that has a hardware conflict without any drivers being installed?
I seriously doubt there is a BIOS for my motherboard that has no ACPI, as you suggest, because there are only three BIOSes in total. 1.00, 1.10, and 1.02. I have the latest and greatest. (though it says 1.02A)

Pertti-

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try Windows install without ACPI. Only takes 15-20 minutes to reinstall windows with my speed demon CD and hard drive, gotta love that!


Of course if that fails, I'll go for the ATI PCI card I've got, but it's really a shame to use such a lowly card with an Athlon... not to mention I really WANT the G400!

Cheers!

Aaron

[aaroncgi]

Ah ha! The plot thickens. Just checked Tyan's web site, they now have a FAQ for my motherboard. It says to flash back to BIOS 1.02 from 1.02A if you experience lockups, crashes, etc. when running in AGP 2X or 4X. Not quite my problem, but seeing as how 1.02A is not listed on their web site, there must be some problems with it...

Aaron