[H] Strange Hard Drive Problem

[James Maki]

About a month and a half ago, I related a problem I was having with a new
Western Digital WD7500AYYS 750GB SATA II drive. Transfers to the drive seems
very slow. I moved the drive around between several adapters on 2 different
computers. Finally, I put it in an external drive and it worked fine, so I
moved on to other problems. Yesterday, while trying to re-install WinXP
(another problem/post) I placed the WD 750 in the computer case. It
immediately started exhibiting the slow transfers.

On a hunch, I switched out the power supply connection for the external
power for this drive only, and lo and behold, the transfer times returned to
"normal." Have any of you seen this problem where a single drive has
problems with the PS and exhibits slow transfers, but otherwise operate
normally?

I will just use the drive in the external case, but am curious as to the
reasons.

This is a Sparkle Power FSP550-60PLN-B 550 Watts EPS12V Switching Power
Supply purchased June of 2005. No other signs of problems.

Thanks for your input.

Jim Maki
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

[H] FW: Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[James Maki]

Well, I should know better, but yesterday I decided it was time to
re-install WinXP Pro on my main computer. It had been exhibiting some
strange behavior, including slow to non-existant shutdowns (I had to
physically push the power button), and occasional blue screens crashes. 

The first install went fine, except that I left all my drives connected so
that WinXP designated my boot drive as I: (it was on a SATA RAID0 Array). So
I disconnected the other drives and repeated the initial install. During the
video card installation, something hiccupped and the system would not boot.
So I started again!

This time, I completed the initial installation which consisted of WinXP w/
SP1, SP2 upgrade, Virus protection, Video drivers and True Image 11. I made
an image of the boot drive. As a precaution, I booted to the rescue disk and
discovered that True Image 11 saw only one SATA drive out of 6 drives and
one RAID0 array. Stranger, the one drive it did see shared a controller with
another drive which True Image 11 DID NOT see! 

I tried to move the SATA RAID0 array back to the nVidia SATA controllers
hoping that might be the problem. No Luck. Furthermore, when I tried to boot
the system, I got a message that I MUST activate before I could log on. This
was on a system that had been installed less than an hour earlier. What
happened to the 30 day activation period?!

At this point I was getting ready to panic because I could not get WinXP
installed nor could I use my True Image backups to restore to the original
state. I have restored numerous times using this system, and now suddenly,
nothing is working or being recognized.

I was finally able to get back to a working system by moving the drive with
the image to another computer, installing the image on that drive and moving
it back to the original system. I then used THAT instance of WinXP to copy
the image back to the SATA RAID0 array. As long as True Image was utilized
within WinXP, it would work. As soon as it re-booted (to Linux), it no
longer recognized the SATA RAID0 array or any other SATA disk, save 1.

At this point, I am considering some sort of hardware failure/problem. I
re-installed the BIOS and saw no difference. I am at a loss on where to look
next. I would really like to get this setup working without issue as it is
my main work computer. If I can't get it working without problems, I would
have to put together a new system. Since this is a socket939 with DDR400, it
would probably require new MB, new CPU and new Memory. I would rather not
spend that much right now.

Other possible issue: The Opteron 185 requires the use of a beta BIOS on
this motherboard, a Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra-9 nForce4 Ultra.

Any insight would be most appreciated. I spent about 24 hours just to get
back to where I started! Another 8-10 hours trying to figure out what was
going on. 

Thanks,

Jim Maki
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Re: [H] FW: Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[DHSinclair]

Jim,
It this system (winXP-reinstall) the same system that was having trouble 
with the WD hard drive?

Best,
Duncan

At 11:27 03/09/2008 -0700, you wrote:

Well, I should know better, but yesterday I decided it was time to
re-install WinXP Pro on my main computer. It had been exhibiting some
strange behavior, including slow to non-existant shutdowns (I had to
physically push the power button), and occasional blue screens crashes.

The first install went fine, except that I left all my drives connected so
that WinXP designated my boot drive as I: (it was on a SATA RAID0 Array). So
I disconnected the other drives and repeated the initial install. During the
video card installation, something hiccupped and the system would not boot.
So I started again!

This time, I completed the initial installation which consisted of WinXP w/
SP1, SP2 upgrade, Virus protection, Video drivers and True Image 11. I made
an image of the boot drive. As a precaution, I booted to the rescue disk and
discovered that True Image 11 saw only one SATA drive out of 6 drives and
one RAID0 array. Stranger, the one drive it did see shared a controller with
another drive which True Image 11 DID NOT see!

I tried to move the SATA RAID0 array back to the nVidia SATA controllers
hoping that might be the problem. No Luck. Furthermore, when I tried to boot
the system, I got a message that I MUST activate before I could log on. This
was on a system that had been installed less than an hour earlier. What
happened to the 30 day activation period?!

At this point I was getting ready to panic because I could not get WinXP
installed nor could I use my True Image backups to restore to the original
state. I have restored numerous times using this system, and now suddenly,
nothing is working or being recognized.

I was finally able to get back to a working system by moving the drive with
the image to another computer, installing the image on that drive and moving
it back to the original system. I then used THAT instance of WinXP to copy
the image back to the SATA RAID0 array. As long as True Image was utilized
within WinXP, it would work. As soon as it re-booted (to Linux), it no
longer recognized the SATA RAID0 array or any other SATA disk, save 1.

At this point, I am considering some sort of hardware failure/problem. I
re-installed the BIOS and saw no difference. I am at a loss on where to look
next. I would really like to get this setup working without issue as it is
my main work computer. If I can't get it working without problems, I would
have to put together a new system. Since this is a socket939 with DDR400, it
would probably require new MB, new CPU and new Memory. I would rather not
spend that much right now.

Other possible issue: The Opteron 185 requires the use of a beta BIOS on
this motherboard, a Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra-9 nForce4 Ultra.

Any insight would be most appreciated. I spent about 24 hours just to get
back to where I started! Another 8-10 hours trying to figure out what was
going on.

Thanks,

Jim Maki
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Re: [H] Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[James Maki]

Yes it is. Too many problems that don't seem to point to a single solution.

Jim 

> -Original Message-
> From: DHSinclair

> 
> Jim,
> It this system (winXP-reinstall) the same system that was 
> having trouble 
> with the WD hard drive?
> Best,
> Duncan
> 
> At 11:27 03/09/2008 -0700, you wrote:
> >Well, I should know better, but yesterday I decided it was time to
> >re-install WinXP Pro on my main computer. 

Re: [H] Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[Brian Weeden]

What are all the drives in your system for?  Can you describe your storage
layout?

One thing I'm not sure if you tried but hitting F6 while the WinXP setup is
loading will allow you do load storage drivers.  That has helped me in the
past for things that XP didn't have a native driver for.

-
Brian Weeden
Technical Consultant
Secure World Foundation


On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 3:22 PM, James Maki <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Yes it is. Too many problems that don't seem to point to a single
> solution.
>
> Jim
>
> > -Original Message-
> > From: DHSinclair
>
> >
> > Jim,
> > It this system (winXP-reinstall) the same system that was
> > having trouble
> > with the WD hard drive?
> > Best,
> > Duncan
> >
> > At 11:27 03/09/2008 -0700, you wrote:
> > >Well, I should know better, but yesterday I decided it was time to
> > >re-install WinXP Pro on my main computer.
>
>

Re: [H] Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[James Maki]

1: First of all, everything was working fine on Friday morning before this
fiasco!

2: Drives
2 WD 36 GB Raptors in RAID0 as C, D, E, F (System, Downloads,
Programs, and Files) on nVidia SATA II controller
1 WD 750 GB SATA II as I (video files) on nVidia SATA II controller
5 Seagate 320 GB SATA II for general storage and backups, working
discs (I record a lot of shows from TV and convert them to xvid avi files),
on nVidia SATA II controller, Sil3132 SATA II pcie-X1 controller, & JMicron
SATA II pcie-X1 controller.
2 DVD/RW burners on separate IDE channels

3: Originally used F6 to load drivers for nVidia & Sil3114 (which would not
allow me to create a boot drive system on the RAID0 array, so it is
installed on the nVidia controler and no drives are currently using the
Sil3114 SATA I controller)

4: When I did the re-install, I loaded drivers with F6 for the nVidia,
Sil3114 and Sil3132 controllers. The JMicron controller thru an error for
its floppy disk and had to be installed from within Windows.

Things that used to work, such as True Image 11 to re-install an image, no
longer work. Strange problems with installation not booting or Windows
DEMANDING activation after only an hour or so. It seems that there are just
too many seemingly unrelated problems cropping up. Of particular distress is
the failure of True Image to be able to re-install a saved image. I have
depended on that utility to get me out of many a jam. Usually can get the
system up in running within a half hour of a software problem with the boot
drive.

Jim Maki
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

> -Original Message-
> From: Brian Weeden
 
> What are all the drives in your system for?  Can you describe 
> your storage
> layout?
> 
> One thing I'm not sure if you tried but hitting F6 while the 
> WinXP setup is
> loading will allow you do load storage drivers.  That has 
> helped me in the
> past for things that XP didn't have a native driver for.
> 
> -
> Brian Weeden
> Technical Consultant
> Secure World Foundation

Re: [H] Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[DHSinclair]

Jim, Thanks for that bit of info. Went back and read both recent posts 
again.  I truly believe you have a power problem; too many things the need 
oomph and not enough oomph to give.  I'd do some power recalculation, but I 
vote that your psu is giving up the fight. It reads like a classic "sag" 
situation. JMHO.

Best,
Duncan

At 12:22 03/09/2008 -0700, you wrote:

Yes it is. Too many problems that don't seem to point to a single solution.

Jim

> -Original Message-
> From: DHSinclair

>
> Jim,
> It this system (winXP-reinstall) the same system that was
> having trouble
> with the WD hard drive?
> Best,
> Duncan
>
> At 11:27 03/09/2008 -0700, you wrote:
> >Well, I should know better, but yesterday I decided it was time to
> >re-install WinXP Pro on my main computer.

Re: [H] Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[James Maki]

I had that thought, but how would a power supply problem affect True Image
and its ability to "see" the SATA RAID0 and other hard drives?

Jim

> -Original Message-
> From: DHSinclair
 
> Jim, Thanks for that bit of info. Went back and read both 
> recent posts 
> again.  I truly believe you have a power problem; too many 
> things the need 
> oomph and not enough oomph to give.  I'd do some power 
> recalculation, but I 
> vote that your psu is giving up the fight. It reads like a 
> classic "sag" 
> situation. JMHO.
> Best,
> Duncan
> 

Re: [H] Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[Brian Weeden]

Having had flaky PSUs cause weird hard-to-diagnose problems before I would
agree with Duncan.  If drives are having problems spinning up all at the
same time that could lead to problems with them being "seen" I would think.

-
Brian Weeden
Technical Consultant
Secure World Foundation


On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 6:09 PM, DHSinclair <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Jim, Thanks for that bit of info. Went back and read both recent posts
> again.  I truly believe you have a power problem; too many things the need
> oomph and not enough oomph to give.  I'd do some power recalculation, but
> I
> vote that your psu is giving up the fight. It reads like a classic "sag"
> situation. JMHO.
> Best,
> Duncan
>
> At 12:22 03/09/2008 -0700, you wrote:
> >Yes it is. Too many problems that don't seem to point to a single
> solution.
> >
> >Jim
> >
> > > -Original Message-
> > > From: DHSinclair
> >
> > >
> > > Jim,
> > > It this system (winXP-reinstall) the same system that was
> > > having trouble
> > > with the WD hard drive?
> > > Best,
> > > Duncan
> > >
> > > At 11:27 03/09/2008 -0700, you wrote:
> > > >Well, I should know better, but yesterday I decided it was time to
> > > >re-install WinXP Pro on my main computer.
>
>

Re: [H] Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[James Maki]

I have the same problem if only the SATA RAID0 drives are the only drives
attached. I will try a different PSU and see if it makes a difference.

Thanks,

Jim

> -Original Message-
> From: Brian Weeden

> Having had flaky PSUs cause weird hard-to-diagnose problems 
> before I would
> agree with Duncan.  If drives are having problems spinning up 
> all at the
> same time that could lead to problems with them being "seen" 
> I would think.
> 
> -
> Brian Weeden
> Technical Consultant
> Secure World Foundation

Re: [H] Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[DHSinclair]

Jim,
Going to suppose that TrueImage is a sw system and that it has to be loaded 
after-the-fact (post boot, post logon).  As such, it presumes that the base 
machine's power is AOK as well as all the machines I/O. As with base OS 
systems, I suspect that TrueImage will have internal problems if one or 
more of the hard drives are mis-reporting due to weak/marginal power.


On top of this is your Opteron. I have to believe that this cpu is in the 
"power saving" category, but could be wrong.  I have never had/used such 
exotics.  Believe Winterlight could chime in here with stories about his 
dual-Xeon experience too.


Your psu may be on the edge of its' ability to supply all the power your 
chosen HW is demanding ATM. And, when something/anything makes a demand on 
the psu for whatever reason, the psu sags and everyone else goes a bit 
goofy. A bit goofy may be correctable, bigger goofy nets odd events and 
blue screens.


It does read as if your current psu has run out of capacity for whatever 
the reason. Which PSU is in use ATM?


Just with your hard drives and CD drives I count ~25A of static (no load 
current).  And, this does not include your cpu, m/b, and I/O card 
set.  With what you shared to Brian a couple back, I'd hope you were using 
a 600W psu (maybe), 800W psu (better), or 1KW psu (best) just so that you 
have the necessary power headroom (spare capacity) to handle untoward 
demands.  Again, JMHO.


Until my Enermax fiasco 2 years ago, I have yet to have a psu related 
failure.  My glitches fall into the "pilot-error", PEBCAK, and "way over my 
head" category!!!  LOL!!

Best,
Duncan

At 15:13 03/09/2008 -0700, you wrote:

I had that thought, but how would a power supply problem affect True Image
and its ability to "see" the SATA RAID0 and other hard drives?

Jim

> -Original Message-
> From: DHSinclair

> Jim, Thanks for that bit of info. Went back and read both
> recent posts
> again.  I truly believe you have a power problem; too many
> things the need
> oomph and not enough oomph to give.  I'd do some power
> recalculation, but I
> vote that your psu is giving up the fight. It reads like a
> classic "sag"
> situation. JMHO.
> Best,
> Duncan
>

Re: [H] probably a really dumb question

[DHSinclair]

Greg,
RE: Who makes the PCP&C psus.  This is the second time you have 
shared this assertion:

At 11:03 03/01/2008 -0600, Greg wrote:

snip
...
I personally wouldn't ever buy anything that wasn't SeaSonic or SPI/FSP 
OEM'd. Funny thing is that most of the PCP&C units were, at least up until 
the new models post-OCZ acquisition, actually made by SeaSonic (Silencer) 
or Win-tact (Turbo Cool). Not sure anymore.


Greg

snip

No harm, no foul.  I agree with SeaSonic and (now, because I came by and 
old one) SPI/FSP.
But, can you point to some objective evidence about the SeaSonic/Win-Tact 
connection to PCP&C (pre the OCZ partnership)?
I'm not trying to start a new skirmish here.  I'd like to know what I may 
not know about PCP&C.


I do not much care about the post-OCZ combination, because I am now back up 
on the fence and/or starting to seriously look at SeaSonic for any future 
psu needs; based on both your comments and Hayes comments.


Back in the years 1995-2000 I did some extensive personal testing of 2 of 
my PCP&C psus while at my old career with Xerox.  I still have and use the 
'abused' 2 psus today.  Unless you are focusing on some of the internal 
circuit boards as evidence of the "built by" other mfg's, my research 
indicates that my psus were mfg'd completely in Carlsbad, CA, where I 
originally bought them.


Agreed the stuff changes over time. Perhaps PCP&C did find that both 
SeaSonic and Win-Tact could be value-added partners to do sub-assy and 
full-assy level product.  Where does this not happen?


Just curious... :)
Best,
Duncan

Re: [H] Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[James Maki]

Duncan,

Actually the recovery disk for True Image is Linux based. It loads from CD
after boot but before Windows loads. It also comes with a Windows based
program that will create the image from within Windows. You have to re-boot
to the Linux program only when restoring the C:/boot drive. As long as I am
within Windows, True Image works perfectly. Only when I try to restore the
C: drive does it require a re-boot to the Linux version and I loose contact
with most of the hard drives. One hard drive (and always the same one) is
visible. The other drive on the same controller is NOT visible. I haven't
tried moving them around to see if it is the spot on the controller or the
drive itself that makes a difference. 

As True Image boots to the program in Linux, there is a a flash on the
screen saying the nVidia and Sil3114 controllers (the controllers on the
motherboard) have been found, followed by a message that no volumes were
found. 

The Opteron is a socket 939 dual core processor, almost identical to some of
the higher clock speed AMD64 X2 CPUs that AMD stopped making. It is 2.6 GHz.
Dual core, single socket.

The psu is a Sparkle Power FSP550-60PLN-B 550 Watts EPS12V Switching Power
Supply. If the psu is working, it should provide sufficient power. Of
course, if it is failing, all bets are off. I don't have dual video cards or
a power hungry single video card. It will take some time to remove a power
supply from another system to test the theory that the Sparkle is dying.
Will let you know what I find out. 

I may be in denial, but the repeated weird problems seem to be getting
progressively worse in a way I would not attribute to the psu. Removing the
750 GB WD drive that was showing slow transfer times and putting it back
into the external enclosure produced a new problem. As long as the drive was
attached to the nVidia controller, the computer would stick at the
"searching for drives" section of the nVidia boot process. As soon as I
removed the drive, it booted fine. I moved the drive to one of the pcie-X1
SATA ports and everything boots fine. More and more I am suspicious of the
on-board SATA controllers. I have never been able to mount a boot drive on
the Sil3114 ports and now the nVidia seem to be acting up.

Unfortunately, it take time to test each hypothesis. In the meantime, my
main system is down making life a little more complicated.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I will be trying to implement
them in the next couple of days.

Jim Maki
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

> -Original Message-
> From:  DHSinclair
> 
> Jim,
> Going to suppose that TrueImage is a sw system and that it 
> has to be loaded 
> after-the-fact (post boot, post logon).  As such, it presumes 
> that the base 
> machine's power is AOK as well as all the machines I/O. As 
> with base OS 
> systems, I suspect that TrueImage will have internal problems 
> if one or 
> more of the hard drives are mis-reporting due to weak/marginal power.
> 
> On top of this is your Opteron. I have to believe that this 
> cpu is in the 
> "power saving" category, but could be wrong.  I have never 
> had/used such 
> exotics.  Believe Winterlight could chime in here with 
> stories about his 
> dual-Xeon experience too.
> 
> Your psu may be on the edge of its' ability to supply all the 
> power your 
> chosen HW is demanding ATM. And, when something/anything 
> makes a demand on 
> the psu for whatever reason, the psu sags and everyone else 
> goes a bit 
> goofy. A bit goofy may be correctable, bigger goofy nets odd 
> events and 
> blue screens.
> 
> It does read as if your current psu has run out of capacity 
> for whatever 
> the reason. Which PSU is in use ATM?
> 
> Just with your hard drives and CD drives I count ~25A of 
> static (no load 
> current).  And, this does not include your cpu, m/b, and I/O card 
> set.  With what you shared to Brian a couple back, I'd hope 
> you were using 
> a 600W psu (maybe), 800W psu (better), or 1KW psu (best) just 
> so that you 
> have the necessary power headroom (spare capacity) to handle untoward 
> demands.  Again, JMHO.
> 
> Until my Enermax fiasco 2 years ago, I have yet to have a psu related 
> failure.  My glitches fall into the "pilot-error", PEBCAK, 
> and "way over my 
> head" category!!!  LOL!!
> Best,
> Duncan
> 

Re: [H] Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[Bobby Heid]

Jim,

In my system, I boot off of the EIDE controller.  I have 2 HDs and 2 DVDs on
the EIDE controller.  I also have to SATA HDs in the system.  When I boot
off of the Norton Ghost CD, I cannot see the SATA drivers.  Could your issue
be something similar to this?

BTW, if anyone knows the solution that would allow me to see my SATA drivers
from the Ghost CD, please let me know.

Bobby

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of James Maki
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2008 10:06 PM
To: hardware@hardwaregroup.com
Subject: Re: [H] Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

Duncan,

Actually the recovery disk for True Image is Linux based. It loads from CD
after boot but before Windows loads. It also comes with a Windows based
program that will create the image from within Windows. You have to re-boot
to the Linux program only when restoring the C:/boot drive. As long as I am
within Windows, True Image works perfectly. Only when I try to restore the
C: drive does it require a re-boot to the Linux version and I loose contact
with most of the hard drives. One hard drive (and always the same one) is
visible. The other drive on the same controller is NOT visible. I haven't
tried moving them around to see if it is the spot on the controller or the
drive itself that makes a difference. 

As True Image boots to the program in Linux, there is a a flash on the
screen saying the nVidia and Sil3114 controllers (the controllers on the
motherboard) have been found, followed by a message that no volumes were
found. 

The Opteron is a socket 939 dual core processor, almost identical to some of
the higher clock speed AMD64 X2 CPUs that AMD stopped making. It is 2.6 GHz.
Dual core, single socket.

The psu is a Sparkle Power FSP550-60PLN-B 550 Watts EPS12V Switching Power
Supply. If the psu is working, it should provide sufficient power. Of
course, if it is failing, all bets are off. I don't have dual video cards or
a power hungry single video card. It will take some time to remove a power
supply from another system to test the theory that the Sparkle is dying.
Will let you know what I find out. 

I may be in denial, but the repeated weird problems seem to be getting
progressively worse in a way I would not attribute to the psu. Removing the
750 GB WD drive that was showing slow transfer times and putting it back
into the external enclosure produced a new problem. As long as the drive was
attached to the nVidia controller, the computer would stick at the
"searching for drives" section of the nVidia boot process. As soon as I
removed the drive, it booted fine. I moved the drive to one of the pcie-X1
SATA ports and everything boots fine. More and more I am suspicious of the
on-board SATA controllers. I have never been able to mount a boot drive on
the Sil3114 ports and now the nVidia seem to be acting up.

Unfortunately, it take time to test each hypothesis. In the meantime, my
main system is down making life a little more complicated.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I will be trying to implement
them in the next couple of days.

Jim Maki
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Re: [H] Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[James Maki]

Before Friday, I was always able to see the SATA and SATA RAID0 drives with
True Image. I used to use Norton Ghost (from System Works 2003) and could
see the Sil3114 SATA RAID0 I had installed at that time. The recovery disk
must have the drivers installed to see the SATA and SCSI disks. When I was
using Ghost, I assume its recovery disk had the requisite drivers. Did you
make the Ghost disk when the SATA drives were present? Just a WAG!

Jim

> -Original Message-
> From: Bobby Heid
 
> Jim,
> 
> In my system, I boot off of the EIDE controller.  I have 2 
> HDs and 2 DVDs on
> the EIDE controller.  I also have to SATA HDs in the system.  
> When I boot
> off of the Norton Ghost CD, I cannot see the SATA drivers.  
> Could your issue
> be something similar to this?
> 
> BTW, if anyone knows the solution that would allow me to see 
> my SATA drivers
> from the Ghost CD, please let me know.
> 
> Bobby
> 

Re: [H] Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[Rick Glazier]

Sounds similiar to the problems I had on a couple MBs I swapped
out last fall...  I think the SouthBridge chipset went. Everything else
worked well after the replacement of the MBs.

My UBS stability (such as it is) was the first thing to go...
(Either that, or forced ditching of my UltraATA133 controller card...)

Rick Glazier
- Original Message - 
From: "James Maki" 

Duncan,

Actually the recovery disk for True Image is Linux based. It loads from CD
after boot but before Windows loads. It also comes with a Windows based
program that will create the image from within Windows. You have to re-boot
to the Linux program only when restoring the C:/boot drive. As long as I am
within Windows, True Image works perfectly. Only when I try to restore the
C: drive does it require a re-boot to the Linux version and I loose contact
with most of the hard drives. One hard drive (and always the same one) is
visible. The other drive on the same controller is NOT visible. I haven't
tried moving them around to see if it is the spot on the controller or the
drive itself that makes a difference. 


As True Image boots to the program in Linux, there is a a flash on the
screen saying the nVidia and Sil3114 controllers (the controllers on the
motherboard) have been found, followed by a message that no volumes were
found. 


The Opteron is a socket 939 dual core processor, almost identical to some of
the higher clock speed AMD64 X2 CPUs that AMD stopped making. It is 2.6 GHz.
Dual core, single socket.

The psu is a Sparkle Power FSP550-60PLN-B 550 Watts EPS12V Switching Power
Supply. If the psu is working, it should provide sufficient power. Of
course, if it is failing, all bets are off. I don't have dual video cards or
a power hungry single video card. It will take some time to remove a power
supply from another system to test the theory that the Sparkle is dying.
Will let you know what I find out. 


I may be in denial, but the repeated weird problems seem to be getting
progressively worse in a way I would not attribute to the psu. Removing the
750 GB WD drive that was showing slow transfer times and putting it back
into the external enclosure produced a new problem. As long as the drive was
attached to the nVidia controller, the computer would stick at the
"searching for drives" section of the nVidia boot process. As soon as I
removed the drive, it booted fine. I moved the drive to one of the pcie-X1
SATA ports and everything boots fine. More and more I am suspicious of the
on-board SATA controllers. I have never been able to mount a boot drive on
the Sil3114 ports and now the nVidia seem to be acting up.

Unfortunately, it take time to test each hypothesis. In the meantime, my
main system is down making life a little more complicated.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I will be trying to implement
them in the next couple of days.

Re: [H] Freaky Friday WinXP install -- (a bit long)

[James Maki]

Rick,

Thanks for the reply and personal experience. The more I look at all the
problems, the more I am inclined to suspect the southbridge. It is passively
cooled with a small heatsink and is quite warm to the touch. I don't know if
that is indicative of anything. All the problems I have encountered are can
be traced back to problems with I/O. 

It is unfortunate that socket 939 is essentially dead because I really can't
replace this motherboard unless I can find something on e-bay, and they
usually want an excessive amount for old technology. With rebates I can
upgrade the CPU, motherboard and memory (from 2 gig DDR400 to 4 gig of DDR2
800) for about $425 after MIR. It may be worth the expense to just put these
problems behind. 

Also, thanks for the link. Basic but useful information.

Jim Maki
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

> -Original Message-
> From: Rick Glazier
 
> Sounds similiar to the problems I had on a couple MBs I swapped
> out last fall...  I think the SouthBridge chipset went. 
> Everything else
> worked well after the replacement of the MBs.
> 
> My UBS stability (such as it is) was the first thing to go...
> (Either that, or forced ditching of my UltraATA133 controller card...)
> 
>  Rick Glazier
> - Original Message - 
> From: "James Maki" 
 
> > As True Image boots to the program in Linux, there is a a 
> flash on the
> > screen saying the nVidia and Sil3114 controllers (the 
> controllers on the
> > motherboard) have been found, followed by a message that no 
> volumes were
> > found. 

> > 
> > I may be in denial, but the repeated weird problems seem to 
> be getting
> > progressively worse in a way I would not attribute to the 
> psu. Removing the
> > 750 GB WD drive that was showing slow transfer times and 
> putting it back
> > into the external enclosure produced a new problem. As long 
> as the drive was
> > attached to the nVidia controller, the computer would stick at the
> > "searching for drives" section of the nVidia boot process. 
> As soon as I
> > removed the drive, it booted fine. I moved the drive to one 
> of the pcie-X1
> > SATA ports and everything boots fine. More and more I am 
> suspicious of the
> > on-board SATA controllers. I have never been able to mount 
> a boot drive on
> > the Sil3114 ports and now the nVidia seem to be acting up.

Re: [H] Strange Hard Drive Problem

[j maccraw]

I'd be looking for sagging power lines based on what I
am going through with my 
Antec 480W. Weird reboots, drives not showing up on
reboots, bad sectors 
cropping up constantly on 2 new seagate 7200.10's,
etc All traced back to a 
sagging 5V line and confirmed by opening the Antec PSU
to find puffed/leaking 
crapola caps from Fujyyu.

Still trying to track down & order a new ATX 1.3 PSU
with enough 5V amps to 
drive the old A7N8X w/ Sempron 3300+ in addition to 4
HDD's & an ATI X850. Will 
likely buy a ToPower or Anthena based in what I've
read/can find.

James Maki wrote:
> About a month and a half ago, I related a problem I
was having with a new
> Western Digital WD7500AYYS 750GB SATA II drive.
Transfers to the drive seems
> very slow. I moved the drive around between several
adapters on 2 different
> computers. Finally, I put it in an external drive
and it worked fine, so I
> moved on to other problems. Yesterday, while trying
to re-install WinXP
> (another problem/post) I placed the WD 750 in the
computer case. It
> immediately started exhibiting the slow transfers.
> 
> On a hunch, I switched out the power supply
connection for the external
> power for this drive only, and lo and behold, the
transfer times returned to
> "normal." Have any of you seen this problem where a
single drive has
> problems with the PS and exhibits slow transfers,
but otherwise operate
> normally?
> 
> I will just use the drive in the external case, but
am curious as to the
> reasons.
> 
> This is a Sparkle Power FSP550-60PLN-B 550 Watts
EPS12V Switching Power
> Supply purchased June of 2005. No other signs of
problems.
> 
> Thanks for your input.
> 
> Jim Maki
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> 
> 


  

Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page. 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

Re: [H] Strange Hard Drive Problem

[James Maki]

Were the problems consistent, i.e., always the same drive(s) disappearing,
or was it variable depending on the day, phase of the moon, etc. My problems
seem consistent, always the same drive(s) missing or causing a problem.

Jim

> -Original Message-
> From: j maccraw

> I'd be looking for sagging power lines based on what I
> am going through with my 
> Antec 480W. Weird reboots, drives not showing up on
> reboots, bad sectors 
> cropping up constantly on 2 new seagate 7200.10's,
> etc All traced back to a 
> sagging 5V line and confirmed by opening the Antec PSU
> to find puffed/leaking 
> crapola caps from Fujyyu.