thlnk3r

Sunrex, before throwing your board out the window contact Gigabyte and see if you can RMA it first. Instead of spending $70 - $100 on a new motherboard, spend $15 and ship the board to see if it can be repaired. Heck they may even send you a different board (refurb). At least we know it's not the drives causing the problem. When your machine is on for a while it runs great...very strange. It's just the initial boot up that causes problems.

Good luck

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Sunrex

OCZ support... non-existant.... Hope its because its saturday though.

I think I pinpointed my problem.

This explains it better then I. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/24...on-files-ideas

Of course, this is a long shot. I had no issues with seagate tools testing(When I didn't move my mouse), but I wasn't paying attention to the actual addressing range.

Ok, so my understanding is I need to switch it on correct me if im wrong. I also can't remember there being a plug and play option in my BIOS - heres hoping its there!. (Well, and the issue only happens on cold boot (Or if I keep my PC on for half a week or so -I think-) so, I hope the chipset is partly bad?. Something?. Heh.)


Edit 30000: Found this info. This was for raid, and I don't believe had anything to do with my issue. Just corruption on boot. So... putting this here just in case its not enabled in vista and can be causing my problem - not sure if it is - just putting it here to look at later :P.

"Gack... close this thread, I found the answer...

Damn annoying, no wonder I was losing data. XP didn't have the LBA register set to On. I thought SP1 update would automatically set that. Ok, I turned the registry on. Now it works."
Edit1-3.. something..: Going to try my IDE HDD if the BIOS option is not there, if there is no corruption controller is the issue. I will then try finding a way to fix it, or call up Gigabyte support on a payphone (so they cant track the number) and scream my ass off at them.

Edit4-10000: also, reading up on something about disabling drive cache, might as well try that if the things above dont work.. though.. I have no idea how to - anyone know how?.

Edit300000: VERY INTERESTING! "I had a similar problem a year or so ago with a Gigabyte board. For whatever reason if I had anything plugged into the onboard USB header, it corrupted data on HDDs on one of the IDE channels. I pulled all of my hair out on that one. Whodathunkit?"

I'll try that to.

I have lots of solutions -please- let one of them work!... of course, nothings on the usb header currently.. PSP cable is connected on the back, but its not plugged into the PSP right now. Also... I have to RMA my PS3 a second time. For the same reason as the first time. HDMI port stopped working. Hey, I think I have 3 days left on my warranty! YAY!. I'll start on it in the morning.

thlnk3r

Sunrex, does the issue still occur if you run the machine for a few hours, turn it off and then turn it back on? If this only happens on "cold boots" then the only thing I can think of is a cold bug. You said the ambient room temperature is between 50F - 60F?

So was the LBA option the fix for the problem?

Boy what a mess this has gotten into

Good luck

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Sunrex

I haven't tried the LBA yet - not sure how to, can you get me some info on that?. I can only be on the internet for a max of two hours a day, and Microsoft help site was a mess to look through.

I did a RMA request for Gigabyte, waiting for the confirmed RMA number before shipping. If LBA works though I can void the RMA.

Cold boots only, I've been able to restart before without issues... and I'm pretty sure I could shut it down and restart again if it's been running for a few hours.

Still confused on why the SBus CNTRL (whatever it was) shows NA, perhaps thats my problem.

thlnk3r

Sunrex, the 48-bit LBA support comes with SP1 so unless you're running Windows XP without any of the service packs then you shouldn't be having any problems. Also you probably wouldn't be able to see your 320GB drive if this wasn't enabled. The LBA fix in SP1 enabled ATAPI support which would allow the OS to see drives larger then 137GB (which was previously the limit).

This is really starting to sound like a "cold bug".

Hopefully we can get a Gigabyte RMA going...perhaps that may resolve this issue.

Good luck

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Sunrex

One thing I have noticed, if I go into safemode it seems to hang on Storport (something, something, etc.) file. Interesting. It does finally boot up, but it takes a few minutes just pausing on that file.

RMA confirmation still pending.

thlnk3r

Sunrex, storport.sys is usually only on a Windows 2003 operating system. It's a storage driver used for high performance buses. Are you running Service Pack 2 or 3?

Good luck

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Sunrex

Vista 64bit SP1.

Um.. something I never did before - install the drivers in setup. With IDE mode, figured I wouldn't need to...

So, im not sure if its the fact I installed drivers in setup or that I grabbed them from the MSI site rather then gigabyte, but I have a system mostly up and running fine... of course.. I... sadly... have not tried........ cold boot yet........ *Shame*.


Edit: Hmmmmmmm... we have a problem.

Mmmmmm... yeah.

Well, I explained that to them. I included the serial on the box (Since I couldn't find it on the board - I later found it on the ATX connector... sadly... it was the same one on the damn box...) nor could I find it on the PCI slots....

so... apparently gigabyte wants me to give them a number they never put on the board?. I don't see the first serial. Only the second. (They have two on the board (READ: SHOULD HAVE) yet, I only have one)... well, if they wont take the RMA board back because they ****ed up, I don't think im going to buy another gigabyte product again.... ever.

That being said, lets hope I wont need to RMA it after all! (Cold boot in a few hours).

thlnk3r

Sunrex, I wonder if the cold boot issues would still be apparent if you were to keep the computer powered off in a warmer area in the house...

I know a "cold bug" sounds a bit ridiculous but it is common on some AMD processors that are using extreme forms of cooling (TEC / Phase Change).

Sorry to hear about the RMA

Good luck

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Sunrex

Nah, its cool. I called gigabyte support and found out I actually had a typo. Damn typos, they just like to creep up on you like that.

I to wonder if it would help, I dont really see why it would matter at 50-60 degress F... of course.. I suppose anything is possible. I could move my system back upstairs in my old room (Never use it anymore, I got so addicted to my computer I started sleeping on the couch downstairs D.

Oh, right. Anyone want to buy a 22" monitor off me?. I've decided to stick with my 17" 2ms response 3000:1 contrast ratio monitor (It's bloody awesome compared to my 22" when gaming... and its 75Hz.. and my 8800GT can handle it without a single issue.) I really should go 19" though, much better.

I would just dual view on 2 17", but gaming looks so weird like that and having to constantly switch one off is to much of a hassle... oh... this is about my data corruption issue!... right.. .