NF7-S and SATA: Random file corruptions - please help!!

External Since: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 1

Hello,

I'm desperate for advice and hope that someone here can help me.

I have had an NF7-S motherboard rig for over 3 years. I recently
upgraded to another machine and decided to give the old rig to my
mother.

I'm running:
NF7-S (v2)
2x SATA HDDs (not in raid)
GeForce 6800GT
1Gb RAM
All at stock

I reformatted the drive and installed Windows again. This time, I even
upgraded to Service Pack 2.

To install Windows, I had to press F6 in order to install some Silicon
Image drivers to get the drives recognised. I am NOT running a RAID
array, but have found that the only way to get Windows to see the
drives is via the Silicon Image driver.

I took the PC over to my mum's house and set it up. One thing that
scared me a little was that the PC refused to power up first time. The
Mobo LED went faint and died slowly after power was turned on. I
checked the cables, saw that nothing noticeable was amiss and tried
again. This time it started up.

About at week later, the PC got a Blue Screen of Death. It went into
an infite loop of bootup and reboot. Over and over. The BSOD flashed
up so fast you could barely see it, so I got windows (using F Cool

to
allow me to see it and saw: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. I fixed it using
CHKDSK /R.

Someone advised me that perhaps the drive was on its way out. So I
replaced it and reinstalled windows. It failed again with a week. My
mum completely lost confidence in the Rig and I setup her old PC
again.

I'd like my partner (who lives with me) to use the PC. That way I'm
around when the thing goes wrong. So I setup windows again. This time
it died after two weeks. My partner uses the PC a lot less than my mum
does.

This time, the NTFS.SYS is corrupted. I can't get into recovery
console and I can't overwrite the windows install.

I have:

1] Replaced the hard-drive
2] Switched off Quick startup in the BIOS, so that a memory test is
performed on startup. I've noticed that the memory counts up to the
full Gig. then starts again. That's not right, is it?
3] Run Memtest for 8 hours with no reported problems.
4] Installed an SP1 version of windows then upgraded to SP2.
5] Installed a version of windows with SP2 already on it.
6] Considered swapping the PSU. But have been told this probably isn't
the problem.
7] Replaced the cables between the Motherboard and the SATA drives in
case they were faulty.

I'd love to know if there's some sort of monitoring software that can
pinpoint the problem, or if this is a known problem with Abit, Silicon
Image and Service Pack 2?

Would be really grateful for your advice.

..\\

External Since: Jan 21, 2007 Posts: 40

Marakith wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm desperate for advice and hope that someone here can help me.
>
> I have had an NF7-S motherboard rig for over 3 years. I recently
> upgraded to another machine and decided to give the old rig to my
> mother.
>
> I'm running:
> NF7-S (v2)
> 2x SATA HDDs (not in raid)
> GeForce 6800GT
> 1Gb RAM
> All at stock
>
>
> I reformatted the drive and installed Windows again. This time, I even
> upgraded to Service Pack 2.
>
> To install Windows, I had to press F6 in order to install some Silicon
> Image drivers to get the drives recognised. I am NOT running a RAID
> array, but have found that the only way to get Windows to see the
> drives is via the Silicon Image driver.
>
> I took the PC over to my mum's house and set it up. One thing that
> scared me a little was that the PC refused to power up first time. The
> Mobo LED went faint and died slowly after power was turned on. I
> checked the cables, saw that nothing noticeable was amiss and tried
> again. This time it started up.
>
> About at week later, the PC got a Blue Screen of Death. It went into
> an infite loop of bootup and reboot. Over and over. The BSOD flashed
> up so fast you could barely see it, so I got windows (using F Cool

to
> allow me to see it and saw: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. I fixed it using
> CHKDSK /R.
>
> Someone advised me that perhaps the drive was on its way out. So I
> replaced it and reinstalled windows. It failed again with a week. My
> mum completely lost confidence in the Rig and I setup her old PC
> again.
>
> I'd like my partner (who lives with me) to use the PC. That way I'm
> around when the thing goes wrong. So I setup windows again. This time
> it died after two weeks. My partner uses the PC a lot less than my mum
> does.
>
> This time, the NTFS.SYS is corrupted. I can't get into recovery
> console and I can't overwrite the windows install.
>
> I have:
>
> 1] Replaced the hard-drive
> 2] Switched off Quick startup in the BIOS, so that a memory test is
> performed on startup. I've noticed that the memory counts up to the
> full Gig. then starts again. That's not right, is it?
> 3] Run Memtest for 8 hours with no reported problems.
> 4] Installed an SP1 version of windows then upgraded to SP2.
> 5] Installed a version of windows with SP2 already on it.
> 6] Considered swapping the PSU. But have been told this probably isn't
> the problem.
> 7] Replaced the cables between the Motherboard and the SATA drives in
> case they were faulty.
>
>
> I'd love to know if there's some sort of monitoring software that can
> pinpoint the problem, or if this is a known problem with Abit, Silicon
> Image and Service Pack 2?
>
> Would be really grateful for your advice.
>
> .\\
>
Well it probably IS the power supply i.e. if you have done everything
you say you have. First though, do a good visual inspection of the
mother board its self, your looking for swollen capacitors, possible
broken components. Caps can be replaced; however, if you need a repair
shop to do the repair it going to cost you more than the board is worth.

As far as the power supply is concerned, some people will tell you to
get a DVM and measure the voltages. This rarely finds the problem
because unless that rail is dead the DVM isn't going to tell you
anything useful. The real problem in the switching power supply's is
excessive noise and you need an oscilloscope to trouble shoot.

Only practical way for the average person to troubleshoot is to replace
the power supply and see what happens. Sorry

Good Luck

Logan

PS The reason you get UNmountable volume and similar messages is because
trash is being written to your HD when windows closed from the previous
session, usually do to memory or power supply. Also if you turn off
quick start, memory counts to the max installed and then starts over. I
don't know how many times it will count, but that's why you use quick
start.